Guy Mcloughlin
Forum Replies Created
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The AF-100 has a noise floor of -63 dB, which is typical for most prosumer cameras in it’s price range. This means that you really don’t have much room to correct audio errors that took place while shooting.
External digital audio recorders have noise floors from -60 dB to -120 dB, but as with anything, you get what you pay for.
The low end Sony audio recorders PCM-M10 ( about $230 ) and PCM-D50 ( about $450 ) have noise floors in the -80 dB or better range, which gives you almost 20 dB more range to work with than a typical prosumer camera.
Beyond this, you quickly move in to the Sound Devices price range to reach noise floors of -100 dB or better.
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>>>Does the GH2 that sells in the USA records at 25/50 too, or only at NTSC time bases?
As far as I know the GH-2 cameras sold in America only support NTSC time bases.
There is a new firmware coming from Panasonic that is supposed to enable 1080 HD 25p embedded in a 50i stream, but I don’t know if this only for Europe or for everybody. I also wonder how this new firmware will effect the GH-2 Hack. ( hopefully it won’t make any difference )
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Yes, I’ve used the AF-100 with my FigRig and was very happy with my shots, but you really need a second person to pull-focus and make adjustments when shooting, which is very awkward.
The Video Monopod I mentioned also works really well, and gives you one free hand to operate the camera. Here’s a quick video that demos a few ways to use this monopod:
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The AF-100 is no different than any other large sensor camera, in that you will have to stabilize the camera body in order to shoot smooth shots. Here’s what I use for this job:
Manfroto 561BHDV-1 Video Monopod
Manfrotto 595B Fig Rig Camera Stabilizer
The Manfroto video monopod is very handy. It’s small and produces very smooth movements.
The Manfroto FigRig also works well, though you it’s difficult to hold and operate camera controls at the same time. Remote Focus/Iris control helps to solve this problem. The FigRig is completely made out of aluminum, which makes it much lighter than you would think.
Lastly is the Zacuto should mount. This is the best shoulder mount that I’ve ever used, and one of the few that will properly balance a complete camera rig on your shoulder. I am slowly buying all the pieces to complete this rig, as it’s pretty expensive to buy it all in one go.
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Unfortunately the HDMI Out from the GH-2 is messed up, so it’s not usable for recording.
The best you can do is to shoot with the 176 Mbit hack, which will produce footage only containing I frames.
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Have you tried contacting Jan Crittenden Livingston about this?
Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, AVCCAM, AG-3DA1, AG-AF100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV SystemsShe posts in this forum. Just search on her name.
– Guy
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The 4/3 format and later the Micro 4/3 format was originally created by Olympus and Kodak almost 10 years ago.
The 35mm Still Photo format has been around since the first Leica cameras, but people need to realize that the 35mm Still Photo format is very different than the 35mm Motion Picture formats.
There aren’t many great Micro 4/3 lenses around, but the are slowly trickling in with very big deal lenses coming next year. ( the 12-35mm Panasonic Fast Zoom is the one I am watching )
Nikon AI-S manual lenses are the ones I would recommend for AF-100 / GH-2 video production, as they are cheap, have manual apertures, and smooth focusing.
The Nikon 17-55mm AF Zoom is currently one of the best lenses for the AF-100, but it requires a special Nikon G mount adapter in order to control the aperture.
And for wide angles lenses, you have to go Micro 4/3 because regular 35mm still photo lenses don’t have very short focal lengths. ( the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 and the Panasonic 7-14mm f/4.0 zoom are two top choices )
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>>>Actually, the Brevis 35mm adaptor only loses about a 1/2 stop with the flip module
Sounds like DOF adapters have improved a lot. 1/2 a stop is hardly noticeable.
…But if the ground glass image is still Full Frame 35mm Photo format ( which is the reason why you would use a DOF adapter ), then you still have to stop down 2 additional F-stops to equal the DOF of the Micro 4/3 format. ( so you have the same 4,000 watts of light versus 16,000 watts of light issue that Full Frame 35mm photo cameras like the Canon 5DMk2 face )
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>>>The widest Nikon I have is 28mm so I would have to purchase a micro 4/3″ wide lens to be covered.
A Nikon 28mm on the AF100 will produce a FOV that is very similar to a 55mm lens on a Full Frame Still Photo camera, so this focal length is more of a “normal” lens for the AF100 camera. If you want something wide, then you would be looking for a lens in the range of 17mm – 7mm. ( Olympus and Panasonic have a few lenses in this range )
>>>Maybe I’ll just purchase the new AG-HPX250 10 bit P2 camera and use my brevis 35mm adaptor for the shallow DOF stuff.
It looks like a great camera, but DOF adapters are a huge step backwards from a technology / production perspective. The are very “slow” exposure wise ( you lose 1-2 stops right off the bat ), you have be be very careful about back-focus issues ( or your image is not sharp ), they weigh more than your camera package does ( very clunky to work with ), and you have to keep them juiced up with power to use them. ( more batteries to take care of )
>>>I wish Panasonic would create a 10 bit, 35mm large sensor camera that records to P2.
I expect to see a 10-bit 4:2:2 version of the AF-100 next year, but you will never see Panasonic produce a camera with the 35mm Still Photo Format, as it’s not a good format for video. 35mm FF is too large, which means it’s too shallow DOF, which means you have to stop down 2 extra stops to achieve the same DOF as a Micro 4/3 camera. Not a problem outdoors during the day, but it’s a big issue when shooting indoors. With a Micro 4/3 camera you might light a set with a total of 4,000 watts of light, with a 35mm FF camera you would need 16,000 watts of light to achieve the same DOF.
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>>>Yeah I mean it’s a crop. Sure you don’t get the same FOV as you would on the same lens with a full frame sensor or 35mm film.
…But then every format is either a crop or enlargement compared to a different format. The 35mm Full Frame Still Photo format is a huge crop when compared to a 4×5 inch large format camera.
People coming from still photo background tend to get brainwashed on the 35mm Full Frame Still Photo format being the norm, when it is nothing like the norm for video or motion picture formats.
We have to start thinking in terms of FOV ( field of view ) where it doesn’t matter what lens or format you shoot with, it’s the FOV and DOF ( depth of field ) that create much of the “look” that we are after.