HASSELBLAD X1D FOR CINEMA AND COMMERCIAL WORK

[PIC]

I would like to start a deeper conversation on working with the video capabilities of the X1D but also other Hassys. But Ill start from general aspects.

I did my first commercial work, with pretty good results. It was fun because the sony alpha 7r we had failed so I had to use the Hassy. 

Of course the focus ring is very difficult to handle with the XCD lenses. Since the focus is electronic. So its never hitting the exact spot with moving subjects. .

The image quality is surprisingly tight. Even if it is only a resolution of 1080p.

The colors are very saturated. I suppose that this is due to Hasselblads color processing software. I needed to color grade. And the material was relatively responsive since it was only a mp4 file.

I moved the camera slowly because I knew there are heavy rolling shutter problems. I then used the rolling shutter software in premiere to process one image with fairly good results.

On the other hand I have been shooting pretty moody images. And the look and boukeh of the images is delicious. They transmit a certain feeling that you can almost breathe.

The camera sucks in low light. Giving a very noisy signal.

I plan on doing bigger and bigger video works and se if it brings me somewhere interesting.

Please feel free to share your own experiences. Im actually a cinematographer and I have bought this camera, to create different footage.

[Ralf Mueller]

Dear PIC,

i'm glad we have a cinematographer in this forum posting about video capabilities of the HB's, so welcome here and I'm looking forward to your posts in this area. I'm shooting with a H6D-50c, not the X1D and as far as i know, the X1D only records H.264 while the H6D's support raw (Cinema DNG) as well. Wondering why you picked the X1D in the first place? Betting on a firmware update that would enable ProRES or even raw with the X1D?

Anyway, please keep us updated on your experience, guess there are not too many cinematographers here.

Best Regards,
Ralf

[PIC]

I choose the X1D for two main reasons.

One is portability, which the other models do not have. Its a camera I can carry around anytime with a proper lens. 45mm.
I can put it in my backpack or hang it on my neck and bike around the city.

The other reason is budget. The bigger cameras have a price tag about 5 times bigger.

The h264 material was pretty good at grading. Not very flexible but good enough when exposed correctly.

Ill keep you posted as soon as I get more footage logged.

[PIC]

Another problem I noticed is that with the X1D you can not capture clean HDMI signal through the port.

I hope a new firmware update would fix this. Then 4:2:2 bit depth and color information could be stored.

[PIC]

Nobody seems to be interested in this thread.

But anyway now I discovered a problem with the Audio recording. There is a noisy signal with a sound like old projectors have when recording sound.
When raising the audio level input on the microphone, the noise lessens. but its still there.

Also it is not possible to monitor audio while recording.

[NickT]

Simon I wonder if your audio issue is the same as this:

http://www.hasselbladdigitalforum.com/index.php?topic=5200.0

Nick-T