Has anybody shot with HVX-200 and stock lens for film-out?

[Tim O'Connor]

I've heard some people lately say that they want to do their best with the HVX-200

without the hassles of any lens adaptors for cine lenses. Does anyone have any

experience shooting with the stock lens and going all the way to a film print?

 

Also, does anybody use any kind of diffusion on the stock lens or do you like it

as it is? Thanks.

[Michael Nash]

I haven't taken it all the way to film print, but to get the maximum sharpness out of this camera you want to have as little glass and optical trickery in front of the lens as possible. You've got to remember the chips are only 540x960, which can look pretty soft on the big screen. For diffusion I would tend to pick something that gives the halation qualities I wanted without too much softening -- maybe a 1/8 White ProMist. Heavier densities or softening filters like Classic Softs or Soft FX would probably mush out the sharpness too much relative to the halation it would give. But If sharpness isn't your main concern, then you can use whatever lens diffusion gives you the look you want.

 

Some contrast-lowering filters like Ultracons or Digicons might help round off the "clippy" highlights inherent to the HVX200 (even in cinegamma), but will require post color correction to restore a more normal-looking contrast to the final image.

[Tim O'Connor]

I haven't taken it all the way to film print, but to get the maximum sharpness out of this camera you want to have as little glass and optical trickery in front of the lens as possible. You've got to remember the chips are only 540x960, which can look pretty soft on the big screen. For diffusion I would tend to pick something that gives the halation qualities I wanted without too much softening -- maybe a 1/8 White ProMist. Heavier densities or softening filters like Classic Softs or Soft FX would probably mush out the sharpness too much relative to the halation it would give. But If sharpness isn't your main concern, then you can use whatever lens diffusion gives you the look you want.

 

Some contrast-lowering filters like Ultracons or Digicons might help round off the "clippy" highlights inherent to the HVX200 (even in cinegamma), but will require post color correction to restore a more normal-looking contrast to the final image.

 

Thanks so much, Michael. I was thinking along the lines that I should maintain

original sharpness but I like the

suggestion for halation, hadn't thought of that. What would you think of using a double fog?

 

I also had been thinking of an Ultracon to get some more shadow detail in day exteriors especially

since I won't have big units for areas that aren't key but could use some fill. I haven't used Digicons.

How do they compare?

 

 

Could you elaborate a bit on correcting in post to get back to a more normal contrast look if some

type of contrast filter is used? Why would corection be necessary? I'm editing on Final Cut Pro by the

way. Thanks.

[Shane Bartlett]

I just shot a short on the HVX200, and used an Ultracon the whole time due to the look I wanted. It works very well, and can be something of a lifesaver when you're short on lights. However, as mentioned, the contrast will be flat. What he is saying is that, in post, you will need to raise the contrast a bit. Otherwise your image will be muddy. This is easy to do in FCP.

 

I don't know about a film-out, but I did project my short, and I was relatively happy with the look. Not too sharp, not too soft.