Marc Singer
Member
Hi,
I normally wouldn’t do this but my new, anything HVX related expert, Barry Green, suggested you might want to hear about some of this stuff so I figured why not.
My name is Marc Singer. I’m a documentary filmmaker. My first film was about a community of homeless people living in a tunnel beneath NYC. It was called ‘Dark Days’ and was shot on 16mm film. It did pretty well on the festival circuit, winning three awards at the Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Independent Spirit Award and the Los Angeles Film Critic Award for best documentary. I had planned to shoot my next documentary on film too, but due to the harsh conditions of it’s locations and the fact that I work alone, I decided against the idea and began looking into HD. I’ve got to say I was hesitant at first, but after asking a lot of questions and gathering as much information about the medium from people with a lot more knowledge than I could ever hope to possess, my confidence began to grow and I eventually made the decision to go for it.
What camera should I purchase? That was the next question. At first I was going to go with the Varicam, but quickly realized I couldn’t buy (or carry for that matter) enough of them for this job. I would need at least to three cameras to take with me for redundancy, and that’s a lot of weight to carry around for one person.
The film is about a Direct-Action platoon of Marines within the Force Reconnaissance Community. They are the very best the Marine Corps has to offer and I’ve been given the opportunity to be the first civilian ever to be allowed to follow them. It’s an eighteen-month shoot and I’ll be living with them for the entire time. I’m writing this post from their base in North Carolina, where I’ve been for the past six months. The training this platoon gets is pretty high-speed stuff and includes jumping out of planes, diving underwater with rebreathers, long-range reconnaissance and surveillance, demolitions, fast roping from helicopters and repelling down buildings. We also patrol, ambush, conduct snatch and grab missions and force on force direct action raids. And that’s just a small sample of what these guys do. In about three months we deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq.
We carry everything on our backs including food and water, ammunition, communication equipment and a whole bunch of other gadgets (In my case, film stuff). Like I said, this is a direct action platoon and I’m right behind them the entire time. Needless to say, whatever camera I choose to use was going to get the **** kicked out of it. That’s why I need so many - I fully expect them to break.
With the larger HD cameras out of the question, the next best choice was the HVX 200. I’d heard about it from a few people in the business and from websites like this one, and called Panasonic begging them to let me get my hands on it early. They told me that camera wasn’t ready, and probably wouldn’t be for a few months. The only other camera out there of similar size, price and quality was the JVC HD-100. It was still small enough that I could jump out of a plane with it, and it promised to give a great picture that was 24P. With my back up against the wall, I went for it. When it arrived I was very exited to open the box. I knew the camera was brand new to the market and would probably have some problems, but I needed it ‘yesterday’ and couldn’t wait (like all of us). I had been following the posts on this website about the SSE but for some reason, figured it would be okay. Maybe I’d get lucky…. It seemed others were.
Back in North Carolina I was exited to pull the camera out of my bag for the first day of shooting. Everyone was. It wasn’t a complicated day, the guys were shooting Close Quarter Combat Drills on a range and so it was pretty relaxing for me and gave me a chance to get to play with it. I got the better wide-angle lens and put it on the camera as soon as I took it out of the box. (For those with this camera - this lens is definitely the way to go. It’s so much better than the crap the camera comes with. The difference is between the two is unbelievable.) In total, I ended up shooting with the JVC for about two months. On the whole I liked the camera, it feels good on your shoulder, I loved the wide lens, the viewfinder is really clear and you have no doubt that something is or isn’t in focus. On top of that for a small HDV camera, it does shoot a great picture. So why did I get rid of it? I’m not going to bash the JVC camera on here because ultimately I think it will be an awesome product and if handled correctly by JVC, one that will take a large chunk of the market. But, as it stood at the time, I just didn’t feel it was ready for release to the public and the problems that it has (that we all know about) aren’t going to get fixed anytime soon. In my limited experience, the amount of light was not a factor in creating the SSE. In the time I got to use the camera I shot in almost every type of lighting situation you can imagine. Light/Dark/Outside/Inside. The SSE came and went as it pleased. Like I say, it was sometimes very dark, just a pinhole of light in the back of a helicopter and the footage looked great. In the same respect, it could have been perfect lighting and I got the SSE. I have some theories, but think I’ll leave it to the experts. Either way I couldn’t fix it myself and because of that, every time I shot something all that I had running through my head was the amount of money it was going to take to correct it in post. Like I say, it’s still early in the game and if JVC steps up to the plate, it will be an awesome product.
So what did I do…? I finally got hold of the HVX ?. I’m looking at it now sitting on the table in front of me and it makes me want to smile. I LOVE THIS CAMERA!! I’m so exited about it, I don’t even know where to start. And this is coming from a guy who swore blind he’d never shoot video ?.
