Philip Bloom's "Hirano San"

Status
Not open for further replies.
henryolonga said:
There is Rev - the Fixed Scarlet 2/3rds (abeit I will put it on a DOF adaptor ) - the cam is gonna go for about 5K. I already own the SGBlade and for the medium shots at normal frame rates where I need more shallow DOF - this should work well. For other stuff - the camera alone will suffice.

The AF100 IMHO does not compete against the RED Scarlet in frame rate, bit depth, dynamic range or price. It just has a larger Sensor. To me - that's it.

If anybody were brave enough - an Andromeda hack to this camera would be amazing.
Click to expand...
I don't see how you are comparing RED Scarlet that has no real release date or any samples of the video quality available to the AF-100.
 
Last edited:
swanny said:
Not all of us are pretending, or even implying we are "Film Makers". I myself would LOVE to have the opportunity to shoot a short, or a feature, and get payed for it. For you of those that get payed to do this, you are lucky in my eyes. I do however pay the bills as a self employed person, shooting weddings, corporate training videos, commercials, music videos, etc, and this camera will be a huge step up from what I currently use. If you have the budget to purchase a $50,000 setup, I'm jealous, but please do knock a camera that does not meet your expectations in a sub $5,000 camera. They are in COMPLETELY different price brackets, as well as performance brackets. I cannot afford a $15,000 camera and believe me I wish I could. Will this AF100 deliver a higher end product than what I currently put out? I
surely hope so. With that in mind, this is the option for me and really look forward to working with this camera. If what you want is totally out of the scope of the AF100, it seems pointless to knock the camera and bring it down. I could write all day on here, bringing down camera's that I don't like, or don't have all the options that I want, but it seems like a waste of time to me. You can't make a Ferrari out of a corvette, but some of us only want a corvette, and will be plenty fast for the majority of us. If you want a RED or the Sony, go buy one and tell me how cool it shooting with it, but in the meantime I'll be putting out a higher end product than what I currently am now, and that is the whole point of this camera.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more...bravo!
My clients want a razor sharp "video" look. It justifies them spending $4000 on a LCD!
I would like to see some raw footage, not bumped up with a nano flash...just organic 24mbs video that the cam is producing.
 
editman said:
The one thing that is disturbing is colour clipping in these demo clips and maybe noise in the night scenes. Compression adds alot of noise/blocking so this is something that can be ignored when watching vimeo videos. But colours never gets screwed in vimeo compression. At least not so that they clip. I can find colour errors in all clips in the Bloom demo be it clipping or un-natural colours. But I don't think Bloom would let this pass so I reckon this will be explained on how it can turn out this bad.

I'll stay with my pre-order since I believe things can be solved. Now I want to see some technical spot on demo clips.
Click to expand...
He used Magic Bullet Looks on the test footage. Also a pretty quick turn around on the film. I really don't get the big time bashing.
 
Mr. Bloom seems to like the Zeiss primes which to him gave the most "filmic" images. I agree. Wow some shots looked epic!

I think we all wanted to see flat greenish Red-like ungraded footage but lacking that how can one possibly talk about the true dynamic range of the camera? Also comes into play are the gamma settings. These need to be tweaked and clearly there was not enough time for that kind of experimentation - though, true, Panasonic should have had that curve set out of the box.

I'm sure with a "cine-like gamma" one could achieve wonderful results.
 
Lovely. I love Kyoto, Japan. I spent many days walking around there a while ago. I just marvel at what can be produced now. AS someone who started in the Sony portapack era, spent $35K x 2 on a couple of Ikegami HL-79S, many $$ on Betacam units, both Ampex and Sony, then $$ on DVCAM, what can be accomplished on a $5000 camera plus lenses is incredible. Very nice images. Lovely depth of field in a video camera. When it comes out in December, I will take a good long look at it. $5K is chump change in the video world. I have many Nikon lenses to use with it. Manual is cool! Thanks for footage.
 
Hey folks,

I really have been watching this thread all day and feeling pretty upset with many of the remarks being made. Many of you are disparaging the camera, the codec and cameraman, and frankly none of you are in a position to judge. You were/are not there, you don't know if Philip had several hours to set up the camera to his liking, you all seem to think that all you have to do to become comfortable in operating a camera is to turn it on. When has that ever been the truth? When trying hard to get some nice looking stuff out there in a limited time frame, all anyone does is shoot it down. I am not sure that if I were the shooter, I would ever post here again. Why would I want me and my work attacked in the manner that this group has. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be Philip or Barry or Filippo, I would fee somewhat disheartened.

