Steve Ford

Hi gang I was shooting in 24P for high-end stuff for the last several years and liked the film like look. The head of a big production company said that the only reason to shoot 24p is if the video was going to be transferred to film. What are your thoughts?

Hi gang I accidently set the camera to 25 rather than 50 for the first few minutes of shooting at a facility. Now, my mac computer running Final Cut Pro refuses to digitize any of that footage. It will work fine on the 50 stuff but non of the 25. Any ideas?

Hi folks I am going to be video taping a red animated LED sign coming up and was wondering what settings I should set on the camera to avoid both the flicker cycling and also the red smear? Any help would be appreciated Steve

Brilliant! That worked perfectly!

Hi Gang I need to recreate a sexual assault trauma without getting in anyway graphic. I plan to use audio to carry the weight of the event and want the audience to only see blurs and trails like it was shot on film with the camera under cranked. I looked in the manuals and couldn't find a way to achieve this look in camera, but maybe I missed something. Any ideas? Thanks for any advice you can give me Steve

Thank you so much for the imput. One of my major concerns was any blurring from rapid hand motions... my client tends to talk with his hands. I wasn't sure which mode would best capture the blur best in order to avoid that green glowing trail that can appear.

Hi Gang I am shooting a person standing in front of a portible green screen. Space is limited so there will not be a lot of moving around... just a guy speaking either WS, MS or CU, and I'll cut between them later in post. My question is... which is the best setting for the camera 60i, 30P or 24P. As far as I know, the only place that this will be shown is on the internet if that makes any difference in the decision. Any help would be deeply appreciated. Steve

When you talked about taking the camera out and running it through it's paces, great idea! That will be the best way to see for yourself that pan speed is limited, and zoom ratio plays a big part in dictating how fast a pan can move. You can get a way with more speed at 30p as compared to 24p, but it has a different "feel" at 30p. If this is a multi-camera shoot, I would also see how the other cameras are set so you can match the look. Hope this helps Steve

Hi gang I hope this is not too stupid of a question but, I want to shoot a long form video and because of the nature of the subject, I felt anamorphic would best show the subject matter. The problem is that I can shoot anamorphic on this wonderful camera... but what about delivery? I edit on FCP, and can set the program to capture anamorphic, but how does it get mastered so that a laptop can play it off a DVD, will there be bars at the top and bottom? Or if it plays on a wide screen tv, how do they interrupt the data and play it back without the bars at the top and bottom of the screen? Any help would be greatly appreciated Steve

Hi Gang I am going to be shooting some welding shots coming up and was wondering if there should be any concerns about damage to the camera other than staying away from flying sparks. Could the brightness of the welding do any harm to the chips? Any input would be greatly appreciated Steve

Is it just me, or does the picture look more rich in progressive mode. I see deeper colors and richer blacks without a muddy look.

In the Goodman's Guide I came across a reference to setting the lens flare. I was curious as to how critical that is. I have a Fujinon A20X8.6ERM-SD and don't have an 11-step gray scale chart, but if it is critical that I do, I will get one. I do have a waveform monitor. This is the only lens I plan to put on this camera so my second question is to anyone out there in TV land that might have the same type of lens, and set up their camera differently then factory settings? Ilike each of you, I just want to get the most bang out of each and every shot, but I don't want to spend a bunch of time or money on an adjustment that may or may not make a difference. Any Info would be greatly appreciated Steve Ford Rock Solid

Hi gang I just got told that I will be shooting fireworks this coming 4th as well as a person watching fireworks. Any idea what settings would work best for fireworks, and what kind of lighting you would use to at least illuminate the person watching them? Steve

I feel like quoting Fiddler on the Roof... "if I were a rich man..."

Thanks for the tip

Hi Gang when slowing down footage shot at 24P I get quite a flicker. Is the only solution not to shoot in progressive scan if the intention is to do some slow-mo work? Steve

Hi gang I have a portable monitor that is pretty big and heavy... have any of you run into an equipment solution as to being able to check color balance without twisting out your back? Is there a small LCD monitor that I can trust to be at least close to accurate? Steve

I get my tapes through Video Service of America in Omaha, NE 800-888-2140. Hope this helps

Well, we just got a new SDX900 and I'm combing through the operators manual and found references to different buttons...where they are and how to turn them on and off...the problem is that in some cases, I have no clue as to what the button does when it is either turned on or off. My question is, are there additional reference materials available? If so where and who to I bribe to get them? :D

Hi I?m new to this forum and wanted to say hello and ask a question. I work for a small company that already had existing Lowel lights including a DP and Omni kit as well as two soft lights. I have a budget of about $2,500 to spend to upgrade our lighting and looked at the VIP Pro-Light Tungsten Kit as well as the Rifa-Pro 88 Tungsten Kit. The way I see it, this will get me a much better soft light for talking head as well as some controlled smaller lighting for the background. I am not married to the Lowel brand, it?s just what was here when I joined the company, do you have any suggestions on either better Lowel lights or for that matter a better manufacturer?