Robert Sanders

And I'm sure it can be had for the low low price of $300K. LOL

I believe that there soon will be 6 lenses available for the HD 100 series of cameras, not counting the 16mm lens adapter (which I don't think anyone yet has tested).

Three of which will be manufactured by Canon, ironically enough.

The RED camera has Dual HD-SDI output. So you should be able to view 444 1080P on set while recording 4K internally.

I keep forgetting how frickin' hostile it is in these forums. The argumentative nature in which people post responses on these boards is amazing.

I want to set up our XLH1 in a studio configuration with rear zoom on the right pan bar and rear focus on the left pan bar, and an LCD monitor mounted on top. Is this possible? Any suggestions?

 

Jason

The H1 only has one Lanc control port. Not sure if you can use a splitter between the two different controllers.

Has anyone used the XL1solutions PL to Canon mount on there XLH1? It has no optics, so it only uses the middle 50% of a lens. So if you need an appearent 50mm focal length you have to use a 25mm PL lens or something to that effect.

 

http://www.xl1solutions.com/ADAPTERS.htm

 

$595 to purchase

 

I think they rent them too. Would someone please try this? We haven't got our XLH1 yet, but I'm itching to know if it works.

 

Jason

While it would interesting to see how high-end 35mm prime lenses would look on the H1 it certainly won't affect DOF very much. It's not the lens itself, but a myriad of things that create that shallow DOF we all crave. A lens targeting a 1/3" sensor will only be able to use the center of the lens. So you'll have to go to great lengths to figure out what your focal lengths will or will not be.

I'm going to be shooting a short this weekend using the XLH1 with a mini35 adapter and am trying to figure out how to meter for this thing.

 

Starway2001 has mentioned in this forum that they rated the XLH1 asa at 320. I can't seem to find an accurate measure of the stop loss from the mini35 on an XLH1 though.

 

So how do I go about figuring out how to meter my scenes. I'll have the monitor of course but I would like to keep in the good habit of figuring out my ratios and setting apertures based on metering calculations.

 

I feel like the answer is blatantly obvious but i'm just not getting it, please excuse the "noob" question.

 

thanks all for any replies.

I've heard that you lose about 1.5 stops with the Mini35 adapter.

Has anyone tested the XL H1 for its approximate ASA equivalent in 24F mode? I may be using it with a Pro35 adapter and I'm trying to figure the light levels I'm going to need after the 1-2 stop loss from the adapter.

We were rating the camera at 320 on our recent shoot.

So whats the deal with an update on the Mini35?? does it not currently work with the H1??

They recommend using the newer 400 series model. Apparently there were some screendoor issues with the other models on the H1.

Tough crowd.

I posted this over at DVInfo and XLCinema. I thought I'd post it here too.

We recently wrapped production on The Twenty-Third Letter trailer. We put the XLH1 through it's paces and in different production scenarios.

I chose to show off Scene 10 because it has many different production qualities that hopefully many on these boards would find interesting. Low light. 3x SD lens on some shots. Jib arm shots. Special visual effects. Color correction. Etc. We also had a blast shooting this scene in downtown L.A.

You can view the Quicktime versions here:

The Starway Blog

With a little luck I can offer WMV versions later today or tomorrow.

There are some noticable compression artifacts introduced by H264. It's always a tradeoff between picture quality and file size.

Everyone wants $100,000 performance out of $10,000.

Come on guys.

Oh please. "Not even good" and "noticeably reduced" is a bit dramatic, don't you think? And to whom? Someone shooting a resolution chart? Or someone shooting a real project?

People who are actually using this camera to produce content are extremely happy with the quality and resolution of it's progressive image. Discovery Channel HD has approved the camera as a content producer for it's HD network.

So the wide angle has been announced, and I am somewhat glad I held off on getting a 3x SD wide. I wonder how much it will cost.

 

I really wish a set of primes were in the works.

 

Would you rather have an Auto Focus HD Wide or a Manual 16x?

My "reality based" wishes are for a 20x Manual and the 6x Wide. I'd like a manual 6x. But that wouldn't be reality based.

I wish P+S would finish their Mini35 update so it can be successfully used with the H1 before this Fall as I have a feature to shoot and would love a definitive 35 converter I can mount Zeiss and Cooke glass to.

Well, it's refreshing to see to that a massive camera manufacturer such as Canon will take the time to visit a set and get valuable feedback from the actual folks using their products. Hooray for Canon.

Now, let's get those mechanical and wide-angle lenses ASAP!

Eww. Good question!

I'm using high quality ND .6, Polarizer and (sometimes) a nice grad filter when shooting outdoors. I'm getting fantastic results in the highlights.

Digital cameras still can't resolve extreme highlights and latitude like film can. The ARRI D20 might be able to, but it's a $200K camera in rare abundance.

Funny. I've had none of these problems. Timecode sync works great. HD-SDI to hard disk is fantastic. A truly codec agnostic camera. It's form factor is wonderful and light-weight (unlike the cumbersome boat anchor F900). While I'd prefer a true HD mechanical lens, I've found the stock 20x lens more than adequate.

