"forever-a while"- A music video Shot with

Sony A-65 

http://www.vimeo.com/29245251

“forever- a while” by Angel of Sona, sonaofficial.com
Shot in a day with the yet to be released Sony Alpha A-65

There is not much info about the video quality of the new Sony VDSLR cameras which are not out yet (A65/77 NEX-7), so I felt it is time to make the effort and see what the A65 can do to start with. I had the camera for a day and I’m happy to share the footage with the community.

My aim was to test general picture quality and camera usability during “normal” production environment conditions.

The Lovely Angel of Sona and her nice producer Ingo were quick to respond to my offer for shooting a no budget “instant” music clip.

The A65 I got was very close to the final production model.
I have no doubt that after lerning the camera inside out, better picture quality can be achieved.

Besides being curios seeing the overall picture quality, I wanted to experiment low light sensitivity, codec strength when color correcting and last but not least see if moiré and aliasing are controlled in an acceptable way.

The 3 Sony lenses I got to work with are all widely available and very affordable.

Disclaimer: I do not work or got paid by Sony for doing this music clip

Gear used:
Camera: Sony Alpha A65
Lenses: Sony 35mm f1.8, Sony 50mm f1.8, Sony 17-105mm f3.5-5.6
Tripod: Sachtler DV 8SB
Fader ND: Light craft
Rig: Vocas 
EVF: Cineroid metal
Lights: Cineroid mini LED 
Bag: Kata, Bug 203

Editing platform: Adobe Premiere CS2
CC: Cineform "First Light"

Sachtler Ace tripod system exclusive review 

http://www.cinema5d.com/news/?p=7853

Sachtler just announced their new, amazingly affordable Ace tripod system.

In our video review we inspect the tripod in detail to see what the Sachtler Ace does and does not offer.

The Ace tripod system will be availble by October/November 2011

Sony HX9V, real world test. Short story done for the BBC 

http://www.vimeo.com/27194449

Together with my BBC correspondent Bethany Bell, we've decided to give the little Sony camera a try during a real short feature production.
The aim was not to astonish anyone with "VDSLR like" film look but to see how easy (or not) it is to work with it in the field.

Considering the fact that this camera is mostly automatic I am fairly happy with the end result. True, keeping the right exposure is almost impossible during a "run&gun" (look at the piece to camera) but I must admit that focusing (or playing with depth of field) were easier then I've expected. 

Other equipment used during this production day:

Sachtler DV8 SB tripod
Zacuto viewfinder
Tascam DR-100 

Footage was converted to Cineform before editing on Adobe Premiere CS2
No CC was applied

"LOVE". A Sony HX9V test

http://www.vimeo.com/25293447

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on the Sony HX9V since it came out and now I’ve finally done it. I wanted to test if this modestly priced tool could be a legitimate alternative “B” camera in cases where I need one - especially when on assignment away from home.

On paper, the little video mode of the Sony is almost fully automated, but it caught my eye because of its high 1080 resolution and progressive frame rate (50p for PAL countries and 60p for NTSC). Also, I won’t deny that the ‘price was right’. 

My aim was to test hand-held shooting, the optical stabilizer, the “follow focus” function and how good the slow motion is.

First, I had to find a solution for viewing the LCD during day light. I instinctively went for the Zacuto Z-finder to see if it fitted the little Sony. It does, sort of….the finder on a Zacuto Gorilla plate will seat a bit higher than the camera and about 1mm away from the screen. It was fine for the test. I could now have better camera stability by holding the Z-finder against my eye while gripping the camera and shooting.

Today in Vienna it was the ‘Rainbow parade’. It gave me the opportunity to go out and test the HX9v. Unfortunately the sky was very grey and the parade started late in the afternoon – so it became darker earlier. The consequence was that the video mode of the camera, which is only automatic, boosted the ISO and thus the noise – this affected the overall picture quality. Later it started to rain…that was the time to end the test since the camera is not weather sealed.

So how is it to film with this little camera? It is a mixture of fun and frustration…Fun, because it is so small and together with the Z-finder it is almost like the “ultimate run&gun” ENG-style camera (sure, I’m exaggerating, but look at the footage and see those amazing smooth, steady shots). Also, the zoom lens works a treat. Frustrating because there is no real control of anything. You can set where the exposure starts and assign the custom button on top of the camera to adjust the image brightness (+) or darkness (-), but you can’t lock the exposure.  If only there was a way to do this and lock focus this camera would have been a real jewel – but then what do you expect from a compact anyway?

Some of the scenes are a bit longer then I would normally edit. The reason is to show how the focusing holds. Footage (1080/50p) was converted with Cineform and dropped into an Adobe Premiere CS2 1080/25p timeline for the slow motion effect. No colour correction was done so you are able to see what came out of the camera.