More night footage in NYC
 

Well, I'm sure everyone's seen enough of NYC and night shots by now, but for anyone interested in more, I thought I'd share. No gain at 1/48. F stop ranges from 2.8 - 3.4 depending on how much zoom I used. This has mild color correction.

http://www.iriscinema.com/cabs.mov

Aw man, you had to do that, didn't you. Now I really miss the city.

That was nice, thanks for sharing. The upward wide shot of the Times Square signs, and that shot of the street in front of the cabs were amazing.

Also like your website. Are you planning to shoot weddings with this cam? How do you think it will handle the lowlight situations?

Can you share what your Quicktime compression settings were?

Thanks.

Well done sir. That has to be some of the best footage I have seen yet. Great job editing. Thanks much!

Beautiful stuff. Still at 24F?

Thanks all!

Dave - I am planning to shoot weddings with this, though I like it so much that I'm thinking to use it in some run and gun shots for short films. I'm quite happy with the low light capabilities, all things considered. I've found that it can comfortably go up to 6db and if need be 12db with noise reduction, and even with no gain, it is about comparable to my DVX - maybe just a slight bit off. I've been able to get by on the DVX with no gain for years now so I'm confident it will perform well in a wedding. I used the Quicktime H.264 setting at one notch from the highest quality (can't recall what that is right now).

Bill - Yep, it was in 24F.

Very nice. Compares to the DVX-100A maybe, but not my 100. The A1 looks like it will run circles around my first generation 100...

Thanks again,
John

This is great. Can you tell us what camera settings you used?

Spencer, you should hit Canon up for a sales commission--your footage has been responsible for three people I know of deciding today to buying the A1.

Bill, make that a fourth..... Of all the videos I have watched, this one, and the Ginza scene posted earlier by Noel are the two that made me feel this is the best camera for the money

Great footage from everyone, but these two caught my eye in particular

Make that a 5th. Ordering tomorrow. End of story. Spencer, you shot this with factory lens, yes?

Its nice indeed, also the A1 holds the movement good, but at 1 minute I see some ghosting, where the man crosses the street (white shirt, black bag on shoulder). Also that part ( 6 sec) seems weird, is it the GOP I-frame repeat or the shutter?

Spencer- really nice job, the footage has a nice "look" to it.

Questions: Do you just setup a tripod on the street and shoot? Ever feel weird or embarrased (videotaping people you don't know) ever get strange reactions from passersby?

Thumbs up- it's a bit chilly out there!

Say, yeah, what do I need to do to get on Canon's payroll? 5 cameras must be worth some sort of commission!

Richard - I used the default settings on CP1 except with noise reduction set on low, color gain set at +10 and green gain set at -1.

Benji - Yes, this was with the factory lens.

Raymond - I took some creative license with the two shots of the guy and the bag, as well as the very last shot in the piece, so while the first cut showing the bag is unaltered, I adjusted the speed and added a strobe effect to the ensuing two shots. However, since I forgot to turn off frame blending when doing so, there was the appearance of the ghosting.

Steve - I usually start off feeling quite strange then I get used to it as I get into the shooting. However I've come to realize that people in the NYC are so used to people walking around with video and still cameras that locals ignore you and tourists assume you're doing the same as they are. But basically, yes, I just plop a tripod down and start shooting.

HEY SPENCER.. Michael Neuman here (VisualMasterpiece)..
its good to see you on the posts..
I saw your name and had to say hi.. I'm DL your video now..

Looks like we are all going to the A1's hu?
What ever will we do without a manual lens for the "Throw-zooms"!?
Hey have I shown you the vineyard wedding yet? Check it out:
http://www.visualmasterpiece.com/qui...rospective.mov
There is a lot inspiration from your work in this edit.

C ya around!

Spencer, totally, totally beautiful footage.

Oh yes, this IS a "Black Beauty" and no mistake! I can see where you used the ZOOM ring, yes? Added another dimension to the urgency and directness - à la NYPD Blue - yeah?

It is obvious that you are very relaxed around this camera and THAT for me speaks reams too.

So what is WRONG with this camera? Huh??? Give me a reason?? - I bet the packaging was naff? Had to have been?

