How does the XH A1 Compare to the Sony FX1?

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Yes, Kevin is right, there is no real difference in sensors or image quality etc between the FX1 and Z1 cameras (just the better handling and settings options of the Z1 body).

[Tom Hardwick]

Stu's right - the FX1 and Z1 are identical (barring production tolerances) in the low light stakes. But the Z1 has the option of the 'hyper gain' (fun to play with, almost useless because of the grain) and black stretch.

Black Stretch adds noise, and therefore uses some of the low-light sensitivity, i.e. reduces the photographic "speed" of the camera. The usual solution is to reduce the bandwidth of the front end near black, this lowers the noise level a little. Most of the small cameras don't follow the normal gamma rules anyway, they often use modified curves that have a built-in knee to cope with overloads, my old MX300 does this very nicely.

tom.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Originally Posted by Tony Davies-Patrick

I'm editing together some XL2 & Z1 footage at the moment...

Trying to match a more static indoor scene with both cameras aimed at almost the same angle but with different framing would probably be more of a headache during the editing stages, especially trying to exactly match background wall colours or flesh tones.

The above has suddenly rung true and I've got a problem on my hands. We did a few outdoor static interviews with both cameras. With the other footage I've been able to adjust the Z1 clips by adjusting colour, contrast, gamma and brightness, so that they blend in a bit better with the XL2 clips. Not perfect, but not too bad with moving subjects and various backgrounds and changing light conditions. However, the static interview footage is so markedly different in colouration between the Z1 and XL2 that it has been almost impossible for it be matched. The Z1 footage looks OK on its own, but side-by-side comparison with the XL2 shows up the Z1 as having washed-out colours and slight brownish cast and looks terrible against the wonderful colours of the XL2. I've decided to drop the Interview Z1 clips and only use the XL2.

In hindsight it would probably have been better to leave both cameras on 'normal' instead of trying to match in-camera by using separate Presets, as this would have made it easier to match in post. The problem is that I love the end results that the XL2 Presets provide and don't think that it can be quite matched by using computer software adjustments during the editing stages.

Obviously footage from the XL2/G1/A1/H1 group of cameras would be a lot easier to match each other.

[Bill Pryor]

The brownish cast implies to me that the white balance of the Z1 was screwed up. I've seen lots of footage shot with the Z1, as well as the XL2 and have used both myself. Both cameras give excellent color.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Originally Posted by Bill Pryor

The brownish cast implies to me that the white balance of the Z1 was screwed up. I've seen lots of footage shot with the Z1, as well as the XL2 and have used both myself. Both cameras give excellent color.

Gareth was on the Z1 and he always double-checks his white balance. I shouldn't really have mentioned 'brownish cast' in the previous post, as in essence the colours look OK when viewed on their own. It is just when I place them against the XL2 footage that I notice how different it is.
I've seen awesome footage from his Z1, so I'm not saying that it is not a superb camera, but more that the XL2 produces footage closer to my personal taste - and that trying to match the two is not easy for certain subjects.

[Gareth Watkins]

Hi Guys

I too had a hard job matching the footage from the two cameras, so it comes as no surprise that Tony found the same... to me the XL2 footage was too greeny/blue...

Quality and sharpness were about the same but colours were way off...and correction in PPro was not easy... for my DVD and webvideos it scraped through ok... but I took three or four goes before I was satrisfied.... I also actually found my Z1 too red/brown... (just out of the box, since my FX1 got stolen, so perhaps this was what Tony was seeing..).. this has since been toned down for better results....

I've also been downrezzing my footage from HDV.. is this a good move? or would my shots have been better on native Dvcam??? .... Naturally the HDV rez is far higher than the XL2 but am I crippling this by using the in cam down-rez...????

I 've not got the PC power to downrez after acqisition...so a new PC is on the cards as soon as funds allow...

Anyway I now continue shooting in HDV, to future proof good sequences, and outputting, DVD and Webvideo material.. so the camera is paying its way....

Hope to hook up with Tony soon for more fun fishing...

Regards

Gareth

[Tom Hardwick]

Maybe if you're considering intercutting Z1 and XL footage again, it may be better to switch the Z1 to its DVCAM mode. That way you avoid the down-rezzing and shooting native DV may be a better match.

tom.