Dialing in the AF100

olof said:
It is even more obvious watching video instead of looking at stills. But bear in mind that computer screens exaggerate the banding, it is still there on the HDSDI monitor but it does not jump at you.
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Is this because of AVCHD artificial noise smoothing or is the codec creating banding in some way? I guess it won't matter until there is some kind of codec hack and the bit rate is boosted. If you add noise to the AVCHD footage in post does this have any effect on masking banding?

This has gotten me thinking that I may want to get my hands on a nanoflash like device for an upcoming project.
 
I think everyone just needs to decide by testing for themselves what works for them. This is just what I ended up with after extensive dialing in. I am sure I will improve the settings as I start using the cam in real projects. These are very different from what I thought I would end up with.

I am very comfortable using these settings with a NF, I think I will be able to grade the shots with this start. But as I start to grade real projects that is when the fine tuning will take place. If I find anything interesting I will update my findings here.

If you don't have external recorders I think the AF100 is still very clean and competitive with other cameras in this class. I am sure I will do a lot of shooting with the AF100 over cranked direct to the SD card, the only way to get 1080 over crank. But I will probably also shoot a bit with just the internal SD card, though if you have a NF it is really hard to not use it, pretty much any camera with native 420 will benefit a lot from the NF. Also it is great to shoot to 2 cards at the same time (the NF and the SD internal), piece of mind. I also often shoot direct into my Mac Suites HDSDI using KONA and Matrox MX02's, when in the studio, a huge timesaver and very high quality from any camera with SDI out.
 
olof said:
I also often shoot direct into my Mac Suites HDSDI using KONA and Matrox MX02's, when in the studio, a huge timesaver and very high quality from any camera with SDI out.
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We shoot direct into an MXO2 as well (in the studio), lets us move direct to edit.

Thank you so much for taking to do these tests and share you findings with us. Looking forward to doing the same.
 
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Thanks for posting the comparisons olof


Steve Kahn said:
Is this because of AVCHD artificial noise smoothing or is the codec creating banding in some way?
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It looks that way in these shots , the banding is noticably worse to me in the AVCHD than either Nano or HDSDI . Of course it's just a single frame, but it certainly suggests the AVCHD compression plays a role here

If you add noise to the AVCHD footage in post does this have any effect on masking banding?
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Yes, dithering will help . It will even help the Nano and HDSDI footage
 
Have there been any any refinements/advancements made in the low noise settings, well lit settings, and contrasty/bright settings?
 
I am doing my first real shoot with the AF100 tomorrow and I will be using my settings posted earlier with one change sat 0, not +2.

Film Cam
Detail Level -4
V Detail Level -4
Detail Coring -3
Chroma Level 0
Master Pedestal -2
Gamma HD NORM
Knee LOW
Matrix NORM2

So this is what I am using, we will be shooting an interview in a well lit (by me) very ritzy kitchen and natural light from a snowy exterior. It may even be sunny. We will use HMI's, flouros and LED's to match outside light as I deem appropriate, and some light fixtures (incandescents) in chandeliers.

We are also shooting outside in the snow scenes with black schnauzer dogs in the snow, no time for lighting, this is a pretty challenging shoot in my mind any way.

We are shooting both XDcams and the AF100 with a NanoFlash and native.

It should be very interesting, I am very comfortable with the EXcams, I have been using them for years. But I am very excited to use the AF100 as well to see how it behaves in a real situation.

I will post the results, in a few days.

I also have an F3 on order.
 
Would love to see samples.

So you're getting an F3 too. Wonder if after you have that, you'll ever pull out the AF. My guess is I wouldn't.
 
Please let us know how the settings perform in snow. I´m heading out on Monday for a week of shooting. I have no monitors to set up the camera. I did think about changing the knee to low as well as I will use mostly available light, and I´m heading north of the Polar circle. Lot of snow
 
These are my current settings:

Film Cam
Detail Level -4
V Detail Level -4
Detail Coring -3
Chroma Level -2
Master Pedestal -2
Gamma HD NORM
Knee LOW
Matrix NORM2

They work well for me:

Here is a screen grab from a lighting test setup for a shoot we did last week, the shoot went very well and the AF100 performed well matching my EXcams. I can't publish screen grabs from the actual shoot yet. This is from a NanoFlash at 422 50mb/s.
sts.jpg
 
What about HDNorm and Norm2 do you like? Is it primarily for matching that you chose them? I see so few who prefer HDNorm and Norm2. I find them to be the ones with the least noise and banding. It's a little flat in the monitor but punches up nicely in the NLE.

The eyes look nice and sharp in this. I may have to try backing down on the coring a little I think, as you have here. I like it a little soft. I think it's part of the beauty of the look of this camera. Here' what I shot with last.

Film Cam Detail Level -4
v Detail Level -2
Detail Coring +2
Chroma level -3
Master Ped 0
Gamma HDNorm
Knee Mid
Matrix Norm2
 
Hscully, i picked this setup because it matches my EXcam setups well and like you say the banding/noise is very acceptable, other Gamma settings seem to be a choice between one or the other.

Here is a view of the set for the screen grab above, this is a frame grab from a 5DmkII, pov shot 17mm lens. The middle cam is the AF100, as you can see I have a huge monitor and an EVF to help me focus, not needed for the flanking XDcams.

Screen-shot-2012-01-26-at-10.35.01-AM.jpg
 
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I may have to try a setup like that sometime. When moving the camera or moving subjects, I either get marks or rely on FA. For the marks I zoom in on my TVLogic monitor.

Did you find that you had to change the color phase at all? I haven't tried shooting together with the EX1 but have shot with them in the past and I thought they tilted a little more to magenta than the AF100.
 
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