———— 18 December 2008 ————
And the theme for this comparison is… bicycles! Here’s a Vimeo SD embed of a video I shot & cut for the Travel Channel Academy with my Canon HV30 at 1440×1080p24
And here’s two YouTube high quality SD embeds of footage shot with a pre-production model of Canon’s new 5D Mark II Digital SLR at 1920×1080p30
Sure, the 5D is 3500 bucks off the shelf, and my entire HV30 kit with wide angle lens adapter, boom mic, camera bag, and a sweet lens cleaning pen topped out at 1200 bucks. But holy hell, look what an additional 2400 bucks can get you!
So what’s the point of even looking at the Canon XH-A1 or the Sony Z1U at a very similair 3,xxx dollar price point? None. Or maybe you’re required by DCI to jump through flaming hoops of razor wire to deliver tapeless footage (my sympathies). Or then maybe you like recording video AND sound. I’ve yet to see, err hear, any audio examples at all from the 5dmarkii.
Anybody out there know of any? And when the hell is my Apple TV going to start playing YouTube in HD???
proactively • just make the sound up in post • peter
———— 1 August 2008 ————
Yes, the tethered accessory shoe is really annoying. Especially when you want to put accessories on your HV30 like this:
Solution found after a search over at HV20.com. Special thanks to Spider.JM for the post and pics!
Its done and I’m proud to announce we don’t need to worry about parts falling into the camera. When you do remove MAKE SURE YOU ONLY CUT ONE SIDE. Otherwise it will fall in… You just need to pull it out after you’ve cut one side.
Tool list:
-Needle Nose Pliers (not required)
-Either Sharp clean Scissors or Exacto Knife
Basically try to stretch it away from the camera so that you have both strands away from each other, then progress to snipping ONE strand. Then just pull the cover out with the last strand STILL intact! Once its out, sever that other side, and make it so theres about 2mm left on the cover so that it will still fit back into the camera.
Pics of my fully accessorized Canon HV30 incoming.
proactively • going to the toy store for an exacto knife tomorrow • peter
———— 31 July 2008 ————
pics of awesomeness
My good friend Joel (left, excited) and yours truly (right, really excited).
Joel hand-framing the awesome Panasonic VW-W4307H 0.7x wide angle converter.
Everything put together! Thanks to Katie & Rani for the photos.
Waiting on the Sennheiser MKE 400 Compact Video Camera Shotgun Microphone which should arrive next week. Bought everything at BHphotovideo.com.
proactively • a proud new baby daddy • peter
———— 28 July 2008 ————
I’m going to finally frickin’ pull the trigger and buy a Canon HV30. Soon.
But, there’s a lot of cool stuff that I want to get with it, like a wide angle lens, and finding a good review takes time. So, here’s a link dump of sites that helped me out and will help you out while researching accessories for your Canon HV30:
This is the mecca for all things related to the HV20 / 30 cameras. Sign up now. Right now.
Leaning towards the wide angle and macro adapters these guys make, covered extensively on HV20.com.
Great reviews of fisheye lenses for multiple consumer and prosumer cameras. The fisheye is the staple of skateboard videographers; these guys know their stuff.
Schneider Optics / Century Optics
Home of the industry standard fisheye lenses for skateboard videographers. And other solid gear, too.
The defacto awesome way to get sound that doesn’t suck. Follow the link and check out the video.
So there’s a whole lot I’m looking at here. Hopefully this research dump helps you with your own HV30 purchase.
proactively • getting ready to shoot a doc and a feature • peter













so will the cetury opttics fisheye fit on the canon hv 30?
Hey Bob, thanks for stopping by. Did a quick search over at HV20.com and found this thread:
http://hv20.com/showthread.php?t=4620&highlight=fish+eye+hv30
To quote Beebs:
get a century fisheye, also known as the death lens
the quality is the best you can get.
plus, all the pros use the century mk1 and mk2s for skateboarding
you want the “baby death” which has 37mm threads. you need a thread converter/step rings and you’ll get a little bit of vignetting. you can mod the lens to have no vignetting if you really hate it
And if you Google:
Century Optics .3x Ultra Fisheye Adapter for Digital Video Cameras with 37mm Lens Front Diameter
It takes you to this Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Century-Ultra-Fisheye-Adapter-Diameter/dp/B0000ALKDR
Essentially, it looks like you need a 43mm to 37mm step down ring to use the Century Optics fish eye and this could result in some vignetting.
yo pete!
just went to B&H and got a wide angle converter for my hv30:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/577500-REG/Century_Precision_Optics_0HD_05WA_43_0HD_05WA_43_0_5x_Wide_Angle.html
they didnt have your panasonic one, so the guy said this was a good one. put it on my cam and it def bounces out the viewable field pretty significantly. this century lens is a .5 so its def pushing past your .7 lens.
i’m wondering how much distortion you get on your panasonic lens? thinking if i should sacrifice viewable area vs. distortion.
keep posting, homey!
-b
ex-Terp
Hey Ben, check out this video for footage of the HV20 & HV30 with the panasonic wide angle adapter:
http://vimeo.com/1519660
Both handheld cameras have the wide angle lens and i don’t see much if any distortion.
proactively • terp 4 life •peter