GL / XM assorted posts, 2003

[Joe Lloyd]

Hi Anna,

The DM-50 in my opinion is better than the on camera mic, but not as good as something like the Sennheiser ME66. I have the DM50, when it is in teh shotgun setting it picks up alot less ambient noise than the on camera mic.

[Cosmin Rotaru]

A B/W viewfinder (the CRT type, not LCD) I think it costs more and surely consumes more power - not good for thouse economic camcorders. This is also why we have a fire by wire focus ring (and zoom ring in other cameras) and not a mechanical one.

My viewfinder and also the LCD screen are oversaturated and redish... Does not help me with the manual WB!

[Bud Kuenzli]

fwiw...

[Michael Prediger]

Hey guys. I just got to play with my spanky new GL2 a bit and I was wondering if any of you guys keep a written shot log to notate different shots, subjects, etc.

I always do this when shooting stills and will probably continue for video. Just wondering if any of you fine folks have devised other systems to do this type of thing.

Have a day,
Michael

[Jason Balich]

I am wondering if I should be concerned that Premeire opens projects at 29.97 and I shoot at 30/60 frames per second. Should I always change the project settings to make these match when i go into editing.. say to 30fps instead of 29.97? Does this cause problems in the long run. What is the story with this difference and does it matter? Coudl this be why i cannot see the output when i run it back to tape?

[Frank Granovski]

NTSC is 29.97 frames per second, but broken up as fields. It's just that 30 sounds simpler.

[Jason Balich]

ok' so what im capturing from my gl2 is interlaced video if i have my project set at 29.97?? Is this correct? SO if i put it to 30 fps in the project then import... then it wont be interlaced? Im not sure what is what and when i get interlaced or not. I am realy confused to when i get interlaced video "by choice" and when i bring video in as as frames and have to deinterlace it by setting it to lower field or upper to get rid of the jaggy steping of interlaced video.

Very simply, am i capturing NTSE interlaced video and working on it when i bring it in? HELP, im confused bigtime'

[Ken Tanaka]

Michael,
If I'm shooting something structured and planned then yes, I will keep track of camera settings. Also, when taking test shots of tricky scenes I'll often slate various settings, making it easier to compare clips on edit previews.

But, in general, keeping track of camera settings is an excellent learning aid for getting the hang of cause and effect with any camera, whether still, video or film. As someone once said to me, "If you don't know how to get there what's the difference where you are?".

Keep logging and reviewing. Consider slating for convenience.

[Akos Szemenyei]

I definitely should, lol, will probably do it next production.

[Rob Lohman]

Don't worry about interlaced versus frames. If you capture
interlaced it will stay interlaced until you either tell Premier to
de-interlace it your export it de-interlaced. As Frank said,
the 30 is just easier talk. Remember that fields are half a frame.
So you have shot at 59,94 fields per second which is exactly
29,97 fps (frame per second). So no worries!

[Steve Urban]

Hi All:

I went for the Century Optics 2x from B&H. Thanks for all your past comments on tele-converters.

I'm planning on taking video of mostly birds with 2x and posting the mini-clips on my website plus watch on TV. Might also do a 30 minute video and copy to VHS tape to send out to a few people. Based on my use for 2x do you recommend shooting in Normal or Frame mode?

I did a search on wildlife, nature, etc... but did not find what might be the best mode for web and vhs tape. I thought I remember seeing someone mention that normal mode would allow you to see more detail of the birds.

I did notice after screwing the 2x on the GL2 that when looking through the viewfinder it looked like viewing into a circle. Once I zoomed out to maybe 5x (time 2) really 10x now, the circle disappeared. The 2x lens if heavy but my large battery pack on the back sort of balances it off a little.

Thanks.

Steve

[Ryan Krga]

Is there anyway to save the setting so I don't have to press it everytime I turn on the camera? It's not that I'm too lazy to keep pressing the button, but I am just wondering if there is a way to save me one second of my life.

About 99.9% of the time I film in manual focus, so I would like to have it on at all times.

Thank you very much,
Ryan Krga

[Ken Tanaka]

Instead of turning the camera off you could switch it to "Lock". It's not a good idea to leave it that way indefinitely but you can certainly use this method while shooting throughout a day.

[Ryan Krga]

I was just thinking that right after I posted, stupid me.

I finally got the chance to shoot in a perfectly lighted area at night tonight and wow, the GL2's quality is speechless. The only problem is that I zoomed in and for some reason it went out of focus, then I noticed that the manual focus was off.

[Marcia Janine Galles]

Hello. I posted nearly the same thread/question in the PDX10 section as well, but hadn't heard from anybody with GL2 experience. I'm admittedly new around here, and so far I haven't found any posts that answer some of questions so I thought I'd venture forth.

At this point I've narrowed down my purchase options to a GL2 or PDX10, and am leaning towards the PDX10, except for a few concerns. I confess to being a Canon lover (from my AE1 days to Elan, to my digital G3) so I'd previously been set on the GL2, but as a former editor, the DV Cam of the PDX10 is appealing, as is its 16 x 9. But I've been put off by the threads I've read (around here as well as at Apple's FCP site) that mention the PDX10 being poor in low light (not good when I'll be shooting things like a night grunion run). Does anyone have any experience with both cameras? The GL2 seems to have its low light issues as well. Has anyone had any real success with the GL2 in, say, moonlight? Are there any options to punch up that capability beyond hauling out the lights? (Forgive me if this is a no brainer question... I'm new to this end of the production line.) I like the size of the GL2 over the PDX10.

I'm ready to plunk down my money, but these issues have been hanging me up. Well, these and the hard time I've been having getting my hands on an actual PDX10 to check out how it feels to me. But any and all feedback would be very appreciated.

My hope is, down the line, for whicheve I select to become my B cam, and shell out for the XL2 when it hits later this year. But that will depend entirely on how my present efforts pan out, so for now, I need the best I can come up with at the start. So much to buy, and so little money!

Thanks in advance,
Marcia