Notes on my new EX1

Noah Yuan-Vogel · August 20th, 2008, 12:20 AM

My EX1 just got delivered by UPS today (ordered from Tapeworks Texas). I've been playing around with it just a little in the past hour or two and have so far come across a few things ive taken note of.

-The lens doesnt seem to really be f1.9 through its zoom range. The brightness seems to drop down to an equivalent of just over f2.8 at its telephoto end.

-I've heard brief mention of this before, but -3db gain is not like other gain values, it seems to change the gamma or knee somewhat. In my picture profile where white is 109%, using -3db gain seems to change the white limit to 104%

-When adjusting the gamma value (ive mostly had cine4 selected), the white level is not locked as the gamma changes. For example +99 gamma level results in a maximum white value of 95% or so instead of 109%. I've seen this happen for some high positive knee slope values as well (didnt test that today but remember seeing it in the past). This seems to make those options much less useful.

-Cant decide yet if i like using direct menu or physical switches for gamma/iris/shutter adjustments, wish i could use both...

-Damn just missed the new firmware, mine is 1.05 which is probably fine, but I probably shouldve waited for a week I bet this weeks shipment is 1.11 (thats the newest right?)

BTW this camera is awesome, ive used the HVX a bit and a few other competing cameras and the customization, features, and clean picture of the EX1 is really impressive by comparison

Serena Steuart · August 21st, 2008, 01:27 AM

1) lens max f/stop: correct, it does ramp to f/2.8 although showing f/1.9 on display.
3) cine4 +gamma: cine4 rolls off gamma to compress highlights (see Default Cinealta Gamma Curves - Gamma Curves DV Info Net Gallery) so keeping them from overexposing; excellent for avoiding clipping clouds etc but produces a flat highlights. Generally I like this, but wouldn't use for sunsets (for example). Increasing gamma causes the top of the curve to flatten (rather like cine2), so nothing more than +20 should be used if you wish to avoid that.
4) I think the joystick is the quickest control for changing most shooting parameters, but obviously some things must be done in menus.

August 20th, 2008, 12:20 AM	#1
Noah Yuan-Vogel Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: New York City Posts: 407	Notes on my new EX1 My EX1 just got delivered by UPS today (ordered from Tapeworks Texas). I've been playing around with it just a little in the past hour or two and have so far come across a few things ive taken note of. -The lens doesnt seem to really be f1.9 through its zoom range. The brightness seems to drop down to an equivalent of just over f2.8 at its telephoto end. -I've heard brief mention of this before, but -3db gain is not like other gain values, it seems to change the gamma or knee somewhat. In my picture profile where white is 109%, using -3db gain seems to change the white limit to 104% -When adjusting the gamma value (ive mostly had cine4 selected), the white level is not locked as the gamma changes. For example +99 gamma level results in a maximum white value of 95% or so instead of 109%. I've seen this happen for some high positive knee slope values as well (didnt test that today but remember seeing it in the past). This seems to make those options much less useful. -Cant decide yet if i like using direct menu or physical switches for gamma/iris/shutter adjustments, wish i could use both... -Damn just missed the new firmware, mine is 1.05 which is probably fine, but I probably shouldve waited for a week I bet this weeks shipment is 1.11 (thats the newest right?) BTW this camera is awesome, ive used the HVX a bit and a few other competing cameras and the customization, features, and clean picture of the EX1 is really impressive by comparison

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August 21st, 2008, 01:27 AM	#2
Serena Steuart Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Studio Alnitak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 352 Images: 3	1) lens max f/stop: correct, it does ramp to f/2.8 although showing f/1.9 on display. 3) cine4 +gamma: cine4 rolls off gamma to compress highlights (see Default Cinealta Gamma Curves - Gamma Curves DV Info Net Gallery) so keeping them from overexposing; excellent for avoiding clipping clouds etc but produces a flat highlights. Generally I like this, but wouldn't use for sunsets (for example). Increasing gamma causes the top of the curve to flatten (rather like cine2), so nothing more than +20 should be used if you wish to avoid that. 4) I think the joystick is the quickest control for changing most shooting parameters, but obviously some things must be done in menus.