I did a wee bit of experimenting with the camera before the battery died ( I always run a new battery dead, even though it always happens at the worst time).
And the results are very pleasing. Like all DSLRs, the camera is a stills camera first. And it takes very pretty pictures (which will be of use for press kits, groups photos, headshots, etc), but I really want it for it's HD 1080p images.
I didn't shoot much - there's lots to learn first - but the learning curve, while steep at first, seemed to come a bit easier as the night went on. It's my first LSR/DSLR.
Full review later, but here's just a few 1st impressions:
1. It's small. Coming from the fairly large JVC 100, it's quite a shock. The battery pack alone from the JVC is probably about the same size - and heavier. Will make it much easier to move around, but much harder to impress a 100 extras to run around at 2am in the rain.
2. The viewfinder isn't a "video cam" finder, but rather a HD 3" screen (the best in the biz - better even then the Mark II). Absolutely need a Zacuto for daylight shooting. Focusing was no problem with this screen, which leads me to the next point...
3. Depth of field is genius. It's 35mm. It's film. It's what every indie film maker has strove to obtain since video cameras becomae the norm. Depending on the lens, it's much easier to achieve a "movie-ish" look with this camera. Right out of the box, it was easier to achieve selective DOF then with the 1/3" chip set JVC 100.
4. Work flow. 2 words - it works. I bought a 3rd party 16gb (Adata) SDHC class 6 card for $40 and an eight dollar "50-1" card reader (ecotrend/sakar) to connect the card to my PC. It didn't see it at first, but after I kicked my PC a few times, lo and behold - the footage I shot was there. Then, crossing my fingers, I opened Premiere Pro 3 and opened a new timeline. Without much hope, I imported the footage and dragged it onto the timeline.
And it worked - it "saw" the footage. I rendered it, and it played fine. I couldn't believe it. With the JVC, I'd have to first play back the tape while digitizing it first with Vegas, then bringing it in to Premiere after it was conformed with cincefiorm. So essentially, this camera eliminates 3 huge pain in the ass steps. I'm almost crying I'm so happy.
For the first time in years, I can shoot some footage and be editing it within minutes. Awesome. Now, I haven't tried exporting it or anything, and there might be some hidden pitfalls, but so far so good.
5. Battery took about an hour and a half to charge, which I'd say is decent - prolly get 2 more batteries, assuming they last an hour with heavy usage.
5. Kit lens is "medium" zoom lens. Not terribly fast, but fine for the $100 it cost. Worked well, and responded quickly and accuarately for manual focusing. The autofocus (a feature I rarely use) worked well and all in all, it felt like a very well thought out package.
More latter, but so far so good!
john
And the results are very pleasing. Like all DSLRs, the camera is a stills camera first. And it takes very pretty pictures (which will be of use for press kits, groups photos, headshots, etc), but I really want it for it's HD 1080p images.
I didn't shoot much - there's lots to learn first - but the learning curve, while steep at first, seemed to come a bit easier as the night went on. It's my first LSR/DSLR.
Full review later, but here's just a few 1st impressions:
1. It's small. Coming from the fairly large JVC 100, it's quite a shock. The battery pack alone from the JVC is probably about the same size - and heavier. Will make it much easier to move around, but much harder to impress a 100 extras to run around at 2am in the rain.
2. The viewfinder isn't a "video cam" finder, but rather a HD 3" screen (the best in the biz - better even then the Mark II). Absolutely need a Zacuto for daylight shooting. Focusing was no problem with this screen, which leads me to the next point...
3. Depth of field is genius. It's 35mm. It's film. It's what every indie film maker has strove to obtain since video cameras becomae the norm. Depending on the lens, it's much easier to achieve a "movie-ish" look with this camera. Right out of the box, it was easier to achieve selective DOF then with the 1/3" chip set JVC 100.
4. Work flow. 2 words - it works. I bought a 3rd party 16gb (Adata) SDHC class 6 card for $40 and an eight dollar "50-1" card reader (ecotrend/sakar) to connect the card to my PC. It didn't see it at first, but after I kicked my PC a few times, lo and behold - the footage I shot was there. Then, crossing my fingers, I opened Premiere Pro 3 and opened a new timeline. Without much hope, I imported the footage and dragged it onto the timeline.
And it worked - it "saw" the footage. I rendered it, and it played fine. I couldn't believe it. With the JVC, I'd have to first play back the tape while digitizing it first with Vegas, then bringing it in to Premiere after it was conformed with cincefiorm. So essentially, this camera eliminates 3 huge pain in the ass steps. I'm almost crying I'm so happy.
For the first time in years, I can shoot some footage and be editing it within minutes. Awesome. Now, I haven't tried exporting it or anything, and there might be some hidden pitfalls, but so far so good.
5. Battery took about an hour and a half to charge, which I'd say is decent - prolly get 2 more batteries, assuming they last an hour with heavy usage.
5. Kit lens is "medium" zoom lens. Not terribly fast, but fine for the $100 it cost. Worked well, and responded quickly and accuarately for manual focusing. The autofocus (a feature I rarely use) worked well and all in all, it felt like a very well thought out package.
More latter, but so far so good!
john
. the difference with fast glass on your camera is night and day.
