Juan Pablo Chapela

Hello Everyone... Just finished shooting a corporate video with the EX-1. Nothing fancy, just inteviews and B-Roll of office workers. I found the camera great in general terms. The lens is really nice. Couldn't tweak the image too much, because it is being mixed with footage from SP's from a while ago. It's a shame as I would have liked to try a couple of things. There's just one thing I did not like about the camera, and it is that it doesn't have a proper audio level reading, or at least a did not find it. It is just that small level and the bottom right corner of the lcd. The first day of shooting I had to go to the editing room to take a look at the clips inside the Final Cut to see if the levels were ok. It made me nervous for the first day. Even the one on the Z1 is far better than the EX-1.

Ok, will do when I get hold of some rushes. Cheers, J.P.

Hi everybody... Just shot that scene with the Madonna... thanks to all of you for the advice, everything went well. I shot at 900 fps and sometimes 950 fps with the Phantom v.10 camera, used a 50mm Nikon lens, f.2.8. For lighting I used 4 5K's (tungsten), all of them on one phase. Did not see any flickering, so it wasn't necessary to diffuse the lights. Could not shoot at 1000 fps, we needed a 10 second shot, and because of disk space we only arrived at 10s if lowered the frames to 950. But very well could have because we had good light level and no flicker on the lights. Just wanted to share the info. Cheers, Juan Pablo

Thanks Mark. I'll be shooting in Europe, so that'll make the lines 50hz, so in theory shooting 1000fps would be ok. Am I right? Kevin... You are right... I'm gonna need a lot of light, it would be perfect, and necessary to do some tests. Unfortunately I won't have the camera, nor the lights availabe to make some tests. So it would be great to take advantage of experienced DOP's like you. Cheers, J.P.

Thanks David. It hadn't ocurred to me that multiple lights blended through diffusion could reduce flicker. That's a good one. About foot candles... I'm a bit rusty here. I guess I'm going to undust that Sekonic I have back there and do some tests... But I'm thinking at least 5k's for the background and something like that for the key as well. Is it true that the bigger the fixtures the less problems I'll have with flicker? Because I'd really want to give the character a nice rim light without a flicker in it! Cheers, J.P.

Hi everyone... In a couple of weeks I'll be shooting a scene with the Phantom HD camera from Vision Research at 1000 fps. In their web page the camera is rated ISO 600. I've read that tungsten lights flicker at more than 500 fps, so in order to avoid that I'd have to use lamps of more than 5k, or use them DC. Am I right? Anyway... the shot we'll be doing is a "Madonna" (as in the italian virgin) walking in full shot with a wall in the background. I know it sounds weird to shoot that at 1000 fps, but it is for a video installation. Can anyone give me a rough idea of the amount of light I'll be needing? As always, we are a bit tight speaking of money. Thanks, J.P.

Hi Michael... I asked more or less the same question some days ago... You can follow the thread named "Documentary light kit". I got some good input and advices on a compact kit that could very well help you... Hope it helps, if not I'm sure someone here will. Cheers, Juan Pablo

Practically all the clients I work for shoot Digibeta... ocasionally HD... but not much. I think it is still a good investment. I thought this year some of the british broadcasters would like to go HD for some things, but that hasn't been the case. Why would Sony launch a new Digibeta with progressive capabilities if they thought the format wasn't alive and kicking? That has me thinking. Bryan... do you know if in order to playback progressive material shot with the 970 you need a new VTR or what?

If it was up to me I'd buy a 750 and forget about the whole format thing. But you know how this thing goes, if the client wants digibeta you'll have to give him digibeta. I'm sure we will have at least 3-5 years more of high end SD (dvcpro - digibeta), but is it still worth making the investment? I don't work on high end tv series, or shows. What I do mostly is sports related shows, and with my numbers I'd be able to pay it in 24 months. The other option is renting one per month. Anyway... how long do you think the market is going to keep the format alive? Cheers, J.P.

Hello everybody! I've been thinking about buying a digibeta camera for a long time. But as time passes I'm becoming doubtful if it is the right format to go for. I work in Spain mainly for british broadcasters. As all of you know, digibeta is a well established format in the UK, not so in Spain (satellite feed installations lack digibeta VTR's, as well as very few post facilities with digibeta). Is it a wise idea to buy a digibeta? How long is the format going to stay in british TV (could also apply to any other country)? Is it quicky going to be replaced by HD? Which HD (DVCpro- HD, HDCAM, XDCAM-HD)? I personally think the digibeta has a lot of years of service to come (the arrival of the 970 makes me think so), but I don't live in the UK nor the USA, I'm in Spain, so I could be wrong. About the costs of buying a used 790 or a new HDX-900? Theres isn' that much of a difference... but what would I use most? what are the clients going to be asking in the future? It be great to get some input from you guys, especially our colleagues in the UK... Thank you.. Juan Pablo Chapela

That was going to be my next question to you. Thanks Brian. J.P.

Hi guys... Just did an interview today, and really missed having some nice focusable lights. It was in a nice, moody saloon, somewhat dark though. Wanted to keep the ambience so I bounced a heavilly diffused 650w open face off a lastolite as a key and tried to give a rim light with another 650w. Finally went without the rim light, too much trouble to control it and the character cut out pretty nicely whithout it. Today I realized I could still use that 650w as a soft key if I bounce it. But I'll buy a couple of dedo's and start from there, just as Brian has suggested.

I don't doubt they are the best lights outhere, in a lot of terms. If I had the money I'd buy the best possible dedo kit... but right now I am budget tight. I'd like to get the most out of my investment, using everything I buy. I'd hate to buy a light thinking I'll use it a lot and ending up not even taking it on a shoot because I've realized I can do without it. You're right Stephen... once you have the lights dedos might be the cheapest light to mantain, and at the end that's cost as well... Does anybody know how often (hours of usage) does a fresnell light lasts before having to change it? Is it really a lot different from a dedo? Stephen you might help us out here...

Hi Brian... And what do you use for mainly? Do you use it combined with other fixtures or just that kit? Do you ever miss having other types of fixtures? Buying a mix of some omni lights, a couple of fresnels as Dan is suggesting and start from there with a couple of nice accesories (flexfills, magic arms, clamps, etc) sounds like a good start. Thanks to everybody for posting... I am just trying lo learn a bit from other people's experiences before I spend my hard earned money... J.P.

Hi Dan... By smaller fresnel do you mean 300's and 150's? And what is it exactly a magic arm? I suppose, by the name, they are like the dedo flexible arm that lets you locate a fixture in a certain place without the tripod in frame. Am I right?