Hyperdeck Shuttle 2 & AF-100, how do you rig yours?

[SightfulProd]

Hi,

Our graduating studio and short film shoots are coming up and I want to make them the best they can be. I have been using the AF-100 for about a year now and every time a low-light scene creeps into the story, I notice the nasty noise. It's not just ugly, but makes the surrounding colours muddy. I am looking to purchase the Hyperdeck Shuttle 2 and would like to hear people's feedback as to their experience using either of the compressed codecs. A lot of the time we tend to shoot night-time stuff to be able to play with lights and shadow or in interiors. How have people used the increased data-rate & 10-bit to propel their film/video projects in a way that 8-bit, ACVHD data rates could not provide?

Additionally what ways do you rig your Shuttle?

Cheers,
Taha

 

[Matthew B]

Could you give an example of what you mean by a low light scene. What ISO are you shooting at? Scene file? I haven't noticed much noise in what I would consider a low light scene, although those are usually lit as a low light scene.

 

[SightfulProd]

Well, I usually start off @ 400 ISO as that is the cameras base ISO and pair it with a 'clean' scene file: Detail -5, V. Detail -5, Detail Coring +2, Chroma 0, Master Ped -2, Cine V, Norm 2 Matrix.
Just tonight we shot an exterior night scene of a car driving past an apartment block area wide open @ f/2. There were several street lights, the camera was positioned behind the tail-light of the car before it takes off. Whilst the majority of the scene was lit, the back of the car was underexposed probably 2-3 stops. It was still visible with the red brake light, backscreen, etc but was muddy with noise when viewed on the rushes 40" Plasma. The noise wasn't too great but still there. How much do noise reduction applications help with this problem? Little or substantial? That is why I am looking at the 10-bit, high bit-rate solution so when it comes to grading or bringing levels up, I have more room to play with.

I know the obvious answer is something like "add more light or raise the iso" but I like seeing into the shadows and anything above 800 ISO to my eyes, raises noise ratio. At the moment considering going the FS-100 route as that camera seems to handle tone rolloff much better + bigger sensor. However, I really like the formfactor of the AF-100 and need the SDI output and will work with it if the Hyperdeck Shuttle proves advantageous in the low-light, noise area of things.