Focusing the HM100
 

Low light looks OK - better than my GY-HD100, it certainly looks sharper.

Question, not about low-light, but related to performance.
Can you zoom in / set focus and zoom back maintaining focus correctly with the HM100.

Asking 'cause the last Handy-cam I used was the VX1000 and it did not maintain focus through zooming but it did focus continuously to macro distance - so I guess the back focus sorta "floated" to accommodate.

Hi Les

YES AND NO! - there is a TELE-MACRO mode that allows you to zoom in to close (40cm) objects and have very shallow DOF BUT if you zoom out in this mode there is a dead zone where no focus occurs.

BUT if you turn this function off (button press) then it does maintain focus from Max Tele all the way to full wide :-) I found out all this by trial and error ie playing with the cam :)

Also found that turning detail setting off - helps with low light picture and low light focusing - (stops that breathing/hunting effect)

thanks,
So it works like a macro mode in tele-macro by discombobulating the zoom but like a normal lens otherwise - that would be fine as I am a used to manual focus with the HD100 using focus assist or peaking.

I will have to get demo as soon as I get a break.

I have had the camera for a week. I don't use AF at all - but I find the focus assist function invaluable and works great while using manual focus. If you don't use the 'Tele-Macro' feature then yes, zoom in, focus, zoom out. But to be honest, when wide I just pop it to infinity and unless the subject is closer than 6 feet it's fine. Oh - sorry, am using wide angle adapter as well. When you screw in the adapter there is no lens hood to help, so I've ordered a Cavision shade from B and H - picking up in a couple of weeks (trip to NC).

The camera is fabulous for what it is - very very happy with it.

Cotty

I was really impressed with your footage, I have a GY-HD100 and from what I see it looks like you get at least 2 stops more light than my HD100s plus the low lux actually looked pretty good (in emergency situations) . you werent slowing the shutter for these shots were you? did you find the REALLY small size a issue? also I have to ask everybody isnt this camera a little pricey for what it is? Its more than the Panasonc AG-HMC 150 and the panasonic has 1/3 inch chips.

yea low lux is ok for emergencies - ie must have pics and no light - it will get the footage but noisy as hell

I didnt slow the shutter - AUTO everything except gain - ie frame rate 50i was shame as shutter speed 1/50th sec (in NTSC u'd use 60 obviously)

I think the price isnt about chip size - its also about CODEC - dont fotget this isnt an AVCHD or HDV cam its the SONY EX1 and EX3 codec which is IMHO is the best codec for picture/data rate ratio out there and no transcoding using Edius on PC or FCP on Mac

All this kinda adds to the price simply cos there is nothing like it out there - Panny 150 is heavier and has that horrible consumer AVCHD codec

JVC have sooo got it right on this one - the 1/4" sensors arent as bad as eveeryone makes out - I have sold my EX1 due to the weight aspect of this cam alone (half that of the ex1)

I urge you to go demo one - some like me will love it - others will think its an over priced toy.

It really depends what kinda work you do - Deffo a good B cam Deffo a good small cam
everything else is up for discussion

I love mine - complete with all its niggles (not as many as I had with EX1 -from creaky handle through to power swtich..)

I just ordered one of these today from B&H. It should be in on Monday.

Your information was definitely influential in me deciding on this camera.

I sold my XH-A1 yesterday and am looking forward to not lugging a bunch of tapes around all the time. The SDHC will be much easier to manage and if prices keep falling as they have lately, they should shortly undercut the price of high end tapes.

I'm also excited to see how this encoding format speeds up production work.

Thanks again for going to all of the work to post the low light video.

Hi Steve.
Which WA adaptor and lens hood did you get. My HM 100 arrives next week, and I want to go along the same route.
Thanks.

To be honest - the motion artefacts seen in Matt's HM100 footage are a no go for me.
Erich

Check out most cameras in this price range and you will probably see a lot worse.

Hi Colin,

Went with the JVC adapter. It seems pretty good. GL-V0746 giving a .7x conversion. Very similar field of view to a 28mm lens on a full-frame 36mmx24mm DSLR or old-style film SLR.

You remove the plastic bayonet supplied lens shade and then screw the adapter onto the front of the built-in lens. However, this means that you then have no lens shading - and the adapter needs it if you're out in sunlight. Short of a simple matte box (cost/size implications) I've ordered a simple clamp-on rubber lens hood. This one:

Cavision Lens Hood for 77mm O.D. Lens

It's few mil short because the wide angle adapter outside diameter I measured at 74mm but I can make that up with a bit of electrical tape. There are more hoods with adapters etc here:

Cavision Lens Hoods

B and H price for the hood is 40 bucks.

Productiongear have it for 42 quid:

VideoGear.co.uk - Cavision LH77 Hood for Sony w/a lens

I'll look at matte boxes in due course - with the adapter there's no way to screw on a polariser or any ND so a box would help. To be honest, I don't need it as i bought the camera to run and gun with nature photographers up a mountain.

Did some more test shooting at the weekend, just getting used to it - so light in weight that you can walk around with it all day. But that has a detrimental effect when on the sticks. Admittedly a 'teflon' head with a manfrotto 501 but so little weight means gentle pan or tilts on the end of the bottle can be frustrating. I've taken the medium-strength adjustment implement (hammer) to the head and loosened it up as much as I can. Better now, but no match for a proper shoulder camera on my Sachtler Video 18. But you get what you pay for and I can't haul that lot up a mountain! For what it does, the HM-100 rocks.

Cotty

Hi Steve.
Thanks very much for the info. I am still waiting for my HM 100 to arrive. Have been told that it should be here by Friday. Im getting a little impatient now. Once again, thanks very much for info.

Colin, I use Pana HDC-SD100 1080i50. No motion artefacts at all, except with extremely fast panning. I will prepare some footage to demonstrate this.

Erich

Thanks Erich, look forward to seeing it

Motion artefacts
 

I investigated motion artefacts in Matt's footage a bit further:

Playing from Vimeo directly (ca. 3-6 Mb/s): horrible stuttering.

Then, I downloaded the file 2314522.wmv, playing this one with Windows Media Player: nearly all motion artefacts have gone.

Then, feeding the file into my "Popcorn Hour" and from there into my Full HD 100 Hz 38" TV via HDMI: no noticeable motion artefacts at all.

Is this lesson to be generalized? What other experiences are out there? I count myself as a novice in HD video.

Erich