Going into a AF100 production this weekend blind.

[Brian@202020]

I have a low budget/no budget short this weekend and I decided to shoot the AF100. It was originally going to be shot with the RED MX but I switched it at the last minute. The RED MX is a PL mount and I had only the RED 18-50 T3 zoom. The lack of lens choices on this film didn't sit well with me and there is no money in the budget to rent primes. Also the film is such a low budget I know the director will have issues with the RED footage in post. Now on the other hand I have an arsenal of Nikon primes with a Nikon to micro 4/3 adapter that I used with my GH1(3). My AF100 won't be in until next week, but a few friends of mine received theirs already and I worked out a deal for the use of one of them. I haven't played with it yet and am trying to brush up on the manual. Am I crazy for switching a shoot from a RED MX to a AF100 mainly because I'd have more lens choices? I guess we'll see. I'll let you all know how it goes and I'll post footage when I have it. Wish me luck.

 

[Stephen Mick]

Wish me luck.

Okay, then. Good luck, Brian!

 

[Matt Gottshalk]

Lens choices alone would be enough to make me switch, but then again I am a lens whore.

Make sure that you have the camera for at LEAST a full day before the shoot so that you can get the settings, menus, controls figured out.

 

[Jim Brennan]

Good Luck :thumbsup:

 

[nyvz]

Why not just put a Nikon F mount on the RED?

I'd be surprised if it wasnt possible to do post on R3Ds very easily without it costing any more than AVCCAM. I dont have a ton of experience running R3Ds through the whole post process, but I know I can edit and grade R3Ds natively realtime on a cheap laptop in CS5 just like with h.264 based codecs. It's just that final export that might take two nights instead of one depending on your system.

I imagine the RED will definitely require more support, but it also might save you time lighting especially since its an M-X, not to mention possibly looking quite a bit better than the AF100 in a lot of situations.

 

[Mike@AF]

The Red should not cost that much more for post than the AF100. You'd probably need more hard drive storage space and if you're paying someone to do post for you it takes more time. Other than that, with FCP, Premiere Pro CS5, and Avid MC you can actually do a full Red post workflow on your own. I don't know about PP CS5 or Avid, but with FCP you can even finish in 4K if you wanted. Again, just more time and more hard drive space.

 

[Rick Burnett]

Good luck! Having had my camera since Monday I'd feel confident already taking it instead of the 7D for day shots. Still working on my night shots.

 

[Brian@202020]

Okay, then. Good luck, Brian!

Good Luck :thumbsup:

Thanks!

but then again I am a lens whore.

Me too

Make sure that you have the camera for at LEAST a full day before the shoot so that you can get the settings, menus, controls figured out.

I'm getting it tomorrow morning and I don't shoot until late Friday so I should be good.

Why not just put a Nikon F mount on the RED?

Because I don't own one and no one I know in town has one.

I'd be surprised if it wasnt possible to do post on R3Ds very easily without it costing any more than AVCCAM. I dont have a ton of experience running R3Ds through the whole post process, but I know I can edit and grade R3Ds natively realtime on a cheap laptop in CS5 just like with h.264 based codecs. It's just that final export that might take two nights instead of one depending on your system.

The director is a first time director and she barely knows how to turn on a computer and I'm not part of the post. Plus I edit FCP 6 and in 09 I did a short I transcoded to prores and it took 13 days to transcode the footage. This year I shot a music video and did the same thing and it took 5 days to transcode the footage.

I imagine the RED will definitely require more support, but it also might save you time lighting especially since its an M-X, not to mention possibly looking quite a bit better than the AF100 in a lot of situations.

It will take more support which the production can't afford. As for lighting it would be roughly the same since my Nikons are faster than the RED lens. I agree the footage will look better and have more latitude but the lack of lens choices might make it suffer a bit.

 

[mkfotos.com]

Good luck. I'm sure there will be many 'virgin' shoots happening this and upcoming few weekends

 

[Brian@202020]

The Red should not cost that much more for post than the AF100. You'd probably need more hard drive storage space and if you're paying someone to do post for you it takes more time. Other than that, with FCP, Premiere Pro CS5, and Avid MC you can actually do a full Red post workflow on your own. I don't know about PP CS5 or Avid, but with FCP you can even finish in 4K if you wanted. Again, just more time and more hard drive space.

I 'm not part of post, and if I was I don't have any of those NLE's you are talking about. I have FCP 6 not FCP 7.

Good luck! Having had my camera since Monday I'd feel confident already taking it instead of the 7D for day shots. Still working on my night shots.

Good luck. I'm sure there will be many 'virgin' shoots happening this and upcoming few weekends

Thanks guys!

 

[Thomas Church]

I would never trade a RED MX for an AF100. Big mistake, imo.

Personally, I would make do with the 18-50, it's totally possible.

You can pretty much make the film look anything you want with RAW.

 

[Brian@202020]

I would never trade a RED MX for an AF100.

Personally, I would make do with the 18-50, it's totally possible.

You can pretty much make the film look anything you want with RAW.

I'd like to hang out around the 75mm to 100mm range for close ups with the RED on this project. I'd have to go 3k or 2k to do that with that lens plus at a T3 the sweet spot on the lens is around a 5.6/8 split which just doesn't give me the DoF I'm looking for on this project especially in 3k and 2k. Can't change the DoF or the lens sweet spot with RAW.

