First Shots w/ My Canon XH-A1

[Will Mahoney]

Here is my first attempt at HD and the first day I shot anything with the A1. I shot some footage at the local park (Rocky River Reservation) and in my back yard last weekend and finally the export settings and whatnot correct in Premier elements.

I use Steven Dempsey's Vivdrgb setting for color and I had a polarizer filter on the lens, which really pulled some beautiful colors out of the evening sky.

Big fun and lots more to come.

And sorry for the depressing Ben Folds song, it was short and mellow and fit the footage.

Feedback?

Edit: And here's the link: http://www.vimeo.com/739660

[Trish Kerr]

Definitely a sad feel to the footage with that song! It was a tad on the dark side here and there but I guess you were filming early evening so without adding gain, to be expected. Love the animal in the tree. The bridge shots were nice as well - some slow outs and ins.

Unfortunate about the pans - they would have been good to mix in to offset the stillness of most of the other footage. I'm wondering if panning at dusk is even more risky with the stuttering. (image stabilization on or not)

congratulations on your new camera! You're going to love it. Having just purchased an hv30 as a b-roll camera/vacation etc, and struggling with the gyrations to mimic manual control I'm discovering just exactly how spoiled we've been with the A1!

trish

[Robert Wide]

Hi Will,

Beautiful colors and nice focussing! Did you use an adapter?

Robert

[Will Mahoney]

Trish: I appreciate the feedback. Oh, and the pans would have been so beautiful. But you live and you learn.

And the animal, his name is Squirrel, is my dog's biggest nemesis. We were in the back yard, filming [as if my dog would film something, but she ads emotional support :)], and that S.O.B. Squirrel came around and started giving her the business. He sat still long enough for me to get that shot, then insulted my dog and ran off.

Robert: Thanks for the kudos on focusing. It was my first day with the A1 and I was really, really trying to figure out how to focus well. Oh, and no adaptor or anything, just a UV filter and a circular polarizer, both from Tiffen.

[Morgan Crossley]

looks good, but is there something wrong with your aspect ratio? looks squished in the vimeo windo with the bars on the side.

[Will Mahoney]

Yeah, what the hell? I don't know why it's squished. That's my third time uploading it to the site. The first two times, the aspect was cool but there was no sound. Now there is sound, but the screen is squished. I'll upload a new version when I get to work tomorrow.

Thanks...

[Jim Miller]

With that music and those dark images I was expecting to see someone jump from the bridge! But then you moved to more pleasing images - then back to the bridge! Surely someone was going to jump or at least throw something off - maybe a body - or...... a squirrel perhaps!

[Will Mahoney]

That damn squirrel! I'll hit the park again this weekend and get some daylight shots. And I'll remember to turn off the image stabilization when panning!

Thanks for the feedback!

[Bryan Gilchrist]

Nice footage!

I wish I had those kind of backgrounds to work with, but I live in Florida, and all I have to look forward to is the occasional nice sunset (when it's not raining) and everything being green year round. :(

[Will Mahoney]

Well, it's the opposite here. Yes, when my family comes up from Florida they are blown away by the simple parks system up here. They're like "What? Hills and trees? Huh? A stream, wow!!" and they freak out.

Meanwhile when I go to Florida I'm like, "Whoa, look at that boat! Wow, a manatee!" and they look at me like I'm an idiot.

Both sides of the same coin, my man.