As partial payment for an AC/Operating gig on some commercials a few weeks ago I was granted some time with the Panasonic AJ HDC-27f Varicam. I directed and D.P.ed a little non-sensical short that I still haven't written a script for, but here are some stills from said shoot. These are mostly existing light conditions although I did add a touch here and there where I felt necessary.

This was taken from the roof of my apartment building. I actually turned the gain to +3DB on these shots. The noise is minimal on the HD versions, but in the downconverts (Which this grab is taken from) it seems a bit amplified.


We then shot a couple scenes in my apartment. These are with the gain at -6Db I think.



Finally we went down on the street to for the last shots.




I'll probablly throw the finished piece up if it ever gets done.

Nota "Who? Me? Direct?" Mono

Nice looking stuff, especially for not being lit. Out of curiousity, were you using a Zoom lense, or prime lense? Also...how would you compare the look and motion of the this camera to, say, film? Just wondering. I've heard some really good things about this camera, and plan on renting one for my next project. Great stuff.

Brian

I know really nice stills. I heard that JVC was comin out with a Prosumer HD cam that i guess has been delayed for release. It was supposed to come out like may 2003 for around $4000 same price as say a Panasonic Ag-Dvx100 now so i'm really lookin forward to its release after i've seen what an HD cam can really do. Plus, in the first still replace that exit sign with a street sign and it kinda looks like the opening of Mulholland Drive doesn't it. That guy behind the Winkie's Diner really really freaks me out.

Rob, Great rabs man!! Love em! Good use of existing, especially pulling out the greens in those flourescents, very "Fincher" of you. I really liked the kitchen shot, because of the contrast with the orange in the fridge, and the Hollywood walk shot looked great. Good stuff. Get something cut, Me want moving pictures too. Im still working on getting the trailer up "Arghhh" Hopefully soon.

As for the JVC HDcam. Dont go buy it, until you see what it can do. First off, it only has 1ccd, the AG-DVX100 has 3. They claim it records to MiniDV tapes with "MPEG" compression.(?) Plus, you cant remove the lens, and the one it comes with is crap. I will have to see some stills from this, before I would even consider its value. (of course, i felt the same way about the AG-DVX100) Just dont go out and buy one, before seing is all im saying. There is a reason they keep pushing back the release date, and it worries me. LOL.
R. M.

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans

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Originally posted by Brian:
Out of curiousity, were you using a Zoom lense, or prime lense? Also...how would you compare the look and motion of the this camera to, say, film?

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I had a standard issue Fujinon zoom lens that breathed like a beached whale. I would've loved a set of DigiPrimes, but they're still pretty rare, particularly for free.

The motion is pretty nice. It's far more film like than any other video I've ever shot, but there's still something a bit electronic about it. It's almost like the circle of confusion has a less consistant fall-off. Also, grain may always feel more natural than pixels regardless of how miniscule either become. I do think this camera is more film-like than what I've seen from the F-900. It probablly doesn't blow-up as well, but I have yet to see a test or comparison (I've been meaning to though).

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Originally posted by Eazye4me:
I heard that JVC was comin out with a Prosumer HD cam that i guess has been delayed for release. It was supposed to come out like may 2003 for around $4000 same price as say a Panasonic Ag-Dvx100 now so i'm really lookin forward to its release after i've seen what an HD cam can really do.

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I think a lot of DP's yawned at what they saw from this camera at NAB. To paraphrase, one said that 'while the HD10-U cam shoot both HD and SD, it does neither well.' Most seemed to concur that the DVX-100 will still be a much better buy. It is hopefully a sign of good things to come though.

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Originally posted by TizzyEntertainment:
Good use of existing, especially pulling out the greens in those flourescents, very "Fincher" of you.

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Hehe... Well Fincher wasn't exactly my goal, but the color control is definately one of my favorite aspects of the camera. It's almost like having an in-camera DaVinci (Maybe not, but it still rocks). I inadvertantly sacraficed several food-stuffs as it took way too long to wrap the bulb in the fridge with CTO for that scene. I did cheat and add a couple extra fluros to that scene, as evident here.


I will say, this is not an ideal run 'n gun camera. I found myself functioning slower than I usually do with film, but that may be more because this was my first time with the camera.

Nota "Forks fastest with a Todd-AO" Mono

Hey, how did you monitor this. Did you have a Monitor, or did you use the veiwfinder? How about a wave form monitor? Just curious. You say you took a bit more time, but do you feel that would continue, or once you became a bit more familiar, do you think it would improve?

R. "asks WAY to many questions" M.

P.S.
I fel ya on the electronic film feel. Its pretty damn good, but still not quite there. Technology is fascinating though. I can tell you I just got a reel from a D.P. in London (as a potential D.P. for our feature shoot) and it blew me away. Some great stuff, and you should see what he can get out of DV (granted, hes shooting PAL as far as "film look" but even so.) I told the director to find the money to hire him..... and, I wanna finders fee. LOL

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans

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I really liked the kitchen shot, because of the contrast with the orange in the fridge

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Definetely cool looking.

TACO WAGON PRODUCTIONS©

"Violence in Movies? It's much more interresting to see a car exploding, than to see it parking" -Quentin Tarantino

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Originally posted by TizzyEntertainment:
Hey, how did you monitor this. Did you have a Monitor, or did you use the veiwfinder? How about a wave form monitor? Just curious. You say you took a bit more time, but do you feel that would continue, or once you became a bit more familiar, do you think it would improve?

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I had a little 6" onboard monitor/waveform/vectorscope. For the commercials beforehand we had a 20" multi-format monitor that was worth it's weight in gold while trying to focus. I found it very difficult to focus with just the viewfinder and the 6" monitor. I have no doubt that I'll get quicker with the camera the more I use it in the future, but going back and shooting with the SR-II a couple weeks later I really felt much less inhibited.

Nota "Trying to justify the need for a 20" monitor for the SR's video tap" Mono

hey i ilke your outside shots. how did you manage to shoot your shots outside using exsiting lights that was already there. did you use gels on the lights for the apartment part.

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Originally posted by MOVING IMAGE PRODUCTIONS:
hey i ilke your outside shots. how did you manage to shoot your shots outside using exsiting lights that was already there. did you use gels on the lights for the apartment part.

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The beautiful thing about white balance is that you don't actually have to balance to white. I used a couple of gels here and there, but the color effects are more of a function of balancing to colors other than white.

Nota "White balances on a unicycle on a highwire over flames and school busses" Mono