ALL: Using either an AG-AF100 or GH2 as second camera with AC130

T

treehorn

Member
I have an AC130 that I use to shoot interviews/red carpet/rehearsals/performances of theater shows and concerts.

I have a potential two camera shoot on the horizon which would be a 2+ hour theatrical event (full sized Broadway house) and am going to need a second camera for the shoot. The rental agency I contacted said they could rent me an AG-AF100, which made me wonder...as I already have a Panasonic GH2 in my arsenal, and it is very similar to the AG-AF100 in terms of sensor and lenses, would it make sense to simply use the GH2 to shoot the longshot instead of paying to rent the AG-AF100? I have used the GH2 only for interviews as I haven't wanted to risk a one-night-only event on it to test its capability with handling stage lights and depth of focus.

Has anybody used a GH2 in such a situation? the event would be shot back of house in a large theater with full stage lights (and a good deal of movement, choreography, etc). And how well does the footage match the 130?

The company I used to work for and shoot this with folded last month so I am picking up the slack (and using my own equipment to do so)
 
Depends what you expect out of it. The AF100 is a better camera than the GH2 as its price would suggest. Is it night and day- no. Is it worth the rental to get better image quality- that's entirely up to you. The GH2 with a good lens certainly would produce acceptable image quality that would probably cut fine with an AC130. Best of course would be another AC130, that way image quality would be much closer and post workflow simpler.

-Noah
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to have an opportunity to film something for them that's a one camera shoot and am going to bring the GH2 to shoot next to it as a 'safety longshot' to see how the footage compares and integrates, and if it will be acceptable. While I'd love to have another AC130, the rental place only carries the AF100 (and actually sneered at my 130...which I find a bit odd since they are the exact same price point...) and the company for whom I am shooting is not sure what direction they want to go in the future...so aren't wanting to buy anything at this point.
 
Actually shot a stage show last night with the AC130 and AF100 and it worked out pretty well! I used a slightly modified "Marvel's" preset on the AF100 and tuned the AC130 standard Panasonic preset to match - they are very close and only needed a tiny hue adjust to match spot on. Let me know if anyone is interested in these settings and I can post them here (PM me if I don't check back!)

Shooting from the back of the auditorium, I had a Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 on the AF100 - I wish I had brought my 24-105mm F4 as the 17-50 was just a little too wide. Also, at 70 feet, I found it a challenge to keep the lens focused as the focal plane was quite thin at ≈F3.2. Gain was between ISO400 and ISO800 on the AF100 and between 3db and 9db on the AC130.

As a master shot, the AF100 did a perfect job, but the lens was a bit limiting framing-wise. I imported both cams into the a new Final Cut X multicam project and it should work pretty slick.

Agreed that a second AC130/160 would be the best option here, but in pinch, especially for a master wide shot, the AF100 will work just fine. If you're comfortable adjusting gain/focus/framing/starting and stopping on your GH2 quickly then go ahead, but personally, I prefer a video camera that will just work - YMMV.
 
I'd be interested. I'm going to do a test run with the GH2/130 pairing (as I have a one camera for them that I can bring the GH2 as a safety/test). A concern with renting the 100 is I don't own it/know it so if I do end up renting it, would love the settings to give me a leg-up.Thanks for all your help
 
Just throwing out that I have done a few night club shoots now pairing an AC130 and Canon T3i. I think for live gig shooting, the difference in look of the full depth of field vs the shallow depth of field is okay. In a studio situation though, I think the difference is kind of distracting based on my testing and what i have seen some other people post. If the production is important enough to that it needs to match closer, what about renting something like a Sony NX5U which is pretty comparable to an AC130? I think more places have them to rent at the same price as an AF100.
 
treehorn said:
. A concern with renting the 100 is I don't own it/know it so if I do end up renting it, would love the settings to give me a leg-up.Thanks for all your help
Click to expand...
Well, you can put that concern to rest; the af100 is basically the exact same camera as the ac130, just with a bigger sensor. All the menu settings are basically identical. I'm sure you will feel very comfortable with the af100 within the first five minutes of using it.
 
Hey Barry,

I too am looking for a second camera to match up with my af100, I see the ac160 has HD-SDI out; are the menu settings identical as well?
this would be a great camera for me as the batteries match and I can use it for legal video. Are there any other major differences from the 30 to the 60?
 
Settings here:

AF100 based off Marvels Cine

Detail level: -5
Vertical detail level: -5
Detail coring: -4
Chroma level: -2
Chroma phase: 0
Master ped: -4
Gamma: Cine-Like-D
Matrix: Norm2


AC130 Based off Panasonic Standard

Detail level: -5
Vertical detail level: -5
Detail coring: 0
Chroma level: -5
Chroma phase: 0
Master ped: -2
DRS: 1
Gamma: Cine-Like-D
Matrix: Cine-Like

YMMV but they seem to match pretty close for a stage-lit show.
 
I'm going to have to try your AC130 settings out for a test spin as I haven't played with anything but basic setting yet (curious why both the detail settings have been knocked down -5 on both cameras - what is the favorable output).

So many things to experiment with...thanks for giving me a leg up on learning my camera.
 
Detail settings on the camera go from -7 to +7. It's a bit counterintuitive, but -7 actually means that the camera applies no artificial sharpening/edge enhancement. 0 would be a medium amount of enhancement. Many of us think that too much sharpening makes noise more apparent and cheapens the look of the camera by making it more like "video." It's a personal preference, but it's still plenty sharp at the lower levels. Also try playing with the Matrix and Gamma settings to see what you like best.
 
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