HZ-CA13U Cine Optical PL Adapter Review at DVinfo.net

Tim Dashwood · April 26th, 2007, 10:46 AM

An abbreviated version of my HZ-CA13U COPLA review has been posted on Videography.com. You can read that version here.
If you subscribe to the magazine and prefer reading from paper, you can find it on page 44 of the April 2007 issue.

There are no frame grabs or photos in the online version, but I'll find out when I can legally post the detailed 15 page review with graphics/photos/frame grabs on dvinfo. Hopefully it will be soon because I know there are a few of you waiting for this info.

JVC has posted some angle of view information as well as a brochure on their HZ-CA13U page.
It is important to note that the photo on that page is of the prototype and that the production models shown at NAB all have an etched focal plane line around the circumfrence at exactly 52mm back flange of the PL mount. The production models also have a 1/4"-20 screw hole on the bottom for a lens support.
The lens support will be necessary for heavy lenses (Cooke S4's) to avoid too much stress on the 1/3" bayonet mount.

The use of a metric circle of confusion value in the article may confuse some of you reading DoF charts in the American Cinematographer Manual. As with 16mm/super-16, you can use 0.0006" (printed in the article as 0.015mm) as the Circle of Confusion for the HZ-CA13U adapter.
The charts were made "universal" as of the 8th edition of the ASC manual. To use these universal charts find your focal length chart, then find the box for your aperture and focus distance. These universal charts are setup for 0.0010" Coc for 35mm, so jump left two squares to see DoF for 16mm 0.0006" Coc.

Jack Walker · April 26th, 2007, 11:08 AM

Excellent article! Very impressive adapter.

The cost comparison at the end of the article was a perfect conclusion.

Greg Boston · April 26th, 2007, 11:11 AM

Nice review, Tim. This one statement caught my eye though...

Quote:

The system performed well, especially considering it was -17 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) with the wind chill, which is about 17 degrees Celsius below the suggested operating temperature of the HD250!

Wind chill (and temperature humidity index) only affects human skin, not inanimate objects. IOW, the HD250 only cares about the raw temperature for its operation.

-gb-

Tim Dashwood · April 26th, 2007, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

Wind chill (and temperature humidity index) only affects human skin, not inanimate objects. IOW, the HD250 only cares about the raw temperature for its operation.

Really? Why are we always shielding batteries and gear from the wind in the winter? I learned that in IATSE. I guess I won't bother wasting the energy anymore!

Just out of curiosity I checked the historical data for that day and it looks like it was even colder than the forecast I had heard on my drive to the shoot. We shot between Noon and 1:30PM, so that puts us at around -23°C with the wind chill, -12°C (10°F) without. The operating temp posted in the manual is 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)

Stephan Ahonen · April 26th, 2007, 02:15 PM

Wind chill only affects things that are trying to maintain an optimal temperature, like human beings. We feel cold based on how fast we are losing heat, not the actual temperature, and wind makes you lose heat faster. So if the rate of heat loss from a certain speed of wind feels like the heat loss in still air that is much colder, so we say the former has the wind chill factor of the latter.

Cue that NBC animation "The More You Know."

The upshot of this is that as long as a machine can physically operate at a certain temperature, wind chill won't affect it at that temperature. If part of the operating temperature specs are based on the unit generating some of its own heat to keep itself warm, then wind chill could affect it, but not in exactly the same way as a human.

Jason Nolte · April 27th, 2007, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephan Ahonen

Wind chill only affects things that are trying to maintain an optimal temperature, like human beings.

Have you guys actually shot in cold weather with gear? I have, quite a bit.

Wind and humidity have a very definite affect on gear. Wind chill will zap batteries, slow lens response and other fun things like making your fluid based tripod suddenly very hard to crank. The camera isn't obviously going to say, "Hey Bob, it feels colder than it really is due to that wind," but it is affected.

I've never had a camera stop functioning on me, but I have had to shield it from the wind in order to keep its temp up. I had a shoot this last winter where I had all the elements on a lens freeze up on me, and had to thaw the lens out in order to continue the shoot.

John Mitchell · April 29th, 2007, 10:52 PM

Tim - thanks once again for sharing that excellent article. It answered all my questions about the adapter. I must admit I'm still not sure what the difference is between an "aerial" image and a projected plate image, but it's great that it maintains the 16mm DOF characteristics.

April 26th, 2007, 10:46 AM	#1
Tim Dashwood Wrangler Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 3,637	HZ-CA13U Cine Optical PL Adapter Review An abbreviated version of my HZ-CA13U COPLA review has been posted on Videography.com. You can read that version here. If you subscribe to the magazine and prefer reading from paper, you can find it on page 44 of the April 2007 issue. There are no frame grabs or photos in the online version, but I'll find out when I can legally post the detailed 15 page review with graphics/photos/frame grabs on dvinfo. Hopefully it will be soon because I know there are a few of you waiting for this info. JVC has posted some angle of view information as well as a brochure on their HZ-CA13U page. It is important to note that the photo on that page is of the prototype and that the production models shown at NAB all have an etched focal plane line around the circumfrence at exactly 52mm back flange of the PL mount. The production models also have a 1/4"-20 screw hole on the bottom for a lens support. The lens support will be necessary for heavy lenses (Cooke S4's) to avoid too much stress on the 1/3" bayonet mount. The use of a metric circle of confusion value in the article may confuse some of you reading DoF charts in the American Cinematographer Manual. As with 16mm/super-16, you can use 0.0006" (printed in the article as 0.015mm) as the Circle of Confusion for the HZ-CA13U adapter. The charts were made "universal" as of the 8th edition of the ASC manual. To use these universal charts find your focal length chart, then find the box for your aperture and focus distance. These universal charts are setup for 0.0010" Coc for 35mm, so jump left two squares to see DoF for 16mm 0.0006" Coc. __________________ Tim Dashwood

April 26th, 2007, 11:08 AM	#2
Jack Walker Trustee Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burbank Posts: 1,811	Excellent article! Very impressive adapter. The cost comparison at the end of the article was a perfect conclusion.

April 26th, 2007, 02:15 PM	#5
Stephan Ahonen Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 512	Wind chill only affects things that are trying to maintain an optimal temperature, like human beings. We feel cold based on how fast we are losing heat, not the actual temperature, and wind makes you lose heat faster. So if the rate of heat loss from a certain speed of wind feels like the heat loss in still air that is much colder, so we say the former has the wind chill factor of the latter. Cue that NBC animation "The More You Know." The upshot of this is that as long as a machine can physically operate at a certain temperature, wind chill won't affect it at that temperature. If part of the operating temperature specs are based on the unit generating some of its own heat to keep itself warm, then wind chill could affect it, but not in exactly the same way as a human.

April 29th, 2007, 10:52 PM	#7
John Mitchell Contributor Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 873	Tim - thanks once again for sharing that excellent article. It answered all my questions about the adapter. I must admit I'm still not sure what the difference is between an "aerial" image and a projected plate image, but it's great that it maintains the 16mm DOF characteristics.