Brevis and an HV20.

Elton

Elton

Veteran
Sorry, didn't have time to get some decent footage, but here's what the combo looks like with rails. :)

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This is actually a pretty cool lookin' little bazooka.
 
Elton, that looks like one of those 50's sci-fi weapons :D I can't wait to see more footage, though. My first impression was very very good. Did you need a 43mm-72mm step up ring? (is there such a ring?!) Was it hard aligning the entire combo vertically?
 
Sorry for the tease, but it was another person's camera and I didn't have much time to really get the hang of the combo. Will have more time with it later on.

Don't know which step up ring was employed, but we actually used a RedRock achromat to focus on the ground glass. Supposedly you're not supposed to need an achromat, but in my brief encounter with the Brevis and HV20, it seems like it does actually need one.
 
btw, I found a funny little accidental LCD flip function...but it's kinda retarded.

If you flip the LCD forward, and slightly angled back and pulled towards the camera, it tricks the camera into flipping the upside down image right-side up. But it means that you have to stand beside or nearly in front of the camera for framing...but it works.
 
Here's one grab.

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I'm fairly new to the adapter thing so I know I didn't get maximum sharpness at all, but this combo definitely has potential.
 
Beautiful. Quite cinematic. Do you have any (more) footage (beyond that one already posted) ?
 
Elton, we should have an HV20 here in a day or two, so I should have some setup tips for you guys :) Michael's studio looks very cool.

The HV20 is the first camera with a 43mm lens size that has ever needed an achromat with the Brevis adapter. Both the XH-A1 and now the HV20 need more stars (like the HVX) at close focus / framing. Michael should have our latest 72mm HD achromat in a few days which will work better with respect to sharpness.
 
Very nice grab. The footage is also nice. CAn't believe it's coming from a Sub 1k 24p camera. LOL
 
Dennis Wood said:
Elton, we should have an HV20 here in a day or two, so I should have some setup tips for you guys :) Michael's studio looks very cool.

The HV20 is the first camera with a 43mm lens size that has ever needed an achromat with the Brevis adapter. Both the XH-A1 and now the HV20 need more stars (like the HVX) at close focus / framing. Michael should have our latest 72mm HD achromat in a few days which will work better with respect to sharpness.
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Thanks Dennis. It's funny, the HV20 seems to have pretty good close focus, but apparently just barely not enough to bypass the achromat. I can't wait to go back and shoot a little more with this combo. I actually brought my computer and tried some straight-uncompressed analog capture from the HV20/Brevis, but ran out of time before I could really get the hang of things so the footage wasn't up to snuff.

I will say that once you've got things adjusted properly, this could be a fairly potent pairing. I think the HV20 actually has less CA than the A1, for whatever reason. (less lens elements, no CCD prism ?)

I shot a fair amount of high contrast stuff and didn't have any fringing issues at all. I really love how easy it is to mount the Brevis on different cameras, but for some reason the HV20 seems to have a really solid, smooth image that it can put out from the adapter and good still lenses.

Lovin' your work with that adapter, Dennis, and I appreciate that you're working hard to improve the product. It shows. :)
 
rawfa said:
Btw, how did you guys convince Ron Howard's son to appear on your tests? ;-)
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:D

Chris was a good sport about standing in for just a couple shots. It helps so much to have an actual live person as a subject for quickie tests.
 
Kholi said:
Very nice grab. The footage is also nice. CAn't believe it's coming from a Sub 1k 24p camera. LOL
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You know what, Kholi? As crazy as it sounds to say, I actually think the HV20 might have the most solid 1080 24p core image in the entire prosumer/consumer category.

There's something about the smoooothness of this DSLR-descended CMOS chip and DIGIC II processing that is really sweet. I wish it was in my H1. :(
 
No question, the HV20 really seems to hold it's own in bright day light exteriors/well lit, bright interiors. But what about low or selective lit night exteriors or dark interiors.?

If a portion of the frame is perfectly exposed, but the majority of the rest of the frame is dark to black, will the camera struggle to show what is in the dark areas and futz it up with gain, making the black/dark areas really ugly/mushy/noisy?

Imagine the interior of Xanadu in Citizen Kane, where everything is black, except a door way, and a fire place, which a perfectly exposed.(I can't beleive I am using that movie as an example while asking about an inexpensive consumer camera!)

Or even an exterior city scape at night, where there is lots of lit buildings, signs, headlights, etc ,but undeniable dark areas. Will those dark areas suffer?

Any opinions/knowledge on this anyone?

Thanks,
 
Elton said:
You know what, Kholi? As crazy as it sounds to say, I actually think the HV20 might have the most solid 1080 24p core image in the entire prosumer/consumer category.

There's something about the smoooothness of this DSLR-descended CMOS chip and DIGIC II processing that is really sweet. I wish it was in my H1. :(
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Man, that's a powerful statement, Elton. You just made thousands of budget filmmakers cry in excitement.

Since I already have the A1 I didn't cry, but I did get a bit emotional...my girlfriend had to hug me and tell me everything will be ok :violin:
 
Elton, I've looked specifically in the posted HV20 footage for signs of the A1 fringing on high contrast vertical areas and I can see none. I still think it's a trichroic prism/filter issue with the 3ccd colour split..which would not affect the HV20 with its bayer filter.

The HV20 is testing a fair bit less sensitive to light than the A1 in the camcorderinfo.com review, which means more light possibly for indoor shots, but this is where the HV20 and CF1 will shine with respect to light efficiency. I found the same thing shooting with the GS400 and then moving to the XH-A1. The A1 is at least 1 to 1.5 stops faster.

Hopefully the HV20 will be here Monday, so I'll throw up some more footage. I had the A1 directly attached to a 46" 1920x1080 Sharp Aquos LCD at a local retailer and the feed from the cam via component was so good, the entire staff came out to look. Several of the sales people commented that it was the best HD image they'd ever seen. I'll have to go back with the HV20 :)
 
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