Shooting at BMAC

We filmed Mark and some of the senior students on Monday. This is a very different sort of shoot as it’s instructional, and there are no real “takes” – the people on camera just do their techniques a few times over, occasionally from different angles, and we capture.

Renato brought 2 Panasonic DVX-100’s and I my XL-1s. The XL we put on a high tripod to act as a sort of master shot, and the DVX’s were eye-level, one in the center getting more of a straight-on shot and the other I used “handheld” using a tripod as steadycam. The DVX footage is beautiful through the viewfinder- I tried to use the flip-out LCD and it was just too distracting; due to the nature of this cam’s build, its meant to be held out 12-18” from the shooter’s face – like a PD150. The cannon is shoulder-mounted with no LCD, which I think gives much more stability in your shot, and allows you to keep both eyes open while shooting – which means that you can see what else is going on in the bigger picture, see if there is something you’re missing or that you want to watch out for in the shot. I’m definitely partial to shoulder-mounting. It’s much easier to get a stable shot, and your arms don’t get tired holding the cam up (which keeps the camera from shaking).

Additionally, the DVX’s feel cheap- the barrel of the camera, the lens itself, and the zoom & focus rings are very nice, very solid (I especially liked the nub on the zoom ring- it makes finding a point to operate from really convenient) – but the rest, the LCD, the controls under the LCD, the deck, all feel really chintzy. If you shake the camera, it seems like something might fall or break off- not what I’d expect in a camera in this price range.

Aside from the physical quality, the images are pretty damn nice- even though I have yet to see them on a screen outside of the cameras themselves. White balancing is done by color temp vs situation, which is interesting, and the menus are quite detailed. I did not like the controller/joystick for accessing the menus, this also felt like it would break with minimal pressure.