Un-Documented Features at DVinfo.net

John Jay · February 23rd, 2006, 09:54 AM

One of my pet loves about Sony Camcorders is that there nearly always is some feature which is not documented and left for the user to discover :)

Some I have found are

1 Super Slow Rocker Zoom when entering SHOT TRANS mode

2 Extra Stop in lowlight (above F1.8 18db) when the BACKLIGHT button is pressed

3 Focus Peaking in RED when in EXPANDED FOCUS mode

4 Wider Angle of View (~0.95x) when entering SHOT TRANS mode - thats about 90,000 more pixels

Ok, 3 & 4 are mentioned in the manual in small print but easily missed on a first read

Barry Uddstrom · February 23rd, 2006, 06:26 PM

Don’t forget with the Manfrotto 523 Pro remote control you also get a Push auto focus button feature when in manual mode and there is no button on the A1 camera to do that.

Stu Holmes · February 25th, 2006, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Jay

2 Extra Stop in lowlight (above F1.8 18db) when the BACKLIGHT button is pressed

Hmm. Wouldn´t this just be the camera adding some gain? What does the data code report on this (with and without backlight button)

EDIT: sorry i just read your post again and saw that you said it was already at +18db. This is interesting. Have you any idea what it is? slower shutter?

thanks

John Jay · February 25th, 2006, 11:06 AM

My best guess is that the EIP is threshold based, thus when a backlit subject is corrected its because the shadow detail is below the threshold and therefore gets boosted.

However when all is below the threshold as in low light F1.8 +18db then everything gets boosted, which may be as much as 1.5 stops.

I have noticed that the luma gets boosted much more - so when using the backlight button in lowlight; ramp the colour gain all the way to the right.

Nevertheless it's a great feature

Laurence Kingston · February 25th, 2006, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry Uddstrom

Don’t forget with the Manfrotto 523 Pro remote control you also get a Push auto focus button feature when in manual mode and there is no button on the A1 camera to do that.

I have a Varizoom Lanc controller with a pust to autofocus button. It doesn't work with my A1.

Vish Matepi · February 25th, 2006, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence Kingston

I have a Varizoom Lanc controller with a pust to autofocus button. It doesn't work with my A1.

thats really weird.. cause i just bought the one you recommended and the focus works great on my A1. ( The Varizoom stealth)

also.. that .7 you have on your camera.. i cant believe how hard it is to get..
(besides getting it from sonystyle of course)
every friggen body is out of stock, i'm over it.

Laurence Kingston · February 25th, 2006, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vish Matepi

thats really weird.. cause i just bought the one you recommended and the focus works great on my A1. ( The Varizoom stealth)

also.. that .7 you have on your camera.. i cant believe how hard it is to get..
(besides getting it from sonystyle of course)
every friggen body is out of stock, i'm over it.

Whatever you do, don't give up and get the Century Optics .65 model instead. The image from that lens simply sucks. Wait and keep looking. Eventually you'll find the Sony lens in stock somewhere. Yeah, it took me several months.

The manual focus on the Varizoom works great. The "push to autofocus" button is the one that isn't working for me. On my posts a while back I recommended a simpler Varizoom remote than the one I actually bought because the extra features on the more advanced model didn't work on the A1 anyway.

Vish Matepi · February 26th, 2006, 02:13 AM

heh, well i just shot my first wedding.. i've got basiclly everything you have..
except that stupid lens.. and i must say.. shooting with the spiderbrace and varizoom
made thing's so much easier and more professional.. i love your setup laurence
it's perfect.. i'm very greatfull for you posting your camera spec's ..it just made thing's so much easier.

ok.. the one thing i learnt with kids & weddings? don't get too friendly with them... i sat my camera down for like 5second's to change the tape.. and like an eagle swooping it's prey.. my camera was floating about 4ft off the ground around the backyard, my heart was in my mouth. lucky she did'nt break anything but DAMN.

also laurence i noticed the diffuser you got for your light.. does'nt really fit.. hehe... well it sorta did.. no big deal though.. it stays there, people still thought it was a tad bright..(too bad) but it certainly does cut down alot of the pirecing bright light

and i was wondering if you had posted your computer spec's somewhere on the forum?
thanks again.

Bjoern Sonnenschein · February 26th, 2006, 08:28 AM

don´t forget that you can set the shutter to 1/30 in lowlight without unsmooth motion.

Marc Ries · February 26th, 2006, 07:07 PM

[QUOTE=shooting with the spiderbrace and varizoom
made thing's so much easier and more professional..
thanks again.[/QUOTE]

Couple of questions:

1) How bad a fit was the cover?

2) I also need some stability. How WAS the spiderbrace in action? Why do you think it's better than a shoulder brace or monopod with brace?

Thanks.

Vish Matepi · February 28th, 2006, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc Ries

Couple of questions:

1) How bad a fit was the cover?

2) I also need some stability. How WAS the spiderbrace in action? Why do you think it's better than a shoulder brace or monopod with brace?

Thanks.

1) i don't understand? i'm dumb.

2) the spider brace in action was good actully i really really liked it.. it was'nt perfect.. i still got sore front deltoids but it certainly took more than 40% of the load off.. and my shot's were reasonbly steady... i can't compare it to anything except a mono pod or a tripod.. cause thats all i've used..
and with that.. i must say, i could have used the mono pod through the long boring bits of the wedding.
ideally if you could have a brace set up.. and have the weight of the camera resting on your belt or something.. obiously it's going to be easier...
but it's going to be alot more expensive.. compared to the $65 i paid for mine.

