Daytime Footage in NYC

[Spencer Lum]

Thought I'd try for something more personal this time around, though I did stick in some cabs. Color correction is fairly heavy. Almost all of the clips are bumped up in saturation and toned. The footage held up well in post, giving me a lot of latitude to play with color correction

There are several clips that have been slowed down with a strobe effect, so those aren't some weird motion stuttering from the camera. However, one shot that produced something odd was the hand against the black fence - it looks like some sort of compression issue (it is there in the raw footage, so it's not the Web compression I'm referring to) where the shadows are on the hands.

Colors were generally quite nice, but I found the look to be a little pasty on my current settings for the camera, which are still close to the factory settings. Shooting was all handheld. I miss the focus ring on my DVX - still trying to get used to it.

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

[Rafael Lopes]

The link doesn't work.

[John Dewey]

The link worked just fine for me....

Very nice looking video. I'd be curious to see the footage before color correction. Was this shot in 24F or at 30 frames?

I also thought the music was a perfect choice for the video content. What song/artist is it?

[Spencer Lum]

The framerate was shot in 24f, and the song was from 46bliss - I think it's titled "In a Long Time."

[Rob Katz]

spencer-

nicely done. the footage is quite nice. and. of course, the theme and title is a reason to celebrate.

i'm still impressed w/the xh a1's image. i like the softer palette. others might suggest the camera produces flat/dull colors but i find they look very appealing.

i also noticed at several instances in the video where there was a strong backlight (opening thru the blinds, many in the park) and i saw no purple fringing around the edges of extremely high contrast shots. did u use a polarizing filter on some of the outdoor park shots? nd filter? i ask because though a very sunfilled day the camera did a nice job of capturing the blue of the sky.

i very much like the 20x lens length. the out-of-focus bokah is lovely and so much more achievable than with the shorter 10x or 13x lengths on other hd/hdv camcorders.

as to focusing, i know in the slr/dslr world that when focusing manually using an autofocus body, the camera will emit a "chirp" when focus is achieved. does this camera (or any current hd/hdv) offer such an option? i ask because on this video were u focusing via the lcd or the viewfinder? and how comfortable were u at achieving focus via either the lcd or the viewfinder? with a "chirp" option, the camera would alert the user as to when focus was achieved.

lastly, ... and this may sound a thoroughly naive question and it might very well be... , when i downloaded your footage am i looking at a high definition image on my g5/imac/17'/2.0 computer or a hdv image compressed via quicktime into, for the lack of a better term, standard def status?

once again, thanks for sharing your video w/this community. we are all better for your efforts.

enjoy the process

rob

[Steve Nunez]

Rob, in DSLR's that's called "Confirmation Focus" and I think it would be a great idea to have something like that on an HD camcorder (of course with the option to turn the beeps off- you wouldn't want to hear that in the video)...in Canon DSLR's you also see the AF points blink red for a split second affirming the actual AF points it detects as "in focus"....would like that feature very much on these HD cams!

The A1 seems to have hit it's "target" moreso than other HDV cams in the past (of course debateable) but users seem very pleased with it's performance and handling.
I can't wait for them to become fully tapeless and store video onto internal HD's- I can imagine a time in the future where we will be able to swap out laptop hard-drives on these things- I hope they come soon- I'd be in heaven!

[Luc Meisel]

Thank you VERY much for your other examples,
brillant, reassuring and educating!

Much Appreciated.

I loved this, this is what is what i was waiting to see, more of a narrative type footage to tell me what making a indie movie would be like with this cam.

I have to say that I love it again. Love the subtle colors more than the HVX and the greater Definition.

Love the Boken and I love your style.
I do think that the A1 is perhaps less organics than the HVX BUT, I like the look, i think its a look that is going to be VERY popular in this HD era!

Thanks again I enjoyed that immensely... :P

[Rafael Lopes]

Looks good, broham. You gotta love this camera's DOF and texture!

[Luc Meisel]

oh yea, we are all better because of your efforts.

thanks

One question, was that a little hunting withthe AF that I saw?

and there is no Focus ring? isnt there a manual focus?

wait thats 3 questions.. sorry

[Bill Pryor]

There IS a focus ring, and it is manual focus. You can see a readout in feet or meters in your viewfinder.

[Marlon Torres]

what was your recording method? direct to drive or dv tape?

[Spencer Lum]

I hate to say it, but the hunting was just me trying to get the the focus down. I'd like to think I'm usually a little better in run and gun situations, but I'm not used to the feel of the servo. It does have a focusing ring, though, and I think it will do fine. A shooter of mine who used it for a wedding, said he was used to it by the end of the day.

I love the 20x lens and the bokeh you get with it. Plus a great stabilizer, which makes it all the more usable.

There was no filtration other than the camera's built in ND filter and a UV filter.

The recording was done on tape.

[Luc Meisel]

You did that all those sequences via manual focus, wow you are good!

Love Canon Stabilizer , I have the HV-10 and LOVE it.
looking forward to mixing the 2 units in post.

Which UV filter are you using, does it affect stops etc.

How about a clear coated lens?

[Spencer Lum]

The UV is just there for protection - it doesn't really have much effect. I haven't tested a UV filter for ages, but when I did, I really found the differences between brands to be pretty nominal, and that was in front of some good glass. The filter happens to be a B+H, but, honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it. There's no light loss.

[Thomas Smet]

That was an super amazing piece of work. Heck you even made me want to find that song and buy it. The band should hire you for their music video.

Another great example of what this amazing camera can do.