Coments on newcomer Z1

[Carlos E. Martinez]

As I said on another thread, I just got my Z1 today. Got here after three months!

There might be other comments over my camera in the future, but as I had handled one some months ago on a shooting, some things I will have to get used to.

Two important things: there were two accessories I bought for it. A headphone booster and a wide angle.

I was positively surprised with the Century .6x wide-angle. Distortion is not as great as some report, so I might stick to it instead of selling it. It's quite light and doesn't seem to have many aberrations.

The Boostaroo phone booster is quite practical and really levels things up on the volume.

I had also bought two extra Impact batteries from B&H, which are great, and an extra charger.

I'm very happy with my new toy! :)


Carlos

[Boyd Ostroff]

Congratulations on finally getting the camera Carlos!

I think the 0.6x has its uses, but once you look at the images more critically I'm sure you will see the flaws. The image is noticeably softer than you get without the adaptor. If working in standard definition this won't be much of an issue, but definitely noticeable in HD. And there is a lot of barrell distortion. In fairness, it probably only adds a moderate amount of distortion to the inherent distortion at the wide end of the Sony zoom. To see just how bad this is, go outside where you can see the horizon off in the distance. Put the camera on a tripod so that it is horizontal and pointing straight ahead. Now tip it up, then down and watch the horizon line change from a "frown" to a "smile". It's an interesting effect, and one that I like to use, but it has a very stylized look.

I just got a rather expensive Nikon 14mm super wide prime lens for my DSLR, and it's perspective corrected (rectilinear), unlike a fisheye lens. Wow, I'm embarassed to admit that I haven't had a wide lens this nice before. The field of view is terrific, but there isn't any distortion. It's funny, because at first I didn't get the feeling I was looking through a wide angle lens because I was so used to the distortion providing a cue to the field of view!

If Tom Hardwick is hanging around here, he should get a good chuckle out of this :-)

[Carlos E. Martinez]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Congratulations on finally getting the camera Carlos!

Thanks, Boyd.

I think the 0.6x has its uses, but once you look at the images more critically I'm sure you will see the flaws. The image is noticeably softer than you get without the adaptor. If working in standard definition this won't be much of an issue, but definitely noticeable in HD. And there is a lot of barrell distortion. In fairness, it probably only adds a moderate amount of distortion to the inherent distortion at the wide end of the Sony zoom. To see just how bad this is, go outside where you can see the horizon off in the distance. Put the camera on a tripod so that it is horizontal and pointing straight ahead. Now tip it up, then down and watch the horizon line change from a "frown" to a "smile". It's an interesting effect, and one that I like to use, but it has a very stylized look.

I see your points. I have always considered wide-angles as "special lenses", perhaps because in my 16mm film-student days aberrations were even more present, particularly in zooms. The wide-angle extreme of the Angenieux 10-150 zoom lens couldn't really be used if you didn't take several precautions.

What that did is that I look at wide-angle situations as something you will have some limitations from. So you integrate them into the shot. Like softness. The good thing is that in video you can see that when you are shooting, and you can adjust your light accordingly.

There are several steps I will have to take now, one being a better quality monitor for location control and another for editing.

For the latter I should speed up getting a 24" Dell or Gateway, or even a Mac.

I just got a rather expensive Nikon 14mm super wide prime lens for my DSLR, and it's perspective corrected (rectilinear), unlike a fisheye lens. Wow, I'm embarassed to admit that I haven't had a wide lens this nice before. The field of view is terrific, but there isn't any distortion. It's funny, because at first I didn't get the feeling I was looking through a wide angle lens because I was so used to the distortion providing a cue to the field of view!

Yes, photo/film lens adapters are in my short list. Problem is the affordable ones invert image, so you need to flip your LCD view. There seems to be a "magnet-trick" for that, but I am not sure it will work on the Z1.

In any case it seems like a very good path, using Nikkor or Canon lenses, to go into primary lenses photography. Which is how I learnt filmmaking!... :)

If Tom Hardwick is hanging around here, he should get a good chuckle out of this :-)

Tom, have you tried aspherics in HDV?

BTW: I should do some film tests transfer using my Z1. I will report back here with the results. The usual fee, Boyd... ;)


Carlos