Elhanan Matos

Does anybody here know what Panavision is doing about the noise that the SRW-1 produces? I have been around alot of SRW-1 decks and they make a lot of noise, which makes sense to me why Sony would take it off of the camera and have it sitting away from the mic. Also the SRW-1 needs about 100 Watts to run. That would mean that you would either need alot of batteries or a power supply for it. Making the camera kind of tricky to work with untethered.

I can recommend a really great guy. Kevin Zanit, he posts on this forum alot. I've been with him on many shoots, both Film and HD, and he knows alot about the Sony HD cameras. You can PM him for his contact info, and he will send you a resume. Oh and he is in the LA area.

How much is a "modest" salary?

Getting "grit" isn't a problem, if by grit you mean noise. There are a couple things you can do in the F900 or the F950 to get more noise in the image. It makes more sense to start out with the cleanest image and then add your grit either in camera or in post.

Hmm... Sounds like the switch is broken, I'm sure Panavision will replace it for you.

I find this so funny, this is the same thing alot of americans say about Europeans. I believe the reason we shoot 23.98 instead of 24 is because of sound.

Now that's only correct if the monitor is properly calibrated, and under the correct lighting conditions. Having a vectorscope on set is very important if you don't know how to calibrate your monitor or if your not watching it under the correct lighting conditions.

David, About your problem with the Astro monitor, it sounds like your using the old Astro 3000, underneath the main control knob there should be a small momentary switch with a "-" and a "+" on it. Set your knob to "bright" and then keep switching the switch toward the "-" until you notice it get darker. If this is not working then the switch might be broken. Good luck with the rest of your shoot.

I think this all matters on how confident you are. If you know what look you need and you know how to create it successfully then go ahead and do it in camera, it will save you more time and more money in post. If you arent sure what look you want for your scene and your not comfortable with the color matrix in the camera, then do it in post. EEK! Several hours!?!?! If your using an F900 with the /3 upgrade then there is a page within the paint menus called "Saturation" if you set saturation to 99 then you will have a black and white image. This is the easiest way of desaturating an image. The other way (and my favorite way) of desaturating the image is by using the User and Multi matrix pages. First make sure you have a color chart and a vectorscope. Now go to the Multi-Matrix page. Set the saturation of each phase to -99. Now comes the tough part (if you don't know how to read a vectorscope then it might be very very tough), go to the User-Matrix, and look at your vectorscope, you should see dots all around your vectorscope each dot represents one of the colors on the color chart. Now start adjusting the values in the matrix, you should see the dots moving around, what you need to try and do is move all the dots to the center of your scope without inverting the dots or lines. This might take some time. The advantage of using the Matrices instead of the Saturation page is that you have a whole lot more control, once you have desaturated the image in the User-Matrix you can go back to the Multi-Matrix and start adding a single color back in. One neat trick is to make the entire image black and white except for skin tones. You do this by desaturating the image with the Matrices and then going back to the Multi-Matrix and setting the Saturation of phase 135 to about 30. Good luck, have some fun with the paint menus, they are very powerful tools and its a shame to let them just sit there unused!

Check out Focus Optics out in Tarzana, (818) 757-1007. Talk to Stuart, he should be able to help you with any questions you have about lenses. I believe they also sell refurbished lenses.

Our back focus alignment device is called the Sharpmax, and with a Universal Ring Kit it will work with any lens. It is a bit pricey to own for someone just starting out as an AC, so if you can't buy one rent one and if you can't rent one then you should have a Seimens star chart with you in your kit.

I hope I didn't come off as bashing the Genesis in my earlier post. I should have been a bit more specific. Would lenses that are designed to work with film work just as well with a Digital Imager? Would a lens designed for the imager yield a sharper image, or an overall more "correct" image? What about color, does a film lens handle color differently from an HD lens? And what about chromatic abberation? I guess I felt it being "sketchy" because I feel that there are so many things about this subject that I don't understand yet, and I don't feel that it has been talked about enough yet (at least not here).

Is it just me or does using Film lenses on an HD camera sound a bit sketchy?

