Nicholas Jenkins

Thanks Phil. I'll check into that.

So we're trying to shoot several vlogs per day that can go directly from shooting to editing with no intermediate steps. We're trying for 24 hour turnaround times because they're topical news vlogs. The whole process of transcoding is the biggest slowdown so that is what we're trying to avoid.

Ok, bizarre question here but I'm hoping for some input. I'm working with a group of folks (really great folks I might add) who want a specific workflow for their studio and I'm having a really tough time figuring out the best way to help them. Is there ANY prosumer camera that can shoot immediately editable (in Final Cut Pro 7) formats directly to an external hard drive? My clients are interested in speed of post production and would like to avoid both transferring from cards to hard drive and (more importantly) transcoding. They also don't want to switch to Premiere so I'm kind of stuck here. Anyone with any suggestions for me? Even if the camera is perhaps toward the $9k mark. I just want to know. So, to recap, It MUST be 1080 @ 24p, shoot to an external hard drive, shoot to a format that is immediately editable in FCP7 (this is probably the most important to them) and audio inputs would be a major plus (XLR even better). I know this is the perfect storm of features but I've sort of run out of ideas. Perhaps the reason I haven't found it is that it doesn't exist, but there's so much out there that I have missed fairly obvious things in the past. Many thanks, Nick J.

Thanks. That's helpful. When I first got into this ('98) the XL2 was just coming out and I was told to never ever point it at the sun for fear of burning the chip out (much like a monitor can get burned out from sitting on one image for too long). But that may not be the case anymore. From everything I'm seeing online, it seems like everyone is just pointing and shooting for this type of thing. Just trying to be safe :)

Hello all, Rather stupid technical question here but I don't want to end my injuring my camera OR my eye. I need to shoot a timelapse of a sunset, pretty simple I know. But I want to make sure and NOT burn out my chip. I'm shooting on the Sony PMW-EX1. I have a Hoya Polarizing Filter but not much beyond that. Are there any special tips tricks I need to know before I go out there and shoot? I want to make sure and protect the camera as I'm not sure my insurance covers stupidity on my part :) Any help would be appreciated. P.S. I did a search and didn't find anything though I'm just about useless when using forum searches. Thanks guys, Nick J.

Hey all, About ready to do some daylight shooting and I'm curious what everyone's opinion is about Polarizers for the EX1. I'm looking for something robust, that really helps with blue skies and reflections. And lets say for the sake of argument that money is no object... even though it is :) Thanks all, Nick

Michael, Thanks for the reply. It looks like that's the way I'm going to go. Nick

Hello all, I'm considering buying the Letus35 Extreme lens mount with the Minolta fitting for my EX1. The reason being I have three VERY good Minolta MD lenses (one is an MC and I think it's the exact same mount with a different coating... someone inform me if I'm wrong here). But it seems like the best bang for my buck considering I'll have a 50mm, 52mm Fisheye, and an 80-200mm. But my main question here is this: Does anyone have a "MY GOD DON'T DO THAT" story with Minolta lenses? I seem to see everyone just using Nikkons or (in a perfect world) Zeiss lenses. Is that just because Nikons are better? Cheaper? More user friendly? Any input would be appreciated. And any experiences that you've had with Minolta lenses in general would be nice to hear about. Thanks, Nick J.

I wish I could be of some help but I'm in the same boat. I'm almost ready to purchase the HPX-170 but I keep looking at the price of P2 cards and keep crapping my pants. The laundry bills are starting to eat at my camera budget!!! :blink:

There is something to be said, especially at this stage, of "Future Proofing". I know that something will come along in ten years (or so) superior to HD, but the projects I'm working on now (for Ad Agencies) are REQUIRED that I shoot in HD even for web content because eventually they'll need to upgrade things here or there.

Ug... thanks for the input guys. That's what I was afraid of. :( You'd think they would have come up with some type of system. Grrrrrr...

