New AF101 Owner

M

msr

Member
Hi,

I just bought a used AF101 which seems to be in great condition, well looked after and was available for a respectable price. It's primarily going to be used for documentary shooting and I'm now just looking for advice on lenses.

I don't own much glass at the moment -- just a Nikon f/1.8 50mm and a Nikon fit Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 that I had left over from my Nikon SLR. My current thinking is to carry on down the Nikon lens route and buy the MTF Micro 4/3 adapter, then add rails and lens support so I can get some heavier lenses like the Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8. If I want to switch to another format later I'm not stuck with Micro 4/3 glass I can't use. I'm not bothered about auto-focus but my only slight concern is how good glass designed for another format will compare to Micro 4/3 specific lenses.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks
 
Since you have Nikkors, stick with Nikkors.. They focus opposite of most everything else, so you wouldn't have to remember which lens is on the camera to follow focus in a shot (which you'll be doing a lot). If you're willing to change, old Canon FDs and off-brands like Vivitars are cheap.

The new Lumix zooms aren't cheap... However, the Lumix lenses talk nicely to the AF100, are f2.8 through the range, have OIS, and are very sharp - and with both of them (12-35 & 35-100) you'd be able to cover almost everything you need - and no adapters to buy and dick with. Bokeh isn't quite as nice as SLR lenses though, if that's what you're looking for.

Forgot to add - the Voightlander Noktons are hands-down the best lenses for the AF100, they're incredibly fast, sharp, light and, again, no fiddly adapters. Unfortunately there isn't a "complete" set of them though, just the 17.5 and 25. If there was an MFT 50, 85 and 100 it would be a great kit, and way cheaper than Zeiss...
 
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Plus metabones should have a speed booster for Nikon lenses coming out next month. Speeding up your lenses and giving you two different focal lengths per lens if you get another "normal" Nikon adapter.
 
msr, I have a Nikon 50mm 1.4. I can pull up the exact model if you want, but I don't think that's important. The 1.4 is a bit soft, so I use it at F2 or F2.8 for interviews. Most of my stuff is talking heads. This is with a GH2, but it should look about the same, just with a variable ND filter instead of the higher quality ND in the AF (my AF100 will be here Monday). You can take a look at my work to see how it looks if you would like. I'll link to a few. Now note that some of my earlier videos were with a Canon FD 50mm that is soft and needed soft post processing to be usable. And the upload date on my Vimeo may not correspond to when I actually did the job on some. So keep that in mind. Here's a few, though, that are with the Nikon.

https://vimeo.com/59258404
(Note that I dialed in the Kelvin color temp on this one when I should have done a white card. I think the color has a nice ambiance in the library, but that took some work in post. Maybe not ideal, but I think it looked good in the end. I learned my lesson on dialing the color in manually in mixed environments on that one)

https://vimeo.com/59255591

https://vimeo.com/59255590

I really recommend that you check out Rokinon's new cine line. It's available in Nikon mount. That's also my preferred go to mount type outside of M43. I want the 35mm T1.5. It will probably become my new go to lens for interviews once I'm able to get it. I need to get a Sennheiser G3 mic set, a bag/ case for the camera, and probably something much less exciting but more versatile like a 14 - 140 first. Know that they are also making a 50mm T1.5. I expect that will probably be half the cost of the 35mm, so I may end up getting it when it comes out in the next couple of months to replace my 50mm Nikon if I can't get the 35mm first. With these lenses, they remade them from their photo line to make them cine lenses. This means that the apertures are declicked. So there's no noticeable jump if you have to adjust the iris while recording. Plus the FULL range of the aperture is available. Whereas my Nikon goes from 1.4 to 2 to 2.8-- instead, you have all of that room in between that is usable. And I think they are fine to use wide open. They also have notches for a focus wheel and the markings are on the left side instead of on top in case you have a focus puller person. Here's the full list in Nikon mount:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/searc...|0&ci=1884&N=4292338124+4206889901+4237293402

In the Lumix line, the 20mm is superb and for a good price. I got the 45 - 175, the one that has the servo zoom. It wasn't a very necessary purchase, but it's good to have for smooth zooming since I stopped using my 3MOS miniDV camera. The 12 - 35 mm 2.8 would probably be a very useful lens. But for that much, I think I'd rather get one or two of the more affordable cine prime lens options. Like the Rokinons. SLR Magic also has some new cine lenses. I think they will be a bit pricier than the Rokinons. And they are M43 mount. Which if there's no usable electronics in the lens, I prefer Nikon for longevity.

