Mondo

Good lord what an update. Gonna have to start saving my scheckles.

Came up on a GH4 so now I'm looking to kit it out! Best cage solution?

We carry the Second Shooter where I work and I've used it a handful of times. It's very easy to set your points and adjust your speeds based on what you need. It's a very strong system and the menus are very straight forward. It's solid.

Granted I haven't used it extensively, but this is from testing and slight use in the field.

I have access to both from work so I'm probably just going to do some projects with each and see how it goes. Haven't been on the forums in a while and posting this topic has helped me out a lot so thank you everyone.

27 minutes ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

It simply doesn't have a ''nice'' image. Going with a used Sony FS100 (main compititor) will give you a much nicer image with much better lowlight performance, An F3+Ninja2 will be above and beyond both... But depends on budget. 

No today I would not buy or shoot an AF100. If I need a camcorder for cheap, FS100, F3, C100 MKI, GH4+YAGH (all used) are all better options. 

FS100 lacking NDs is a little annoying for me personally. Trying to avoid that. Image is nice though. Another reason I'm looking into the AF100 is because I'm invested in M43 a little bit. C100 doesn't have slo mo options which is something I need, and F3 + lenses would be a little out of budget. Plus media.

Just gauging to see what people use. Thanks for the input!

9 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

It's a practical camera with great user egos and is still a good value, IMHO.  Clean, not great, image.  

Caveats:  It's a larger footprint camera.  For some doc subjects/situations these can be a problem as it "looks" like a pro camera and people behave around it as such...and authority figures react to it as such. Getting a shakedown from some local security guard while traveling is never fun.

The highlights roll off like a video camera.  It doesn't have that film gamma curve.  You can compensate by manually adjusting your knee settings and that'll help.

For the type of doc stuff I'm involved in, using consumer mirrorless cameras has been really great and I wouldn't switch back to a "real" camera, (even though I'd really appreciate the XLR/ND/ergos) --but only because my stuff has been and continues to be a rather specific style/technique.

If I was doing more in-town-corporate stuff right now I think I'd do what you're doing.  Buy a used one of these and work it like crazy.  For only 1K-ish, it's not a risky investment.

Yeah it's mainly the ergos I'm after. I have a GH3 and GH2 I use if I want to be discrete, but audio is becoming more important for me and not having to carry around another piece of gear is something I'm looking forward to. Also built in NDs.

I feel like I could bump the image quality in post too. I'd have to mess around with one some more. Thanks!

Been looking for an affordable camera with an interchangable lens mount and XLR inputs. Seeing myself doing a lot of doc type work in the future and I don't want to stick to DSLRs anymore. Is the AF100 still worth it? They can be had for under $1,000. Any help appreciated!

Same optics, so no loss in quality. It's just a different mount/focusing direction.

Do you have to email them directly about purchasing or will it be available from their website/other vendors?

Awesome. We have a set of them where I work and they're beautiful lenses. Congrats!

Lens has been sold. I wasn't able to try 35mm on the BMCC.

Hello all,

I've decided to sell my Kowa Prominar 16-S anamorphic lens with Redstan clamps so I can upgrade some of my other gear. I'd love to keep it, but I'm not shooting anamorphic enough and I have other needs as far as gear. The lens is a 2x stretch and the minimum focus distance is 5 ft. Dual focus.

Images are sharp. I've used this with a Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 and a Helios 44-2 58mm f/2. The images I've gotten from both lenses are very nice and I like them a lot. You'll have to stop down though to f/4-5.6 to get the images sharp. The back clamp fits this lens like a glove and has a rear thread of 52mm. Front adapter has a filter thread of 72mm and attaches to the lens via included screws.

There is a little bit of internal dust as well as some markings on one of the front internal elements which has NO EFFECT on the image at all. Purely cosmetic. Pictures can be provided upon PM.

Here's something I shot with it:
https://vimeo.com/70602844

I have pictures available upon request. This is a great starter lens for anyone who is looking into anamorphic but doesn't want to drop a boat load of cash on anything crazy. $350 shipped for everything. Paypal only. Don't want to deal with eBay. Plus it comes with a sweet snakeskin box. Thanks!

If you're interested I'm selling a Kowa Prominar 16-S anamorphic lens with a Redstan clamp and front filter adapter, also made by Redstan. $350 shipped.

Has anyone ever experienced any issues of the camera crashing and not turning on?

Practice practice practice. It's just a matter of shooting and getting used to it. Not shooting wide open is another thing to think about as well.

D5200 or D7100. They surprised me.

Go for the GH2 and get any old Canon FD lens off of eBay. Great way to start for cheap. Miles ahead of the other cameras you were suggesting once it's hacked.

I'd love to shoot something in there. Looks great.

What camera are you using? I use my GH3's grid lines as a level for alignment. I shine a light into my lens and see if those flares match with the grid. It's worked for me every time.

Just came across a lens called "Manon Anamorphic-8" on eBay and couldn't find anything else about the lens. It has a 1.5x squeeze though, which got me intrigued. Anyone know anything about that lens? Looks like it can't focus closer than 5 feet but I may be wrong.

This is awesome. Very unique!

Are you going to do stock GH2 as well as hacked GH2?

Borrowlenses.com also has a good rental selection.

You'll have more options for lenses for that cinematic look with the GH3 or even GH2. Mirrorless allows you to adapt anything to it, as opposed to the 5D III which is limited. But as voyagervideo said, it's not just the camera, but the other aspects you use to create your look, like lenses, lighting, etc.

Holy crap those flares. Want.