Then again I'm just happy to be in the ballpark without martgaging the house! Or I'm just a glass-is-half-full kinda guy.

Hey folks ,so here is the update on our new Canon XL H1 "Arrivised"

 

we will start heavy tests from monday on (compare with Aaton S16) first the footage will be transfered from both to Digibeta and graded at telecine...i guess on Spirit. Than S16 DI and DI footage from Canon will be burned by Arri laser and later we will screen the footage in one of the Prague Cinemas.

 

Here is are the images of Arrivised Canon

I love that rig. While ours isn't "Arrivised", we like to call it "Starwayised". LOL!

Don't jump to conclusions based on a white paper.

The CCDs are clocked at 48Hz and are cleverly de-interlaced uising both fields, clocked simultaneously, plus some mild pixel-shifting to creating an extremely convcing and believable progressive images. The HD-SDI feed is full raster 1920x1080 4:2:2 progressive and/or interlaced images depending on which mode you have the camera switched to. Also, all comparison tests between the H1, HVX, and JVC have shown that the Canon produces the highest resolution with the least objectionable noise characterisitcs.

I have recently shot a Disney project completely on a greenscreen with the camera tethered to my PowerMac and a DeckLink Pro HD card. I captured to both DVProHD (at 1440x1080, 30P) and MotionJPEG (at full raster) in 30P. Both with exceptional results. The footage keys gorgeously.

Also, Scott Billups has shot some side by side comparison tests with the H1 and the F900 and he was blown away at how well the H1 held up next to F900. He mentioned that the H1 actually keys better.

Also, Billups had the footage filmed out to 35mm at Fotokem and everyone involved with the tests were blown away by the results.

Also, the Wafian HR-1 recorder using the Cineform codec (which will be ported to Quiktime soon) is a very viable solution rather than hauling around a mobile IT department or a $100k HDCAM-SR deck.

Am I biased toward the Canon H1? You betcha. I put my money on it and have loved everything I've shot with it. Is it perfect. No it isn't. But I don't expect any 1/3" camera to be the holy grail either.

Hey Rob,

 

They're working out excellently. The biggest gratification is the final image and how nice it looks for a video camera for this price. Since you have one, is it cool if I add you to my rolodex for future work as a director? What do you specialize in?

But of course! Are you kidding?

You can check out my stuff on my Website...

www.starwaypictures.com

And my Blog (man, that sounds pretentious)...

The Starway Blog

I'm definitely keeping my eye on these guys. I hope, however, that they get some help with the aesthetic quality of their equipment. It looks a little home made. But, if it works...

So does it only work with SLR lenses?

Shannon,

How are those H1's working out for you? I just picked mine up and I'm absolutely in love with it.

I call it my F900-JR.

Thanks,

Rob Sanders

How often does one do whip pans? And if it's a whip pan than you're talking about massive motion blur. And if you do get a blocked up frame then it's an easy fix in post.

Being an XL-H1 owner who plans on shooting a feature with it this summer, I'm seriously considering a custom made RAID controlled by a Mac strapped to Mag-Liner for about $3000. All dailies will be backed up to LT03 every night with a simultaneous HDV recording in-camera.

Again, HDV does have some issues, but 99% of the time the footage looks great.

With the Canon XL-H1 I try to set a safe exposure; slightly under-exposed. I stretch the blacks and set the knee to protect as much of my shadow and highlight detail as possible. Even if I'm going for a high-contrast look. I prefer to crunch my blacks and set the gamma in post. However, I do try to achieve as much of the "look" as possible through art direction/production design, gelling lights, etc.

I use a very mild pro-mist most of the time and I always use a polarized filter when shooting exterior day shots. While I haven't used very many graduated filters, I believe David Cox is right that if you can pull detail out of your skys you should.

I will be doing a special effects driven short in may, there is loads of green screen and matchmoving work to do. Our production team is of 2 thoughts right now:

shoot with the F950--->SRW-1--->HD ingest--->QT or DPX--->export DV dailies---->edit---->final conform

shoot in 35mm film---->telecine dailies---->edit----->telecine edited film to DPX or QT---->final conform

This is a 5 day shoot, and many shots will have entire greenscreen backdrops for digital environments.

The cost seem to be comparable unless there is a deal we do not know about out there.

The F950 is hard to come by and expensive, so the cost of renting the F950 and the SRW-1 deck

and the cost of a HD ingest or HD ingest system purchase really start to add up.

Ultimately I want true 10bit DPX files (4:4:4 colorspace) with sharp detail.

 

So what do you guys think HD or 35mm film?

If 35mm, what film stock is best for greenscreen work?

 

Thanks

-Brandon

While I'm no special effects veteran, I do a lot of my own effects. I have noticed a trend lately of fx houses using the F950 for plate photography. Particularly because you don't have to do any pre-processing to the footage (like fixing camera weave, grain reduction, etc.) and the 950 is full raster 1920x1080, 444, RGB.