The Salton Sea-AF100 and Gh2

dustylense

Veteran
Had to get out with the cameras and shooting something this Saturday. So I headed out to The Salton Sea, CA. It was nearly 100 degrees with what seemed to be zero mile an hour winds. Both cameras held up without a single hiccup. Saw lot's of other shooters out there and particularly one group shooting what looked like a music video on 7D. I could swear I saw them waiting for the camera to start working again due to overheating a few times. Even my little Gh2 worked like a champ in the heat.
Loving the Af100. I'm really getting used to having waveforms and such. It gives me the ability to adjust the scene file accordingly. I didn't really want to change lenses out in the desert, so all was shot with the 14-140 on the af100 and the 14-42 on the gh2. Got up to 1600 Iso near the end and I feel it help up well. I even threw DRS at the desert on many of these shot (Yes, as high as DRS 3).
 
Beautiful work man. Some of those shots looked really stunniny. I'm curious to see the difference something like DRS3 might have on that type of setting.
 
Thanks Papa. I just thought I would play with DRS being that it's there. I found that I could really compress a dynamic range into a soft curve. Maybe next time I'll shoot DRS on and off to really see or post the difference. I just adjusted to the waveform on intuition. But I'm not afraid to use it. I saw no more noise using it than without it. I come from a stills background and the "HDSLR" got me into motion. The Af100 is just such a joy to work with.
Oh and hey, a good tip for black balance when using A/B white balance. Wear a ball cap and cover your lens to black balance so it doesn't change your white balance.

Next step, external recorder. I feel the AVCHD codec is fantastic, but I'd like to get any edge that an external record can provide. Just not sure which one to get until you AF100 boys start reporting and posting some pros and cons. So far I'm leaning Ki pro mini, but interested in the Samurai.

Anyway, THANKS PANASONIC FOR MAKING AN AWESOME CAMERA!
 
Beautiful!
How much GH2? You kept one WB the whole time?
Love the cuts between slow moves at the beginning.

All slider shots are Gh2. My "mickey rig" with my cut to size glidetrack probably can't handle the AF100 (If I took a picture of the mickey rig, you might get a laugh). Had the Cineslider in the van, but it was too hot to hike around with it. Plus, I wanted to intercut the GH2 with the AF100 and see how they blended.

I WB often as the day goes on. Doesn't mean I use it, but it's kinda a "color meter" for me. All of these shots are 3 way color corrected in FCP, VERY MINIMALLY! No more than a few points in color or density. I'm the kinda guy that doesn't like to depend on the "do it in post" way. The more that can get done in camera, the less post you're faced with I guess (especially with 8 bit 4.2.0). So, if I approach a scene, I'll take a WB though an exposedisc on A, then check it against the preset 5600. From there I make my decision of where I want to dial it in. Once set, I stick with it for any continuing sequence of shots. Now as the light is falling, I'll WB setting A then let a few minutes go by and WB setting B. I can then go between them to use as sort of a color meter.

I used to work with a car shooter. Location work. He would take a color meter reading once and tell the cam operator the filtration. As the light changed, he would yell out the changes in filtration without the color meter. When the film got back, I was amazed at how accurate he was! He would take a shoot at sunset and we would shoot until you could barely see, and the film all looked identical.
 
lovely shots & velvet water.

great to hear some old Floyd, true to my heart as I cut all my showreels to them...
 
Yeah, I forgot to mention the vintage Floyd! Previous test and then this.
Should we expect you to dig deep in their archives for all your pieces? :thumbsup:
 
mind you, there should be a prize for whoever can create a surreal enough piece to accompany those several species of small furry animals...
That would be the toughest track eh? But yes, the live side is all too brilliant! So glad there are Floyd fans (DEEP FLOYD FANS AT THAT) here. Long live Floyd!!!!!
 
Really enjoyed this piece. Nicely done. The cameras matched up pretty well and was I glad to see that since I have a GH2 and want to use it with the AF-100. Using it on the slider makes sense. I'm sure its much easier to get a good take.
Cheers!
 
Great video
I'm projecting to shoot a music video there , unfortunatly it will have to be in june ( super hot weather will be a challenge)
And I wouldn't mind if you have any basic advice for me.
I will have the lead singer to direct and two people to assist me. We plan to sleep on site the night before and start shooting super early in the morning, some shots in the afternoon and the reminder at sunset.
I'm a little anxious about changing lens as well but I won't have much choice ( planning to do so in the car if possible)

Any advice would really be welcome

Thanks
Seb
 
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