Eric Coughlin
Veteran
So I stopped by B&H in NY a few days ago and got to play around with the Varicam LT for about 15 minutes. The B&H guy there didn't seem to know the camera too well, so I was on my own to figure out some basics in a short time. Perhaps those with more experience with the camera can clarify some possible misgivings I had with it. Again, I just had a short time with it, so some of the below may be oversights, which I'm curious to find out if they are or not. In quotes here are initial thoughts I texted to a colleague who is considering the camera just after leaving the store...
"I'm not a fan of the control module. Doesn't seem as well balanced on the shoulder as the Amira. Image in the viewfinder wasn't that great, but perhaps peaking was on and I couldn't figure out how to turn it off. WB controls are a bit wonky, uses presets and I couldn't figure out how to dial in exact temperatures quickly. Native ISO 5000 looked a lot noisier than Native 800. In camera noise reduction helped quite a bit, but only has an on/off settings unlike the C-series which is 1-12.
Three XRL inputs is nice. Happy to see that the control module can also display the camera's image."
I couldn't find peaking. Where is that turned on and off?
The WB controls had presets of 2700, 3200, 4300, 5600, 6500. Going into the menu (which I did via the control panel) I was able to adjust, if I recall rightly, plus and minus from the presets, to get more specific numbers, but this method wasn't particularity quick to do. When controlling the camera from the viewfinder with the viewfinder's control dial, it only showed me the preset WB numbers, without an option to dial in specific numbers. Can you dial in specific numbers without the control module?
Overall I found the body to be heavily lacking in buttons. My C300 Mark II has 17 buttons on the main body (not including the LCD portion), most of which are assignable. I count six buttons on the Varicam LT (not including the viewfinder and control module). How easy/difficult is it to control the camera in general without the control module? For a camera pretty well designed for shoulder use I'm having a hard time figuring out the thinking in the placement of the control module. The B&H guy said the camera is difficult to control without the control module.
The control module doesn't seem as nimble in positioning as say, the LCD on an FS7 or C300, which can be placed on several different positions on the camera. The control module also seems a bit wobbly on the camera, as I didn't see a way to tighten it down hard. I almost feel like for Steadicam use I'd need to gaff tape it down. Another thing that bothers me about it is that even though you can have the camera's image displayed on it, the size and position of the screen seem to indicate they don't intend you to use that as your main screen, and expect you to use an external monitor, which means three monitors (viewfinder, control module, and third party external monitor) to work with the camera, which is fine for some types of shoots, but not for others.
I put the viewfinder as far away from the camera as it could go, and it still seemed a bit close to the camera, as my face was still touching the side of the camera, and if someone had a larger head, this could be more of an issue (unless there's more adjustment than I thought was possible).
"I'm not a fan of the control module. Doesn't seem as well balanced on the shoulder as the Amira. Image in the viewfinder wasn't that great, but perhaps peaking was on and I couldn't figure out how to turn it off. WB controls are a bit wonky, uses presets and I couldn't figure out how to dial in exact temperatures quickly. Native ISO 5000 looked a lot noisier than Native 800. In camera noise reduction helped quite a bit, but only has an on/off settings unlike the C-series which is 1-12.
Three XRL inputs is nice. Happy to see that the control module can also display the camera's image."
I couldn't find peaking. Where is that turned on and off?
The WB controls had presets of 2700, 3200, 4300, 5600, 6500. Going into the menu (which I did via the control panel) I was able to adjust, if I recall rightly, plus and minus from the presets, to get more specific numbers, but this method wasn't particularity quick to do. When controlling the camera from the viewfinder with the viewfinder's control dial, it only showed me the preset WB numbers, without an option to dial in specific numbers. Can you dial in specific numbers without the control module?
Overall I found the body to be heavily lacking in buttons. My C300 Mark II has 17 buttons on the main body (not including the LCD portion), most of which are assignable. I count six buttons on the Varicam LT (not including the viewfinder and control module). How easy/difficult is it to control the camera in general without the control module? For a camera pretty well designed for shoulder use I'm having a hard time figuring out the thinking in the placement of the control module. The B&H guy said the camera is difficult to control without the control module.
The control module doesn't seem as nimble in positioning as say, the LCD on an FS7 or C300, which can be placed on several different positions on the camera. The control module also seems a bit wobbly on the camera, as I didn't see a way to tighten it down hard. I almost feel like for Steadicam use I'd need to gaff tape it down. Another thing that bothers me about it is that even though you can have the camera's image displayed on it, the size and position of the screen seem to indicate they don't intend you to use that as your main screen, and expect you to use an external monitor, which means three monitors (viewfinder, control module, and third party external monitor) to work with the camera, which is fine for some types of shoots, but not for others.
I put the viewfinder as far away from the camera as it could go, and it still seemed a bit close to the camera, as my face was still touching the side of the camera, and if someone had a larger head, this could be more of an issue (unless there's more adjustment than I thought was possible).
