Guy Mcloughlin
Forum Replies Created
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If you are concerned about the AF-100 viewfinder, then I would consider buying the Cineroid EVF to add on to your AF-100 camera. It’s about $800 to buy.
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Given your list of requirements, I agree that the HMC-150 is about it. Not many CCD cameras on the market right now.
BTW, I’ve owned a HMC-150 for almost 2 years now and I absolutely love it. Great camera. The built-in mic is horrible, so you might want to add an AT875 short shotgun ( $200 ) as a good on-camera mic for ENG style shooting.
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Drawbacks to using a professional DOF Adapter:
1) 1-2 F-Stops of light lost to DOF adapter
2) Total weight 3-5 times heavier than using AF-100 with equivalent lens
3) Total length of the camera package 2-3 times longer than AF-100 equivalent
4) You must be very careful to always check back-focus when setting up DOF adapter or risk soft or out-of-focus shots
…Personally I would never want to use a DOF adapter, as there are just too many disadvantages to it.
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Yes, the AF-100 outputs 8-bit 4:2:2 via both the HDMI and SDI outputs.
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If you are working on a Mac and own Final Cut Pro you can convert to one of the Apple ProRes CODECs.
I use is the Cineform NEO SCENE software to transcode video to the Cineform 10-bit CODEC. NEO SCENE is available for both Mac and Windows, and video files stored in the Cineform 10-bit CODEC format can be edited on BOTH Mac and Windows editors. The cheapest place to buy Cineform NEO SCENE is from the https://www.videoguys.com website, which sells both the Mac and Windows version for about $100 US.
You can also go to the Cineform website and download a free trial, so you can test out the software before you buy it.
Since I edit with Sony Vegas Pro 9 / 10, I have no problem working with AVCHD files, as Vegas opens up the native AVCHD video files within a 32-bit color-space which allows me to edit them, and then save the finished work in the Cineform 10-bit CODEC format.
On the Mac side of things, Adobe Premiere CS5 also has no problems working with native AVCHD video files, so you can by-pass the whole transcode step if you work with Premiere CS5.
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I haven’t evaluated the CODEC used by the SD600 or SD700 cameras, but I know that many people have had bad experiences with consumer cameras where the AVCHD CODEC is not properly implemented.
The Panasonic AVCCAM cameras have the best AVCHD encoding hardware of any consumer/prosumer camera. The AVCHD video from these cameras is almost identical to higher bit-rate I-frame based CODECs. The image quality is outstanding.
The thing to keep in mind is that AVCHD is a long-GOP CODEC, so it’s designed for image acquisition and not for editing. Some NLEs have no problem with it, but many do, so depending on your NLE you may have to transcode to an I-frame based CODEC to properly edit your AVCHD footage.
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[Steve Martin] “Everything looked great in both the eye piece and LCD as well down converted to a Sony 8″ NTSC field monitor.
However, when we imported the footage into FCP (trans coded to ProRes HQ) everything looked hot – no detail in the sky and the talent was blown out on the green screen shot.”
It sounds like it’s your FCP post process that is the problem, especially if the you can play the clip from the camera and it looks fine using an external monitor.
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I would either rent or buy a Sound Devices mixer like the 302 or MixPre. This along with a good pair of headphones for your boom-op, like the industry standard Sony 7506 ( they are under a $100 ) would go a long way to recording decent audio.
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…For those of us that have to live with a much more restricted lens budget, DvxUser Scott Nelson had a very interesting post about shooting wtih the Olympus 12-60mm f/2.8-4 ED SWD Zuiko Zoom Lens with his AF-100.
Check out the picture link first to get an idea of his set-up…
Picture of Scott Nelson’s Olympus 12-60mm / AF-100 set-up
Start of Scott Nelson’s 12-60mm Olympus posts
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If I was going to invest $9K in a couple of RED zooms, I would try and rent them before committing to a purchase. The comment I keep hearing is that these inexpensive RED zooms are mechanically not well made, but optically are fine.
On the DvxUser webiste, one of the AF-100 users invested in an ARRI Alura 18-80mm T2.6 zoom which he is very happy with. I think it’s a $20K zoom: ARRI Alura Zooms