a little test shoot - your comments appreciated
 

i got my a1 a couple of weeks ago after previously owning an XM2, its been a real steep learning curve getting to grips with the controls and today i took it out for the first time to shoot a little bit of footage and try some different presets, i shot it with auto wb and auto gain in manual with manual focus which caused me a few probs as you will see, im pleased with the overall look but need plenty of advise on my technique

a couple of points
the camera arrived faulty with a blue streak in the right of the screen, the camera is going back to be replaced bu i havn't sent it yet- i will wait till new year now

the quality of the video is much better at my end and has lost alot to the upload

i know my focusing is off alot but it was my first time on manual and i was just experimenting a bit to be honest

its just ment to be a bit of test footage but i would appreciate any tips advice you can give me

thanks!

http://www.vimeo.com/446763

Some of the shots seemed to have some interlaced artifacts... Vimeo is totally adding to the compression factor so it's really tough to judge quality based off their flash video file...

One thing that may help you out is using the peaking function to be able to pull focus a little more accurately than just by eyeing it...

Typically I really don't like the flat image look that is native to the A1 without the use of a preset. My personal favorites are the vividRGB preset or the Panalook... They help really make your colors deep and contrasted... If the preset, for whatever reason, can't get the job done then I usually try to do a curves adjustment in post that will correct minor contrast issues and crushing the blacks etc...