John K. Anderson · February 28th, 2006, 03:50 PM

[QUOTE=Laurence Kingston]Whatever you do, don't give up and get the Century Optics .65 model instead. The image from that lens simply sucks. Wait and keep looking. Eventually you'll find the Sony lens in stock somewhere. Yeah, it took me several months.

Laurence,

Ae you recommending the Sony or Century Optics lens. Which one sucked. Maybe I'm not reading your quote right.

Thanks
John

Laurence Kingston · February 28th, 2006, 11:20 PM

[QUOTE=John K. Anderson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence Kingston

Whatever you do, don't give up and get the Century Optics .65 model instead. The image from that lens simply sucks. Wait and keep looking. Eventually you'll find the Sony lens in stock somewhere. Yeah, it took me several months.

Laurence,

Ae you recommending the Sony or Century Optics lens. Which one sucked. Maybe I'm not reading your quote right.

Thanks
John

The Sony lens is great. The Century Optics one sucks. Strange since the Century Optics one is quite a bit more expensive!

Rodolphe Pellerin · March 14th, 2006, 03:17 AM

I use it often and it works !

1. Select "Sunset&Moon" in program AE (In this mode the camera exposure will never exceed +9dB and the Shutter speed is always at 1/50 (probably 1/60 for US models)... The limit point Where the picture is still good !)

2. Push the "Back Light" button... Low lights are better and now you can see details in the shadows...

The picture can be greatly manipulated in post...

February 23rd, 2006, 09:54 AM	#1
John Jay Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: US & THEM Posts: 827	Un-Documented Features One of my pet loves about Sony Camcorders is that there nearly always is some feature which is not documented and left for the user to discover :) Some I have found are 1 Super Slow Rocker Zoom when entering SHOT TRANS mode 2 Extra Stop in lowlight (above F1.8 18db) when the BACKLIGHT button is pressed 3 Focus Peaking in RED when in EXPANDED FOCUS mode 4 Wider Angle of View (~0.95x) when entering SHOT TRANS mode - thats about 90,000 more pixels Ok, 3 & 4 are mentioned in the manual in small print but easily missed on a first read __________________ John Jay Beware *PLUGGER-BYTES*

February 23rd, 2006, 06:26 PM	#2
Barry Uddstrom Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: New Zealand Greymouth Posts: 39	Un-Documented Features Don’t forget with the Manfrotto 523 Pro remote control you also get a Push auto focus button feature when in manual mode and there is no button on the A1 camera to do that.

February 25th, 2006, 11:06 AM	#4
John Jay Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: US & THEM Posts: 827	My best guess is that the EIP is threshold based, thus when a backlit subject is corrected its because the shadow detail is below the threshold and therefore gets boosted. However when all is below the threshold as in low light F1.8 +18db then everything gets boosted, which may be as much as 1.5 stops. I have noticed that the luma gets boosted much more - so when using the backlight button in lowlight; ramp the colour gain all the way to the right. Nevertheless it's a great feature __________________ John Jay Beware *PLUGGER-BYTES*

February 28th, 2006, 03:50 PM	#12
John K. Anderson Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 26	Lens Clarification [QUOTE=Laurence Kingston]Whatever you do, don't give up and get the Century Optics .65 model instead. The image from that lens simply sucks. Wait and keep looking. Eventually you'll find the Sony lens in stock somewhere. Yeah, it took me several months. Laurence, Ae you recommending the Sony or Century Optics lens. Which one sucked. Maybe I'm not reading your quote right. Thanks John

March 14th, 2006, 03:17 AM	#14
Rodolphe Pellerin New Boot Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 22	HC1E Special Low Light Mode... I use it often and it works ! 1. Select "Sunset&Moon" in program AE (In this mode the camera exposure will never exceed +9dB and the Shutter speed is always at 1/50 (probably 1/60 for US models)... The limit point Where the picture is still good !) 2. Push the "Back Light" button... Low lights are better and now you can see details in the shadows... The picture can be greatly manipulated in post...

February 26th, 2006, 02:13 AM	#8
Vish Matepi Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kailua, Hawaii Posts: 34	heh, well i just shot my first wedding.. i've got basiclly everything you have.. except that stupid lens.. and i must say.. shooting with the spiderbrace and varizoom made thing's so much easier and more professional.. i love your setup laurence it's perfect.. i'm very greatfull for you posting your camera spec's ..it just made thing's so much easier. ok.. the one thing i learnt with kids & weddings? don't get too friendly with them... i sat my camera down for like 5second's to change the tape.. and like an eagle swooping it's prey.. my camera was floating about 4ft off the ground around the backyard, my heart was in my mouth. lucky she did'nt break anything but DAMN. also laurence i noticed the diffuser you got for your light.. does'nt really fit.. hehe... well it sorta did.. no big deal though.. it stays there, people still thought it was a tad bright..(too bad) but it certainly does cut down alot of the pirecing bright light and i was wondering if you had posted your computer spec's somewhere on the forum? thanks again.

February 26th, 2006, 08:28 AM	#9
Bjoern Sonnenschein New Boot Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: voerde in germany Posts: 10	don´t forget that you can set the shutter to 1/30 in lowlight without unsmooth motion.

February 26th, 2006, 07:07 PM	#10
Marc Ries Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 61	[QUOTE=shooting with the spiderbrace and varizoom made thing's so much easier and more professional.. thanks again.[/QUOTE] Couple of questions: 1) How bad a fit was the cover? 2) I also need some stability. How WAS the spiderbrace in action? Why do you think it's better than a shoulder brace or monopod with brace? Thanks.

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