Has anyone tested a SD lens on the HPX500?

Thanks, Dolph. I appreciate that. I like it, fun to drive. It's my production vehicle - I have to fit 2x HPX500's in there along with accessories and a 6 light Cool Lights rig (albiet 4 are softbox fixtures that break down pretty small). I always wanted a convertible and finally got one.
 
Please don't take this the wrong way Kit... but those shots really don't look that great. I don't know if it's the lens you used or your camera settings or what but the focus just wasn't "tack on". It looks as if it was shot with a Beta SP.

Like you said it may be the jpeg compression.

I've been paying close attention to this discussion because I too am about to purchase a 500 and the thought of getting a better lens by going the SD route seems attractive. But if these images are an example of what I would get... I just don't know...
Jim
 
Jim Carswell said:
Please don't take this the wrong way Kit... but those shots really don't look that great. I don't know if it's the lens you used or your camera settings or what but the focus just wasn't "tack on". It looks as if it was shot with a Beta SP.

Like you said it may be the jpeg compression.

I've been paying close attention to this discussion because I too am about to purchase a 500 and the thought of getting a better lens by going the SD route seems attractive. But if these images are an example of what I would get... I just don't know...
Jim
Click to expand...

Not taken the wrong way at all, Jim. I think I agree with you. I don't think the images look that great either, that's the problem I am having. Granted, I am using $125 lenses on the cameras. What I am seeing though is quite a bit of noise. I hooked up the camera to a 37" lcd tv and I could visually see the noise. Keep in mind, I have not made any adjustments to the camera's menu, that was just some "out of the box" test shots. I am willing to try some different things if you guys want to give me some suggestions. I don't think the lens is creating the noise, I think it has to do more with the camera's settings.

Also keep in mind that these were also handheld shots. I'm pretty good with a handheld camera as I have done a ton of handheld work for broadcast and news type applications, and there are many projects that we shoot handheld. What I will have to do is re-check my back focus to see if it's a bit soft. I back focused very quickly, took like 10 seconds to do it, so I will spend a bit more time on it today.

I whole heartedly believe that once the settings are good, I will have a nice image coming out of a very cheap lens. We needed 2 cameras, so I couldn't afford to go all out and buy nicer lenses, but I will be doing so in the next couple of months. If you guys have any suggestions, please, by all means, let me know. I don't get offended when people say things don't look good, but maybe offer me some sugegstions to try (other than "go buy a new lens"). I have the better part of the day to check some things out, so that's my plans for today. Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

Kit
 
Beta SP? Come on... That doesnt look like betaSP.

Here is a chunk of reality:

The hpx500 is not a Red camera, the pictures taken with it will not look like it came from a DSLR. A sony EX1 takes sharper pictures than the hpx500. You wont get much better pictures no matter what glass you put on the hpx500. Just a friendly dose. If your looking for the sharpest HD footage for a bargain price, you may want to go HDV.

Kit,

I noticed that the component output is very noisy, It doesnt show up on the actual footage. You may want to try an SDI to hdmi converter.

I will PM you the scene file I use and you can see if that helps.
 
Here are a couple more:

Settings

Detail Level: -2
V. Detail Level: +4
Detail Coring: +2
Master Ped: -3
Gamma: B Press
Matrix: Cine-Like
Skin Detail: On

I believe everything else is at the default settings.

Another thing, I am getting the screen shots off of the Vegas timeleine using Raylight Blue, Just so you know.




 
Those look plenty sharp for a 720p down conversion. The Hpx500 cant resolve a full 1080 lines, but It can do 720p. Try the setting I just PM'ed you.
 
Thanks Hunter. What I did is rendered an actual avi file with the video and it does in fact look a lot better. I'm sitting here looking at my Dell 24" from 12" away. Does it look perfect, definitely not, but when I am a couple of feet away it looks as clean as I have ever seen HD. This will be displayed on 42" screens probably viewed most of the time from 15-20 feet away, so I think it's going to be plenty acceptable.

I have another question - the 1080 30p footage is a bit jumpy when played. When I mean jumpy, it looks like it is playing it back correctly, but the movement in the screen seems to be more or less jumping across (car driving by). Do 1080p televisions only support 1080 24p or will they do 30p as well?

I suppose I can shoot at 720p just for better integration, but I really don't want to "dumb down" the quality when outputting.

Keep 'em coming guys.

Thanks
Kit
 
Kit, for compression reasons, I usually stay 1080/24pA and then Down convert to 720p if need be. Shooting in 720p is a lot more compressed (at 24p).

If your shooting at 30p, try to keep your shutter @ 1/60th (180 degrees) That will help smooth things out. If not that, maybe check your TV menus?

And another quick rant (this will just take a second):

We video nerds, sit too freaking close to our monitors. When you sit at a normal viewing distance everything looks better! Stop pressing your nose against the lcd looking for noise and compression artifacts!

Ok, I feel better now!

Cheers!
 
Can someone who owns an SD lens that is of better quality post some grabs? I'm thinking of getting an SD lens but i don't think i will get one for $125, well maybe, but then it would be the lens that can be for crash bang filming.... i'm thinking more in the range of $2500- $5000, I think Mule has a lens that i was checking out on ebay.... but his grab is from his HPX2000, i would like to see a grab with the same or similar type of lens on the 500.
 
hunter richards said:
And another quick rant (this will just take a second):

We video nerds, sit too freaking close to our monitors. When you sit at a normal viewing distance everything looks better! Stop pressing your nose against the lcd looking for noise and compression artifacts!

Ok, I feel better now!

Cheers!
Click to expand...


That's what I'm saying. Who the f$%& is going to be watching your video from that distance anyways? That's why I say it looks fine, because it does.
 
Honestly, Over all, I am decently happy with the results of my $125 lenses. I will surely upgrade in the future, but for now, I think the lenses will produce acceptable results for what we're doing.

Thanks to hunter for the Scene files - it does look much less noisy.

I'm going to stick to 1080 24p(a) for our HD delivery for us. It looks great when viewed from only a couple feet away, nobody is going to have their face 10" from the screen. When viewed from where everybody will be watching, it will look fantastic. I'm quite pleased with everything.
 
There is a bit of CA from those images where there is high-contrast. That is mostly from the lenses being so cheap. I got some pretty grabs from footage I shot last week i will post. Taken with the Canon j8x6.
 
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