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L. Kingston's Custom A1U
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Here is another one of Laurence's A1U:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22.../unknown-1.jpg |
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I like the right-angle XLR and the diffuser over the 20DW2. I also duffuse mine, with a velcro attached Lumiquest Mini Soft Box.
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Nice!
But...I've lost track of the earlier thread on this. Could someone provide a quick list of the various components? |
What you see in the picture is the following:
1) Spiderbrace 2: http://spiderbrace.com/othermodels.html 2) Tripod adapter for easy changing of tapes: 3) Shoe mount for mounting wireless receiver to the Spiderbrace: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=250400&is=REG 4) Sony VCL-HG0737Y wide angle lens: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=396837&is=REG 5) Century Optics sunshade: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=274303&is=REG another option is the LH80 M/P from cavision.com http://www.cavision.com/lenshoods/LH80.htm 6) 82mm UV filter (instead of a lens cap) http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search 7) Stepdown ring from www.cavision.com Ask for the one to step down from their LH80 M/P lens hood to a Sony VCL-HG0737Y wide angle lens. The Cavision LH80 M/P also has an internal diameter of 80mm. 8) Varizoom lanc controller: I bought this one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=279113&is=REG but this would be a better choice since the extra controls don't function anyway with the HVR-A1: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search 9) Sony HVL-20DMA light http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=367190&is=REG 10) Sto-fen Omni-bounce diffusor http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...u=89908&is=REG 11) Rode NGT-1 shotgun http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...u=89908&is=REG 12) Sennheiser Evolution wireless http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search 13) several Sony M series batteries for the light and the camera http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...cessory_detail |
Most excellent - thanks! B&H should send you a box of chocolates... :)
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Gotta love that spider brace!
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One more picture Laurence sent me I forgot to put up last night. I guess its a picture using the lights?
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/zimvg/lighting.jpg |
Yeah it's a still capture from an interview with two of those cylindrical work lights, one on each side and slightly offset so as to get a key/fill light effect. I got the idea from this link by Walter Graff:
http://www.film-and-video.com/broadc...s-30bucks.html As I look at the my interview frame, what is still missing is light and shadows effect on the back wall (in my frame there is just a little shadow from the subject), and some back-lighting to highlight the subject's hair, but the two fluorescent worklights look fine. I'll probably end up using a flourescent version one of those little floor mounted worklights that carpenters use with some kind of cardboard cutout clipped to it, and I'll also probably end up buying some sort of small pro light that can be aimed and barn-doored as a backlight. I'm not after any kind of general light kit. I want to have exact tools to light a sit-down interview really quickly and well and that's it. Everything else I do is either natural light or natural light augmented by the camera light. I think the two fluorescent lights are pretty darned good though. They were $59 a piece at Home Depot. I suppose this post is in the territory of "Photon Management" and should be in that forum except that since the A1 is a little lacking in the low light department, it is this camera that is making me expore this subject. One thing I know is that my old camera, a VX2000, was much better in low light and so I just used natural lighting and I always thought it looked fine, but I'm finding that a lit interview with the A1 looks way better, even if it's just lit with inexpensive worklights. Having had this experience, now even if I had a camera that was better in low light I'd still light the interviews. |
Awesome setup man. But for the price you spent, you might as well have gotten the Z1. j/k
How did you find the spidebrace 2 to work? Was it really effective? For the price, I would snatch one up right away. |
No, a Z1 is still way more money! Plus, I'd still need the Spiderbrace, the new mics, the camera light, the lanc controller, etc. Plus it would be heavier and harder to sneak into places like horse tracks and casinos (which I'm planning to do on an upcomming project).
