B-cams...

811productions

811productions

Well-known member
What are people planning on using for b-cams for the 100? I have 2 gh-1(3)'s yet and I'm hoping that these may match up ok with the af-100. I know its just speculation at this point since no one has seen any footage yet, but they have to be pretty close right? Or do I need to buy 2 af-100's right away?
 
I think that DSLRs can be B-cams as those gives a similar (not same) DOF, codec and resolution. Even someDSLRs (M4/3 and 4/3) can share lenses with the AF100.

I Have a HVX200 wich I going to preserve for FX (green screen and so) and, maybe, as a B-Cam.
 
I have a GH2 for B-cam use. Tested some stuff yesterday and they'll cut together with no issues. I think the GH2 needs to be exposed about a stop more open than the AF100 though.
 
I bought 2 af100's, and I have a range of other cams that I can use for other jobs - or if I need to throw in a 3rd cam.
 
Brian@202020 said:
What settings did you use to match them up?
Click to expand...

We tested with three different settings on the AF100:

1.
Gamma = B.Press
Detail = -4
V. Detail = -4
Coring = +2
Matrix = Norm2

2.
Gamma = Cine-D
Detail = -4
V. Detail = -4
Coring = +2
Matrix = Norm2

3.
Gamma = Cine-D
Detail = -7
V. Detail = -7
Coring = +4
Matrix = Norm2

All other settings were defaults or 0. 1 was used for normal shooting under ideal lighting conditions. 1, 2, and 3 were used for some extreme lowlight testing. 2 and 3 are a little brighter in the shadows.

With the GH2 we primarily used the Cinema film mode with Contrast, Saturation, and Sharpness at -2. We also tried Standard and Smooth and those were a little bit brighter than Cinema, but Cinema appears to have an image more like the AF100 at the settings we used and if you expose about a stop more open than the AF100 it should be easy to get a match in post. That's the important part. I don't think they'll match perfectly right out of the camera. You'll need to color correct them to get them to match. The AF100 will still be better, but the GH2 will work when needed.

Other tests we did were extreme camera movement, with quick pans, rapid subject movement, and running with the cameras down a long hallway. The GH2 held up well (better than the 7D), but the AF100 was markedly better and comparable to the Red One MX as far as jello and skew goes (though the Red is still slightly better).

It's been recommended to use 1/60 shutter on the AF100. What we noticed is that the motion blur isn't right and there seemed to be more strobing when not panning at the perfect speed. Going to 180 degree shutter solved that. We didn't notice any bars moving up or down the image from the lights, which were all fluorescent lights not meant for filming. We didn't look extensively for that and it wasn't anything easily noticeable, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. I need to do more testing with that because I prefer 180 degree shutter. It gives you a little more light in the exposure too.
 
The way to test for the bars is to pop the shutter over to like 1/500th or so. If there's gonna be bars, they'll show up clear as day on 1/500th. And if they show up at 1/500th, they'll show up at EVERY shutter speed, other than 1/60, 1/40, 1/30 and 1/24. So if you see bars at 1/500, don't use 1/48th!
 
Trying to decide on a B Cam for my Af100. Mostly just for a 2nd angle in interviews and I need it to be cheaper. Right now it's between the Canon 7D and the Panasonic GH2. Starting to favor the GH2 since lenses can go back and forth easily and it seems sharper. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
GraphicPlanet said:
Trying to decide on a B Cam for my Af100. Mostly just for a 2nd angle in interviews and I need it to be cheaper. Right now it's between the Canon 7D and the Panasonic GH2. Starting to favor the GH2 since lenses can go back and forth easily and it seems sharper. Anyone have any thoughts?
Click to expand...

GH2 seems to be a no-brainer by your own evaluation.
 
Get the GH2. Most definitely.

And yes, you can shoot for the entire duration of the card on a GH2, whereas the 7D is limited to 12 minutes at a time.
 
Barry, with an AF100 and a Gh2, which one would you use for the wide and which for the Close Up?
Click to expand...
On a paid job? I'd use the AF100 every possible time, and the GH2 only when necessary.

But, what you're asking is understood, like in a wedding it's common practice to have a wide-angle locked-off camera somewhere on a tripod, and an operated camera for close-ups... in that case, I'd prefer to use the GH2 locked off and be operating the AF100 for the close shots.

Unless -- and this is a big unless -- you're taking a feed from the board at a live event, and you have to be stealthy during the event. Then I might reverse 'em, put the AF100 on the sticks with the XLR feed going in, and go stealthy/handheld with the GH2. The AF100 would have a couple of advantages in that scenario, being the ability to roll continuous audio through its XLR's from the live feed, and also that you could leave it on AC power and not have to worry about it (the GH2 doesn't include an AC adapter, you'd have to buy one separately). With two card slots you could record six continuous hours on the AF100 using 32GB SD cards, or 12 continuous hours using SDXC cards.

But the AF100 is an operator's camera and I just really prefer shooting with it, over using the GH2. Love the GH2 for what it is, but it's no AF100. Obviously to me the ideal two-camera situation for covering a live pro event would be to have two AF100's -- that way you've got both scenarios covered, and you also have guaranteed matching footage. (leaving aside the notion that I don't think the AF100 is an ideal event camera in the first place!) But if you can't afford multiple AF100's, and you're looking for a low-cost camera to pair with it, by all means I think the GH2 is best.


The GH2 is just the ideal add-on camera for the AF100, especially because it can share lenses, and it also shares the recording media (with a 7D you'd have to have both CF and SD media). Heck, the GH2 is cheap enough that you could almost have two of them for the cost of a 7D, and small enough that you could almost fit two of them in your bag as compared to a 7D. And definitely smaller, if you have to bring Canon lenses along in addition.

GH2 nicely compliments the AF100 because it does two things the AF100 doesn't do -- it takes stills, and it has the ETC mode so it can get hyper-telephoto shots even from reasonably normal focal length lenses. The AF100 does about a million things the GH2 doesn't do, but the GH2 does those two rather important things that the AF100 doesn't, so they go really well together. A GH2 with the 20mm pancake is a really potent little imagemaking device, that can almost fit in your pocket (and if you're wearing a photography vest, it certainly could fit in your pocket!) But you can't monitor audio, it doesn't have ND filters, it doesn't have any audio inputs, it's missing some basic and fundamental features that a video operator would want and need.
 
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Thanks, Barry! Basically, it's for my web video show, the Dog Files. When I do interviews I would love a second shot to cut to since regular folks can somethings give horrible interviews and I'd be able to cut around the bad stuff easier with two angles on the interview. You can see my episodes here at http://www.thedogfiles.com/category/episodes/ Everything was shot with my HVX200. Thanks again for the help and I can't wait to shot some episodes with my AF100!
 
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