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.