Digital Video - April 2008 - (Page 19) modes, the viewfinder or screen indicates “S&Q” motion (meaning “slow and quick;” the words “undercranking” and “overcranking” were too long to fit in the menu structure) along with the chosen frame rate. For example, doing tests in Manhattan, I shot some footage in Times Square at 1 fps in a 720p24 mode. The display would indicate “1/24 fps.” The display is made even more useful, though, by what Sony calls Direct Menu mode. In this, it’s possible to change settings by pointing to items in the display rather than having to enter the menu mode. This is a tremendous time-saver but can also cause a few frustrations, as I will recount. Direct Menu can be toggled off, partial or full. In partial mode, not all of the settings may be changed, including white balance PRST/A/B channels, gain or shutter modes. In full mode, all of those parameters can be adjusted. Using either the thumbwheel on the back left of the camera (familiar to anyone who has shot smaller Sony cameras) or the joystick on the very top of the camera, simply navigate to the parameter you wish to change, press the control to select and then thumbwheel or joystick up/down to change the setting. Here’s my frustration: This is a very complex camera with a wide range of settings. Read the manual. Better yet, buy a thirdparty EX1 training product such as the excellent DVD offered by Call Box (see page 14). In full Direct Menu mode, attempting to change the white balance, gain or shutter on/off produces a “cannot proceed” error message. Seeing this, I initially panicked, convinced that the camera was broken. Now understanding the logic of the EX1, however, I see that this result makes ample sense. For example, selecting the white balance parameter in the viewfinder allows two options — ATW or manual. If I wished to set white balance manually, there would be no need to use the preset, A or B switches. Just select manual, hold up a white card and push the white balance button on the front of the camera beneath the lens — just where you would expect to find it on a professional camera. www.dv.com The top of my list, though, on user features are focus and aperture controls. For runand-gun shooting, the camera can be operated in full-auto mode with a button on the left side, illuminated by a green LED to indicate it is engaged. It is possible to override focus, aperture or both. Focusing manually is a dream. The focus ring has two positions. Pushed forward toward the front of the camera, it is in either autofocus mode or continuous manual focus, just like with any small camera. But pulled toward the camera in what is called full MF mode, this camera finally gives us a manual focus with distance indicators for professional-grade follow focus. There is also a macro switch to enable macro focusing. The EX1’s aperture control breaks new ground in small cameras. Finally, we have a true aperture ring on the lens with f-stops indicated on the ring and also displayed in the viewfinder. In auto mode, the ring turns automatically, as one would expect. The zoom servo can be disengaged, and the lens has a large knob for easy manual zooming. The rear of the camera includes selections for internal/external microphones and auto or manual gain. AGC can be selected from the menu system. Also on the rear is a button to bring up the Picture Profile selections. The true flexibility of the EX1 becomes most apparent with the choices available in these various Picture Profiles (or scene files, whatever term works best for you). Most significant here are menu adjustments for color matrix, color correction, white, detail, skin-tone detail, knee levels, gamma, black levels, black gamma, low-key saturation and an option to copy another setting. The camera offers four standard gamma curves and four cine-style gamma curves. The camera defaults to Std 3. I found myself shooting the Cine3 gamma, which emphasizes the contrast between light and dark areas while not giving undue emphasis to contrast in whiter areas or deeper emphasis to the darker areas. It is here, however, that I find the most significant limitation of the camera. While I try to avoid comparisons to the Panasonic Viewfinder DOF and histogram displays. dv april 2008 19 http://www.dv.com
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