I guess I’ll start with the P2 format. I think it’s brilliant. I’ll tell you, this format is so rock solid that there isn't anything you can do to rattle it, and believe me I've tried! I’ll give you an example. The other day the team was doing a raid on a building and they were breaching (blowing up) the entrance to gain entry. It’s loud and violent and the concussion from the blast when standing that close goes right through you. My place in the team is literally right next to the breach point where the concussion is at it’s greatest. When shooting tape and standing this close to the action, at the moment the blast goes through the camera you tend to loose picture. It completely breaks up, the screen goes full of noise and ends up being unusable. P2 doesn’t even flinch. I can feel the wave going through the camera but the picture is not affected in the slightest. I’m not sure if it is the medium itself, or the fact that this camera has no moving parts. Either way, it doesn’t budge.
The other great thing about the P2 format comes into the play after you have finished shooting something. You just push one button and the screen fills with all of the clips you have just shot. You can scroll through them, watch them, delete what you don’t like, mark clips for later…. it’s fantastic! It’s so great to work with that you won’t ever want to shoot tape again. In fact, I think it’s so revolutionary it reminds me of the first time I got to use an AVID after cutting ‘Dark Days’ on a flatbed for six months (film editing machine). For those that have ever actually cut film, it’s a total pain in the ass. You literally have to cut the workprint and then stick your shots together with sticky tape. I remember the old time editors telling me how much they loved it as you actually got to ‘feel the film’. After using the AVID, I remember telling them to take a piece of film home with them at night and ‘feel it’ there… then go into work the next day and cut on the AVID. Comparing P2 to tape is literally that different.
At the end of the day, I dump the P2 cards to a few firewire drives, down covert everything to tape as a last resort back-up (all done in camera) and then reformat the cards. You’re ready to go. It’s so simple it’s ridicules.
Talking of simple, the camera is also so user friendly it’s a total pleasure to work with. For all the various things that this little camera is capable of doing, it really is simple to use. I’m not the most technical guy in the world and if I can use it, anyone can. There’s not much the instruction manual doesn’t cover and anything that you can’t figure out on your own…. just ask Barry Green ?. (A round of applause is definitely in order for that guy. He’s great. He’s never met me, didn’t know a thing about me, but still answered every question I sent him and was completely patient with me when I wasn’t getting it).
I guess there are a lot of people out there anticipating getting their hands on this thing. I feel really lucky to be using it for this project and I can promise you, you won’t be disappointed. The picture quality you get with this camera is fantastic. It’s been great in pretty much every lighting situation I’ve used it in. The slow motion is probably the coolest thing I can think of and looks awesome. (I set the various frame rates and ‘looks’ in my scene files). There really isn’t much, if anything at all, that I can find wrong with this thing. For the price, I think it’s a bargain. There is so much more I want to say about this camera, but for now I’ve got to go. . I have to be up at 5.00 am and need to get all of my stuff ready…
Take care and good luck.
I normally wouldn’t do this but my new, anything HVX related expert, Barry Green, suggested you might want to hear about some of this stuff so I figured why not.
My name is Marc Singer. I’m a documentary filmmaker. My first film was about a community of homeless people living in a tunnel beneath NYC. It was called ‘Dark Days’ and was shot on 16mm film. It did pretty well on the festival circuit, winning three awards at the Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Independent Spirit Award and the Los Angeles Film Critic Award for best documentary. I had planned to shoot my next documentary on film too, but due to the harsh conditions of it’s locations and the fact that I work alone, I decided against the idea and began looking into HD. I’ve got to say I was hesitant at first, but after asking a lot of questions and gathering as much information about the medium from people with a lot more knowledge than I could ever hope to possess, my confidence began to grow and I eventually made the decision to go for it.
What camera should I purchase? That was the next question. At first I was going to go with the Varicam, but quickly realized I couldn’t buy (or carry for that matter) enough of them for this job. I would need at least to three cameras to take with me for redundancy, and that’s a lot of weight to carry around for one person.
The film is about a Direct-Action platoon of Marines within the Force Reconnaissance Community. They are the very best the Marine Corps has to offer and I’ve been given the opportunity to be the first civilian ever to be allowed to follow them. It’s an eighteen-month shoot and I’ll be living with them for the entire time. I’m writing this post from their base in North Carolina, where I’ve been for the past six months. The training this platoon gets is pretty high-speed stuff and includes jumping out of planes, diving underwater with rebreathers, long-range reconnaissance and surveillance, demolitions, fast roping from helicopters and repelling down buildings. We also patrol, ambush, conduct snatch and grab missions and force on force direct action raids. And that’s just a small sample of what these guys do. In about three months we deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq.
We carry everything on our backs including food and water, ammunition, communication equipment and a whole bunch of other gadgets (In my case, film stuff). Like I said, this is a direct action platoon and I’m right behind them the entire time. Needless to say, whatever camera I choose to use was going to get the **** kicked out of it. That’s why I need so many - I fully expect them to break.
With the larger HD cameras out of the question, the next best choice was the HVX 200. I’d heard about it from a few people in the business and from websites like this one, and called Panasonic begging them to let me get my hands on it early. They told me that camera wasn’t ready, and probably wouldn’t be for a few months. The only other camera out there of similar size, price and quality was the JVC HD-100. It was still small enough that I could jump out of a plane with it, and it promised to give a great picture that was 24P. With my back up against the wall, I went for it. When it arrived I was very exited to open the box. I knew the camera was brand new to the market and would probably have some problems, but I needed it ‘yesterday’ and couldn’t wait (like all of us). I had been following the posts on this website about the SSE but for some reason, figured it would be okay. Maybe I’d get lucky…. It seemed others were.