Here's a video on the SLR Magic lineup.

https://vimeo.com/52212589#t=87

And if I had a well budgeted job that I want to be sure to get really superb footage for (and it was a shoot that would only be on consecutive days-- something I unfortunately rarely get), then I think I would rent a set of Zeiss CP.2 compact primes. They have interchangable mounts, so you can get them in M43. And if you could afford it and bought them, you could change it out for not too much money. You can get a set of four for less than $600 for five days from lensrentals.com. I really want a chance to rent these for a job.
 
I may be missing something but that Nikon 1.8 isn't going to do you a lot of good . . . You probably want to pick up the older glass (maybe eBay) f2 or the more expensive f1.4 so you can set your aperture. In the economy class the older manual focus Nikon's: 35, 50, and 85mm will serve you well.
 
dregenthal said:
I may be missing something but that Nikon 1.8 isn't going to do you a lot of good . . . You probably want to pick up the older glass (maybe eBay) f2 or the more expensive f1.4 so you can set your aperture. In the economy class the older manual focus Nikon's: 35, 50, and 85mm will serve you well.
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I'm pretty sure that there are modern Nikon 50mm 1.8 lenses that have manual aperture. Is that what you meant? Now I don't know if that is what he has or not, but I don't think he said either way. This is the 1.4 that I have. I don't recommend using it at 1.4, though. For the price, it's good. But like I said, Rokinon will soon have theirs out, and I think it will be heaps better and probably for around the same price.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LENO
 
BrandonT said:
But like I said, Rokinon will soon have theirs out, and I think it will be heaps better and probably for around the same price.
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Hey Brandon

Where did you hear that Rokinon was coming out with their 50mm soon? Any dates? It would be great if it came out in a cine version. Not sure why they left it for last in their range, it was an odd omission.
 
True North said:
Hey Brandon

Where did you hear that Rokinon was coming out with their 50mm soon? Any dates? It would be great if it came out in a cine version. Not sure why they left it for last in their range, it was an odd omission.
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Here's a post from their FB page. Actually, reading over it, they don't say for sure that it's in the cine line. Because the one person right above their response asked about a F1.2 50mm (rather than a T1.2). But others have commented on it as you can see about the rumour of a 50mm cine. I think I first heard something from one of the bloggers I follow on Vimeo.. maybe. But they also said on that post that their next release is a tilt shift 24mm in April, so I might have been a bit optimistic on the release date.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?....347823161930275.76738.177519142294012&type=1
 
BrandonT said:
I'm pretty sure that there are modern Nikon 50mm 1.8 lenses that have manual aperture. Is that what you meant? Now I don't know if that is what he has or not, but I don't think he said either way. This is the 1.4 that I have. I don't recommend using it at 1.4, though. For the price, it's good. But like I said, Rokinon will soon have theirs out, and I think it will be heaps better and probably for around the same price.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LENO
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Right, he didn't say.
There are a lot of choices to be had . . .
My suggestion was more about the particular lens he mentioned appears to not have a manual ring for f-stop (but I don't claim to be an expert), AND gently steering his away from an autofocus lens, that has no benefit on the M4/3's camera.
I was guessing that as a new used AF100 owner savings might be a concern and that conventional wisdom (not only mine) might be a suggestion of the classic Nikon glass that, as a documentarian, might provide a lot of benefit without breaking the bank.
 