The Spiderbrace is awesome. I'm not a real fan of tripods but I do like steady footage. I was looking at things like the Merlin and the Fig Rig, but the Merlin isn't practical with lights, wireless recievers and lanc controllers, and the fig rig means supporting all that weight at arms length all day long. The steadistick looked cool too, but how would I use a light and wireless reciever at the same time? Plus, I love the fact that you can set a Spiderbrace rig down! I find that if you put the Spiderbrace under your arm (chicken winging it) instead of on your shoulder, you can shoot quite comfortably with the screen, and if I apply a little upward pressure so that the shoulder part is pressed up against the inside of my bicep, I can get decent walking shots as well. The lanc controller gets rid of those little shakes at the beginning and end of shots that I would otherwise have to edit out. A lot of event coverage type jobs pretty much consist of editing out the slop and dragging clips to the timeline. With the lanc on the Spiderbrace, there's a lot less garbage to edit out. Would I rather have a Z1? Only when it's dark! |
Laurence, I know that the Z1 costs way more. I was being sarcastic. :)
Hmmm, I never saw this SpiderBrace device before. Seems like it would really work well. Can you use the brace on your shoulders and still use the LCD confortably? What about the viewfinder? Can it be used at all with the brace on your shoulders? Does the brace allow you to swap tapes without removing the A1? Finally, does the brace have a plate that can be used for easy attachment/detachment? The SpiderBrace 2 and the mini-rig seem quite similar. What is the point of getting the mini-rig over the SpiderBrace 2? BTW, I see that the subject on the last picture is wearing a Florida shirt. Are you from Florida? I am from Orlando but going to school in Boston now. I might be coming back to UF next semester; haven't decided yet. :) |
Hi,
Why did you go with the Rode mic? How is the mic that comes with the A1U? Thanks! |
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I can swap tapes without taking the camera off the Spiderbrace because I have a tripod adapter that allows this (item number 2 on the list). I keep this adapter on the camera all the time. Not only does it allow easier access to changing tapes, but it means I can set the camera down with the larger lens hood and it makes a nice steady base as well. The Mini-Rig is designed exlcusively for the Canon XL series of cameras and wouldn't be a good match for the A1. Yeah I live in Florida: in Clermont, just 20 miles or so West of you in Orlando. |
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The mic that comes with the A1 is an ECM-NV1. This is the standard Sony camera mic that comes with such cameras as the PD-150, PD-170, PDX-10 and is often shown in Z1 literature (though that camera does not come with a shotgun mic). The NV1 is not horrible, but it's not that great a mic either. The pattern isn't that tight, it's almost more of a cardiod than a shotgun, but this is not neccessarily a bad thing on a camera mic. My complaint with the NV1 is that it has no real low end frequency response. I know why they did that: to minimize camera noise without using a better shock mount. I just think that a better mic is a worthwhile investment. After all, as DSE always says: audio is 75% of the picture. I actually only use the NTG-1 on shoots that are exclusively outdoors. A shotgun mic is really good outdoors, but they really aren't that good indoors. The reason is that a shotgun may sound directional, but it's really not exactly what is going on. The way a shotgun works is by combining audio that comes in to the sides of the mic with the audio that is picked up at the tip out of phase. The result is that audio that is picked up by the sides of the mic and the front of the mic is, for the most part, cancelled out. This works well outdoors where sounds are picked up directly from their points of origin rather than reflections around a room. Indoors this doesn't work well at all. What happens is the sound is being reflected all around the room and and phase cancelling reflected sound doesn't work because much of it is already out of phase. Instead of directionality, what you get is a wierd boxy sound. This is why many people (like me) prefer a cardiod indoors. Because it sounds better and, strangely enough, is actually more directional indoors than a shotgun. Some people split the difference and use a hypercardiod. Microphones are rated on a continuum: omni - not directional, cardiod - a little directional, hypercardiod - more directional, shotgun - super directional. In an ideal world you would use the following: a shotgun outdoors, a hypercardiod indoors in regular environments, a cardiod in highly reflective environments. In mixed environments, I tend to go with the safest option, a regular cardiod. Which mic is the best? If I was more of a purist, I would go with something like an AT4051 cardiod in the most reflective of environments, an AT4053 in less reflective environments, and a 416 outdoors. I would also only use a windscreen when necessary and then only as much windscreen as I needed. I'm not that much of a purist though and I don't work in an environment where I can pick my next shot. A Sennheiser ME64 is a great all around camera mic. It is cardiod so it is safe everywhere. It has a strong mid-high frequency presence peak, so it has a high degree of intelligablity even with a heavier fuzzy windscreen. It has good low frequency response, yet isn't bad for handling noise. This is actually the mic I would most recommend as the best all around permanently mounted camera mic. Why do I have an NTG-1 on in the picture then? I've been doing mostly outdoor work lately and a good shotgun is the best choice outdoors. |
Just a side not on the difference between the NTG-1 and ME64 mics. I've done a number of interviews over two days for a current project. For all these interviews, I had a mic on a boom over the talent so I wasn't worried about the camera mic sound. On the first day I used the ME64 as a camera mic and on the second day I switched it with the NTG-1. In neither case is the camera mic destined for the final mix. It was just an experiment.
