Advice needed please

G

gbadgley

Active member
Hi,

I'm new to videography, having only been shooting with my trusty Canon xL2 for the last six months. I always thought I would move to HD, but thought I would spend some time with this camera learning the craft before making the decision to move up. So, now I would like to make the move.

I don't know how I zeroed in on the AF100, I think it must have been its ability to obtain the shallow depth of field with the single processor. And, everything else too, of course, that I have read about, shows that it is a wonderful camera. However, I'm not sure this is the camera for me.

I'm not even sure what I am going to ending up shooting, but outdoor travel landscape videos appeal to me, and a camera that has the versatility of being able to shoot not locked on a tripod, even though I am shooting mostly locked on. And, the XL2 has this incredibly powerful zoom(20x) which as I understand it, is presently a weakness with the AF100.

Anyway, I hardly see myself shooting feature films, commercials, or wedding videographies, at this time. I guess what I'm after is a HD camera that I continue to learn the craft with, at a professional level. Any cameras for me out there?

Cheers, Gary
 
gbadgley said:
... I guess what I'm after is a HD camera that I continue to learn the craft with, at a professional level. Any cameras for me out there?
Click to expand...

Sure .. there's a plethora of camera options out there for you.

But, without more specific application requirements and constraints ( like budget ), it's really
hard to narrow the field for you.

Coming from something like the XL2 to a larger sensor format with inter-changeable lenses, you've got
a learning curve ahead of you.

If you have a retailer near you that will let you demo the cameras or rent them with a discount
to purchase, that's probably the best avenue for you. They usually know the models pretty well
and can advise what they think will work .. and then you can try it out and see if it meets
your needs. The AF100 is in that mid-point where some retailers aren't so keen to demo
(like the 10k and up models). But, some do.

If it works out, you get what will work for you and some "free" education at the same
time. Just don't waste their time ( kick the tires and then buy the cheapest online .. that's
bad karma ).

best wishes...
jeff
 
HMC150 now, AC130 when it's released. They have/will have almost all of the same pro features as the AF100 sans shallow depth of field. Plus, the AC130 will have a 21x zoom on it.

And they're half the price. If you've only got 6 months of video under your belt, I would have a hard time forking out $5,000 for an AF100 plus several thousand more for lenses and other necessary accessories, when for less than $3,500, you can be up and running with the HMC150/AC130. Plus, if down the road you decide to migrate to the AF100, they share a lot of the same accessories (like batteries).
 
If you want to move very gently from SD and tape to HD with solid-state recording, I suggest the Panasonic HMC80. It has full-raster sensors and produces a great image, given enough light. It also has a fully functional SD mode that records files compatible with your existing DV editing workflow. As a shoulder-mount camera, it's a good complement to the "tripod-mostly" design of the AF100, should you ever get one in the future. The lens is 13:1 with full servo zoom control, although with 1/4" sensors, it is certainly not intended for shallow depth of field effects.

Ultimately, it depends on what you want to do and your personal style of shooting. The AF100 is at its best if you plan and contemplate all your shots, and have adequate time and crew to set up your equipment carefully and tweak camera settings whenever you shoot. The HMC80 is most at home as a handheld camera for news, events coverage and other more spontaneous types of shooting. The HMC150 (and the upcoming AC130/160) are somewhere in between. All of them can produce superb images. I like to work in both modes and find my combination of an HMC80 and AF100 works very well for me.

Remember that if you buy an AF100, you're pretty much just getting started and will need to budget for lenses, a tripod, and possibly lens adapters, a rod support system and matte box. The short-term deal that gives you a free Panasonic 14-140mm lens in the box is a great way to be able to have a satisfactory "out of the box" experience and be able to shoot something right away, but it's not a lens you will be satisfied with for all circumstances in the future, especially if you're used to the XL2. On the other hand, at current prices, you can be up and running with the HMC80 for about $2500, even including an extra battery.

- Greg
 
I miss my XL2, it produced some beautiful images. If you are trying to learn the craft, I believe the AF100 is the way to go. It may be a little more expensive to get up and running with it, and it will be a much steeper learning curve, but the interchangeable lenses and the larger sensor will allow you to experiment and learn in ways that you just can't do with the HMC's.
 
Thanks I appreciate everybodies input. My budget would be somewhere around 8K. So, I can handle the AF100 with the extra lens, matte box, rails etc, although I think I would be shooting with just the camera and a basic lens for sometime.

The cameras that have been suggested are obviously fine cameras, but I have to reject them because as I understand it, they all don't have interchangeability of lens. Also, the HMC80 is only shoulder mount, and I have been shooting locked on alot with my brand new Vision blue for sometime now, and I don't want to put this in the closet because I bought a shoulder mount only camera.

Thanks again.
 
Just to clarify -- the HMC80 has a tripod socket and works perfectly well on sticks. I probably do 75% of my shooting from a tripod, actually.

- Greg
 
If you're shooting outdoors landscapes with telephoto lenses then the depth of field ability of the AF-100 seems kind of lost to me. Also, I'm not entirely sure what your desired applications will be since when shooting landscapes one would tend to shoot wide. Anyway, you can get any kind of lens with the AF-100 including massive telephoto lenses so I'm not sure why this would be a "weak point" for the AF-100. Depends on what lenses you want to use... of course be prepared to pay more for lenses than for the camera itself.
 
Mike Harvey said:
Out of curiosity, why is this an issue?
Click to expand...

Hi Mike, as I understand it, modest camcorders with fixed lenses usually perform better than similar class camcorders with interchageable optics. This is because soft spots and chromatic aberration known to the manufacturer are mapped out and digitally corrected, yielding a level of prformance in a $3500 camcorder that simply would not be possible in a camera utilizing low-cost interchangeable optics. Geez, at least I can type what someone else has written!

But I would like to have the flexibility of mounting long, short, wide, or better grade optics as the need arises. And for me, I think it would really help with the learning of the craft than being stuck with one very good, but maybe after a while a boring lenses.
 
gbadgley said:
Hi Mike, as I understand it, modest camcorders with fixed lenses usually perform better than similar class camcorders with interchageable optics. This is because soft spots and chromatic aberration known to the manufacturer are mapped out and digitally corrected, yielding a level of prformance in a $3500 camcorder that simply would not be possible in a camera utilizing low-cost interchangeable optics. Geez, at least I can type what someone else has written!

But I would like to have the flexibility of mounting long, short, wide, or better grade optics as the need arises. And for me, I think it would really help with the learning of the craft than being stuck with one very good, but maybe after a while a boring lenses.
Click to expand...

Hi gbadgley,
This is definitely what drew me to the AF102 (Australian version). I have done some shooting with a very nice Sony that had a fixed lens, and while it shot excellent images, there were a few times that it couldn't get a decent depth of field. Whilst that doesn't make or break a video camera, the option is appealing, and most things being equal, can tip the balance. Even with outdoor nature shooting, there are a lot of times where the ability to produce nice bokeh can highlight an image.

The zoom "weakness" you might be referring to on the AF102 is more to do with getting correct focus than actual "zoom" lenses.
 
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