If you are not looking at this footage being played back on a quality monitor, not your laptop LCD, then do so. Are there areas that could be tweaked if there was time to shoot over? sure. But that was not likely an option.

You all have seen videoish images coming out of a Varicam, an HVX200 or an HMC150 or any number of competitive cameras. And yet with care, those same cameras can render very filmic images. Why would you think that there is only one setting in this camera, non filmic with blownout highlights?. Please, can we be a little more appreciative, these guys are working with cameras and not having monitors available during the shoot to see how it works. Nobody would do this if they were trying to learn a new tool.

Those that have attacked Panasonic and saying that we need to get our collective selves together on our imager, our codec and camera, well you need to take a look at the real camera in person on a real monitor as this is a very nice camera and with skilled hands and eyes it can render great imagery. Additionally it will certainly outperform in the codec area versus anything in the MPEG2 group or even in the DSLR group codec wise. I have been working on this camera since May of 2009 and frankly there is no other team than the one I have working on this camera that I would want working on this camera, truly some of the best engineers in the world. As far as Panasonic having the cameras set for how these guys shoot, this is even more silly. Settings are fairly personal, I have seen umpteen number of settings on any number of cameras and they are not the same from shooter to shooter and yet they all render great images with the hands and eyes of that shooter. Please, it is why there are DPs and DITs and some are both, but to say that the manufacturer has to take on those responsibilities as well, come on. If we did that why would we need DPs and DITs?

It is far easier to criticize than to stand up and have your work counted.

Thank you Philip, Filippo and Barry for putting this fast sneak preview together. I know you have had a fast paced busy couple of days and I appreciate it your efforts.

Best regards,

Jan
 
Sadly, I have been on this forum since 2003, and I have noticed a considerable decline in professionalism. I'm not sure when people will realize that the gear is only half the picture.
 
Jan, please pass along that these tests, despite the crazed responses, are going to bring you a lot more sales. I have downloaded the full-res files and played them back on a Panny 50" plasma, and there's no doubt what you have here is lightning in a bottle, and it's a game changer. Most people commenting here have not been able to see this stuff full res on a real monitor, as I have, and I will tell you all it's stunning. Yes, I had concerns about the peaking and Gamma curve, but there will be tweaks for that and proper setup. It's stunning and I want one. Keep up the good work Panasonic, you're doing it right.
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
Hey folks,

I really have been watching this thread all day and feeling pretty upset with many of the remarks being made. Many of you are disparaging the camera, the codec and cameraman, and frankly none of you are in a position to judge. You were/are not there, you don't know if Philip had several hours to set up the camera to his liking, you all seem to think that all you have to do to become comfortable in operating a camera is to turn it on. When has that ever been the truth? When trying hard to get some nice looking stuff out there in a limited time frame, all anyone does is shoot it down. I am not sure that if I were the shooter, I would ever post here again. Why would I want me and my work attacked in the manner that this group has. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be Philip or Barry or Filippo, I would fee somewhat disheartened.

If you are not looking at this footage being played back on a quality monitor, not your laptop LCD, then do so. Are there areas that could be tweaked if there was time to shoot over? sure. But that was not likely an option.

You all have seen videoish images coming out of a Varicam, an HVX200 or an HMC150 or any number of competitive cameras. And yet with care, those same cameras can render very filmic images. Why would you think that there is only one setting in this camera, non filmic with blownout highlights?. Please, can we be a little more appreciative, these guys are working with cameras and not having monitors available during the shoot to see how it works. Nobody would do this if they were trying to learn a new tool.

Those that have attacked Panasonic and saying that we need to get our collective selves together on our imager, our codec and camera, well you need to take a look at the real camera in person on a real monitor as this is a very nice camera and with skilled hands and eyes it can render great imagery. Additionally it will certainly outperform in the codec area versus anything in the MPEG2 group or even in the DSLR group codec wise. I have been working on this camera since May of 2009 and frankly there is no other team than the one I have working on this camera that I would want working on this camera, truly some of the best engineers in the world. As far as Panasonic having the cameras set for how these guys shoot, this is even more silly. Settings are fairly personal, I have seen umpteen number of settings on any number of cameras and they are not the same from shooter to shooter and yet they all render great images with the hands and eyes of that shooter. Please, it is why there are DPs and DITs and some are both, but to say that the manufacturer has to take on those responsibilities as well, come on. If we did that why would we need DPs and DITs?

It is far easier to criticize than to stand up and have your work counted.

Thank you Philip, Filippo and Barry for putting this fast sneak preview together. I know you have had a fast paced busy couple of days and I appreciate it your efforts.

