Help build my HV20, if you don't mind...

[austiiin]

OK, I'm at the crossroads of either upgrading to a prosumer camera or just upgrading my HV20. At the moment, the HV20 is completely stock... what was in the box is what is on the camera... so nothing.

Here is the basic setup I was thinking of purchasing, based on price more than anything, but I'm all about hearing your opinions as I visit this site daily and value this forums honest views on products!


What I was thinking of purchasing:

-JAG35Pro with the Nikon f1.4 50mm lenses combo ($470, i think thats the price with shipping... I might be a little off) - what's the best lenses setup for someone who doesn't have any lenses? EF or DF... what are the pros/cons, price/quality (total noob on all things 35)

-Some sort of rails/support system... a lot of people seem to like the Shrigg Rig, correct me if I'm wrong, but the only reason for this is to not have to flip the footage in post... correct? If so, that does not interest me - please post your suggestions of other types of support setups, a handle and a way to mount a monitor would be ideal!

-Lastly, a monitor. I'm in love with the smallhd.com, but the price is probably out of my price range. So I'm thinking of either going with the LCD4ViDEO or the Lilliput (I know these aren't HD, you get what you pay for and such, but I'm a realist and shop within my price range - i have enough debt!). If you have another suggestion, please speak up and remember size is about as important as price, as I need something portable and if the shoot permits, I have a 24" 1080p HDMI ASUS Monitor I could drag along



I'm sure these questions have been asked over and over, but you guys (for the most part :hv20-smilie87:) are really awesome in just helping out, rather than complaining about reposts.

When you go to answer, remember when you had no clue about 35mm adapters and the time it took to dig through uber amounts of different opinions to find the answer you where looking for. You learn from reading, but you get answers buy asking questions! (should I coin that phrase? I smell a footer tag... LOL)



THANKS GUYS!



-Austin

[Seo]

Canon EF lenses are electronically controlled, which means aperture changes must be made on a DSLR or an adapter with an electronic aperture control (the Redrock M2 Encore is the only one I know of with this ability). I don't recommend these because of this; generally you want full manual lenses.

Canon FD are cheap, reliable, easily found, and have great quality. They're a great choice for the beginning videographer and even the seasoned pro. If you want these, don't get the Nikon lens because that'll mean you'll have a Nikon mount, which won't allow you to use FD lenses without an adapter (which can cause quality loss and costs extra mula).

The Shrigg Rig is the best thing I'd recommend. If not that, I'd go for the Redrock microShoulderMount, but that can't flip your camera (a great help) and costs more, although you could probably devise some way with microMounts and extra rods to flip your cam (which would cost muchos mula).

I recommend the Craig monitor discovered by Antman on this forum. You can see a thread on it in the Accessories subforum. It's 720p HD and 150 bucks. Unfortunately, it'll have to be mounted on a separate tripod due to its large size. The weight isn't anything big, though, so you could try something with a mounting arm or the like.

More than willing to help others out, even if it's repetitive. I'm weird like that. :p

[movielighter]

Austin,

Just a thought here. This is what I am doing in the near future to avoid items that are not native to the design of the camera and a better DOF. I am keeping my HV20 and my HV30 to allow me to get more footage.

1) Canon EOS 7D - $1550-$1600 - http://gizmodo.com/5400595/canon-7d-review
Comes with a lens that provides great footage, upgrade to "insane lens" for $300.00
DOF, HD at its finest. If you are lucky you can catch someone dumping a 5DII for
under $1000.00.

2) Zoom H4N - External field recorder ($200 used) - Will allow freedom to move camera.
Get a wireless system to plug in, or go with shotgun mics. XLR connections, Built in
mics, 4 channel audio. Will sync with video at a rate of 48k and speed at 100.1


Which ever way you go, you can't go wrong as long as you are getting the footage you want.


Best of luck,


Michael

[austiiin]

Thanks fir the suggestions guys! The lenses explination was a great help as well.

The Craig monitor does seem like a nice solution for the price, to bad there isn't a more compact alternative... Atleast, while tryng to stay in some sort of budget.