Here's what I found: the ME64 actually sounded pretty good. It was a little distant and I could hear more room ambience than I like, but it could be used. The NTG-1 sounded awful. It sounded boxy and picked up a whole lot more room noise than the ME64. If I had done this same interview outside, it would have been quite different. The ME64 would sound decent but the speech would be buried in a wash of the sound of everything going on outside. The NTG-1 would have picked up the speech nicely and rejected all sorts of extraneous noise. What I would love is a NTG-1 sized mic with a three way switch that gave you cardiod, hypercardiod and shotgun options! If anyone knows of such a thing, please let me know! |
For an Alan Barker recommendation of the ME64 as a camera mic, check out the following link:
http://www.alanbarker.com/index.html?body=whyk6.html |
Really cool Laurence. Thanks for the information. Nice to hear that the adapter can remain on the entire time. I am definetely getting one of those. Will the adapter work with any tripod as well?
Pete, the reason why he went with the Rode microphone is because it is superior than the one included with the A1U. The microphone that comes with the A1U has been reviewed as mediocre by most experienced users. I find it to be quite amazing, but I am coming from a series of consumer camcorders. The Rode microphones seem to be the best ones out there for the price. If you have the chance, snatch one of them. |
Good line Laurence: 'Would I rather have a Z1? Only when it's dark!'.
But what of the other concessions to compactness that the A1 bears - the bottom loading and that awful exposure control adjustment? |
The tripod adapter works with any tripod I believe. You can load and unload tape without removing it from the tripod when you use the adapter.
That exposure control isn't so bad. I do wish that the display was a little clearer on how much gain was being used though. The thing about documentaries is that the medium doesn't have to be transparent like it does in a dramatic work. The illusion isn't shattered because you see a little grain in a night shot. If I was shooting dramatic work, I think I'd be happier with a Z1 or the new Canon where I could (and would) really tweak the shot. For documentaries though, the A1 kicks butt. Run and gun stuff is usually shot in auto mode anyway, and the picture is so much better than what we're used to seeing in this genre. This camera can get in and out of cars and public transportation and is easy to manage in all sorts of situations where nobody is making allowances for a camera being there. |
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http://www.cavision.com/lenshoods/LH80.htm |
Short right angle XLR cable length and source?
Hi Laurence, thanks for sharing your A1U rig and insights on accessorizing it. Thanks to Bob for posting pictures for it too!
Just out of curiosity, where'd you get your yellow xlr cable from and how long is it? I'm having a hard time trying to find a source for xlr cables with a male right angle connector in lengths shorter than 1.5'. I suppose I could always make one, but it's been a while since I've picked up the ol' soldering iron so I don't trust my DIY skills. Looking at your cable in the pictures it looks to be about 6" or so? |
Congratulations to all of you who had contributed to this thread, specially to Laurence Kingston. In my opinion this is the most interesting thread I've read about the A1.
By the way, Laurence you seem to be the 'guru' of this site concerning the A1. Could you take a look to this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=60555 Perhaps with all your experience you can add something valuable. |
We have a pro audio shop called TAI Audio about 20 minutes drive from my house. I often buy stuff there even when it's not the best deal just because it's nice to have a place to actually try stuff out nearby. I got the 6" cable right angled cable there.
