Someone PLEASE help a newbie out! I'd greatly appriciate it.

L

LTAldo

New member
Hello. I need some advice. I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I have saved for close to two years to but a new camera to start making indie short films. I have a budget of $5000. After extensive reasearch and word of mouth, the Canon xf100 was, or at least I thought it was, my final choice. Now, after reading news in HDVideo Pro magazine and hearing things from other rumor mills, the Panasonic AG-AC130 looks like an interesting possibility. I need to make a decision by the middle of next month and I feel as if I am back at square one. Any and all advice would be much appriciated. Even if it it is different than these two cameras. Oh, I'm not really interested in DSLR. Thanks so much. This is such a tough decision.
 
If it's primarily for making films, why not an AF100?

The AC130 will do just fine, and it is a lot less expensive and does include a lens, but it won't have the shallow DOF look that so many shooters crave...
 
The AF100 was another model I was considering. But I am going for a bit less expensive. In your opinion, does the ac130 trumps the canon? If so, can you explain a bit? Thanks for your time.
 
What are you looking for? Cinema-sized sensors and a softer look? Perhaps a GH2 with an adapter and Nikons could do.

If you don't mind the caveats of a DSLR, it's producing great results out there, the GH2 has monitoring, has improved IQ and it can adapt to lots of lenses.

Is this budget for camera only? What about tripod and other support equipment? Do you already have it? What about lighting? And what about audio? Do you need to record by yourself?

Anyway, I did a quick wishlist for you adding all that you could get for less than $3K including camera, lens, tripod, audio recorder, boom, mic and extra batteries: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...tDetail.jsp&A=wishlistDetail&Q=&li=4329B19EF9

Pretty impressive what you can get with a budget like this nowadays, my FX7 was $2500 back in 2007.
 
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Lighting, sound etc. is taking care of. Working with a buddy of mine who has equipment. I don't know too much about DSLR video like the GH2. Not saying that it's not an option. I just don't know that much about it. Alot of great reviews though. I know the 1/3 censors in the canon and the 3mos censors in the ac130 are being praised as good "Behind the scenes" footage. But I've also read with a little tweaking of the shutter, etc., they can obtain a movie feel. Like I said, I'm kind of new to this.
 
Tweak to the shutter, perhaps they are referring to 24fps and 1/48-ish shutter, that's only part of the picture.

And I made another wishlist for you (so you can get the idea of the budget) with Nikon lenses and an adapter: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...tDetail.jsp&A=wishlistDetail&Q=&li=4329B7B979

I mean, if you want to make short films (cinematic short films, I presume) going with a cinema-sized sensor is the way to go. Check that out:


I'm no advocator of shooting everything at f1.2 on a full frame camera (usually on 35mm I work around 2.8~4, 5.6 for some close-ups), but the degree of selective focus a M43 sensor offers you at f2.8~4 is already another world compared to small sensors.

You're welcome and I'm also a relatively newcomer to the area to remember how confusing things can be.
 
LTAldo said:
But I've also read with a little tweaking of the shutter, etc., they can obtain a movie feel.
Click to expand...
You definitely can get a superb movie feel out of the 1/3" cameras, but it pretty much requires getting a DOF adapter (like a Redrock M3 or Cinevate Brevis). With those in place, you can get a wonderful filmlike look.

Without it, you have an excellent BTS/ENG type camera.
 
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