Matching AF100 footage to the GH2

Lpowell

Veteran
I recently invested some time into tweaking GH2 Film Mode/White Balance settings and AF100 Scene File settings to match each other more closely. Unfortunately, the built-in gamma curves available on the AF100 all produce noticeably higher contrast than the GH2 in Smooth Film Mode with Contrast at -2. The AF100 gamma curve with the lowest contrast is CINE-LIKE D, but its highlights are still a bit extreme compared to the GH2's. To my eyes, this gives the AF100's highlights a telltale videocam edge reminiscent of the HVX200.

Initially, I went with the general consensus here on the AF100 forum, and set the AF100's Detail Level to -4. That seems to be considered fairly sharp by most AF100 afficionados:

http://blog.abelcine.com/2011/04/06/af100-scene-files-created-by-abelcine/

The results I saw from that approach, however, were disappointingly soft compared to the look of the GH2 using Flow Motion v2. I eventually boosted Detail Level up to -2 and found that the key to matching the GH2 was to adjust the AF100's Master Pedestal down to -9. That also crushes most of the low-level sensor noise from the CINE-LIKE D gamma curve, and allowed me to reduce Detail Coring to the minimum at -7. To my eyes, this produces a major improvement in image quality, making AF100 footage look much more like the GH2:

af100daylightmode.jpg


gh2daylightmode.jpg


Sorry about the discrepancy in framing, it's due to the GH2's slightly different crop factor and the height of its lens mount. Here are the settings I used on the GH2 and AF100, which I think produce a more pleasing daylight color balance than the defaults on both cameras:

GH2 Daylight Settings
Film Mode Smooth
Contrast -2
Sharpness -2
Saturation -1
Noise Reduce -2
WB Daylight
A-3
M-2

AF100 Daylight Scene File
Gamma CINE-LIKE D
Matrix NORM2
Detail Level -2
V Detail Level -2
Detail Coring -7
Chroma Level -1
Chroma Phase 0
Master Ped -9
DRS OFF
Skin tone DTL OFF
 
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Like the HVX200, the HPX170 has a lot in common with the AF100 and many of the setup options are labeled in the same way. However, the HPX170's CCD image sensor is very different than the AF100's MOS image sensor, and I'd expect its gamma and color balance to require different settings.
 
Great match!!! The blacks in the shadows of the green foliage look a little darker on the AF100, but everything else is amazingly close. Nicely done!
 
Yeah not bad at all! I'd bring along a monitor with waveform and vectorscope next time and a color chart. You should be able to get the match pretty well that way- especially if the camera are using similar quality optics.

-Noah
 
I tried these settings today. It's a really good match. Thanks. I'll try to post some grabs tomorrow.
 
I should really send you some money for saving me time trying to tweak this further. Do you have a PayPal account?
 
lpowell,
thank you for your great work,
question, if you don't mind: in this settings, how does the exposure value is similar from both cameras?
would the same exposure of 1/100 of a second at equal f stop on both cameras provide similarly exposed picture?
 
@OlegKalyan - Yes, I adjusted both color balance and exposure levels of the AF100 to match the GH2 at the same ISO, f-stop and shutter speed. Hope it works well for you!
 
I'm going to use the GH2 hacked with Flow Motion and the AF-100 tomorrow using these settings. I usually don't shoot in 24P since I work in broadcast. I normally go with 30p. Gets the look at 29.97. I think I might have to go with 24P on this one and convert it for air. What do you think? I'm not editing the spot but will grade it and post it.
 
I used Barry's settings to match and thought they did quite well. Used the AF on sticks and for a little slomo and the GH as a run around camera with only a little handle (flash bracket) to stabilize. And the very nice X lens-12-35 F/2.8 on both. 30 fps, and the GH was unhacked. Both recorded internally. Very very little cc in FCP Color Corrector 3-way. Had to put on the 14-140 lens for the interview and would have liked to have tried the 35-100.

https://vimeo.com/53437996
 
Thanks. This shoot changed to a two cam shoot the day before and didn't have Barry's settings in time. Bummer. I'm going to have some work to do in post.
 
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