My take at matching the AF100 and GH2

Did I ask anything stupid? Or why is my question being totally ignored? Should I start another thread to ask it?
I'm still wondering if I did something wrong or if you really have to compensate the exposure to make Barry settings match.
 
Barry, thanks for this, if I was using a non hacked GH2 will these settings still be valid? I don't want to hack my GH2 but would like to have a match scene file on the AF100 for when I personally need to supply a second camera.

Thanks again.
 
Barry, thanks for this, if I was using a non hacked GH2 will these settings still be valid? I don't want to hack my GH2 but would like to have a match scene file on the AF100 for when I personally need to supply a second camera.

Yes, all a hacked GH2 is changes the bitrate and encoding type (B frames / Intra). You might get a slightly different result if you attempt any emulsion settings (such as Apocalypse Now or the GH3onaGH2), but for standard settings, I don't think it will change how the GH2 looks normally as far as color goes.
 
Did I ask anything stupid? Or why is my question being totally ignored? Should I start another thread to ask it?
I'm still wondering if I did something wrong or if you really have to compensate the exposure to make Barry settings match.

Did you start another thread Sttratos?

thanks Gary, I should have read the thread fully
 
Barry_Green said:
What you'll really see different here is the black levels; on the GH2 it's a contrastier camera... on the AF100 I lowered the master pedestal to -5, but LPowell took it as far as -9. I think that throws away a bit of the usable range of the AF100 unnecessarily, but if you want the most exact match between them you may want to use a lower master pedestal than my recommended -5.

In my opinion -9 crushes the blacks way more than any mode in the GH2. In my test when the GH2 was still seeing details in the shadows with both cinema and smooth, the AF100 with -9 pedestal saw only black. It also makes blacks look nasty somehow. Like the shadows are dirty. I think -5 looks closer to my eyes than -9. Maybe -6, but -9 is too much. But if you found that -9 could be a better matches for the blacks, any ideas what I could have done wrong?
How low you set the AF100's Pedestal depends on how much shadow detail you want to lift out of the AF100 and GH2 in post. In high-contrast sunlit conditions, I normally leave the shadows as is, and a -9 Pedestal matches well to the GH2's Smooth Film Mode.

The chronic problem with the AF100, however, is taming its highlights, which are much harsher than the GH2's. My Scene File settings don't attempt to match the two cameras' ways of blowing their highlights - I don't think that's possible. As a consequence, when matching the AF100 and the GH2, you have to make sure neither camera is even a touch overexposed. Setting the AF100's Pedestal to -9 gives it as much headroom for highlights as possible, which I think is a worthwile tradeoff for crushing its blacks.
 
That's great guys, so does your settings pretty much match the cameras at identical F/Stops when ISO and shutter are equal?
 
Very informative. So obviously the GH2 is still alive despite the arrival of the GH3. Is the GH3 any good to match with the AF, does anyone know? I saw some footage from that beast and my goodness it was very delicious.
 
Yes, matched exposure settings were one of my goals, that lets me use the AF100's waveform monitor as a guide for setting exposure on the GH2 as well. Here's the link again to my AF100/GH2 settings post:

Matching AF100 footage to the GH2
Actually this is not the case at all. I find with my tests that your GH2 settings match better Barry's AF100 settings. Funny but true. I think too your Gh2 settings don't match at all when people are in frame. With objects like shown in your tests is ok. But with people cinema is better.
 
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Thanks to Barry and lpowell for the great information in this thread.

I have an upcoming shoot that will be mixing AF100, GH2 and GH3 footage. Any ideas where to start with settings that are similar for these 3 cams? This will be an indoor controlled lighting, concert style shoot.
 
I have tried every possible config. to match up my af100 and gh2 (hacked) and I think I will settle here. from here I think I can finish it in post. these threads were a great help. I learned so much about the a f100 from reading on this sight. the key is. TEST TEST TEST and decide what works for you.

thanks to allaf100 and gh2 color match.jpg
 
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