Best regards,

Jan
Click to expand...

You tell them Jan.

All you pixel peepers watching this on your computer are just not seeing this camera shine. I've watched this on my 100in HDMI viewing wall, a 52in. LED through HDMI, and yes, my computer. It's night and day between the 2. Also, you're watching a vimeo conversion!

Jan... THis is a great camera! I love everything I've seen from it thus far. I'm totally going to buy it. Panasonic has made a incredible recorder for under $5,000!!!!! You numb-nuts all ragging on it are insane! My HVX will shoot a video looking image, but when you dive into the image controls, you can easily create a very filmic look. YOU WANT A FILMIC LOOK? GO SHOOT FILM THEN. Thank you for giving us a large chip imager that does NOT alias and moire!!!! 1080P overcranking!!! YES!!!!!

Awesome job Panasonic and everybody evolved in creating and TESTING this camera!
 
True all, Jan, but all of us have also been blown away by footage from Phil et al before with the 5d, and this footage just doesn't feel right. Those of us old enough remember what it felt like to see the first HVX200 footage... for whatever reason this footage isn't speaking of us like that.
 
Erik Naso said:
He used Magic Bullet Looks on the test footage. Also a pretty quick turn around on the film. I really don't get the big time bashing.
Click to expand...

I know he had a short time to shoot, edit and grade this footage and I'm not criticising anything artistic. In that respect I think it's great like many of Blooms videos.
I'm just picky about blown out colours and highlights and that artefact that was in Barrys clip.
When you watch it on a decent monitor calibrated to display video it looks great in most respects.

Then there's Filippos footage that steers clear of all colour clipping and I really dig that footage.

If they all had something like a Marshall monitor with false colours connected during shooting we probably would have no clipping and all would have been great. I think you can get this camera to look great when handled and tweaked right, nuff said about that.
 
Cosimo Bullo said:
True all, Jan, but all of us have also been blown away by footage from Phil et al before with the 5d, and this footage just doesn't feel right. Those of us old enough remember what it felt like to see the first HVX200 footage... for whatever reason this footage isn't speaking of us like that.
Click to expand...


Do you really think that Philip had huge success with every camera right out of the box? I think not. Any photog worth their salt knows that if you want people to think you are a great photographer only show the good ones. this camera is different that what people are used to and that takes some time to feel it out. I have been looking at it for the past two months and I am in love. But I have gotten a chance to play with it. If I had been there in Japan, I might have leaned over and made a suggestion or two, but I am not. Do not discount what they are doing and do not take this footage to be the end all and finally go look at it on a real monitor!
 
Cosimo Bullo said:
True all, Jan, but all of us have also been blown away by footage from Phil et al before with the 5d, and this footage just doesn't feel right. Those of us old enough remember what it felt like to see the first HVX200 footage... for whatever reason this footage isn't speaking of us like that.
Click to expand...

Please don't speak for "us."

And I've yet to see any substantial raw footage from the AF-100, much less footage shot with a shipping cam.

Has anyone save the one short post made by Barry?
 
Thank you Jan. Your presence here is appreciated. I generally agree with your appraisal except...

Jan_Crittenden said:
As far as Panasonic having the cameras set for how these guys shoot, this is even more silly. Settings are fairly personal, I have seen umpteen number of settings on any number of cameras and they are not the same from shooter to shooter and yet they all render great images with the hands and eyes of that shooter.
Click to expand...

When one looks at Mr. Bloom's "South" which is ungraded footage it looks like the gamma curve he was using was setup already for delivery. That is with sharp contrast and colors, crushed blacks and clipped whites. It is a bit disturbing because we, most DPs that is, would like to see a flatter image that is not necessarily ready for mastering but will instead maximize detail and dynamic range.

This was the same complaint with the codec, AVCHD, as well. To us it is a delivery codec not a capture codec and certainly not an intermediate editing/color grading/VFX codec.

You've called this camera "professional", albeit inexpensive, true, but IMHO those two things should have been set up in a more professional manner.

Otherwise, no complaints. Thank you. My order is in. Much appreciated.

Steve
 
editman said:
If they all had something like a Marshall monitor with false colours connected during shooting we probably would have no clipping and all would have been great. I think you can get this camera to look great when handled and tweaked right, nuff said about that.
Click to expand...

And the likelihood of having a Marshall monitor attached to their cameras at a Panasonic demo would be....? ;-) Everyone can be a critic, and until you have a chance to work with it, you will not know its full capabilities, or until someone does a real crackerjack job in learning the camera and shooting with it. And even that will not give you the experience of creating great images with it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top