Just ordered an FX1, could somebody please recommend me some extre essentials?
 

firstly i would just like to say hello, ive been a reader of this forum for a while and have found the information available here a god send. Ive just signed up having purchased an hdv camera and seeking some proffesional advice.

ive upgraded from my trv950 and am looking to grab a few extras to go with my new piece of kit. Ive already got a tripod which im happy with.

i'll be looking at getting a microphone, carry case/bag & an extra battery but is there anything else i need to buy? such as a decent set of lens filters i should look into? and are hd tapes really worth the £15 each price tag?

the project im working on at the moment is going to be a studio shoot but after that i will be filming various different projects in many different scenarios both indoors and out day and night.

at the moment i have an ag neovo f-419 tft montor

http://www.rocate.co.uk/product.php?...FQYhMAodzWMqmg

will this be decent enough for previewing or would it be worth investing in an extra screen?

oh yeh and any essential software recomendations? im currenty running premier pro 2 and i use after effects quite frequently but more for getting stylised looks than motion graphics or hardcore effects

hopefully somebody can help and sorry there are so many questions but i thought it would be best to put them all in the one post

thanks

Stick

The most important addition would be a clear filter to put over your lens. Also get a neutral density filter to augment the ones in the camera so you can open the iris all the way on a sunny day to get a good depth of field.

XLR adapter for Pro microphone use.. I have beachtek..

Mike Moncrief

I recommend AspectHD from Cineform as essential tools while working with AE and Premiere Pro.

-Steve

Thankyou very much for your comments, i will definitly look into beachtek - any particularly good model for the fx1? the one on their website which they advertise as especially designed for use with it is quite expensive. Ill take a look at some lenses and have today checked out cineform, it looks great but ill try premier without first see how i get on... thanks again

Him

i believe my beachtek adapter is a DXA-4

Mike Moncrief

1. My DXA-4, originally bought for my VX2000 works fine with the FX1

2. If you plan a lot of handheld, you may want a shouder brace for better stability.

3. If nature is your game, you will have to go with a teleextender.

4. For simple editing, HDV native will do fine in both Premiere Pro 2 and Vegas 7. If you want to go heavy in color correction and or a lot of effects, probably Cineform Aspect HD for Premiere is way to go. Don't forget to plan for 3 times the disk space.

I would recommend an external charger for your batteries. The FX1 has had issues with being plugged in using the supplied adapter to charge your battery. Since all the power failures popped up a year or so ago, I've been wary of plugging in my camera and only run off battery power.

ive got a fig rig so i will see how the stability compares there, aching arms though.. may invest in one - thanks

and is hdv footage 3 times the size of dv or just when using cineform?

my trv950 charges when connected to the camera, i was hoping for a seperate charger with this camera.. thanks a lot i will grab one :)

Steven,
Which ND filter would you reccomend. Since the FX1 is 72mm, whatever I get I can also use on my XL2.
Bruce S. Yarock
www.yarock.com

Hi Stick

Having owned an FX1 and now on a Z1, I'd agree with the opinions above...
couple the Beachtek with a half way decent mic like an AT897 or a Rode NTG2
and you'll improve the audio on the camera...

Re: filters I find a Formatt or TLS Kestrel Matte box great for the filters... I've both the ND's and a Polariser, which with the french flag certainly helps get the nicest images out of the camera...

I've just ordered a shoulder mount too, as despite having used both cameras now for a couple of years I find on the jobs where I have to hand hold for long periods...I spent all day on a boat shooting a fly fishing doc this week, the camera soon feels heavy with a filter set up and mic mounted...

Regards

Gareth
Also originally from Cardiff...

thankyou very much, the kestrel matte box looks great but its quite pricey.. could you elaborate on its advantages, say compared to a couple of screw on £30 jessops filters?

Hi Stick

Well compared to the camera and other Matte box systems its not that dear...

It can also be reused when you change your camera... (changing at most the adapter ring) if your new one has a different thread you'll have to get new filters...4x4's are standard...you can make up a collection of filters that will always be useful...even if you move up to full size cameras. I've draw full of various still camera filters, UV's Polarizers, effects..49mm,52mm,55mm that are useless...

It gives you the added advantage of a french flag, which is like putting a peaked cap on the camera in the sun.. makes a huge difference. How often have we seen the dust, and dirt on a lens as it follows a subject into a contre jour situation??... this accessory really helps prevent this....

You can stack two filters without it vignetting.. say a Polarizer and an ND...often if you screw two on it vignettes... don't know with the Z1 as I've never tried screw on's.

To my mind it is one of those small add ons that helps improve your pictures... every little helps to get more professional results...

Regards

Gareth

In Cineform. Cineform trancodes the HDV to a frame by frame .avi file. In other words, the .avi file creates full frames, whereas the hdv process uses prior frame's information to fill a current frame in a group of frames (GOP). Saves room in an HDV file to bring it down to size of a standard DV file.

nice one thankyou very much... looks like i better invest in another hard drive/delete some of the junk on my pc.. got 500gbs at the moment which is over 2x 250gb satas.. i was previously running them in raid but a crash meant i lost all my data so i dont really want to go back down that root, im hoping my drives will be fast enough for hdv :)

and thanks for the mattebox comments aswell, i will look into it - got a friend whos a photographer and has endless filters he wouldnt mind me *borrowing*

thankyou once again

stick