Back in North Carolina I was exited to pull the camera out of my bag for the first day of shooting. Everyone was. It wasn’t a complicated day, the guys were shooting Close Quarter Combat Drills on a range and so it was pretty relaxing for me and gave me a chance to get to play with it. I got the better wide-angle lens and put it on the camera as soon as I took it out of the box. (For those with this camera - this lens is definitely the way to go. It’s so much better than the crap the camera comes with. The difference is between the two is unbelievable.) In total, I ended up shooting with the JVC for about two months. On the whole I liked the camera, it feels good on your shoulder, I loved the wide lens, the viewfinder is really clear and you have no doubt that something is or isn’t in focus. On top of that for a small HDV camera, it does shoot a great picture. So why did I get rid of it? I’m not going to bash the JVC camera on here because ultimately I think it will be an awesome product and if handled correctly by JVC, one that will take a large chunk of the market. But, as it stood at the time, I just didn’t feel it was ready for release to the public and the problems that it has (that we all know about) aren’t going to get fixed anytime soon. In my limited experience, the amount of light was not a factor in creating the SSE. In the time I got to use the camera I shot in almost every type of lighting situation you can imagine. Light/Dark/Outside/Inside. The SSE came and went as it pleased. Like I say, it was sometimes very dark, just a pinhole of light in the back of a helicopter and the footage looked great. In the same respect, it could have been perfect lighting and I got the SSE. I have some theories, but think I’ll leave it to the experts. Either way I couldn’t fix it myself and because of that, every time I shot something all that I had running through my head was the amount of money it was going to take to correct it in post. Like I say, it’s still early in the game and if JVC steps up to the plate, it will be an awesome product.
So what did I do…? I finally got hold of the HVX ?. I’m looking at it now sitting on the table in front of me and it makes me want to smile. I LOVE THIS CAMERA!! I’m so exited about it, I don’t even know where to start. And this is coming from a guy who swore blind he’d never shoot video ?.
I guess I’ll start with the P2 format. I think it’s brilliant. I’ll tell you, this format is so rock solid that there isn't anything you can do to rattle it, and believe me I've tried! I’ll give you an example. The other day the team was doing a raid on a building and they were breaching (blowing up) the entrance to gain entry. It’s loud and violent and the concussion from the blast when standing that close goes right through you. My place in the team is literally right next to the breach point where the concussion is at it’s greatest. When shooting tape and standing this close to the action, at the moment the blast goes through the camera you tend to loose picture. It completely breaks up, the screen goes full of noise and ends up being unusable. P2 doesn’t even flinch. I can feel the wave going through the camera but the picture is not affected in the slightest. I’m not sure if it is the medium itself, or the fact that this camera has no moving parts. Either way, it doesn’t budge.
The other great thing about the P2 format comes into the play after you have finished shooting something. You just push one button and the screen fills with all of the clips you have just shot. You can scroll through them, watch them, delete what you don’t like, mark clips for later…. it’s fantastic! It’s so great to work with that you won’t ever want to shoot tape again. In fact, I think it’s so revolutionary it reminds me of the first time I got to use an AVID after cutting ‘Dark Days’ on a flatbed for six months (film editing machine). For those that have ever actually cut film, it’s a total pain in the ass. You literally have to cut the workprint and then stick your shots together with sticky tape. I remember the old time editors telling me how much they loved it as you actually got to ‘feel the film’. After using the AVID, I remember telling them to take a piece of film home with them at night and ‘feel it’ there… then go into work the next day and cut on the AVID. Comparing P2 to tape is literally that different.
At the end of the day, I dump the P2 cards to a few firewire drives, down covert everything to tape as a last resort back-up (all done in camera) and then reformat the cards. You’re ready to go. It’s so simple it’s ridicules.
Talking of simple, the camera is also so user friendly it’s a total pleasure to work with. For all the various things that this little camera is capable of doing, it really is simple to use. I’m not the most technical guy in the world and if I can use it, anyone can. There’s not much the instruction manual doesn’t cover and anything that you can’t figure out on your own…. just ask Barry Green ?. (A round of applause is definitely in order for that guy. He’s great. He’s never met me, didn’t know a thing about me, but still answered every question I sent him and was completely patient with me when I wasn’t getting it).
I guess there are a lot of people out there anticipating getting their hands on this thing. I feel really lucky to be using it for this project and I can promise you, you won’t be disappointed. The picture quality you get with this camera is fantastic. It’s been great in pretty much every lighting situation I’ve used it in. The slow motion is probably the coolest thing I can think of and looks awesome. (I set the various frame rates and ‘looks’ in my scene files). There really isn’t much, if anything at all, that I can find wrong with this thing. For the price, I think it’s a bargain. There is so much more I want to say about this camera, but for now I’ve got to go. . I have to be up at 5.00 am and need to get all of my stuff ready…
Take care and good luck.
:thumbsup:
