Safe zone issue
 

Hey all,
I just shot some still photos with my xl1, making certain that the entire photo filled the frame, but to my dismay, in reviewing some of the shots, the outlying background was in plain view. I could have resolved the issue with a monitor, but if I'm out in the field, that's not always an option. Is there some sort of reference point that can be used or is this just a "getting a feel for the camera" kinda thing?

Hi Daniel,
If I understand correctly, you were dismayed to discover that stuff outside of your viewfinder frame appeared in your footage?

If so, yes, that is part of getting the feeling for the camera. The color viewfinder on the XL1 and XL1s has a rather dramatic "underscan" area, meaning that it does not display the entire frame as it's being recorded to tape. So you'll have to make sure that mic booms and other distractions are well out of the frame. Using only the color viewfinder, it will just take some practice.

The alternatives are (a) to buy the b&w viewfinder, which has a much higher resolution and shows the entire frame, or (b) use a professional field monitor that enables you to display the underscan area. Neither option is inexpensive.

FWIW, most 35mm still cameras also have a significant 'underscan' in their viewfinders, about 10% is typical.

A workaround at this time may be to use a image editing program such as Photoshop or PhotoPaint to crop and rescale the images you have captured.

Althought Ken remarks are very good, if you ONLY want to see
what signal you can get you might also get a cheap (LCD) monitor
that SHOWS you the complete image. Doesn't have to be a
reference monitor if you only use it for that. If you want to judge
quality and exposure etc. as well a professional reference monitor
is a good thing to get ofcourse!

Actually, I'm not sure that there are many, if any, truly inexpensive lcd's that display the underscan area. I know that my 5" Marshall does not, nor did a 5" Varizoom I used to have.

The 7" Panasonic lcd (and Nebtek's adaptation of that unit) is an exception, and displays the wall-to-wall signal (and is gorgeous, to boot). I have one myself and love it. But, at $600 it's not really inexpensive. Although that's certainly less of a bank-breaker than the $1,200-$1,500 that the b&w viewfinder will set you back.

I thought there were more, my bad. I'll do some more research
in the future before posting such a statement. At least it was
partially true. Thanks Ken!