Purchasing AF100 Monday- Need Opinions on Budget (Around $8k)

H

hatsoff2halford

Well-known member
Hey everybody, I'm going to be purchasing the AF100 on Monday and needed some advice on the other items I decided to purchase with the rest of my budget. (Also, I am going to sell my DVX100a + case + 3 batteries, with around 60hrs. I haven't included this in the budget because I'm not sure what I could expect to get.)

First off, I was originally looking at the AF100 when it was still bundled with the 14-140, that special isn't offered at BH, BUT it is still offered at Adorama, so I am probably going to do that. I know they are a reputable seller, but is there any reason this would be a bad idea?

I am going to be shooting in controlled environments, mostly narrative work with some small commercials. I already have a tripod- a manfrotto 501, so I definitely need to get a better tripod, but for now I am going to stick with it until next October when I will be filming things other than just shorts of my own. I also already have my audio needs covered.

What I plan on buying:
3 32gb Kingston Cards
2 VW-BGG6 Batteries
Pearstone Pro Case

Lenses:
Tokina 11-16
Olympus 14-54
Voigtlander 25mm
+ the 14-140 that comes with the camera

Purchasing those three extra lenses pretty much takes up my budget. Is it un-wise to purchase the lenses and not other accessories? I need lights, an external monitor, rail/baseplate, follow focus, shoulder mount, etc.

I was thinking that those other items can wait, but the lenses are incredibly important. However, lighting might be equally important at this point. I will be able to purchase lights at the end of the year (or whatever I choose), so I might just purchase two of the lenses on a payment-plan, and use my cash on some lights from Cool Lights.

Any help would be super appreciated!

Thanks a lot.
 
Or, get a lens adaptor and buy fully manual vintage lenses (which look and work great) and save a ton of money to put towards other gear, and when you have more money get newer more expensive lenses.

Guess it just depends on needs priority. If you are doing a lot of HH good luck without a rail mount/shoulder mount system. if you need lights... well, good luck getting footage to look good without lighting. You know your priorities best, so just throwing out the option to save $$ on lenses at this point.

Remember you can rent lenses, lights, mounts, monitors, etc. Decide what is most cost beneficial to NOT have to rent now, and what you can sustain on renting for a while.

Also, don't expect to get much out of your DVX. At all.
 
I have seen footage from some old Canon FD lenses that I really didn't like. I'm not sure what "vintage" lenses provide a clean look. I have a Vivitar 55-135mm, 2.8. Would that look fine? I'm not sure which older lenses to even consider to be honest. Or figure out which mount it is meant for?

I could wait to purchase the Voigtlander. But would the 14-140, the 11-16, and the 14-54 be ok to cover most of my bases? I will be shooting indoors for the most part, so I want to make sure the 2.8 is decent enough.

Also, is the 11-16 sold on BH different from the one that most talk about on here?
 
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RE: vintage lenses, keep in mind that may have had to with the shooter, compression, or anything else. Good glass is good glass. I've seen a lot of phenomenal footage on vintage glass. I've also seen terrible footage on new lenses...
 
I'm about to sell my AF-100 kit if you are interested. Also have a Tokina 11-16mm, Nikon 17-50mm, Voigtlander 25mm, and Tokina 50-135mm I will be getting rid of as well. All in great condition. Lot's of other accessories as well.
 
I'd say spend every penny you can on lenses, everything else can come later. The 14-140 is not a great lens but it will give cover your bases. The Vogitlander is awesome, get that before anything else. The Tokina is apparently great, personally I use the Lumix 7-14 as it's sharp and the super wide is pretty useful. If you can, pick up another decent prime like a Zeiss ZF.2 50mm with adaptor, or wait a month or so and see what the new X lenses will be like. Also budget for the very best tripod you can, though I'm assuming you have that already if you're selling your DVX. Don't worry about vintage lenses, they can give superb results if you get the right one. I've had a lot of success with FD lenses in the past.
 
Try to get Panasonic or Sandisk cards. I have heard of too many sad stories on the Kingston. Do a search on this site for some of them.

Best luck to you
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
Try to get Panasonic or Sandisk cards. I have heard of too many sad stories on the Kingston. Do a search on this site for some of them.

Best luck to you
Click to expand...

I have been using Kingston UltimateX SDHC cards with my AF101 and 550D and have had no problems. Just make sure to get buy from a proper shop to avoid fakes.
 
You might consider 16GB cards instead of 32GB. You get about 80min of 1080 24p on a 16GB card. Better to not have all your eggs in one basket. I use Panasonic Class 10 gold cards with no issues.
 
