Focus is important

iDV8

iDV8

Well-known member
OK, I shot my first short with my new HVX, Letus, 16 GB P2 and mics. After spending nearly one billion dollars I drew the line there and decided that I would save some money and use all the focusing techniques that I've read here. That experience left me with a question:

Why would they make a camera you can't focus?

Whaa Whaa whine whine... OK, now that that's over are there any good video assist monitors that work great for the HVX in the 500 USD range or must I get one that rivals the cost of the camera?

I have to learn lessons myself, especially when it requires spending my money. I'm a believer now!
 
You can focus without a monitor. That's what the focus assist, 1st AC (sometimes that's you) and focus marks are for. Oh right, you have to put tape on your focus ring and make marks on that, and it's easier to jiggle the camera by using the focus ring. I don't have a monitor, but it would definitely feel like a luxury to be able to judge focus by eye.
 
Yes, but he's using a 35 adapter as mentioned in his post. So, most of those suggestions won't work.

And, you can focus the camera just fine if you are using the camera itself. And, you can do so using the suggestions above. But, when you add a 35 adapter that is something else. You can still "get by" without a monitor, but it's almost not worth it. But, I'm doing it out of necessity at the moment.

There aren't any monitors that cheap that I know of the will help with focusing of an HD image like from the HVX.

35 adapters open up the door to a lot more expenses. I don't think people are aware of that often times. They just think they can get an adapter and a couple of lenses and be golden.
 
iDV8 said:
Why would they make a camera you can't focus?[/COLOR]
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I guess in SD life, it wasn´t all that of a problem for the manufacturers trying to spent as few as possible on the EVF/LCD, small chips lots of DoF and a PAL/NTSC frame.
Only Canon didn´t even manage that, we owened a XL2 and it was APITA for focusing...
But, of course you could buy the superb B/W viewfinder as an add on - and I think that was Canons reason for heaving a bad EVF. (woohoo conspiracy theories:2vrolijk_08:)...

But why Pana?
If I could only have a high res B/W and color switchable VF via component out for the HVX - I´d buy it anyday, even if it was 1000€ or so.
A 7" hanging to the side simply makes most of the "prosumer" cams clumsy, unbalances them and makes them even more heavy with the additional batteries (which isn´t all that of a problem with a cine style setup of course...)

There is a viewfinder mod out there from Austria, but I´d prefer a ready-made product.

Maybe there´ll be a way to attach the RED VF to the HVX:thumbsup:

But hey, you get what you pay for, I guess, so under 10K that means no true manual lenses and bad VF...
(the new Sony could change that though...)
 
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