Any AF100 shooters using a GH1/2 (or GF1/2) as B cam?

M

mikebarber

Active member
I was wondering if anyone has been using either of the GH or GF M4T cams as a B cam. If so, what is your setup to he the them to match? Do they match easily, or do they require a lot of fuss?
 
They don't match at all, there's really no similarity between the two cameras. I developed a sort-of-vaguely-close profile to get them to somewhat match.

GH2: CINEMA mode, contrast 0, sharpness 0, saturation 0, noise reduction 0.
AF100: DTL -4, V-DTL -1, Coring -4, chroma level +2, chroma phase -3, color temps 0, master ped -5, DRS OFF, Gamma Cine-D, Matrix FLUO.

Again, not an exact match. Maybe someone else will come up with a better match, but this is at least a point to start from.
 
That's a shame. I was pondering picking one up to use as a B cam for documentary interviews, but sounds like it won't work out well.
 
I just used a GH-13 alongside an AF-100 on a series of shorts as a second cam, and a few weeks ago used the same combo on an industrial training video. On the series of shorts, I shot a couple of crane shots with the GH-13, but after getting a card error, I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. The raw footage isn't close (but then, I wasn't using Barry's settings, which I should have), but it doesn't look too far off that we won't be able to get them to match up. (The industrial training footage matched up easily.) - Tim

P.S. Using the AF-100 on the same shoot with a GH-13 reminds me why I've come to loath DSLRs for anything serious. Sometimes, I have no other option, but I grab the GH-13 reluctantly.
 
We have been using a GH1 as a B cam for corporate and doc shoots with an AF100 and I've been able to match them pretty well. Some shots take some more color correcting than others, but for a CU 2nd camera cutaway I don't think the difference is obvious at all. It's great to be able to have a 2nd camera in such a small package. If you look at some of the work I've posted in the footage forum you can see plenty of examples.
 
We use a GH2 as a B-cam for the AF-100 and it's a pretty decent combo. Having the same sensor also helps with sharing lenses without changing crop factors etc... Of course, the film doesn;t perfectly match but I have been more than happy with the results. Plus the GH2 is good for sneaking into places that the Af-100 just can't go.
 
I'll look for the footage. I was contemplating setting up a GH1/2 with my Canon 28mm f2.8 as a wide B cam for doc interviews for coverage and alternates while using my Canon 35-105mm f3.5 on my AF100 as the A cam. I like to shoot with a fairly flat profile to give latitude for grading. Do you find it easy to get a flat film-like look for the GH1 (like the filmic look in Barry Green's book)?
 
Kindredmachine said:
Having the same sensor also helps with sharing lenses without changing crop factors etc...
Click to expand...
It doesn't have the same sensor. It has the same lens mount. That lets you share lenses, which is a huge bonus, but they do have different fields of view. Not massively different, but slightly different.

I think the GH2 is an ideal companion to the AF100; it does things the AF100 doesn't (such as ETC mode) and it's tiny and takes up no space in the kit. I wish it was easier to match the footage, but with the settings I listed above it's reasonably close and I think that the GH2 is a pretty much mandatory accessory for an AF100.
 
I imagine a (hacked?) GH1 would also be able to use these settings? I'm not too familiar with the GH or GF series cameras. Did you ever try to match your GH2 to your "Filmic" profile? Do you think a reasonably close match could be made to that?
 
It is unnecessarily difficult to match a GH2 to anything, because its monitor output lies - it displays colors incorrectly. So you can't do traditional live switching, you have to record the footage and then pull it into a computer or play it on another camera to see what it actually looks like. So it's a very tedious process, and I only suffered through it long enough to come up with the settings that I did, which I'm not particularly happy with but it's not terribly off.

You can't reasonably match a GH2 to an AF100's specific scene file setting, the AF100 is a far advanced camera with many more image control settings and the GH2 couldn't possibly chase all those down. It's more reasonable to pick a GH2 setting, and then modify the AF100 to try to match the GH2.
 
barry, if it's not too much trouble i would really like to see a comparison of footage using your profile settings. finding the settings that most closely match would be a great benefit.
 
Something I can't get to for at least a week; maybe someone else out there with both cameras can shoot something? Or I'll try to get to it next week.
 
See post #2.

Also, be sure to manually white balance both cameras to the same white card under the same lighting.

Thanks for shooting something for ugafan!
 
If you have a AF100, its a great idea to grab a GH1 with the 14-140mm m4/3 kit lens. You can use the lens with the native af100 mount (with autofocus, iris etc), and although its a bit slow (f4-5.6) it gives you great range for documentary work. Here in the UK, that lens costs about £600 on its own, so if you buy the GH1 for £800 (usual price) your basically getting the GH1 body for £200, which isnt bad at all for a B camera!
 
marlontorres said:
I'll do it if someone posts the settings.
Click to expand...

So, did someone shoot the footage as promised? Did anyone get settings that possibly improve on Barry's?
By the way, back in March, I experimented and shot an entire webisode with just the voigtlander 25mm just to see
how it would turn out. Just to prove that one doesn't need a bag full of lens. We moved our feet not the wallet.

I have nikons 50 f1.8 and 85mm f1.4 that I'll be using in subsequent episodes, however, and I learned why people
use a follow focus. Focusing by hand was so hard!

Very first thing I shot with the AF.
Will be re-shooting it.

Cine Like V
Grading: desaturate and film look on all shots except the penultimate shot.

Webisode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA5ZqNbt5eY
 
Did anyone get any new settings for the AF100 matching the GH2? If not, I'll ride with Barry's settings.
 
I shoot 1080p25 with the AF100 (live in PAL-land). What setting would you recommend for the GH2? It does not offer 25p - and even the hack will not offer 25p as far as I know.
24p is not an option for me because the workflow is too timeconsuming and sound tends to get out of sync when you try to convert to 25p.
 
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I have a buddy in London who has both the AF100 and the GH2, he's in PAL land. You might want to ask Barry. I'm interested because I'm here now but heading to London in January. I thought the GH2 was a world camera!
 
Also in PAL land and the lack of 25p on the GH2 was a concern for me,
apparently there's a firmware update coming later this month which may fix this,
if not the GH1 shoots 25p
 
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