 

[Mike@AF]

Because I don't own one and no one I know in town has one.

The director is a first time director and she barely knows how to turn on a computer and I'm not part of the post. Plus I edit FCP 6 and in 09 I did a short I transcoded to prores and it took 13 days to transcode the footage. This year I shot a music video and did the same thing and it took 5 days to transcode the footage.

It will take more support which the production can't afford. As for lighting it would be roughly the same since my Nikons are faster than the RED lens. I agree the footage will look better and have more latitude but the lack of lens choices might make it suffer a bit.

I 'm not part of post, and if I was I don't have any of those NLE's you are talking about. I have FCP 6 not FCP 7.

I'd like to hang out around the 75mm to 100mm range for close ups with the RED on this project. I'd have to go 3k or 2k to do that with that lens plus at a T3 the sweet spot on the lens is around a 5.6/8 split which just doesn't give me the DoF I'm looking for on this project especially in 3k and 2k. Can't change the DoF or the lens sweet spot with RAW.

Well, you asked if we thought you were crazy for choosing to go with the AF100 over Red MX due to lens choices, but it looks like you were already dead set on your choice so I don't understand what you were really asking.

 

[Brian@202020]

Well, you asked if we thought you were crazy for choosing to go with the AF100 over Red MX due to lens choices, but it looks like you were already dead set on your choice so I don't understand what you were really asking.

Well yeah it wasn't an easy decision that's for sure, but in the end I need to do what's best for the client and the project. I wish shooting the RED for every project was the right choice, but for once it doesn't seem to be. The only thing I wish I had with the AF100 is a Nanoflash. Going from The RED codec to AVCCAM was the hardest decision I had to make here, but everything else just seemed to make sense. I'm just seeing if you guys come up with anything I didn't think about in my decision that's all.

 

[Ticheli]

The real horror lurks in your going into production with a camera you don't know well. The AF100 can make pretty pictures, but it's actually much more complicated than the Red because you're baking in the look in the AF100. With the AF100 you're pretty well stuck with whatever you set; with the Red, it's all RAW and your post options are considerable.

Also, the Red is much more forgiving in exposure; open up a tiny bit to much with the AF100 and it's like driving over a cliff; bang! Exploding highlights.

Is it possible to get the AF100 and it's more knowledgeable owner instead of just the dry camera?

I think I'd probably go with lens choice over camera quality, but only if I knew the tools well.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

 

[Brian@202020]

The real horror lurks in your going into production with a camera you don't know well. The AF100 can make pretty pictures, but it's actually much more complicated than the Red because you're baking in the look in the AF100. With the AF100 you're pretty well stuck with whatever you set; with the Red, it's all RAW and your post options are considerable.

Also, the Red is much more forgiving in exposure; open up a tiny bit to much with the AF100 and it's like driving over a cliff; bang! Exploding highlights.

Is it possible to get the AF100 and it's more knowledgeable owner instead of just the dry camera?

I think I'd probably go with lens choice over camera quality, but only if I knew the tools well.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

This is exactly the feedback I was looking for. You are right about everything you said. I'm rethinking my decision and also in the process of trying to make a deal on some RED prime lenses to use. If that goes thru I think I'm going back to the RED.

 

[heavyG]

This is exactly the feedback I was looking for. You are right about everything you said. I'm rethinking my decision and also in the process of trying to make a deal on some RED prime lenses to use. If that goes thru I think I'm going back to the RED.

I'd say that's probably the smartest choice - better to have the director yelling at you because you over deliver and it takes them longer in post, than have them yelling because you made a mistake on a camera you don't yet have a tonne of exp with.

 

[Ticheli]

I mean to mention the post "issue;" I don't know why this is still hanging on, but there is NO problem with Red footage in post. It does take longer to log and transfer into Final Cut because the files are quite large, but it's exactly the same workflow as with the AF100. Download into the system, Log & Transfer, edit. Done.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

 

[Homunculus]

yes you're crazy. the AF100 is no where near Red MX level. Red MX is a true professional camera that has been used on tens of millions if not hundred million dollar hollywood productions. the Af100 is basically a DSLR in a camera body in terms of its image quality

 

[Brian@202020]

I mean to mention the post "issue;" I don't know why this is still hanging on, but there is NO problem with Red footage in post. It does take longer to log and transfer into Final Cut because the files are quite large, but it's exactly the same workflow as with the AF100. Download into the system, Log & Transfer, edit. Done.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo

Yes and no. It is very similar yes, but am willing to deliver ProRes files converted from the AVCCAM footage since it doesn't take that long. I however am not willing to deliver transcoded RED footage. I don't have the time allocated to do this on my machine for no extra money. I have things to do, and other shoots to worry about. The director does not own a computer so she would have to not only pay someone to edit but to transcode the footage as well if we went RED. She has very little money, so if I give her RAW files, it'll sit on a shelf for a year until she has the money to finish it. If it was my project it would be a different story, I would make the time.

Now all that said I agree with you HeavyG. It is better to have a director yell at me for that, but the correct lenses mean a lot. That is a huge part of the equation for me.

I'd say that's probably the smartest choice - better to have the director yelling at you because you over deliver and it takes them longer in post, than have them yelling because you made a mistake on a camera you don't yet have a tonne of exp with.