XF300 Interval Recording - Number of frames?

[Trevor Dennis]

I am experimenting with Interval recording on a newly bought XF300 having come from DSLR video, so on a bit of a learning curve. I invested in the Vortex Media training DVDs, in which they say lowest number of frames that can be recorded with Interval recording is ‘1’, but the menu is showing ‘2’ frames as the lowest option. Outside of Interval recording, I have the frame set at 25p (I am in New Zealand) and I am wondering is it anything to do with using Progressive? I am fairly sure that the Vortex Media camera was set to 30P so probably not.

The battery is recharging at the moment, or I’d try other settings, but I suspect most of you guys will know right away what the reason is?

BTW Do most of you have more than one battery? I have read that there is a larger battery available, but not priced it up yet.

Just checked:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search...op+Nav-Search=
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search...op+Nav-Search=

That's quite a difference, but if the Canon battery is anything like those in my 1D3s and 1D4 bodies, they give a prety accurate indication of the battery charge.

[Trevor Dennis]

This looks more like it. 8500mAh for less than US$30

Amazon.com: Wasabi Power Battery for Canon BP-970G, BP-975 and Canon EOS C300, EOS C300 PL, EOS C500, EOS C500 PL, GL2, XF100, XF105, XF300, XF305, XH A1S, XH G1S, XL H1A, XL H1S, XL2 (8500mAh): Camera & Photo

 

Amazon.com: Wasabi Power Battery for Canon BP-970G, BP-975 and Canon EOS C300, EOS C300 PL, EOS C500, EOS C500 PL, GL2, XF100, XF105, XF300, XF305, XH A1S, XH G1S, XL H1A, XL H1S, XL2 (8500mAh): Camera & Photo

[Trevor Dennis]

OK, I have been through the Vortex Media Special Functions chapter again, and read the relative pages in the User Guide, and it appears to be a difference between the NTSC and PAL versions of the cameras. The NTSC XF300/305 can record down to just one frame at a time with Interval recording, where as the PAL version can only go down to two frames.

I wonder why that is the case?

[Lee Mullen]

Originally Posted by Trevor Dennis

This looks more like it. 8500mAh for less than US$30

Amazon.com: Wasabi Power Battery for Canon BP-970G, BP-975 and Canon EOS C300, EOS C300 PL, EOS C500, EOS C500 PL, GL2, XF100, XF105, XF300, XF305, XH A1S, XH G1S, XL H1A, XL H1S, XL2 (8500mAh): Camera & Photo

Yes I have this one and works fine.

[Lee Mullen]

Originally Posted by Trevor Dennis

OK, I have been through the Vortex Media Special Functions chapter again, and read the relative pages in the User Guide, and it appears to be a difference between the NTSC and PAL versions of the cameras. The NTSC XF300/305 can record down to just one frame at a time with Interval recording, where as the PAL version can only go down to two frames.

I wonder why that is the case?

That is very odd. I wonder why is that case?? The US already get one extra frame rate more the PAL countries.

[David Foster]

I have the xf100, but the following holds true for the xf300 series. It will record one frame (two fields) in interlaced mode. In progressive mode, the lowest the camera will go to is two. No idea why. Wish I was smart enough to write a script in something like After Effects to remove every other frame to get the desired effect.

Dave

[Jeff Anselmo]

Hi Trevor,

I'm in NTSC land, and I mostly record on 24p, at the 2 frame interval setting. At 30p, it can be set at 1 frame a second.

Here's one example:

Clouds Over Monument Valley - YouTube

Used Doug Jensen's CP settings.

Best,

[Jeff Anselmo]

I also use third party batteries from my XL2 days, but the charge on these have been depleted (bought on ebay). So I only use them on non-critical shoots. I do have a Wasabi brand battery for my Nikon point and shoot that's been working well.

Best,

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Jalan Salur

Yes I have this one and works fine.

Does it communicate with the camera to give an indication of charge & time remaining? There is a comment on that Amazon listing that says that despite the claim that it does talk with an XF100.

[Trevor Dennis]

Yes I saw that. He seemed pleased with the performance other than though, but I guess you are paying for that chip, so it would be nice if it worked. I can confidentally rely on that feature with my 1D bodies, and it is reasuring to know what sort of battery capacity you have left.

[Nigel Barker]

It's not just reassuring to know what battery capacity you have left it's essential. As you don't even have the little button & row of lights like on the genuine Canon batteries then the battery is totally useless as unless you have just taken it off the charger you have absolutely no way of knowing how much juice there is in it.

[Trevor Dennis]

I'm bringing this thread back to life because I saw a reference to a World-Firmware mod for XF series cameras that apparently gives you both NTSC and PAL options. It apparently has to be done by Canon technicians, and costs several hundred dollars.

More about it in these threads:
Adding PAL settings to XF-100 in "Canon XF Video" on Vimeo
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-xf...ise-versa.html

Does anyone have first hand experience, and just what would it let you do? Would it be possible to shoot single frames in Interval recording in PAL? How about 60fps at 1280x720 PAL for over-cranking?

[Kees van Duijvenbode]

I have a PAL version of the XF100 and my menu also only shows ‘2’ frames as the lowest option.

[Nigel Barker]

I have kept my XF cameras PAL only as I don't see the value in paying £400-500 for the NTSC options. However if the PAL/NTSC firmware is like that for the C300 (which seems likely as the MXF back end is transplanted from the XF cameras) then you have to choose on a per card basis whether you are going to record PAL or NTSC you can't just flip to NTSC for the single image interval recording & then flip back to PAL for 25p you need to format the Compact Flash card for PAL or NTSC. The C300 is a world camera out of the box with PAL/NTSC firmware.

[Trevor Dennis]

Thanks Nigel. It would be a steep learning curve for people like myself, who are relatively new to video, if we couldn't call on the experience of people like yourself.

I've actually been leaning away from the XF300 for interval recording, and more towards DSLR (I have a 1DMK4) after reading the FAQs and forums at Timescapes. I like the idea of recording at greater than 1080, and being able to pan a 1080 window across that footage in post.

What worries me is the thought that your computer hardware would be unable to handle that sort of workflow. I did a project a while back mixing 1080 video and stills, and found my self running out of headroom unless I kept the stills reasonably small. It was not a problem in that context, because I found that it looked much better panning slowly across a still of only about 2200 pixels wide.

So much to learn. It's a good job we enjoy doing so.