Wood Duck HD Video with Sony HX1 at DVinfo.net

J. Stephen McDonald · October 28th, 2009, 12:37 AM

I fortunately had my HX1 on my full steadymount rig, when I found a pair of Wood Ducks in a heavily-wooded and shady stream, late in the afternoon today. I shot this at full zoom with 640mm. I was pleased how well the HX1 caught the drake's color in this low light. The smart autofocus held tight on the main subject, even when he was mostly obscured by intersecting vines and leaves. A photo I took of him and his mate was done with a slow 1/10th-sec. shutter. I included another photo of a Mallard I took nearby, in slightly brighter light. There are many other HX1 videos of wildlife on my Vimeo album.

Go to my Vimeo album at the link on my Signature line and this video is currently on the first page. http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos There seems to be an embedding glitch with DV Info and Vimeo, that won't let me post the specific link. Be sure to click the full-size logo at the right end of the progress bar and turn off the scaling feature in the upper-right corner.

If you register for a free Vimeo subscription, you can download the full video file, for better image quality. This was uploaded unedited in the camera format of AVC at 6 Mbps, except for short sections trimmed at the ends by the Sony PMB program.

Caleb Royer · October 28th, 2009, 08:33 PM

Beautiful footage, love the photos, they are very clear and colorful. Same gos for the video and what an amazing AF, just one thing, it's shaky so you need to use a tripod and a good fluid head IMO.

Ofer Levy · October 29th, 2009, 06:06 AM

I agree with the first comment that a tripod is absolutely necessary for video work with a long telephoto. I usually even use a tripod when taking stills photos with a telephoto lens.
Cheers,
Ofer

Jonathan Betz · October 31st, 2009, 10:30 PM

It's cool that you can get this quality footage from your HX1. Many people post videos like this here, which are cool for testing out cameras and looking at wildlife, but I would suggest shooting a couple of angles (it looks like you were able to take stills from different angles, so why not shoot some more video?), and editing a sequence with a few cut-aways.

This is a great test shot, but with only a little more effort next time you can produce a short sequence that will have much more impact.

Keep up the good work.

October 28th, 2009, 12:37 AM	#1
J. Stephen McDonald Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 909	Wood Duck HD Video with Sony HX1 I fortunately had my HX1 on my full steadymount rig, when I found a pair of Wood Ducks in a heavily-wooded and shady stream, late in the afternoon today. I shot this at full zoom with 640mm. I was pleased how well the HX1 caught the drake's color in this low light. The smart autofocus held tight on the main subject, even when he was mostly obscured by intersecting vines and leaves. A photo I took of him and his mate was done with a slow 1/10th-sec. shutter. I included another photo of a Mallard I took nearby, in slightly brighter light. There are many other HX1 videos of wildlife on my Vimeo album. Go to my Vimeo album at the link on my Signature line and this video is currently on the first page. http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos There seems to be an embedding glitch with DV Info and Vimeo, that won't let me post the specific link. Be sure to click the full-size logo at the right end of the progress bar and turn off the scaling feature in the upper-right corner. If you register for a free Vimeo subscription, you can download the full video file, for better image quality. This was uploaded unedited in the camera format of AVC at 6 Mbps, except for short sections trimmed at the ends by the Sony PMB program. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Steve McDonald https://onedrive.com/?cid=229807ce52dd4fe0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/ http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos Last edited by J. Stephen McDonald; October 28th, 2009 at 04:11 AM.

October 28th, 2009, 08:33 PM	#2
Caleb Royer Regular Crew Join Date: May 2009 Location: Ozarks, Missouri, USA Posts: 109	Beautiful footage, love the photos, they are very clear and colorful. Same gos for the video and what an amazing AF, just one thing, it's shaky so you need to use a tripod and a good fluid head IMO. __________________ 5D Mark II, 70-300mm IS lens, 28-135mm IS lens, 50mm f/1.8 lens, Canon HG20, 503HDV head, Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium

October 31st, 2009, 10:30 PM	#4
Jonathan Betz Regular Crew Join Date: May 2009 Location: Washington DC Posts: 59	It's cool that you can get this quality footage from your HX1. Many people post videos like this here, which are cool for testing out cameras and looking at wildlife, but I would suggest shooting a couple of angles (it looks like you were able to take stills from different angles, so why not shoot some more video?), and editing a sequence with a few cut-aways. This is a great test shot, but with only a little more effort next time you can produce a short sequence that will have much more impact. Keep up the good work. __________________ Jon Betz www.jonbetzfilms.com

October 29th, 2009, 06:06 AM	#3
Ofer Levy Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Sydney-Australia Posts: 443	I agree with the first comment that a tripod is absolutely necessary for video work with a long telephoto. I usually even use a tripod when taking stills photos with a telephoto lens. Cheers, Ofer