To Burn the Midnight Oil

It’s been a while since my last post on my site, so I figure that I’ll start here as this blog is the most inconsequential page of Dave’s Place and work my way forward through the site. I have a lot of new stuff to add, especially the Application Connector. The post will consist of two parts, the camera, & the movie.

First, The Camera
About a month ago I picked up the JVC GZ-HD7. I had been looking at the SONY line-up of higher end cameras. However, I noticed that Sony has started using AVCHD™ Format. I have a DCR-SR42 & I love using it. Generally, in a tight zoom with low light it does much better than my JVC GZ-MG505U. But the 42 is probably the last Sony Handycam to use a standard format. I detest ‘proprietary formats’, in all their varied forms, but as it is general common knowledge, Sony is the worst repeat offender in this approach to safeguarding their market share. I guess that’s why the $1300 sticker price on the HDR-CX7 has dropped to $1000 or less overnight since the HD7 hit the streets. High-end Sony’s tend to be more forgiving & easier to use overall, but if you know what you’re doing and know your way around technical problems, the JVC’s tend to be better disposed toward creative cinematography. As for aesthetics, well, we all know I hate ‘silvered plastic cameras’.

The HD7 is a virtual beast compared to any of JVC’s previous high-end consumer cameras, both the 505 & the 555. The HD7 is almost twice as long, a third wider, & considerably heaver. The layout & flow of control over the functions has been vastly improved over the last two hard drive video camcorders. ‘Exposure Control’ and a ‘Focus Ring’ are the two most important additions for me. If you are just starting out in this hobby, I would not suggest you start with the HD7, it is ‘a beast’. I suggest to friends when they ask, a mid-line or even one of the inexpensive, MiniDV or DVD based solutions. They are stable, no longer prone to failures, & generally very easy to use. But I remind them that they will still need an editing platform (capable PC & software). And “Don’t plan on popping the finished work in the VCR or DVD players right out of the camera!”
When they show me a line-up & ask me which one I like, I just say “Any of them, just as long as it’s not silver!!”.



And now, The Movie.
In the past two years that I sporadically had time to work on this project, it had gone from a 12 minute silent project, to a full 2 hour, & back down to an hour with music. I went through four cameras, each a little better in definition that the last. The new HD7 was not used, however. A lot of mid-winter rooftop shots, cold batteries, a few minor run-ins with local authorities, and a lot of screwed up footage due to overly curious walk-by spectators. Thank goodness I did not have to use the audio during the shoot of any scene. I’ve battled the wind & rain. I’ve had people almost knock over tripods. And I had people purposely stand and look into the camera lens while shooting, NF can attest to this. I have a lot of patience for the subject of the shoot, but I found that I did not have as much tolerance for the general public around me.

I tried a lot of methods to get spectators to cooperate with my efforts. As the work was shot entirely in Korea, asking them to oblige was not always an option. I tried a bowl of candy. I tried handing out quick Polaroid made on the spot. I tried taping off the area. I tried to get into fairly inaccessible locations. Once, for the river shots, I climbed up a bridge abutment and walked out on a service catwalk to a ledge on a cement support column that was over 60 feet in the air & only about 30 inches wide. An hour later there were 6 other people with me, all snapping off pictures of the scene, and basically blowing out my exposure/white balance.

The point here is that the amateur cinematographer has an often overlooked element to laying-out a shoots logistics. ‘Interference from Bystanders’ is an imminent result when shooting in highly populated areas. This element should be considered before all other technical elements, to allow the artist to concentrate efforts while rolling on things like light, subject, composition, & focus. The single most effective thing I found to combat this was having an assistant who was not afraid to gently touch a spectator by the shoulders, when the production line was crossed. Remember, people that are watching you do a shoot are just curious & a bit clumsy. And after all, hopefully, will become your audience. So, since Google has the highest definition, here's the link:
LIFE UNBALANCED - A tribute to RON FRICKE & KOYAANISQATSI
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Makers Mark

As you might know from reading the rest of the 'Dave's Place' site, I have retired the HP Photosmart 612 to the display cabinet. The 612 served my purposes well, and as a simple point & shoot, I still think it was one of the simplest and best quality cameras of its time. But like the song, 'That was Yesterday!". The 612 was one of the only 1MP cameras available in mid 2001. I paid a whopping $275 for it then & probably took a little less than 1000 used photos with it. After 5 years of sitting in a camera pouch in hot cars & sweating in my front pocket, the display driver for the LCD crystal on the top of the camera finally burned out. Since the information was redundantly displayed on the backscreen, it was never really a big problem. It still works fine & even has the original clear protective plastic shipping sticker on the screen. (The protective cut & stick sheets hadn't come out yet) I popped out the 4 AA batteries that only lasted about 2 weeks of shooting & threw her in the cabinet, never to see the light of day again. The only thing that I didn't like was that it was silver, I hate silvered plastic cameras.
I picked up a Casio Exilim EX-Z120 to replace the 612 as a 'always carry' replacement. The 120 had been a demo at the photo store. Giving it a heavy look over, I found only one small scrach near the mounting stud. The camera was clean, well kept, & not a scrach on the display. As the 120 was discontinued in the lineup half a year ago, she was going for a real good price. Yes, the 120 is silver, but I can accept that because its textured anodized aluminium. Hey, I'm replacing a 1MP camera with a 7MP camera that's 4 times the capability that the 612 was, at half the cost!! Back when I only had one digital camera, the 612 had to be handled with kid gloves all the time. But now, I'd rather have a camera that will take some punishment & is 'somewhat more disposable' than carrying around one of the more expensive ones. The 120 is a third the size, half the weight, & made of aluminium.
It was a no brainer.

