When you ship, make sure it is worth it.

Learned a lesson in shipping today.

I ordered some parts for the Lytecap - but found out that unless I buy in a large quantity, shipping is very expensive. Now this might seem like common sense, but not all companies tell you their shipping prices upfront. I didn't see the final price until I got the invoice with the product.

Still, the company shipped timely and the product is good so I will just have to up the order next time to make it more worth-while.

35mm testing with the Letus35A

I just finished testing out the Lytecap with the HV20, a Canon 50mm lens and the Letus35A.

Some interesting news. When I put the Lytecap in front of the Canon lens, it was too bright, even when I turned the dial down - so I tested out opening and closing the aperture on the Canon's 50mm lens - and presto, it worked great. I could achieve a range of apertures this way, but to really fine-tuned it, I used the Lytecap. Some of my initial findings are that is that stuff looks good - zero gain - but dark - losing a stop and a 1/2 I believe with the Letus. At an aperture of 2.8 with the Letus35A, it is pretty dark, while without the Letus35A under the same conditions and aperture, the lighting is serviceable.

So the 35mm version will need a lot more light to do the trick and probably require different aperture settings. Right now, I am only using a 60Watt bulb for testing, but so far so good.

Parts on order - slight delay

Lytecap users - eletronic parts are on order. I apologize for the delay. I am outsourcing parts at the moment, but it looks like it is going to be a week delay for orders.

Junk mail surprise

I just had a recent email from someone that told me something obvious - my reply to their email message about the "Lytecap" had gone directly to their spam/junk folder. Sometimes the obvious eludes me. So, having said all that, please check your junk folder if you have emailed me. I have answered each and everyone of my emails, so please check again - and if you have emptied you junk folder - email me again if you didn't get a response you were expecting.

I do love a good video podcast

Another night, another video podcast. Tonights was less rushed then most nights, so it was a much more pleasant experience. Setup is getting faster each time we do it. The audio sounds good and the two HV20's always do their thing. I kind of wish we had a third.
I also shot some b-t-s video of setting up the cameras with the Lytecap. Unfortunately I couldn't find a third tripod to set up the MiniDV on, so I don't think it came out that great. I might time-lapse it and put it up this weekend.

Other apertures for the HV20 using the Lytecap

I am discovering new things about the HV20 everyday. Mainly, setting the aperture to other settings...

As I have stated before, 2.8 is a nice setting for the aperture - I use it all the time - but after some testing, I found that 5.6-4.4 apertures also holds some charms because you can use the entire range of exposure from -11 to +11 without adding any gain. After comparing stills - side by side - I find that 2.8 for some reason looks sharper and a tiny bit brighter in comparison to the 4.8. Also comparing the Histogram shows some subtle differences as well.
Either way with a Lytecap, it is your choice and you are getting going to get some great images.

Here is the aperture setting of 4.8 with the EV cranked to +11 (0dB gain)














Here is the aperture setting of 2.8 with the EV slider to +6 (0dB gain)

On set - video podcast, hv20 and the Lytecap

Another video podcast last night in the can. As always, the Lytecap on Two HV20's came in handy to set both cameras to the same aperture and exposure.

As film-makers know, having the right 'look' is very important. A camera can make a difference, but so can lights, set design and other factors.

We choose the HV20 because we love the film look at 24p that it gives us.

Here is a shot of one of the hosts, hard a work on his show notes.

The setup is a lengthy period of time - using a laptop, a mixer, mics, lights, reflectors etc. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get things just right. The first thing we do is set the HV20's to 2.8 and lock the exposure on them (this is using one of my prototype Lytecap). After that is done, it is a matter of fine tuning the sound, framing and lights. All of which, is completely and utterly worth it.

Zooming after setting the aperture at 2.8

After hearing from a user ask what happens when you zoom the HV20 after setting the aperture at 2.8 and locking the exposure, I decided to test it.
Using my HV20, I ran a series of tests where the HV20 was
1) Zoomed in half-way
2) Zoomed in all the way

In both cases, I set the aperture and locked the exposure first at 2.8 (using the Lytecap). Once this was done, I zoomed in halfway and clicked through the exposure dial from 0 to +6. Once part 1 was complete, I zoomed in all the way and repeated.

To check, I took out my HC1 Sony HD camera and played the tape back. The HC1 shows me my aperture and my gain natively in the LCD, which is a nice feature.

I am glad to say that in both cases of 1) and 2), on the HV20, no matter where the zoom was, the gain was 0dB.

Idea for the 35mm lenses

I had a great idea on the way to work today on how to make the Lytecap work with 35mm lenses. I wanted to turn the car around and go home to try it, but alas, work is a harsh mistress...

Holiday on Monday

Living in Canada, they have given us a nice Family Day holiday for Monday. I am waiting for parts, but the holiday has the part availability pushed back a bit. I am still working on it this weekend, and hopefully it will all be within a week from time of order.

HOW - TO video now up

I have been meaning to put up a "how-to" video and finally found some time. It is up on the site:

lytecap video

I know it seem rudimentary, but I thought after hearing some comments on the forum, it would be good to showcase how it works.

Lytecap for 35mm - news

Well, research does take time. I am happy to say that I am getting closer to the elusive Lytecap for 35mm adapters. I will keep you posted of my progress.

Chalk one up for Canada Post

I sent a package to Sweden - actually my first Lytecap order - on Monday. It arrived on Thursday. Even though it was a tad bit more expensive than being shipped normally (it was shipped express international on a customers request), it was even faster then UPS or Purolator - and cheaper as well. Kudos to Canada Post.

Here is how to use the Mini-SD cards in the HV20.

First batch shipped out!

Not much of a hallmark for the rest of the world, but I shipped out the first batches of Lytecap's today so I am feeling pretty good. It is still taking about a week from payment to shipping, but hopefully with time this is get better and faster.

Mini SD bundle REDUX

The good folks at Hv20.com have assisted in letting me know that you can get a Kingston 1G MiniSD card from newegg.com for around - here is the link
If I can get the prices down, I will start bundling or if anyone still wants the SD card at $17.00, let me know.

Bundle Mini-sd cards...?

As the faithful user of the HV20/HV30 knows, a mini-SD card is needed to see the aperture (with the 1/2 press of the photo button).

So I got to thinking : to make things easier for people, what if I bundled mini-sd cards with the Lytecap?

Right now, I wouldn't charge anything more than the cost of buying the mini-sd card ( it looks like I can get them locally at $17.00 for the 1 gig Kingston version).

Thoughts and comments are welcome.

Taking Canadian dollars as well

I have decided to take Canadian dollars as well as US dollars - if the purchaser desires.
Being a Canadian, it is easy to forget that although we have our big brother to the south, there are people here in Canada that want an easy payment option. Both US and Canadians can pay either way.

It's been a long haul

I started this project back in the end of November as an idea for a way to set the aperture on the Canon HV20 high definition camcorder for my own use. After hearing about Barry Green talk about the Sweet Spot of 2.8 with no gain, I was hooked. I wanted the film-look.
After trying several methods over the months, I came up with one that worked and worked well. I started to think that others could benefit from this device and so I started working in earnest to make the Lytecap a reality.

The video for the Lytecap HV20 is up.

Lytecap.com is now up and running!

Lytecap.com website is now up and running. Please check it out at
www.lytecap.com