The Editblog

As I mentioned in the first test footage to come out of my HV20 with Greg Tay’s GT35pro 35mm lens adapter, I was going to take it with me over the holidays up in Canada. I did so and got some pretty good footage. I’ve written up a full article on the test as well as the footage on Vimeo over at the Editblog’s new home at the Pro Video Coalition. I hope you’ll click over and check it out!

Canon has just announced the HV40, successor to my little friend the HV20 and the HV30. It looks like a small evolution with “Custom Key” button on the lens barrel and a “native 24P mode” among its big new feature.

First the Custom Key (from the Canon website):

Have the same kind of creative input as the pros do! You can assign commonly used functions to one button on the camcorder for quick and easy access. Functions available to choose from include Exposure Lock (On/Off), Auto/Manual Focus, and Auto/Manual Microphone Level Control.

OK, that’s pretty handy. Having to use that little joystick to dig down into different menus sucks!

Second the  native 24p mode:

This is a feature previously found only on Canon’s professional camcorders. Native 24p Mode allows 24 frames per second, instead of the standard 60i, to be captured and recorded. It is a must for serious filmmaking work, as 24 frames per second is the frame rate of film.

Camcorderinfo.com has this quote:

Canon’s decision not to simply carry over the HV30 from the previous year was explained as tendency to refresh the lines every year, “even if it’s just to offer something new to the consumer,” explained Mitchell Glick, assistant manager of Product Marketing, Consumer Division for Canon USA. The new native 24P mode was something “a lot of filmmakers request on a unit that’s a little bit less inexpensive.”

But wait a minute you say … my HV20 has recorded 24p from day one. Well not exactly. It and the HV30 record the 24p “cinema mode” which is actually 60 interlaced frames to tape. This requires an extra step of running the captured media through some type of reverse telecine (like a pass through Compressor) to remove the extra pulldown frames. Since this new native 24p mode is still recording to tape that has to mean flagged frames onto tape so your NLE capturing application can remove those frames on the fly upon capture. Extra step eliminated. Nice.

Let me be the first to say that it’s probably a bit too much to expect for someone who is not a professional (or at least serious amateur) shooter to slap a 35mm depth of field adapter on to their consumer video camera and come away with footage that looks like seasoned pro. No tool is that good. My first two trips out with the GT35pro adapter on my Canon HV20 left me with a lot of bad footage. There was a lot of stuff that I just didn’t do right: bad focus, too much vignetting, seeing the edge of the vibrating ground glass holder … stuff like that. I was not going to post any footage from my first tests of the GT35pro adapter but I pulled out a few shots from here and there that aren’t too bad:

First GT35pro footage from Scott Simmons on Vimeo.

Thoughts and observations on the first footage:

This footage was captured with a Canon 50mm prime and two Canon zoom lenses. I was not using any kind of external microphone so the sound of the vibrating ground glass is probably a bit louder than it should be but it is audible, it’s not as loud in these Vimeo shots as I forgot to turn it on half of the time but it is there. It’s more noticeable than I thought it would be so it makes me wonder if others are as loud. There’s a touch of color correction on most of the clips (I can’t send out footage without a little color work .. just not gonna do it!) but I think you can certainly get a feel of the unique look that a 35mm adapter can give to your footage. I didn’t make very detailed notes on the exposure settings and camera controls though a lot of it was shot in Cinema Mode on the HV20 which, from my understanding, provides a flatter gamma so you have a little more latitude in color correction. This appeared to be the case against the clips I shot in a different mode. I sure wish the Canon 35mm camera lenses had a manual aperture ring.

There were a lot of things I learned in these first two outings gathering footage. It’s hard to hold the rig good and steady so a good tripod is a must. You would think I would have learned my lesson with Magic Bullet Steady. It’s also hard to nail focus on a little flip-out camera monitor. You have to get the HV20 focus right on the ground glass and the focus with the 35mm lens. And you really have to get used to shooting with the inverted image on that flip-out monitor. I am not yet used to it. If you take time to read the instructions you can shoot better footage. Some of the radial blurring that can be seen in the first shots of the dog were corrected after a bit more setup. There’s still a lot I don’t know about getting the right exposure on the HV20, f-stops and 35mm lenses in general. But you learn by doing so I’ll be shooting a lot more over the holiday. I really like some of what I am seeing with this adapter and I can’t wait to shoot more stuff. I think there will be great footage to come.

And did I mention it’s hard to nail focus on a little flip-out camera monitor?

Here at the Editblog, we recently got our hands on a great little 35mm lens adapter called the GT35pro. This adapter is created by Greg Tay in Singapore. We thought this would be a great addition to the HV20 video camera kit so we are excited to shoot some footage and test it out.

The unit we are testing out is the GT35pro Advanced. Greg offers a number of different configurations that adapt a wide range of cameras and budgets. Unlike the “high end” 35mm adapters, Greg’s adapters are priced at a different place in the market. I think it might be hard to justify $1000 + for a 35mm adapter that isn’t used in a professional shooting environment to make money. And by that I mean it’s not always easy to convince your spouse or your bank account that you need a Red Rock M2 Indie Bundle for $995 when all you want to do is shoot your dog or your kid. Are there advantages to a more expensive adapter like a Red Rock or those from Letus? Sure there are but that’s part of working on a budget, compromises. That’s where an adapter like the GT35 line can hit a sweet spot.

(more…)

The DV Show recently posted a review of the Rode VideoMic. This is the external mic of choice for our Canon HV20 camera rig here in the Editblog. I researched a number of different microphones when putting together our portable video-studio-in-a-backpack for the International Motorpress Association track days earlier in the fall and the Rode Video Mic was a great option with good sound and affordability. Amazon’s got them!

I’ve posted the second of our videos from the IMPA track days at Pocono Raceway. This was a road and track test of the BMW M3. I can tell you thus far that if you want to learn about shooting quality video in a run and gun situation all you have to do is shoot for a day and then try to cut that material into a finished program and you will learn a whole hellava lot about the next time you go out to shoot. I’ve shot a lot of video in my life but the last few years had been pretty much editing. Needless to say I have been reminded of a lot. Remember to click over to the Garage Blog channel on Vimeo to watch in Vimeo HD.

BMW M3 at the IMPA test days from Scott Simmons on Vimeo.

The other day I posted about the first adventure of the HV20 up at the Pocono Raceway for the 2008 IMPA Test Days. This was video collected for The Garage Blog. The first piece ever from the HV20 is now live on Vimeo. It’s a quick montage of the fun that we had during the two days we were there. I have to say that Vimeo is much better than You Tube though the frame rate still doesn’t seem to be full, at least not on this machine and Internet connection. But for free video hosting it’s pretty damn good! Click over the The Garage Blog on Vimeo to watch it in HD as the quality is a lot better (though it may be slower to load).

The Garage Blog at IMPA Test Days 2008 from Scott Simmons on Vimeo.

I had been wanting to buy a video camera and my wife was open to the idea as well. I’m an editor, filmmaker and video guy but I was always borrowing a camera so I needed one of my own. My brother-in-law Gary is an automotive journalist and asked if I would like to accompany him to the 2008 International Motor Press Association’s test days and shoot video of the many road and track tests that he would be conducting for his website thegarageblog.com. Video and cars are two of my favorite things to I said hell yea. And this was the perfect opportunity to buy a camera.

(more…)