That got me thinking over the past month...
Am I one of those guys that have an affinity for discontinued models from underdog brands ??
The answer came this week.

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20PP-K. I got that brand new just as they hit the streets last year. About March this year, the FZ30 hit the streets, now the FZ50 is taking the lead. Over at the camera store, the 30's were removed & the new 50's were put in their place. I checked the bargain bin. There was a FZ30 for half the cost new. There were two more FZ30's, but only with a $50 markdown, so I asked the salesperson what was up.
"Oh, that one's a refurbished unit. I think that somebody broke the viewscreen on it & we sent it to be fixed. But, they forgot to put all the stuff back in the box before they sent it back.", I was informed.
I asked, "So its missing the software, directions, battery, SD card, & charger ?".
"Yes, but its got the hood, strap, & all the cables !!", the salesperson replied.

Something like the scene from a movie about a little girl who feels sorry for the runt of the litter in a pet store, & ends up buying & taking the runt home & raising it ran through my thoughts.

So, I did a quick calculation in my head...
The software & directions I don't need, but could probably download. The charger was the same as for the camera I had now. So, for the same price as the other two cameras were going for I'd get a battery & a 1GB SD card...

"How big is the SD card that it comes with ?", I asked.
"I comes with a 32MB, but at 8MP per shot in RAW or TIFF, we suggest a bigger card.", he replied.

Humm... That's another no brainer I told myself.

Hide and Seek

I managed to get a new camera the other day. I talked to the company rep about getting it about a month & half ago. Everyone involved with the special order request seemed a little resistant to fulfilling the order, except for the rep.
Originally, I had requested a GZ-MG77. Two weeks went by without a word. In that time, JVC announced the release of a newer model. I tracked down the rep again. She called the stock person about the 77. He said he had forgotten about it. The store that the rep works at normally carries only a very few (4-5) 77's at a time. They had been out of stock for quite some time.
Anyway, I told her about the new GZ-MG505 & that JVC had just released the model. She had not heard about it. So I requested that the order be changed to the 505. She said, 'No problem'. Another two weeks went by, the store had gotten several 77's (10-12) in. That's like twice what they normally carry. But still no 505 displayed or in stock.
A few days ago, the rep called me directly to let me know the camera was in. I went to the store and met her assistant, who either pretended or didn't know anything about the special order. Neither did the store's stockpeople. After about 20 minutes of proving that I was not leaving before buying the camera or speaking to the senior rep in person when she arrived, the assistant started making calls. He called someone with JVC order fulfillment, & got no where. Then he called the senior rep who was in route to the store. There was a bit of yelling going on that I could hear, as the assistant indicated that there were no 505's in their clutch of special orders that day. At that point, I think she hung up on him. Remember, this is the newest camera JVC makes.
I waited another 10 minutes, with nothing productive coming out of the efforts of several sales people appearing to franticly look for the unit. You know how salespeople try to look like their helping you with all that is humanly possible, but their eye contact & body language tell you a completely different story.
I had adopted a friendly, understanding, but firm stance as an innocent victim. I indicated that I had the senior rep's personal cell phone number, & offered to call her to help place where the unit was. By this time, 10 to 12 customers had gathered, interested in what the commotion was about.
Suddenly a plain, unmarked box was produced from somewhere other than the normal stock room area, which I had been standing in front of the entrance to the whole time. It was just a plain box with just JVC's logo on it. I believe that everyone there could detect the total disgust of the stockperson holding it, & it wasn't because it had taken SO long to find it! Inside, wrapped in several of bubble wrap, was a single box that was green & black; Not the blue & white of the normally stocked models. This one was different, and as it was lifted from the packing, the gathered customers surged toward it to see why this camera is different. The 505 isn't even in the product lineup literature.
The sales person could not have tried harder to stop the sale, "You know, this is a very expensive camera ??".
"Yep!!", I replied. "I'll be paying for that in cash.".
"Humm, Humm... Its not scanning into the system...". (Gee, how did he know it was expensive if its not in the system?)
I think at that point, the assistant rep didn't want to get caught by the senior rep, went to the stock terminal, called up the stock number, and forwarded an authorization to the sales computer; All within about 10 seconds. (Modern Technology; What wondrous things we can accomplish these days!!) At that point the register spit out a partially printed receipt. The sales person asked "And your going to pay...".
I never let him finish, "Cash!".
Gathering the bag & looking over my shoulder after the payment, I watched 4 store employees & one very sweaty JVC rep, all looking very forlorned, as they fought off a pack of about 20 customers who were quite displeased that there was no information or display model of the camera that guy just bought. They even tried to lift the single promotional booklet that had been packed in the shipping box with the camera. I politely reached into the crowd & took that too. I turned the corner just before I heard an especially irate customer say,
"What do you mean 'Special Order', you don't have any in stock?!"
"What do you mean the store dosen't carry that camera?!"

Video 1

I've been working on a timelapse since April. Spending a lot of time tweaking the timing on the soundtrack & cleaning up the titles. Pinnacle is not designed for anything past 4:1 time compression, so I'm having to reproduce the film a total of 4 times. The target length is 12 minutes. All the footage has been finished already, its the production phase that's taking a lot of labor. Once it looks & sounds good, I'll post & wait for the review by the host. After that, I'll be able to post it to the Dave's Video page.