Good Match for AF100?

[dharty]

I have job where I will be shooting 54 interview type setup between now and next April in many lighting situation. The AF100 camera is an ideal camera for the job, and I have put a deposit on one.

In the mean time, I am looking for another camera to rent that will have comparable image quality. I assume my HVX200A would not be a good match, so would it be better to go with the superior codec of the 370 but smaller 1/3" chips or 2/3" chips and DVCPro HD? I know no camera will match the AF100's depth-of-field characteristics that I can afford to rent.

The final playback will be on a large plasma/LCD/LED screen and projected.

Thanks,
Drew Harty

[Ticheli]

Red cameras can be rented very inexpensively if you shop around for owner/operators instead of rental houses.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

[Duke M.]

In the mean time, I am looking for another camera to rent that will have comparable image quality. I assume my HVX200A would not be a good match, so would it be better to go with the superior codec of the 370 but smaller 1/3" chips or 2/3" chips and DVCPro HD? I know no camera will match the AF100's depth-of-field characteristics that I can afford to rent.

Don't forget its not just the sensor. Its a triangle between the length of the lens, the sensor size and the aperture.

You can get decent DOF off of a 1/2" sensor if you back up and zoom in and open the aperture (Use ND filters if you have to). Even more so on a 2/3" sensor. Talking heads on interviews are perfect for that.

[Ticheli]

Don't forget its not just the sensor. Its a triangle between the length of the lens, the sensor size and the aperture.

You can get decent DOF off of a 1/2" sensor if you back up and zoom in and open the aperture (Use ND filters if you have to). Even more so on a 2/3" sensor. Talking heads on interviews are perfect for that.

If you're shooting in a studio with a limbo background, no problem with a small sensor; same goes for generously large locations. If you're in most real world locations, you simply don't have the real estate to move the subject far enough from the BG to match the DOF of a 35MM film sized sensor with 2/3", let alone 1/3".

If you change your composition style, you program will look disjointed.

I think Red is a good choice, but simply doing the whole job on any one camera is probably the very best option; no problems with the footage cutting together. I know you'll want to use your AF100 when it arrives, but changing cameras in the middle of a project could be less than ideal.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

[Bucknfl]

Consider a 200a, 170, or hmc 150 with a 35mm adapator.

[Fotojorno]

I have no problem dropping the BG outta focus with my EX1 (1/2" sensor) zoomed in and at f1.9. Like Ticheli said, every foot of separation of camera to subject and subject to background helps a lot.