BrandonT said:
Here's a post from their FB page. Actually, reading over it, they don't say for sure that it's in the cine line. Because the one person right above their response asked about a F1.2 50mm (rather than a T1.2). But others have commented on it as you can see about the rumour of a 50mm cine. I think I first heard something from one of the bloggers I follow on Vimeo.. maybe. But they also said on that post that their next release is a tilt shift 24mm in April, so I might have been a bit optimistic on the release date.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?....347823161930275.76738.177519142294012&type=1
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I posted something to help the cause along

That is working out to be an amazing line of lenses for those on a budget. Im surprised some of the larger lens manufacturers (i.e. Sigma for instance) haven't jumped on board with a budget cine range.
 
Thanks for the responses. It sounds like Nikon is what I should stick to.

To clarify, the 50mm lens I have is the 'D' version: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5018daf.htm which does have manual aperture control. If I'm using the MTF adaptor, will the aperture still be stepped or will it allow smooth control?

For those who shoot talking heads with prime lenses, do you move your camera between questions to change your framing? A zoom would seem much more practical

Bern Caughey said:
The AF100's lens mount can support the Nikkor 24-70/2.8 without rails.
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Ah yes, I hadn't realised it only weighed 900g. With the MTF adapter (150g) it puts it a little over the 1 Kg limit
 
Not sure about the MTF version but the Novaflex adapter will give you stepless aperture, even on lenses with an aperture ring, in fact mounting a lens with aperture ring to the Novaflex adapter allows you to create hard stops for the aperture adjustment.
 
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msr said:
Thanks for the responses. It sounds like Nikon is what I should stick to.

To clarify, the 50mm lens I have is the 'D' version: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5018daf.htm which does have manual aperture control. If I'm using the MTF adaptor, will the aperture still be stepped or will it allow smooth control?

For those who shoot talking heads with prime lenses, do you move your camera between questions to change your framing? A zoom would seem much more practical



Ah yes, I hadn't realised it only weighed 900g. With the MTF adapter (150g) it puts it a little over the 1 Kg limit
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I setup a master shot that helps engage with the subject, often straight on but slightly off centre and if my cut away material is good I stick to that master shot, if not then ill introduce a second interview camera that is active (moving) with a zoom, ill have it concentrate on the hands, eyes, mouth and face to give me shots to cut too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wTW-U-oDRg
 
XSVpro said:
Not sure about the MTF version but the Novaflex adapter will give you stepless aperture, even on cameras with an aperture ring, in fact mounting a lens with aperture ring to the Novaflex adapter allows you to create hard stops for the aperture adjustment.
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I would hope the MTF adapter will be the same in that case, especially since it is more expensive for effectively the same thing.

XSVpro said:
I setup a master shot that helps engage with the subject, often straight on but slightly off centre and if my cut away material is good I stick to that master shot, if not then ill introduce a second interview camera that is active (moving) with a zoom, ill have it concentrate on the hands, eyes, mouth and face to give me shots to cut too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wTW-U-oDRg
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Yeah, that's always an option. I do like to have the option of being able to re-frame a shot between questioning too so that two answers can be seamlessly spliced together in the edit. Only a zoom will really allow you to do that in a practical way.
 
msr said:
the 50mm lens I have is the 'D' version: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5018daf.htm which does have manual aperture control. If I'm using the MTF adaptor, will the aperture still be stepped or will it allow smooth control?
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There are two types of Nikon-to-MFT adapters, and with an AF-D lens you only need a simple fixed adapter that gives you infinity focus. The other type of adapter has a "lock" ring that's intended to manually open the lens iris on Nikon G lenses that have no aperture rings. I have the Fotodiox adapter and its aperature control is anything but "smooth". The kludgy operation of these adapter aperture rings is so finicky and sticky that in practice, they're only good for setting the lens wide open.
 
True North said:
Thanks for the link. I posted something to help the cause along

That is working out to be an amazing line of lenses for those on a budget. Im surprised some of the larger lens manufacturers (i.e. Sigma for instance) haven't jumped on board with a budget cine range.
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I just posted something, too. Maybe they'll respond if there will be for sure a cine version. But even if not, a 50mm F1.2 photo lens would be a great addition. It would probably be better than my Nikkor F1.4.


msr said:
To clarify, the 50mm lens I have is the 'D' version: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/5018daf.htm which does have manual aperture control. If I'm using the MTF adaptor, will the aperture still be stepped or will it allow smooth control?