I'd recommend buying my mint condition Olympus 14-35 f/2 Zuiko lens!.. Lol, seriously though, it was my go to lens for almost a year when I had my AF100. Fastest sharpest zoom out there for the AF.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?268475-Olympus-14-35mm-f-2.0-SDW-Zuiko-4-3rds-lens-Mint-Condition!&highlight=

Also have a 2 month old Novoflex Nikon to M43 adapter in case you pick up any Nikon mount lenses. It can be used with lens that have or dont have a aperture ring.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?268487-Novoflex-Nikon-to-Micro-4-3rds-adapter.-2-months-old-MINT-Condition!&highlight=
 
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I am assuming you're getting the Oly II. I only have this zoom, almost never do I feel I need a wider lens. My Advice, get the Oly (remember it is a 2.8, but ramp to 3.5 when you zoom in), and see if you feel the need of a wider lens in addition to it (or until Panasonic comes out with cine lens, or should I say "HD" or "X", worth buying). The rest of my kit are primes.

Getting the 12.5mm hyper prime will probably be useful for a main lens for narrative work (in addition to the 25mm Voight).

But yes, in the end it all comes down to what you shoot. Get the basic stuff first, don't rush to buy what you don't know what you'll use...
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone!

I've decided to go with the Tokina 11-16 and the 28-70. Found the right version of the 28-70 on craigslist locally, so I'm going to do that. This way, I can still afford the Voigt pretty easily.
 
If you want to save an extra bit on your budget, got my excellent condition af100 for sale in the marketplace.
 
I am a huge proponent of good glass, but having great glass and no lights is just silly unless you are totally outdoors with a big diffuser or reflector.... Cams record, but light is your artistic pallete.

The OP said not a word about audio. Audio is 55% (plus or minus) of good video. So unless the OP hires a sound guy, a budget for audio is essential.

And, given that the cam will come with a very serviceable zoom, waiting to see what the true needs are, just won't hurt anything. Maybe the zoom is enough for his needs. Lenses are a great thing, but a good business plan is priceless.

Grant
 
hatsoff2halford said:
Hey everybody, I'm going to be purchasing the AF100 on Monday and needed some advice on the other items I decided to purchase with the rest of my budget. (Also, I am going to sell my DVX100a + case + 3 batteries, with around 60hrs. I haven't included this in the budget because I'm not sure what I could expect to get.)

First off, I was originally looking at the AF100 when it was still bundled with the 14-140, that special isn't offered at BH, BUT it is still offered at Adorama, so I am probably going to do that. I know they are a reputable seller, but is there any reason this would be a bad idea?

I am going to be shooting in controlled environments, mostly narrative work with some small commercials. I already have a tripod- a manfrotto 501, so I definitely need to get a better tripod, but for now I am going to stick with it until next October when I will be filming things other than just shorts of my own. I also already have my audio needs covered.

What I plan on buying:
3 32gb Kingston Cards
2 VW-BGG6 Batteries
Pearstone Pro Case

Lenses:
Tokina 11-16
Olympus 14-54
Voigtlander 25mm
+ the 14-140 that comes with the camera

Purchasing those three extra lenses pretty much takes up my budget. Is it un-wise to purchase the lenses and not other accessories? I need lights, an external monitor, rail/baseplate, follow focus, shoulder mount, etc.

I was thinking that those other items can wait, but the lenses are incredibly important. However, lighting might be equally important at this point. I will be able to purchase lights at the end of the year (or whatever I choose), so I might just purchase two of the lenses on a payment-plan, and use my cash on some lights from Cool Lights.

Any help would be super appreciated!

Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...


I'm getting deja-vu here, weren't you doing this same thing about a year ago?

go for 2X 16gb Panasonic gold cards
definitely 2 batteries
Hold-off on the Olympus and Voigtlander until after the release of the new Panasonic X series zooms, they might be worth the wait.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses!

Around 3-4 months ago I was asking about similar ideas, but narrowed down what I was going to purchase even more. Tomorrow I'm buying a Tokina AF 28-70mm PRO 1 version lens for $350 instead of the olympus. Still going to be purchasing the 11-16 as well, then wait on the Voigt. Probably purchase a few other accessories in place of the Voigt. Like shoulder mount and some Cool lights.

Grant-

I did mention audio in the OP, my audio needs are covered entirely, so that's not needed in the budget. I've opted out of the voigt and will be purchasing around $800 worth of Cool lights to begin with.
 
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no no, finished shooting my web series and have nothing coming up. Doesn't make sense to hold on to it.
 
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