My first paid job with the AF101

[Ian Stark]

I have only recently moved across from the world of ENG cameras so this was my first ever paying job using the AF-101*. Please be gentle!

The shoot took place in a supermarket in Sweden and is a case study on their use of electronic shelf edge labels. How exciting can you get? I have shot around ten videos all over Europe for this client and getting good footage of the electronic labels is very difficult - reflections, parallax issues on the labels themselves, viewing angle, all conspire to make these shoots quite trying! Add to that the mixed lighting coming from a combination of the fluorescents in the ceiling, daylight coming through the large windows at the front of the store and an assortment of little spotlights dotted around the displays, and you can imagine this is a bit of a challenge. In the past, the deep dof in my cameras has not helped to focus attention on the object in anything other than quite close shots - now, though, I can nicely lose some of the background busyness of a typical supermarket scene.

These are screen grabs straight off a Sony Vegas timeline. I still have to correct some exposure and colour issues. I shot in 25p and used a Nokton Voigtlander 25mm f/0.9 for about 75% of the shots, along with the Lumix 14-140 and an Olympus 45mm f/1.8. I focused using the camera facilities only (primarily the red highlight) and for the first time ever I used the wfm on every shot. Doing that was the best bit of advice I ever received, thank you Barry Green and others here. The end result will only be viewed online and not in full HD so razor sharp focussing was not a major issue on this shoot. I will be investing in a decent evf and HD monitor, though, probably when the cheque comes in for this job

All in all the AF101 performed brilliantly and I am a very happy man. More to the point, the client is ecstatic about the footage. I should add that this job alone has paid for the AF101 and the Nokton and based solely on the raw footage the client has asked me to return to Sweden to shoot another video that was not originally in their budget for the year.

*correction: I've used the AF101 to shoot several corporate events since buying it back in October, along with numerous studio and location interviews. This is my first 'creative' paying job.

 

[troelskirk]

Good looking shots! Very expensive potatoes ;o)

 

[Ian Stark]

Not as expensive as the beer! Thanks for the kind comment

 

[Barry_Green]

Hey Ian,

Thanks for this thread - this is about as perfect a post as I can imagine, as per why DVXUser is here. You came on, learned some things, figured out what you needed, picked the right tool for the job, learned how to use it properly, and then put it to work -- with the predictable result that you have a very happy client, a paid off camera, a full wallet, total job satisfaction, and even more work as a result.

That is just perfect. And I am so glad to see a thread like this, rather than another hundred threads whining about highlights or pixels.

Congrats to you for doing the work, the research, the education, and developing your skills to the point that you could accomplish this. The camera is only a tool, but when you have the right tool for the job that always makes things so much easier. Best of luck with your future work!

 

[Ian Stark]

Barry, that's very kind! I've been producing videos professionally for about twelve years (major mid-life career change) and now having the flexibility that the AF-101 offers is like a breath of fresh air (coming from XL1, XL2, XH-A1S etc). I did indeed do a lot of research and practice and thanks to your book and a lot of the great stuff posted here I am confident that the Panasonic does exactly what I want it to do - i.e. give me a good time and keep my clients smiling.

To be honest, I'm not nearly confident enough to whine about anything yet - I've only just learnt how to read the wfm!

I'm visiting NAB this year as a guest of NewBlueFX, for whom I write tutorials. If you're there I'd enjoy saying hi.

 

[phd]

Very nice pictures

 

[Shooter]

I thought your images were a little flat (to my eye and preference)

"Popped" them a little. (Levels only)

 

[SeattleDV]

+1

It's good to know there are still new users for the AF-100.

 

[Ian Stark]

Thanks all - and thanks Shooter for taking the time to have a play with the images. Like I say, these are unadulterated pictures without any correction, but yes, that's the kind of final appearance I am working towards. I'll be very happy when I am experienced enough with the AF101 to get that straight out of the camera. There are also a number of shots (not above) where the fluorescent lighting is having more of an effect and I need to remove some of the green nastiness. I white balanced every time I moved to a new spot in the store so I'm not entirely sure what I did wrong.

On a serious note, I do have to be very careful about the effect any cc, levels, exposure etc changes have on the electronic labels themselves. The client is very particular about having the brightest display possible and a uniform appearance from shot to shot (on the labels, that is), sometimes even at the expense of the rest of the image. What is great for me is having the extra data to work with, compared with, say, the A1S. That is making the job a great deal easier. More than I was expecting.