HD250 Test shots

[Jeffrey Butler]

I finally got around to a quick edit with some footage that I got the last few days. It was an incredibly clear day today w/ a nice sky the night before. ND2 on this thing is just too thin. I need to pick up a filter. I had to crank up the shutter just to get good light and keep the sky.

I think I'm in love with 24p. I finally got FCP to ingest everything correctly, too, so here's to fun with HD250 24p fullframe footage: CabinOneRawHD250-001 (63mb). I dropped some H.264 on it and shaved off 120 megs, but it's pretty similar. Close enough, I think. If you're dying to see the raw, it's 183 megs...email me.

BTW, I'm still coping with the lack of an optical stabilizer. The rack focuses leave a bit to be desired....this isn't me showboating, this is me just sharing - I'm still learning to shoot with this thing. Oh, there is a cool shot of a hawk diving. I was zoomed in all the way, but it's just not quite enough.

[Tomasz Ostrowski]

Very nice, clean footage, but...ehh chromatic aberration is my general problem too. What settings(scene file) You set in your HD250??
Thanks

[Jeffrey Butler]

Originally Posted by Tomasz Ostrowski

Very nice, clean footage, but...ehh chromatic aberration is my general problem too. What settings(scene file) You set in your HD250??
Thanks

I've got a few things going on in there, but just generally modified default. Lemme pull them out here in a bit...I think the high color sunset had something to do with it as well. I dunno. Kinda depressing with the upgraded lens, too.

[Sean Adair]

I have the same rig as you Jeffrey, and I've come up with some poor results too, despite some years of shooting behind me. Don't blame the camera though. It is definitely capable of great work, and with it's configurability and hi quality output, it is more sensitive to harsh conditions or operator misjudgement. I got lots of C.A. on my first day out with the camera, trying to expose shadows against some bare tree branches and sky. I'm confident it is significantly better than the 16x, but be aware that you can induce this stuff with a varicam just as easily (and still no optical stabilization!). It takes a commitment to getting the best from the camera, and also recognition that some scenes will just not reproduce well. I'm still refining my 24p moves too...

[Jeffrey Butler]

These are the settings associated with the clip listed above.
AE Level -1
Smooth Trans On (just what is this!?)
Master Black -1
Detail Normal
Skin Detect Off / Level -2
Black Compress
Level 3
White Clip 108%
Knee Manual
Level 80%
DNR ON
Cinema OFF
Color Matrix Cinema
Adjust (kinda random)
R Gain 1
R Rotation 1
All others normal
Gamma Standard
Level 1
Color Gain 2

[Jeffrey Butler]

Originally Posted by Sean Adair

It takes a commitment to getting the best from the camera, and also recognition that some scenes will just not reproduce well. I'm still refining my 24p moves too...

I'm committed. Or I will be....but I'm in it, I think, for the long haul - unless I can get out of HDV altogether into a cleaner format... =P