First Commercial Shoot Comments

[Chris Harding]

Hi Guys

Just done a 45 minute Property Condition Report on the Sony which is done fast and furious.. all on auto and handheld .. all I'm doing is showing the defects or no defects on walls, doors, ceilings and testing lights and testing blinds/drapes etc etc. Here are my comments after a 45 minute almost continuous shoot (12 clips) in 38 degrees Celcius heat...OUCH!!

What I like :

The camera handles the huge variation in light very well indeed..you are "scanning" walls at F3.5 and then hit a window which is a 1/120th and F16 then back to F3.5 at 1/50th ...so the cam works like a dog and exposes on auto brilliantly...I didn't use any ND's either and it still handles the bright sunshine outside.

I could kiss Sony for including the beep sound...I really missed that badly and it's so good to have an audio confirmation that you didn't hit record twice...Panny dropped that feature a long time ago

My back and shoulders are not sore!!! It's a LOT lighter than my Panny's (about 1kg (2.2lbs Don)) and there is much less stress on your arms too.

I hit horizontal blinds, brick work, and our famous insect screens ..the thumbnails showed massive moire but the footage has none at all!!

Audio in auto is awesome on my wireless setup ..it keeps the audio close to -6db ..the Pannys tended to go all the way to 0db so I always needed to pull down the audio level....The XLR mic wasn't hearing much but I think it might need to go up just a tad....Phantom mics are great too..you can't forget to turn them on!!

PP3 is a very nice profile to start with..colour is accurate and contrast is realistic ..I will see how it does at a wedding but I would rather be slightly de-saturated than over saturated...it's simple to change in post..I feel that PP4 is a little bland..but that's me!

What I didn't like :

The receiver gets in the way..it needs to be further back I think..I could feel the antenna tickling my ear quite often. I wonder if Noa has tried it handheld with his setup? Noa doesn't your Azden get in the way when the cam is on your shoulder??

Biggest moan is the EVF..it keeps trying to fold inwards so you have to tend to pull it away from the camera all the time...I would appreciate others views on this ....even with the knob tight it tends to swing inwards so I have kept it loose.

Overall I'm pretty happy so it's more than likely getting close to dumping the Panasonics!!!

Chris

[Don Bloom]

Chris that all sounds good. the bracket I'm going to fashion for my receiver will sit off the shoulder pad about 1 inch (give or take) remember I use the AT dual channel and with batterys it weighs about 17 or 18 ounces so that should help keep it out of the way and balance the cam a bit. I also have the DVTec ENG rig that I used on my fullsized cameras in in the "old days" and I think I have a way figured out to use it on the 50. Not only will it give me rails (which I doubt I will use for anything) but it gives me the spring rod like the Multirig.
I'm happy to hear what you are saying booth about the audio and the look and handling you are getting from the cam.
I can't wait to order mine. Soon but not soon enough!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Don

I think you will like these cameras! The issue with the Azden stuff is it needs to go backwards more!! I'll zip to the hardware later and get some aluminium flat bar.

I really like Noa's idea with splitting the light and it's battery so I'll also make provision for a rear mounted battery .. the 5000 series lights have a DC input so it's an easy mod.

For those who need to know the F770 battery shows 87% left after 45 minutes of shooting

Chris

[Don Bloom]

Yep, I've been using the 312 and it runs off of either sony type or a Bescor NiMH. The one I have is small and pretty light but heavy enough that maybe I'll fashion a bracket for it so that would give me enough weight on the back to balance the camera and then I could eliminate the ENG rig although that really makes a difference when doing a long shoot on the shoulder. Hmmm, more things to play with! Yay!

[Chris Harding]

Don..I still have my aluminium bracket for my ENG mount ..it's ultra simple - Just two 6" long 1/2" aluminium tubes pop rivetted to two 1" wide plates at each end so the tubes are 2.5" apart...There is a hole in one plate for the ENG rod (it sits under the lens hood) and the other plate also has a hole to fasten into the cams tripod mount...A couple of seconds to put on if you need the rig.

Chris

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Noa doesn't your Azden get in the way when the cam is on your shoulder??

I only tested it once and no, it did not get into the way, seems to extend just far enough backwards.

Biggest moan is the EVF..it keeps trying to fold inwards so you have to tend to pull it away from the camera all the time...I would appreciate others views on this ....even with the knob tight it tends to swing inwards so I have kept it loose.

Same here, the viewfinder puts a lot of strain on the joint of the lcd due to it's length, it's not the best design I have seen, I thought about making it shorter but I think it will have an impact on usability.

It seems like the same on the fs100 where I also read complaints about the loupe being too long/heavy and not staying into position.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Noa

I'm going to move my Azden back a few inches and also add your battery idea for the light so that will sort that side out.

There must be a way to be able to prevent the LCD from folding inwards..I looked at the inside hinge and the plastic pieces are rounded so locking it will be tricky....I would be happy with the LCD locked out at 90 degrees to the body but you really need a little plastic wedge in the corner to stop it folding in but how to keep it there is an issue.

If I find a way, you will be the first to know!!

Chris

[Paul Wood]

Hi guys,

From reading these threads, a lot sounds familiar from the early days of the FS100 (which I own) - regarding the viewfinder, Caleb Crosby makes a thing called Swivelator which locks the LCD on the FS100/700 - I've no idea if this will fit the EA50, but it might be worth checking out at shootingmachine.net

Also with the 3 position gain switch, works as the FS100, - maybe worth scanning the older posts on the forum, as there seem to be many things in common.

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Paul

OK Guys there is no write up at all and only an image of this device. Can any bright person figure out where it goes and what it does and if the same idea might work on the EA-50??

Chris

[Noa Put]

It doesn't work for the ea50, makes sense on a fs100 but that camera has a totally different design.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Noa

Yeah I saw it ...different completely...This might sound crazy but I cut a square block of "briefcase" foam and pushed it between the tube and the camera body and it stops the LCD folding in..the foam is stiff enough to restrain the LCD hinge but not hard enough to damage anything. I will figure a better solution later but for now this works fine.

Chris