Report: Love the ND wheel but....hate

[Shooter]

The filter wheel is one of my favorite things about the AF100, and if the only downside is that it's named "1/4" instead of "ND .6", hey, I'll adapt.

Thats kind of what I was saying in my posts as well ( even if it didnt seem like that).

This camera to me will be mostly used in the studio and alwayas with lighting ...so the rules are a little different in the practical sense. I am happy to use glass ND here anyway.

I agree with you totally about ISO on the wheel. ( I thought I was the only one that didnt see the need)

 

[TimurCivan]

I am not saying it isnt what they said it is or not. No problem there.

Coming from a film BG...we selected a stock ( base on asa and color temp type) for the purpose of what we were shooting.

Indoors stocks were different ( usually faster higher asa/color temp ) to out doors stocks (usually lower asa / color temp.)

This camera has an ISO rating and color temp function (that replicates exactly that way of working). Perfect for me and probably anyone that has shot film because its so familiar to us.

So for me ...go outside...simply drop the ISO. I am not going to stay with high ISO and drop in 6 stops of ND. Doesnt make sense to me and my colleagues.
(There are many here calling for even easier access to ISO so they can use that instead of aperture control)

So summing up. I have two issues with the ND wheel: Its a coarse adjustment because of the 2,4, 6 stop range and secondly ..it doesnt relate to a production camera. Its ENG/ live broadcast style operation.

I will use pro glass filters to accomodate for my own old fashioned style. No problem

BTW: lighting for a two stop , 4 stop or 6 stop difference is a massive amount of lighting.

I think the benefit of keeping the ISO higher and using the ND is that much like a REDone, F3, ALEXA, the sensor is optimized for performance at a certain ISO. These days that ISO is higher, like ISO500 and ISO800 depending on the camera. Sometimes a 6 stop ND is necessary to keep the sensor at the sweet spot.

 

[Rick Burnett]

I think the benefit of keeping the ISO higher and using the ND is that much like a REDone, F3, ALEXA, the sensor is optimized for performance at a certain ISO. These days that ISO is higher, like ISO500 and ISO800 depending on the camera. Sometimes a 6 stop ND is necessary to keep the sensor at the sweet spot.

I have no problem when it is brighter and using ND filters to bring the light down to one of the better ISO (gain) settings, and I absolutely agree that this is the best thing to do. My problem is when I am shooting in less than idea situations and I know that I want to capture a shot, as best as I can, especially if it is a situation where I cannot control the light for whatever reason. This does happen sometimes when I am doing more spontaneous shooting. (Or event shooting)

Remember, not everyone has the same needs as you do for a camera (and I don't mean that to just you Timur, I mean to everyone).

The point I make is I don't even care if it were labeled ISO values, even just gain is fine by me. If I am shooting in a dark situation, I want to be able to dial in the EXACT amount of gain that I want when I've already opened my aperture to maximum. Sure, I realize that I come from a DSLR background and I could constantly change the ISO in varied situations where I was say filming an event at night. Having 3 settings is an absolute pain for those same scenarios for me. I don't know what I am going to hit at different portions of the shoot. Right now I have to go in and adjust it in the menus when I just cannot hit the gain I want with what I have on the switch. It's just not a very optimized process.

The thing that gets me is that it isn't like anyone is asking for something complicated, this is simple. I realize that people with a film background cannot get why someone would want this, since you had to change film stock, but come on, it's okay for technology to make your life easier. If I can choose between ISO1200 & ISO1600 there is a big difference in noise at these levels. I would NEVER in darker shooting conditions want to put more gain then use an ND filter to bring the light down (or aperture) because I am getting more noise in the image without any gain (put intended) for doing it.

The problem is, the AF100 tries to hit a lot of different targets. Just like you Shooter, you would have preferred three different ND strengths, yet I am happy with what Panasonic chose to implement, and I use them regularly. I don't know how I lived without them before