XH-A1 Favorite Upgrades!!

Allan Black · April 26th, 2010, 06:40 PM

Looks pretty good Rog. Did you use a custom preset? Cheers.

Roger Shealy · April 26th, 2010, 09:06 PM

Allan, I believe I was using Panalook2 for a custom preset. In post I pressed the blacks moderately, stretched the mids, then added fill lighting and Neat. I was cutting the footage with a T2i, so I needed the A1 to be really clean to make it work.

Phil Murray · April 27th, 2010, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Wysocki

what about 7 inch monotors. any of you guys using them? are you able to dial in focus better? which models are people using with their xh-a1? Just found that some are using monitors from LCD4video.com , which model is it though , there is sooo many to choose from

Chris,

I have a Varizoom 7" monitor with the same resolution as the LCD4video 7" basic version and it is useless for focus. I got it for composition and it works well for that.

I bought a Manhattan HD089C which is in another world compared to the low resolution monitors. It's resolution is 1024x768 compared to the basic LCD4video's 480x240. It is much sharper than I expected.

If focus is your need, get as much resolution as you can. You wouldn't want to spend the money only to be disappointed that your new monitor doesn't really do what you want.

Phil Murray · April 27th, 2010, 06:31 PM

Allan is really right about audio being so important. Unless you do only something like scenic shots with background music, good mics are critical to your work.

I was thinking about hardware, but Roger is right about NeatVideo being a great product. It can make a surprising difference with noisy shots. If you shoot in very low light conditions, it's definitely worth the money.

I'm uploading a sample of some shots in 60i with the 16x9 EX 1.5 tele to Vimeo right now. Sorry it took me a couple of days. I've been fighting illness for nearly a week and heavy wind made it a little tough to get steady, fully zoomed shots. If you'd like to see another kind of shot, let me know. (Please -- no comments about the focus on a couple of shots! I was working fast to get it up for you guys and wasn't as careful as I should have been.)

Roger Shealy · April 27th, 2010, 08:06 PM

I use a SmallHD monitor some of the time. Really helps focus, but does require some set-up and draws more attention. If there's a lot of movement in distance from the camera, I like to use a monitor.

Phil Murray · April 27th, 2010, 08:25 PM

Okay, here's the sample footage with the 16x9 EX 1.5 teleconverter. The original file is available for downloading.

Bo Sundvall · April 28th, 2010, 05:09 AM

Hi Phil

I don't understad how people used to get information before Internet, it's so simple to share experiences these days.
I really appreciate your help and that you took your time to share your experience with your teleconverter!

As I can see it generates some chromatic aberation (CA), or to be honest, it probably magnifys the CA from the stock lens. It could be seen in high contrast parts around the edges of the picture. In the center it seems OK though. In low contrast scenes as the one with the black cat it's hard to see any CA. Also nice to see in the last clip that the tree is sharp all the way to the right edge of the picture.

Again, thank you for your help!

Regards,

/Bo

Chris Wysocki · April 28th, 2010, 09:02 AM

thanks for sharing that video Phil. Im sold with the 16x9 teleconverter lense. I cant wait to try it out.

Phil Murray · April 28th, 2010, 02:18 PM

So many people here have helped me and I've learned SO much from this forum that I was pretty excited to be able to give something back to you guys.

I didn't realize how much CA there was. (I still don't have as critical an eye as I should for things like that.)

I still really like it and plan to take it with me this weekend when I travel down to Houston for a little R&R to try some different kinds of shots.

Chris Wysocki · April 29th, 2010, 03:03 PM

Are you guys using the bnc connector with ur LCD upgrade? Did you have to buy a female to femlae adapter?

April 26th, 2010, 06:40 PM	#16
Allan Black Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sydney. Posts: 2,887	Looks pretty good Rog. Did you use a custom preset? Cheers. __________________ Drink more tap water. On admission at Sydney hospitals more than 5% of day patients are de-hydrated.

April 27th, 2010, 08:25 PM	#21
Phil Murray Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Cusco, Peru Posts: 375	Okay, here's the sample footage with the 16x9 EX 1.5 teleconverter. The original file is available for downloading. Canon XH-A! and 16x9 EX 1.5 teleconverter on Vimeo

April 26th, 2010, 09:06 PM	#17
Roger Shealy Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Fayetteville, GA Posts: 772	Allan, I believe I was using Panalook2 for a custom preset. In post I pressed the blacks moderately, stretched the mids, then added fill lighting and Neat. I was cutting the footage with a T2i, so I needed the A1 to be really clean to make it work.

April 27th, 2010, 06:31 PM	#19
Phil Murray Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Cusco, Peru Posts: 375	Allan is really right about audio being so important. Unless you do only something like scenic shots with background music, good mics are critical to your work. I was thinking about hardware, but Roger is right about NeatVideo being a great product. It can make a surprising difference with noisy shots. If you shoot in very low light conditions, it's definitely worth the money. I'm uploading a sample of some shots in 60i with the 16x9 EX 1.5 tele to Vimeo right now. Sorry it took me a couple of days. I've been fighting illness for nearly a week and heavy wind made it a little tough to get steady, fully zoomed shots. If you'd like to see another kind of shot, let me know. (Please -- no comments about the focus on a couple of shots! I was working fast to get it up for you guys and wasn't as careful as I should have been.)

April 27th, 2010, 08:06 PM	#20
Roger Shealy Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Fayetteville, GA Posts: 772	I use a SmallHD monitor some of the time. Really helps focus, but does require some set-up and draws more attention. If there's a lot of movement in distance from the camera, I like to use a monitor.

April 28th, 2010, 05:09 AM	#22
Bo Sundvall Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sweden Posts: 244	Hi Phil I don't understad how people used to get information before Internet, it's so simple to share experiences these days. I really appreciate your help and that you took your time to share your experience with your teleconverter! As I can see it generates some chromatic aberation (CA), or to be honest, it probably magnifys the CA from the stock lens. It could be seen in high contrast parts around the edges of the picture. In the center it seems OK though. In low contrast scenes as the one with the black cat it's hard to see any CA. Also nice to see in the last clip that the tree is sharp all the way to the right edge of the picture. Again, thank you for your help! Regards, /Bo

April 28th, 2010, 09:02 AM	#23
Chris Wysocki Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Cromwell, CT Posts: 81	thanks for sharing that video Phil. Im sold with the 16x9 teleconverter lense. I cant wait to try it out.

April 28th, 2010, 02:18 PM	#24
Phil Murray Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Cusco, Peru Posts: 375	So many people here have helped me and I've learned SO much from this forum that I was pretty excited to be able to give something back to you guys. I didn't realize how much CA there was. (I still don't have as critical an eye as I should for things like that.) I still really like it and plan to take it with me this weekend when I travel down to Houston for a little R&R to try some different kinds of shots.

April 29th, 2010, 03:03 PM	#25
Chris Wysocki Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Cromwell, CT Posts: 81	Are you guys using the bnc connector with ur LCD upgrade? Did you have to buy a female to femlae adapter?