The great HV hack boondoggle thread

[Krane]

I doubt it. The OP doesn't sound like they have that type of skill. And why even do such a thing?

LOL, that not a rational conclusion, unless you know something the rest of us don't?

It's the goofy .gif low resolution that makes it look like mamamama when you zoom in.

Look at all the lettering and icons. They all look ugly.

My money is on this being legit.

To what end?

[The Stevesy]

This is either the greatest news I've ever heard or the greatest (read: makes Stevesy sadsy) prank I've ever been witness to.

[zero01101]

Its photoshopped. I can tell by the pixels and from having seen a few shops in my time.

thank you

[_gl]

Its photoshopped. I can tell by the pixels and from having seen a few shops in my time.

I looked at it close in PS and it doesn't look 'shopped to me - but it doesn't smell right, and there's an easier way to fake it - the cam could be recording the LCD of a better specced cam in front of it. Convenient that the camera is perfectly in frame, but also perfectly cropped so that you can't see anything, right? And the image on screen suggests someone messing about in their computer room, not a shoot location.

But hey, prove us wrong, the money is there and we're not proud

[David]

Its photoshopped. I can tell by the pixels and from having seen a few shops in my time.

How would you even do something like photoshop a cellphone picture? I don't think it can be done.

[The Stevesy]

The placement of the aperture and shutter never made sense. Why wouldn't it be just in the same place as the photo trick.

I'm still holding out the tiniest bit of hope, but all in all... if this is fake. I gotta say this is pretty lame man.

[HVAUSSIE]

if f is to 2.8 what is to 60, you would go 1/60 . its photoshopped, sorry guys!

[Steph69]

How would you even do something like photoshop a cellphone picture? I don't think it can be done.

Why cant it be done????

That was a five min play around with it.

I know he could be capturing over HDMI, or with on location etc. etc. but i still smell a rat.

[186394]

Well, he did say he took the picture "while they were in between changing tapes," but he probably didn't notice at first and had to explain that somehow.

[Steph69]

Well, he did say he took the picture "while they were in between changing tapes," but he probably didn't notice at first and had to explain that somehow.

So why is it still recording??

[rpatin]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned how silly this sounds:

I'm going to try to get him drunk, and then maybe he'll share his super secret HV30 plans with me...MUWAHAHAHAHAHA! (Okay, so that's my interpretation.)

Sounds like a really cheesy movie.

Seriously, we would all love to see this hack, but I don't think it's happening. If this guy is close enough to this filmmaker to buy him drinks, he should be close enough to just ask, "Hey, I have an HV30 and I don't see that setting. How did you mod yours to get it?"

[186394]

So why is it still recording??

I don't think it is. I just turned my hv30 on and took out the tape and the lcd shows basically the same thing as in the picture minus the aperture and shutter settings.

[Steph69]

I don't think it is. I just turned my hv30 on and took out the tape and the lcd shows basically the same thing as in the picture minus the aperture and shutter settings.

Your right thats just the "no tape" icon i was looking at.

Who knows maybe its true, I find it strange that a guy who seems to have a friend with the said hack is affraid to ask how its done, when they are working together with the same gear on the same shoot.

I know he said he is going to buy the HV30 but surely your gonna ask the guy how he did it before you spend the cash if your main reson for the cam is the hack?

Hope its true but tinternet is full of hoaxes.....

[Bob Rossi]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned how silly this sounds:

I'm going to try to get him drunk, and then maybe he'll share his super secret HV30 plans with me...MUWAHAHAHAHAHA! (Okay, so that's my interpretation.)

Sounds like a really cheesy movie.

Seriously, we would all love to see this hack, but I don't think it's happening. If this guy is close enough to this filmmaker to buy him drinks, he should be close enough to just ask, "Hey, I have an HV30 and I don't see that setting. How did you mod yours to get it?"

Who says he is close enough to the filmmaker to buy him drinks? From what I read, the OP came here asking newbish questions about the HV20 and if bringing another camera on-set (without asking I might add) would be a no-no.

As I read it he is going to approach this guy at their afterparty. That hardly sounds like somebody who is close to the filmmaker.

It is frustrating but all we can do is wait till Monday and see if this is legit.

As much as I want to stir the pot with assumptions, I won't. But waiting is a bitch. Yeah...

B. Rossi

[CWildenradt]

This wreaks of being a scam to build up the firmware hack pot and swindle the money right out of the forum's hands. I'm surprised nobody has seen some very glaring red flags.

Bob Rossi and filmwonder are looking like the same person. filmwonder joined on 11/7 and his first post was the first post listed in this thread. He makes 3 "buildup" posts before planting the seeds on his 4th post. It plays out like a B-rated movie too:

Hey Group,

Just got back from the first day of the short film shoot that I am camera assistant on. I bought a open box HV20 the day before to learn about the camera because I was told they would be using a HV20.

I also was going to bring it on set in case they needed another camera for extra coverage but group members advised me not to as I might be overstepping my bounds as a camera assistant.

Well, the cinematographer is using a HV30 and I assumed it would have the same settings as the HV20 I was trying to learn. I noticed the HV30 had full manual control over shutter and exposure and you didn't need to do the exposure/photo button workaround.

I told the cinematographer I just bought a HV20 and asked him about the HV30 being different and the guy got a little quiet and said "that's just the way his camera is..." I thought maybe he had a secret to getting those settings to show up and he doesn't want to tell me.

Is there some way I can have the HV20 I bought do that too? Or would I need to buy a HV30 for full manual control.

That's to get us all convinced he's a newb and knows nothing of what he's talking about. Wow! He stumbled across a real discovery here and doesn't even know it!

