Hey, been a while since I've posted. I have a DVX-100a and a sizeable question. Planning a ski trip to France in Feb. Need some advice. Anyone have any experience with the DVX in a cold-weather/snow scenario (or even specifically for skiing/riding footage)? I have experience with small camcorders in this situation (Sony PC 7/9), but not with the dvx, so there are two things I am concerned about: physical/environment issues and the look of the footage.
So, firstly: is there gear I can/should buy to protect against temperature and moisture? For the mini camcorders I would use skydiving gear, including what is referred to as a camera condom (yeah, that's what it's really called=)). I'm sure some of you are familar with it, it's essentially a neoprene 'glove' that's made to exactly fit the contour of the camera body. Works well. Is there such a thing for the DVX?
Secondly, aesthetics. I'm still a novice with the DVX, and the anticipated shooting conditions seem slightly problematic. Vast expanses of white snow, big skies, and bright sun. Nice for skiing, scary (to me) for shooting. I will be shooting in the Vallee Blanche (Chamonix), which is supposed to be really beautiful, so I'll be aiming to capture the nature more than the other skiers (and thus I'd aim to expose for the snow, mountains and sky, rather than human faces.) So does anyone have any settings suggestions (both menu and on-camera switches)? (I'm aiming (or trying to) for the most naturalistic look possible, color-wise). Is there a way to try to give the snow texture (as opposed to having big swaths of empty white space) without having the sunny day look too dark and without completely blowing out my whites? Should I consider purchasing a polarizing (or other) filter for the sun and/or brightness? I have a (non-fully zoomable) wide angle adapter, would seem silly not use it up there, but that may prevent the use of a filter (at least a screw-on). Have a Cinetactics matteblox w/oversize flag but have not experimented using it with the wide angle, so I don't know yet if that is workable. Has anyone tried that out?
So, to condense:
Camera protection?
Settings?
Adapter?
Filter?
Help!
=)
Please excuse the colossal length of this post.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Jon
So, firstly: is there gear I can/should buy to protect against temperature and moisture? For the mini camcorders I would use skydiving gear, including what is referred to as a camera condom (yeah, that's what it's really called=)). I'm sure some of you are familar with it, it's essentially a neoprene 'glove' that's made to exactly fit the contour of the camera body. Works well. Is there such a thing for the DVX?
Secondly, aesthetics. I'm still a novice with the DVX, and the anticipated shooting conditions seem slightly problematic. Vast expanses of white snow, big skies, and bright sun. Nice for skiing, scary (to me) for shooting. I will be shooting in the Vallee Blanche (Chamonix), which is supposed to be really beautiful, so I'll be aiming to capture the nature more than the other skiers (and thus I'd aim to expose for the snow, mountains and sky, rather than human faces.) So does anyone have any settings suggestions (both menu and on-camera switches)? (I'm aiming (or trying to) for the most naturalistic look possible, color-wise). Is there a way to try to give the snow texture (as opposed to having big swaths of empty white space) without having the sunny day look too dark and without completely blowing out my whites? Should I consider purchasing a polarizing (or other) filter for the sun and/or brightness? I have a (non-fully zoomable) wide angle adapter, would seem silly not use it up there, but that may prevent the use of a filter (at least a screw-on). Have a Cinetactics matteblox w/oversize flag but have not experimented using it with the wide angle, so I don't know yet if that is workable. Has anyone tried that out?
So, to condense:
Camera protection?
Settings?
Adapter?
Filter?
Help!
=)
Please excuse the colossal length of this post.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Jon