My heart is pounding. This is happening whenever I see A1 footage. Could it be love? :D

BTW, what did you do on color correction?

The more I see footage from the A1 the more I think "Do I really need a 35mm adapter for this camera?". This camera doesn't have the fake digital DOF look other cameras have. The A1 has an amazing DOF and beautiful bokeh.

My XL2 is way better at DOF; this is way too deep.. I have been working with it alot.. its not shallow at all!

So far I haven't seen anything AT ALL from the Xl2 that beats the A1 (dof included)

BTW, from everywhere I read you are the only person so far who is not amazed by the A1's dof/bokeh capabilities.

Depth of field of both cameras is going to be the same under the same conditions because they both have the same size chips. The reason he had such shallow depth of field was because he was zoomed in really far in most of those people shots, and probably shooting pretty wide open.

About shooting people on the streets...I've shot on the streets in Chicago but have always done it hand held. Generally everybody ignored me. But here in KC everybody looks at the camera or waves or makes dumb faces if they think they're being shot. A camera with an LCD screen can help solve that problem if you're on a tripod. Flip the screen over and up against the side of the camera so you can stand beside the camera and look toward its side, ie., at a right angle to the direction of the lens. You can act like you're not really shooting (turn off the record light), and people will for the most part ignore you.

When I shot street scenes in Chicago, I did it all hand held, leaning up against lampposts, etc., for stability. I had heard that if you bring out a tripod, the gendarmes may come and want your nonexistant permit.

I may place my order for the A1 today. And then move to NY or Tokyo just so I can shoot cool nighttime street scenes (I wish).

I love your footage! The images looked very crisp and film-like. Very impressive and thanks for sharing!

I shoot a lot on the streets and I REALLY hate when some clown starts waving into the camera or making "funny" faces...new cameras should come with tasers ;-)

damn right, last week i was helpgin shoot a short in downtown toronto (busy area, moderately comparable to nyc but by no means as hectic), there were a few bums who noticed the shoot and purposedly walked into the background whistling, makign stupid noises etc etc.!

I am being seriuosly sold on the XH-A1 over the HVR-V1!!! The night quality is absolutely fantastic.

Thanks for posting that footage -- as has been mentioned so many times before it looks fantastic.

Does the A1 do timelapse?

Also what was the music?

I have seen some amazing night footage posted here and else where, how good does it look in bright sunlight?

Cool. Those snap zooms were nice and you use the focus nicely. Can I suggest turning the sharpness down a tad and it will help battle the reds a little. I have found also the black set at mid, gives a good result.

With footage like this around I cant wait to see a feature made on this cam. Im scheduled for March but hoping there is one sooner.

Chuck go shoot 30 minutes an hour or whatever of footage and speed up in post. Beautiful.

Thanks again for the comments everyone!

Rafeal - For the color correction, I brought the black down just a tad and added a hint of green on some shots. Otherwise, that's about it.

Chuck - Don't know about the timelapse yet, but the music was The First Time from Daneil Lanois. The day footage looks very nice, btw. I'll try to post some shots once I get a moment, but I was quite impressed from my testing so far.

Noel - Thanks for the tip!

I originally bought the A1 for wedding work, intending to use my HVX for creative material, and like many, I was debating over this and the V1, but I like the camera so much, I think I'll try to shoot some shorts with it to see how it holds up. Still curious to see how the V1 will compare, but I'm so happy with A1 overall that even if the V1 does turn out to be comparable, I can't imagine there would be any way I'd be unhappy with my choice.

24F vs progressive
 

Nice video, thanks.

How does everyone feel about the 24F vs true 24P? I shoot 25P with dvx100be, and the true 25P image (576 lines) upscales to hi-rez very well, much better than a 50i image. This 24F video shows the limitations of canon's approach, there are interlace artefacts on many fast moving objects.

I am disapointed with the lens on the dvx, but the progressive image has me hooked. Does the canon have a true progressive (720p or higher) image, or not? Does the HVX?

Regards
Christophe

Sorry but are you kidding?

I don't see this at all on his video or any others I've seen... ?

