Few questions for xh-a1

M

MelonDome

I haven't even started recording yet, let alone turn it on until 2 days after I got it. Been reading the manual alot. A couple quick questions.

- The manual Iris; when I move it by hand, nothing seems to change... is it because it automatically does it?

- 24f and 60vi ; To be honest, I really cant see much of a difference, perhaps its because it looks different on a television screen?

- why does it ask me to adjust the dioptric, what is this?

- White balance; what kind of routine must I take before shooting, I have a hard time understand why this is important, shouldnt I just leave it at automatic?

- why is manually choosing your shutter speed important?

- it also says i.AF on my screen when im shooting, what is that?

Will post if I have anymore. Thanks
 
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oakstreetphotovideo said:
I think Knightly will back me up here, but this relentless pursuit of "the film look" seems to be one of those "the grass is greener..." arguments. You should configure your camera to give your shots that look that works with your vision.
Click to expand...

I actually didn't comment on this thread because I was worried that people would start to think that I'm becoming rabid on this topic. I've grown to dislike the term "Film Look" because it's constantly equated with 24p, Shallow DoF, grain and severe color treatments.

These things will do the least of any of the things necessary to get you the "film look". For an example of how little the camera matters, see "Stranger than paradise" by Jim Jarmusch was shot on 35mm and looks like video due to the static camera, wide framing, sparse sets and the flat lighting:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088184/trailers-screenplay-E20419-310 - specifically the second scene

I've also seen stunning, well lit MiniDV stuff that's looked alot like cinema released films:
http://www.sequentialpictures.com/moviepage_thumbclub_med.html
http://www.sequentialpictures.com/moviepage_matrix_med.html
http://www.gumspirits.com/sundowningtrailer.html
http://www.imagenfilms.com/IMAGENFilms_SWF.html ("got milk: the movie" right most video in the list)
 
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I've got an xh a1 as well and have not played with the presets. So, do I understand, if you use a preset--is the advantage you are getting closer to what you would do in post editing--so less downgrade because you should have minor color adjusting or none in post?

Tony
 
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Tony, it's not so much about using a preset as it is about creating your own preset, using the myriad of settings available in the customization menu. Some of the settings need to be made in the camera, as the camera's electronics make choices about where to assign luminance and color values as they are digitized. Any values that fall above or below the digital range are clipped, so important detail may be lost. Some detail is always lost, but you can set your camera up to preserve the detail that is most important to you, based on what kind of scene you are shooting, or what sort of mood you're looking for. Also, how sharp the image is, how skin tones are handled, color saturation, and other details can be adjusted to your taste and/or project requirements.

The whole process is a little daunting at first. I read the manual, started through the customization process, read the manual some more, fumbled through more menus, reread manual pages, got out a color-bar chart and put the camera on a tripod with the color chart filling the frame, fumbled through the settings, went back to the manual to figure out how to save my settings, switched out of the menu and noticed that my settings were not being used, went back to the manual to figure out how to select my settings, etc., etc.

Don't feel bad if you get intimidated. Plan on spending some time with your camera, when you have no distractions, under controlled light with proper white balance, etc. so you are not mislead, and conditions don't change while you're figuring it out. Finally, it doesn't hurt to take a break and come back to it, as your eyes get tired and you may stop seeing colors correctly if you stare at the blue on the chart to long (for example). Don't be afraid to ask questions. The first step, I guess is to work out the process of making settings, saving them, loading them, and selecting them. Lots of people will offer you specific settings you can enter and try, so you don't have to do like I did and figure them all out.

I hope that helps you figure out what we're talking about. One easy way to see the differences that are possible is to select one of the preconfigured presets (line CINE1 or CINE2) and see what they do to your image. I believe the provided CINE settings will stretch your blacks a bit and give you more shadow detail (among other things).
 
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