Now, for the audio field recorder, are you mounting this on your camera? I don't think I follow what you where trying to convey? At first read it sounded like those where attachments for the zoom, but when I read it again it sounded like 3 different ways to proceed... Please forgive my ignorance! I'm an editor not a DP but I'm trying to be a one man band instead of just a master of my trade!

Maybe you could point me to an instructional video on the setup your suggesting? Or I'd you want to be my hero, a quick breakdown on how those products work together? Like you said it would sync the audio with the video, that is with the XLR connections with the zoom plugged in?

Pleasestop dhaking your head at me and pointing and laughing is also not necessary! Lol

thanks again for the suggestions and especially the patience!

*high five*

[austiiin]

Sorry for the typos! I'm replying on a hacked iPhone so when I type I'm usually a few words ahead of what is being displayed on the page... So it's my phone, not my colege edumacation nor the fact that I'm a product of the awesome Florida public school system!

Excuses excuses... ;)

[MalfunctioningHuman]

If you decide to get a small SD external monitor, you can find a new ProAm 7'' LCD which is 480x234 (I think that's what it is.) They usually sell between $120.00 and $150.00. They come with hot shoe support, a battery pack, and some other things. If it weren't for the low resolution I would have already gotten one of those, and I might even get one for framing purposes (the monitor supports image flipping on both axis, so it would be very handy if you are using a DOF adapter.)

[austiiin]

thanks for the heads up. i just don't know what to get... anyone else have any ideas?

[Seo]

If not the Craig, SmallHD, Manhattan, or Ikan, then go for Lilliput's models. The best of SD monitors for a cheap price, with flip too.

I think what movielighter was trying to say was to buy a 7D/Zoom H4n combo. The H4n would give you the ability to record proper audio (albeit with mediocre preamps). A prosumer camera would be great, and so would an HDSLR but only AS LONG AS YOU KEEP YOUR HV20. This way you can counter the moire, aliasing, and super duper rolling shutter effects (although in most cases, the HV20 won't do much better with this). You'll have to relearn a lot of things, and get used to everything but... it'll hopefully be worth it.

Of course if you have the cash I'd recommend an XH A1 (being sold for 2.5k mint nowadays) or something nicer with a great adapter like the SGBlade or Handy35. Beautiful image and you're pretty much upgrading only, no major compromises other than size and setup time. Of course this is important to some people, so you should keep in mind what you're shooting.

[austiiin]

Thanks Seo for actually trying to help!

I would love to be able to upgrade to prosumer, but the price is just to high.

XH A1 = $2500 (used)
HD monitor kit = $1000
SGBlade with flip/rails = $1600

that alone is already reaching $5000+ with no audio or quality tripod or steadicam or dolly or jib (the last three of course could be a DIY project... I already have a DIY Dolly and currently working on a DIY Merlin! CANT WAIT!)

I can stay under a $1000 (maybe a little more) and just make some quality upgrades to my HV20. Of course, I wont have a prosumer camera even with the upgrades, but this camera is going to be used for film competitions and such, so I can't really justify going all out... now if I was a DP for a living, that would be another story entirely, but sadly I deal with post work at the moment but I'm trying to expand! :hv20-smilie58:

[ejolson]

OK, I'm at the crossroads of either upgrading to a prosumer camera or just upgrading my HV20.

I would strongly recommend trying a DOF and rails before buying. Some people think it's easier to achieve the same effect with a DSLR these days. Shallow DOF can also be achieved using the zoom or simulated in post.

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/kramer_andrew/dof.php

A separate audio recorder, good microphones, lights, fluid head tripod, dolly, portable HD monitor and steadycam are things that will be useful with the HV20 as well as any future camcorder.

[Seo]

Haha, no problem.

Speaking of audio and lighting stuff, what audio/lighting/support setup are you using right now? If you upgrade those and get some nice equipment, you'll be able to upgrade your cam without worrying about the audio and lighting not being up to par.

[Carter Smith]

I'd like to learn more about audio as well if anyone's willing to explain to beginners.

[Seo]

I'd like to learn more about audio as well if anyone's willing to explain to beginners.

I'd be happy to, and I'm sure HueyNRolf would be too if he isn't too busy. You can hop into the chat (http://hv20.com/chat/) if you wanna talk to me!