For those who shoot talking heads with prime lenses, do you move your camera between questions to change your framing? A zoom would seem much more practical
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Yeah, mine is also that same line, the D version, just in F1.4. Which 1.4 is too soft on it. Is the 1.8 usable on yours?

Well I've been shooting interviews on my 50mm and then editing in a 720p sequence. This way, I can digitally zoom a good bit without losing quality. Here's a recent example from me. In this case, I had one expert who had a lot of information to give. And then one other person, but who I could only use one or two sound bites from. This was one part of a job of 14 or so videos, and the budget didn't allow me to get b-roll of each individual school to cut in between. So this technique was necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohd-dLgJevE

It's a mainstream accepted editing technique. Duck Dynasty is the first thing that comes to mind. I love that show. lol. In its second season, its ratings shot through the roof and I believe it is now the highest rated show on A&E and the highest rated "reality" show. And whatever your opinion on it (it's actually a very clean and wholesome "reality" show, if you haven't seen it.. compared to the Housewives and the Honey Boo Boo crud), I think that the talking head commentary from the "characters" is pretty well lensed. They appear to set up one camera for the commentary that is a little bit wider than MCU and when they have to edit between the same person, I think that they just do a digital crop. Now they are probably shooting them 4K since they would have to master in 1080i or probably 1080p, too for Blu-ray. Here's an example. This would be the tighter angle. If anyone else watches it, let me know your opinion if you think they do this. I think their post production crew is about 15 people, which sounds high to me, but I admit I don't have much knowledge of how TV show crew is set up.

photo.jpg


XSVpro said:
I setup a master shot that helps engage with the subject, often straight on but slightly off centre and if my cut away material is good I stick to that master shot, if not then ill introduce a second interview camera that is active (moving) with a zoom, ill have it concentrate on the hands, eyes, mouth and face to give me shots to cut too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wTW-U-oDRg
Click to expand...


What do you use for your b-cam and its lens? Unless I missed something, I didn't see a b-cam on the interview. If you have something that does have that, I'd really love to see it. The video looked and sounded great, btw.

I will move some of my shoots to the two camera setup now that I'll have an AF100 and a GH2. Say if my AF100 has my 50mm lens on it. What do you think would be a good companion for the b-cam? A wide 14 with deep DOF? The 20mm with shallow DOF? Something tighter than 50 on my zoom lens? I probably wouldn't be able to achieve the moving on the second cam for most shoots since I'll be working by myself and half of the time have to do the interviewing.
 
Lpowell said:
There are two types of Nikon-to-MFT adapters, and with an AF-D lens you only need a simple fixed adapter that gives you infinity focus. The other type of adapter has a "lock" ring that's intended to manually open the lens iris on Nikon G lenses that have no aperture rings. I have the Fotodiox adapter and its aperature control is anything but "smooth". The kludgy operation of these adapter aperture rings is so finicky and sticky that in practice, they're only good for setting the lens wide open.
Click to expand...

I read that too, the Novaflex is lovely, smooth dampened movement
 
BrandonT said:
I just posted something, too. Maybe they'll respond if there will be for sure a cine version. But even if not, a 50mm F1.2 photo lens would be a great addition. It would probably be better than my Nikkor F1.4.




Yeah, mine is also that same line, the D version, just in F1.4. Which 1.4 is too soft on it. Is the 1.8 usable on yours?

Well I've been shooting interviews on my 50mm and then editing in a 720p sequence. This way, I can digitally zoom a good bit without losing quality. Here's a recent example from me. In this case, I had one expert who had a lot of information to give. And then one other person, but who I could only use one or two sound bites from. This was one part of a job of 14 or so videos, and the budget didn't allow me to get b-roll of each individual school to cut in between. So this technique was necessary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohd-dLgJevE