Are you seeing this in the Quicktime downloads or the original M2T files? I've noticed a lot of QT files display interlacing lines, regardless of the original video type.

Hey Spencer....your sample footage looks awsome!
I have a feeling that the Sony V1 is going to have a hard time doing any better than that.
What cameras do you currently shoot your weddings with?
How does the new Canon compare to your current cams in the low light?
Thanks for the info....I am still waiting for the V1 to come out before I make a decision on which way to go.
Thanks for posting your clips and thanks for the info.

Can't say I've noticed any interlace artifacts, and I've been shooting on a DVX for the better part of the past two years. I'm also pretty familiar with how the interlacing looks. I did look over the full resolution files briefly, and I didn't see anything, though there was some blocking of the person wearing red on the scooter as the camera whips away from him. Otherwise the footage looked clean.

Thanks Paul. I shoot weddings with DVX-100B's currently. The A1 was about comparable - maybe just a small bit off the DVX in terms of lowlight sensitivity. However, because the image was cleaner, when I took two still shots into Photoshop, I was able to push the A1 image with curves much further without degrading, so that, combined with cleaner gain should amount to a better camera when it's dim. I'll know tomorrow, since two people from my team will be shooting a wedding then.

Spencer,

Amazing work!

What is the name of the song in the background?

What I mean with "interlace artefacts", as I see this video in QT, is that it is not as clean as 1/48s should be in progressive mode on moving objects. 1/48 in 24F appears to be 2 interlaced images "de-interlaced" by the camera. Many moving objects have a ghost, and a crisp edge at the ghost and the final object, which is what happens with deinterlaced video. Shooting in true progressive at 1/48 gives a cleaner image on moving objects than this 24F example. I suspect reducing this exposure to 1/125 (or even less) will not help because there are 2 different interlaced exposures which are merged, whereas in 24P 1/125 is dramatic, each image is crisp and frozen in time. Unless I am wrong about 24F? That is my question here, for those with more experience.

Other than that, it seems grain (oops, I mean noise!) is better controlled here than dvx, and sharpness is higher (dvx notoriously does not apply much sharpening on the video, and canon does, but even after sharpening the dvx lens is not up to the task). Not sure about color saturation or low light, I'll have to take your word for it.

Christophe

Spencer: Hate to dredge up an old post, but how did the wedding shoot go?

I'll let you know as soon as I find out! My Mac died right after, so I haven't had a chance to work with the footage yet. It's just killing me!

Better be carefull. We don't want two burials in one week.

spencer: thoughts on comparing hvx200 vz a1?
 

i'm getting to this dance late so i apologize in advance if this has already been a recent topic for discussion.

thoughts on how u use your hvx200 vs the a1?

strengths of each?

where each lacks?

any and all thoughts from any and all who care to share would be appreciated.

as u have already been told, thanks for the lovely footage.

be well

rob

This probably belongs in a different thread, but I'll give you my feelings about the HVX. I really like the camera and spend a lot of time working to figure out how I could make the P2 thing work for me. The main thing I like about the camera is variable frame rate--you can do slomo up to 60fps. That's very nice. The camera is also nice and solid and has a good feel, good lens, etc. However, forgetting the cost of P2, the data handling necessary is way too time consuming for me. Even using a hard drive instead of the cards (which would be necessary due to the small capacities of the cards) requires dumping the files to a computer on location if you are shooting long interviews, and then I'd have to load those files into the editing system and burn individual DVDs or DLT tapes. I don't always shoot and then edit immediately--I have to have permanant storage of my footage. So I decided against the camera and bought the XH A1. Some people are making the P2 concept work and that's great, but for me I need to record on something I can take out of the camera and put in a box.

Bill-

I thank you for sharing your thoughts and I appreciate your thinking.

The ideal of a tapeless workflow is not something I've been able to incorporate into how I currently make my films. As tapeless evolves, I'm sure we will all need to change our workflows. But for me that moment is not now. That is why I'm selling my HVX200 and investigating the prospect that the A1 might be the next tool in helping me solve my client's media concerns while offering me a opportunity to use my imagination.

Be well

Rob