I think what sony is trying to do is simplify the camera as much as they can, mainly because the simpler the camera is the less there is to screw up. Alot of the features that you would like to see in these cameras are available as accessories. Sony will only change the design of their cameras if they have a large enough market for it. This is something that a lot of people do not realize. A lot of cinematographers complain that Sony does not listen to them. Sony does listen, but there isn't a large enough market yet. If there was then Sony would have released an HD camera that acts and looks more like a film camera. You are best off getting in touch with the smaller companies who modify the cameras or make camera accessories and tell them what you would like. Give them the feedback because it's much cheaper to make new accessories for a camera, rather than making a new camera, or changing the design of a camera that is mass produced. A lot of the smaller companies out there would love to hear more feedback from customers, it makes their work a lot easier. A good example is the handstrap for the camera, Sony might not make the strap you like but another company such as, Chrosziel might make it, and if they don't it's easier to email them and see if they are interested in making it. Or you can call Aaton and order the A-Minima handstrap and attach it to any camera you would like. I guess the point of this is that you don't have to rely on one company to make the perfect camera for you. Go out there and try and perfect it for yourself, customize your camera like you would your computer, or your car. Just becareful not to break it. :)

Hmmm... I've never tried a downconverter on a 700A, but I just happend to have a 700A lying around and checked it out, it has no SDI outputs, and it does not output a Standard Def signal. Since you need an SD signal that puts the Evertz F9 and the Sony 901 out because they will only give you an HD-SDI out, and the only other downconverter I know of is the Miranda DVC-800. For some reason I was getting a black and white image when going out of the SD output from the DVC-800 on the 700A, my guess is that its only converting the luminance channel, I asked one of our engineers and he recommended the older Miranda MDC-700. I have not tried the MDC-700 on the HDW-700A, but they should work fine together. Here's some more info on the MDC-700, Miranda Technologies MDC-700. You should be able to find it at just about any rental house that carries the HDW-700A. Good luck.

Well, it is a consumer camera. If you want interchangeable lenses, larger CCDs, and shallower depth of field, then your gonna have to shell out more cash. Take a look at the new HDC-X300.

It's the HDC-X300, I think its an amazing camera for the price. And there is more than one lens for it. Canon and Fujinon both have lenses that will fit the mount. You have the choice of buying the camera with or without the lens. In my opinion this camera will be a great solution for people wanting to shoot HD but not having the money for an F900 or Varicam.

And if your in LA you have every terrain within 50 miles.

A DIT is a Digital Imaging Technician. Here's a good link explaining what a DIT is and does As for the price difference between HD equipment and Film equipment, you can check it out for yourself, call up a rental house that carries both and see what they will quote you. Check out Clairmont Camera. They offer a wide range of Film cameras and HD cameras.

Umm... wow. Thats alot of stuff to learn within a couple of days. My suggestion to you is to go to the rental house which you are planning on renting your camera from and ask them if they know of any good DIT's. With a good DIT you will have someone who understands the camera and the whole workflow, and if you spend enough time in pre production and prep with him you'll learn alot. 35mm equipment is much cheaper than HD equipment, its the film, processing, printing, and editing that will cost you alot. Good Luck.

I think you would be lucky to rent from only 2 or 3 places, Usually if your trying to keep to a strict budget you'll get cameras from the camera house that will give you the best price for cameras, lights from the place that will give you the best price for lights, and the same goes for grip, props, sets, dollies, trucks, and the list goes on and on and on. If you have the budget then you could rent cameras from whatever camera house you would like and then get everything else from a big studio like warner bros, or universal or sony pictures. It's a shame your not shooting in LA, then you would be able to experience the magic that is "Wooden Nickel." Oh and about getting equipment shipped from out of state, it's done all the time, but you would normally want to prep your own package at the rental house, you'll want to do scratch tests on your mags, test all your lenses, make sure all your gear works and so on.

Does anybody know how they got the grain so large in the black and white scenes?

I don't live in New York, but an interesting place to go would be the Guggenheim Museum. Last time I was there, about two years ago in march, they had the Mathew Barney exhibit, cremaster. It was amazing.

I wasn't attacking you Harry, and I'm sorry if I sounded that way. I just get very excited when someone mentions perception and color, and I'll usually just go on and on and on. I was just trying to help you out.

From what I've seen of the XDCAM it's very reliable and a very good camera. I have not tested it fully though. You should try it out yourself if you really want to see if it is reliable for what you need. I checked your profile and saw that you are in Israel, you should check out Band Pro Tel Aviv, I work at the Band Pro in California, but if they run their showroom like we run ours you should be able to walk in and play with the camera yourself.