It's a mainstream accepted editing technique. Duck Dynasty is the first thing that comes to mind. I love that show. lol. In its second season, its ratings shot through the roof and I believe it is now the highest rated show on A&E and the highest rated "reality" show. And whatever your opinion on it (it's actually a very clean and wholesome "reality" show, if you haven't seen it.. compared to the Housewives and the Honey Boo Boo crud), I think that the talking head commentary from the "characters" is pretty well lensed. They appear to set up one camera for the commentary that is a little bit wider than MCU and when they have to edit between the same person, I think that they just do a digital crop. Now they are probably shooting them 4K since they would have to master in 1080i or probably 1080p, too for Blu-ray. Here's an example. This would be the tighter angle. If anyone else watches it, let me know your opinion if you think they do this. I think their post production crew is about 15 people, which sounds high to me, but I admit I don't have much knowledge of how TV show crew is set up.

photo.jpg





What do you use for your b-cam and its lens? Unless I missed something, I didn't see a b-cam on the interview. If you have something that does have that, I'd really love to see it. The video looked and sounded great, btw.

I will move some of my shoots to the two camera setup now that I'll have an AF100 and a GH2. Say if my AF100 has my 50mm lens on it. What do you think would be a good companion for the b-cam? A wide 14 with deep DOF? The 20mm with shallow DOF? Something tighter than 50 on my zoom lens? I probably wouldn't be able to achieve the moving on the second cam for most shoots since I'll be working by myself and half of the time have to do the interviewing.
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Oh in this video that was just a single AF100 with me as operator, Tamron 17-50 constant F2.8 zoom, couple of chairs and a ticking clock. Being a sit down sports interview in the middle of a Superbike pitlane with time pressure I wouldn't setup a second camera unless I had a second operator with me and I generally use zooms for these types of outdoor interviews, flexibility and time saving is key and moving a tripod around with a prime lens can be a hassle as you really need to stay in range if the shotgun mic, lapel mics are great when you have time. Personally during an interview (I'm often the interviewer) I wouldn't want to fiddle with the camera or change the focal length as I want the best from the talent, a second camera and operator would aways be on a long lens and slightly away from the interview space so as not to detract the talent. Here's something I shot a while back for Tanita Europe on two GH2s, seems to be turning up on all kinds of YouTube channels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpAZFrl54EA all post work was done by me, i used motion graphics by motionVFX.com - I can see problems with it now, I hate looking at older work, you always get this reminder that you're not as pimp as you think you are lol
 
BrandonT said:
What do you think would be a good companion for the b-cam? A wide 14 with deep DOF? The 20mm with shallow DOF? Something tighter than 50 on my zoom lens? I probably wouldn't be able to achieve the moving on the second cam for most shoots since I'll be working by myself and half of the time have to do the interviewing.
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The GH2 or 3 is a perfect B-camera for the AF100, my thinking is this. On a time sensitive shoot where lapel mics are not an option I would position the AF100 as close as I can for a respectable mid shot (chest up, with a foot of head room max) and use a fairly shallow depth of field that is a combination of focal length and aperture selection somewhere around 75mm F2.8-F4, you don't want to be so shallow that they move in and out of focus and you do want a hint of the surrounding they are in. The B-Camera would always be on a long lens over 135mm for three reasons, 1) the second operator can stay away from me and the talent, 2) being on a long he won't get me or the production in shot, if it was a famous interviewer I would probably give him his own camera or create a 90 degree two shot from the main with a fixed over the shoulder (OTS) shot on the talent, 3) he can use slower f stops to achieve exposure and still achieve shallow depth of field without the need of a Matte box which is kind of essential for me with a backup GH2 that is not my main camera and is part of a selection kit that I have to hump to and from the location.

Not for every shoot but this is my go to plan for interviews that I then modify from. For example, I did a set of interviews for a kit car club and the opening shot of the founder standing next to the cars was in the Pit lane garage at silverstone and for this I used my Jib crane to crane down from above to a chest height full shot of the owner and the race car. I swapped the AF100 camera on the Jib for the GH2 when I set up the interview space and had that operated by a second man to get cool shots of the interview taking place. Sadly they ran out of budget and I only got to use the title segment we shot as a kind of mini promo but they may have a bigger budget this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUcyj4CwHyk
 
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