Subsequent posts show he has no other interest in the camera other than "manual exposure control" which he incessently obsesses over. In fact, he posts nowhere else on this forum and hasn't as of this post.

Meanwhile, on 11/11 Bob Rossi joins the forum to make his first post. It's a new thread in the "DIY/Modifications" section. Guess what? It points to this very thread making the claim that the firmware hack could be "alive and in the wild." That thread has since been merged with the hack thread, but his very first post can be found here:
http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?p=150097#post150097

Bob Rossi seems also to show no interest in any other sections of the forum besides the thread he started and this one. He seems not to care about anything except the firmware hack. And guess what? He seems to show absolutely no doubts whatsoever that this imaginary camera owner has in fact hacked the HV30 firmware. He reinforces the theory of the imaginary fellow's technical prowess with hackintosh speak, just read the posts. Bob Rossi seems to be filmwonder's bodyguard, as well as the imaginary camera owner/hacker's. Does it not seem odd that the way filmwonder and Bob Rossi type are strikingly similar too?

So these two fellows, the newest members in this thread, are the biggest proponents of this whole imaginary plotline and the photochopped picture proving absolutely nothing except for filmwonder's determination to eventually scam the firmware hack money from the good people of this community.

Sorry to sound so harsh, but I've seen this approach taken before on other forum communities that I've been deeply involved in. You can read it like a book when you really look at it. It wreaks of BS and is most likely the groundwork being laid for a scam.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

[186394]

He also joined at least two other forums around the same time only to point to this thread here, often copy and pasting the same messages. I think you're right.

Edit: Here's the links to those other forum threads.
http://rebelsguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2124
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=152876

[CWildenradt]

Hey filmwonder, why don't you shoot some footage of the set, the magical camera, and the introverted cameraman/hacker? Upload it to Vimeo and provide a link for us here. You could tell the covert/CIA types on the set there that you're filming for a personal keepsake.

[mattt]

http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/2333/pscam1ne5.jpg


i tried to blow up the image using Steph's photo. See that sqaure around the numbers? Is that normal?

Also, that does not seem to be like a shooting environment.

[JedEyeZ]

That looks like room lighting and shadows to me. When you add text there is no background, I do not see a reason someone would go out of their way to add a box like that.

I am about to post in a second with some points that may lead to the proof of it being photoshopped.

[Bob Rossi]

Whatever...

Believe what you want to believe. I have been a long time lurker on many forums. And this was the impetus for me to get involved and make my first post.

Yeah, stranger things have happened.

And I am about to bet anyone some money that this is real and legit.

It has been a long time coming.

I think somebody finally hacked the wondercam.

B. Rossi

[CWildenradt]

I almost forgot to mention how interesting it is that this filmmaker is using a naked HV30 to shoot his film. Not that I don't think our beloved HV30 is up to the task, but it seems awfully odd.

No, wait. I've got it! Other features that this filmmaker hacked in were:

T.I.S. - tripod image stabilization (allows you to get the look of a tripod shot while shooting handheld)
S.I.S. - steadicam image stabilization (allows you to get the look of a steadicam shot while shooting handheld)
C.D.O.F. - custom DOF (allows you to select how deep or shallow you'd like your DOF to be)
I.M.B. - instant matte box (automatically removes lens flares)

More to come! No more need for pesky tripods, rods, or other bulky equipment! Apparently, the only thing he's still working on is how to change tapes quickly. It now takes four times as long which allows enough time for someone to sneak a cell phone picture of the camera while they undergo the arduous task of changing tapes.

[CWildenradt]

Whatever...

Believe what you want to believe. I have been a long time lurker on many forums. And this was the impetus for me to get involved and make my first post.

Great, why don't you donate some money to the firmware hack fund then? It will help bring about the hack you have been waiting so long for. Since you've posted duplicate threads on at least 2 other forums (as your first post on those too), I suspect you are very eager to see this come to fruition.

[Bob Rossi]

Great, why don't you donate some money to the firmware hack fund then? It will help bring about the hack you have been waiting so long for. Since you've posted duplicate threads on at least 2 other forums (as your first post on those too), I suspect you are very eager to see this come to fruition.

I have opened a PayPal account this morning and intend on donating $50 which is more than most of the negative thinkers are doing...

Until proven otherwise, come on, let's hope this is legit. Let's have positive thoughts.

Without a vision, people perish.

Negative thoughts don't help.

B. Rossi

[CWildenradt]

I have opened a PayPal account this morning and intend on donating $50 which is more than most of the negative thinkers are doing...

Great, let us know when you do and hopefully Cyclewriter will confirm as he has done for others.

Negative thoughts don't help.

B. Rossi

I agree. But this isn't about negative thoughts. It's about the pathology behind internet scammers; most of which is plainly evident in this whole ridiculous plotline and the way it's being carried out.

If these bizarre coincidences are merely that--coincidences--then I apologize and stand corrected. But until that proof is brought to this absurd thread, then I'm convinced it's a scam in the works. The photo povided is proof of nothing more than filmwonder's ownership of Adobe Photoshop. The burden of proof is on filmwonder. Tell him to fire up Photoshop and get crackin'.....it's gonna take some serious skills to pull this one off.

[Ian-T]

Bob...before putting the word out to other folks (especially in other forums) I would just wait for proof. This could very well end up biting you in the behind. You have to understand some of the skepticism here...especially with the many scams we've seen recently. I'm not ragging on the OP...but he is new. I'll patiently wait till tomorrow or whenever he stated that he would show us proof though. But for right now don't put all your eggs in one basket.