Hey all, I'm working with an XL-2 with the Canon EF Lens Adapter. I'm going to have a 50mm, 70-200mm, and a 17mm but I suppose that doesn't really matter. What REALLY matters is I'm not quite sure how to measure focus on this camera. Am I measuring to the chip? Or to the end of the lens? Is there a mark on the camera and I'm just blind? I searched and didn't find anything specific for THIS camera, but to be honest... I'm not the best search user on the planet. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Nick J.

I have to agree with the Judith Weston suggestion. Directing Actors was a great read and very informative.

Hey all, This is an odd question. I searched but didn't find anything on it so maybe I'm just silly. I have a miniDV project. My sequence is set up for DV/DVCPRO - NTSC. I want to make the highest quality back-up I can in a Quicktime movie so I select DV/DVCPRO - NTSC in Quicktime Conversion and chosen "Best" quality. When I look at this QT on my monitor it looks TERRIBLE. Very pixelated. Is this normal? Is there something I'm missing? Thanks

Walter, Thanks a bunch. I'll also check it out. That looks like a good idea. :)

I'm glad someone started this thread. I'm revving up to possibly shoot a feature over the summer and am considering the H1 as the low end possibility. I need to test it first. I'm seeing them on sale online at a couple places for around $3,000.00 which doesn't seem right at all. Is there a new model out or something? My experience with the XL-2 was interesting. I liked about 50% of what we got but it seemed no matter how diligent we were with white balance, the XL-2 was always slightly warm. Even when we just said the hell with it and switched to tungsten balance, it was still warm in the mid tones. I'm also not a really big fan of the zoom lens the camera comes with.

Well, this weekend in Seattle is the Sci Fi Film Fest. I have been fortunate enough to have my film, "What Love Remains" entered into competition. I have no delusions that it will win (though the grad prize is just awesome) but it will be very nice to see what other filmmakers are doing in the genre of Short Sci-Fi. My prediction is that a film from AFI called "The Recordist" is going to win. It's got a neat idea and looks really slick. I'm just happy to have been included in the show. Anyone else going?

Patricia Arquette in Lost Highway. It's a weird mix of both eroticism and uncomfortable.

I just have to say that I recently saw "Sunshine" and am quite smitten with it. Don't know if it will survive to land on my "TOP TEN LISTS" but I have to say I'm really enjoying it right now. Some great special features on the DVD too :)

QFT! :o

I always feel so guilty for loving this movie as much as I do. Wonderful story telling!!!! Alan Rickman's performance is, in itself, enough to make the movie great :)

Agreed. I'm in the same boat.

Scary time to make resolutions for me. Graduating from Grad School and hoping I get picked up to teach somewhere. Would love to work in the industry but it's so competitive that I doubt much will come of it. I just want the change to send my wife back to school. '07 didn't suck, but it wasn't great. Here's hoping for a better '08.

I've worked very closely on occasion with Andrew Smith (who co-directed The Slaughter Rule and a few short films with his brother Alex). Their partnership is a unique one and I assume all partnerships on that level are. Andrews last short "Career Opportunities in Poetry" he directed with his wife. Much of the onset time was very cordial and he and his wife would discuss things quietly first, then Andrew would usually be the voice which carried the direction. I was first assistant camera on the shoot so I didn't get too much time around the directors. But it was always pleasant and collaborative as far as I could see.

And as a side note. I often hear people criticize "lists" and thought I'd throw out my reasoning behind why I create these lists. First off, it comes from having OCD and constantly wanting to organize or categorize things. My dvd collection is organized better than most things in my apartment. :P But I always felt like these lists represent two things: One - They represent almost a time capsule. "Here's what I liked when I was getting my BFA..." It's fun to look back at them. Two - It's just a catalog of what happens, at this point and time, to be my source for inspiration. These are the films which excite me about filmmaking the most RIGHT NOW! And sometimes that's nice for OTHER people. My friends and family, other collaborators, students, teachers... it's nice to point to a few films at times and say, these are the ones that inspire me to make films. So there's my two cents :)