http://www.taiaudio.com/catalog/ Yeah, I've been following that link. Six clicks left seems to be the magic "no gain" number. I'm not sure yet how much gain you can really get away with on this camera. It isn't nearly as much as it is with the FX1/Z1, that's for sure. I'm hardly a guru at this point. I am having fun learning this stuff though. As far as I'm concerned, it's just fun to be part of the "hi def" club for such a small entry fee! |
Thanks for sharing the source for your 6" right angled cable Laurence. Yeah I know what you mean about having a local place to try stuff out. Prices are anywhere from 10% - 20% higher than buying online. I feel bad, but I often test drive the gear at the local shop, but end up buying from B&H or Adorama. On top of that the local shop doesn't stock as big of an inventory as the B&H/Adorama. So for something like a 6" cable, it would need to be special ordered
A little trick I picked up over the years...make friends with the employees/owners of the local shops. Ask them if they can pricematch. Most of the time they won't, but will often bring their price down to get your business. I try to support the local economy as much as I can, but if there is a better deal online...you know where my money is going...ie the $500 rebate on the A1U. The rebate was good for contintental US purchases only. I admire your humility in denying your guru status. If not, a guru then you should be made a moderator of the "kick-ass-super-cool-A1U-setup" forum for DVinfo. :P |
Hey, quick question. Honestly, what is the real differences between the A1U and the HC1 besides a bit better color capturing through the lens and the added mic attachment.
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Comparison Table of HDR-HC1 and HVR-A1U
This has been discussed a lot in the forum. The search function is our friend. Here's a couple pertinent threads from our board: HC1 or A1U? Why Did You go for the A1U over the HC1 |
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And for the Varizoom lanc controller what other functions of the A1 we can use with it? Does it have control over the start/stop ? |
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As far as the lanc controller, most of the extra lanc features don't work with the A1. I was hoping to be able to use the "push to autofocus" feature but it doesn't work, though I've read posts by people with the Manfrotto 521P controller that says that the "push to auto focus" on that one does work. The Manfrotto controller looks a little big physically to me though. The lanc "start/stop" and frame advance controls don't work either. If I was to do it again I'd buy a simpler Varizoom model like this one: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search or maybe just get one of these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=361366&is=REG |
I have one of these Cavision LH80M/P hoods for my VX2k's wide angle converter. Must go see if Cavision are up with the times and are producung this hood in the 16:9 aspect ratio now. Anyone know?
tom. |
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What do you think of this one. No adapter ring needed? |
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I haven't said so before, so I should say it now, that is a very impressive setup you have there, Laurence. |
When I went to BH Photo Video (the physical store in New York) a couple days ago, I wanted to get as much of Laurence's setup. I asked for the 82mm UV filter listed in Laurence's list, but the sales rep asked why get a 82mm one when you can just get a 37mm one (for 1/4 for the price). I'm a little confused now as to why I would need the stepup rings and 82mm UV filter. I would like to usethe better lens shade with the UV filter as a protective layer (replacement for lens cap) while also having the Sony wideangle Y lens attached.
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The 82mm filter is for the wideangle lens hood (there's no cap for that hood, that's why we need an UV filter to protect the wideangle lens). If you pick the LH80 hood, you will need a step down ring adapter for the wideangle lens, but the good news is Cavision just has a new LH77 hood that doesn't require a step down ring adapter.
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I just received an email from Cavision. We don't need ring adapter for the new LH77 hood.
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Sorry, quick question: so if I get the LH77 lens, which requires no stepdown ring adaptor, what size UV filter will I need to act as a lens cap? Still 82mm?
Edit: Nevermind, I found out I'll still need 82mm. But new question: there are so many different Hoya 82mm UV filters. What are the differences? They have no multi-coating, multi-coated, and super-multi-coated as well as different grades of UV(0) and not "applicable." The price varies from $43.50 to over $100. What are the advantages and disadvantages, or features, of the coatings and grades? Which one should I get? Does the multi or super multi-coating actually have a discernable difference, or is it more of something on paper (theory) and a marketing ploy? Laurence, do you mean that the Manfrotto 521P compact controller can allow the A1 to use a push auto focus feature, even if the camera itself doesn't have that feature? I'm looking at a few lanc controllers (even if not all the functions can work with the A1, but if there is a controller that can allow a push autofocus feature on the A1, that would be great): Varizoom Rock LE Compact: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search Varizoom Rock Variable Zoom Compact: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search Manfrotto 521Pro Compact: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search I'm not really sure what the differences between the three are. Can anyone explain? |
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