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Sony XDCAM EX Pro Handhelds
Sony PXW-Z280, Z190, X180 etc. (going back to EX3 & EX1) recording to SxS flash memory.

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Old January 19th, 2008, 01:12 PM   #1
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ex questions re: autofocus, hd to sd quality

We shoot with a variety of cameras including the f350 and z1 along with sd gear. I have an ex1 on hold for purchase next week and would like feedback before we take the jump:

1. How well it downcoverts (final cut or vegas) to sd dvd video which still represents the vast majority of our final product. I read somewhere that the z1 actaully does a noticeably better job downcoverted to sd.

2. Without a lanc control what are the options to operate from a jib.

3. Autofocus versus other hand held cameras ie: the z1.

thanks in advance

dave

Last edited by Dave Allan; January 20th, 2008 at 03:27 AM.
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Old January 19th, 2008, 01:56 PM   #2
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Auto Focus seems a bit slow but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It you're tracking a moving object such as people walking past trees in front of them, it'll keep tracking the people and not refocus to each tree. On the other hand, if you jump from object to object it'll take time to lock . . . but that's when I'd use manual focus anyway.

There are controllers on the way.
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Old January 19th, 2008, 11:26 PM   #3
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I’m using auto focus allot... the auto focus will work great as long you point it center in the frame, in other words the ex1 auto focus is limited, and will only look for the center to focus... if you keep this in mind when composing your shot, auto focus will work real fast, until you zoom in all the way, then it will take more time... so be ready to assist manually!
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Old January 20th, 2008, 03:22 AM   #4
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Thanks for the input, any expereince in downcoverted footage quality to sd?
Does it hold up to quality sd cameras such as the dsr 450/500? Or for that matter the f330 or f350?
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Old January 20th, 2008, 08:52 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Allan View Post
Thanks for the input, any expereince in downcoverted footage quality to sd?
Does it hold up to quality sd cameras such as the dsr 450/500? Or for that matter the f330 or f350?
That is really hard to say without side to side comparisons but I have downconverted both interlaced and progressive material to PAL using software transcoding in my Avid Media Composer and it looks good to me. As far as SD goes that is... ;-)
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Old January 20th, 2008, 04:25 PM   #6
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Oh!... I'm Asking The Same For My Self!

I was about to buy the dsr 400-450, but the size was a problem for what I need it, so I got the ex1 for the size and quality. I also got the vortex media: Mastering the PMW-EX1, and believe me "ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY" when I ran into extra deep questions about down convert, I emailed Mr. Douglas Jensen <douglas@vortexmedia.com> and the great fast support I got from him was amazing.

Dear Dave,
I have lots of footage, and I’m willing to put it up somewhere so people can judge, I just don’t know were I can upload it. I can maybe mail you a sd DVD.

So far about how it looks and what I thing is like this:

No SD camera this price and size will give you the control and image touch the ex1 holds on after down converting.

When I see the final sd DVD, the dsr 400/450 in my opinion looks like original pro. great footage and the ex1 looks like down converted stuff which is pretty nice too... and I’m almost certain, I will be able to withstand a test for my self, and with out knowing before, identify original footage, vs. down converted footage... and this fact really bothers me!
Got the idea? And If any one on this forum things I’m wrong, I’m willing to hear why…

Regards
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Old January 20th, 2008, 04:44 PM   #7
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How you do the downconvert can have a major impact on the result. Downconverting HD to SD sounds trivial but it's not. I only have to look at a lot of OTA SD broadcasts that are downconverted HD to see problems and they've got some pretty expensive boxes doing the conversion.
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Old January 20th, 2008, 05:10 PM   #8
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well; i'm using final cut studio2
and the medhood I learned from vortex media Mastering the PMW-EX1, and some do's 'n' dont's here in this forum. and after all my afford, the final picture still looks edgy at the corners, the almost the entire ex1 smoothness is lost.
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Old January 20th, 2008, 05:28 PM   #9
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Joel Klein:
Could you please upload some original and downsized footage?
Would like to see/test how it compares to a convertion using avisynth (with spline36 resize).



regards Dennis
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Old January 20th, 2008, 05:30 PM   #10
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I can do that the moment I know how and were to host it...
as af now i'm working on compressor and trying this and that to get a beter result
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Old January 20th, 2008, 05:47 PM   #11
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You can upload 100Mb files at rapidshare.com


regards Dennis
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Old January 20th, 2008, 05:50 PM   #12
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wow is that free? any hidden tricks? is it a SAFE site (no viruses bug's)?
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Old January 20th, 2008, 05:59 PM   #13
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I’m working now on it.

The funny part of the story is, that I asked vortex media how they did the down convert... and Mr. Douglas Jensen reply’s with the setting he used. It’s the same I did, but for some hidden reason my footage looks crappy
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Old January 20th, 2008, 06:00 PM   #14
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free, no viruses, no tricks ;)

regards Dennis
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Old January 20th, 2008, 06:04 PM   #15
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give me a couple minuts to creat the samples, i'm doing it now
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