Able Cine has built a great rep as a go to source for modern day videographers and cinematographers. They stock not only the cameras and major hardware that we all need, but many of essential bits and pieces to fill out a package. Sometimes even developing their own hardware to fill a void such as their lens collimator. My most favorite tool is their field of view calculator which allows you t o compare the field of view (FOV) of particular lens of one sensor to another. For instance, if you want to see how much a 50mm lens covers on a RED One Camera compared to a Arri Alexa this is the tool for you. It’s mobile friendly and works great on iPhones and iPads –iIt even warrants a weblink on my iphone home screen.It’s free, check it out here.
To read more about it, Abe Cine has this overview.
In December we received two Panasonic AG-AF100 video cameras to add to our rental and production inventory. We figured this would be a good interim camera to have while we were waiting on our Epic and Scarlet cameras and we were right. The camera performs admirably and adds standard videocamera features that are sorely missing from the DSLR cameras such as the 5D and 7D.
The camera image quality is excellent in its own right and the cinema like depth of field due to the large sensor . It works moderately well in low light and produces a pleasing image – less video like then the EX3 but not quite as cinema like as the 5D.
The photo below is of one of our EF100′s rigged with a PL mount adapter, RED 300mm, Red Rock Micro matte box, rails and follow focus on a Sacthler head.
The camera ships mit out lenses, so to equip the cameras we ordered third party lens adapters for PL, Canon EF, and Canon FD lenses. The only micro 4/3″ mount we felt worthy for video was the 20mm, 1.2 pancake lens. By now, most know about the challenge focusing with the inferior LCD and the EVF, and about the 25mb (or so) AVCHD codec. To improve the monitoring we generally use our Panasonic HDSDI 7″, and for improved image recording we have ordered (now delayed) Ninja Pre-Res recorders.
The recent firmware upgrade released by Panasonic fixes a couple of minor bugs with the camera interface, and we expect more upgrades to work with more automated lenses. A couple of nagging things are all about features buried in menus. The lens check being a couple of menus deep. The lens check, which enables and disables features of specific lenses, is one and the other is the shutter speed. I expect there are shortcuts to get to these but I haven’t found them yet. Barry Green’s book is a must have for any EF100 user (just like it was for the HVX-200).
When I take the camera out I generally use the PL Mount adapter with our RED Zooms, bringing both the 18-50 and the 50-150. With a crop factor of 1.3 to the RED, the sweet spot for interviews is around 55mm, so depending on the location I will usually shoot with the 50-150, sometimes using the 18-50 for establishing shots. I most always toss in the 20mm pancake lens, and if the our ever popular Duclos 11-17 PL is available I will add that since it makes for a great b-roll lens.If you are using Canon full frame lenses the crop factor is 2.1x.
The cameras have been extremely popular with our shooters and in rentals. It is not a replacement for an EX3 or an HVX as an ENG camera, but is much more comfortable to use for interviews and such then a DSLR. Part of the benefits are the addition of a headphone jack (what a concept!) and built-in ND filters. Both of these features are normal for most cameras, but absent from the DSLR camp at this time.
Why would I take this camera our over my Red? Well I generally wouldn’t for interviews or studio work, but that is because I own both and there is no economic reason to. However, the Panasonic is a less bulky package, the battery life and record times that are longer with less bulk (smaller batteries and cheap SDHC media), I can bring a smaller tripod, and I can hand hold with ease. One thing that I am in love with (theoretically) is once again having sharpie friendly media. Meaning I can buy cards like I used to buy tape and after they are used, write on them with a Sharpie and put them in our library. Sure I still have to copy them to our editing bay storage and archive them to our DAM library, but I can always go back to the original media if needed. WIth RED and DSLR workflow we can’t justify not reusing the original media, but with $3 per GB for removable media we can.
Here is a good read by Mickey Grant on his first adventure with the camera while traveling abroad and by Philip Bloom in his first days with the EF100 camera. And though some of Barry’s tips are (thankfully) outdated by firmware updates, his tips post is excellent.
If you have any experience with the AF100, please drop us a note.
Last year we produced a national spot for Zeiss Vision using our Red One. Of course, it was a natural to use Zeiss optics and the spot turned out great. We partnered on the creative and shot the spot on green screen in our studio space. All the VFX was done in house and using the 4K real estate of the RED image we did all re-cropping and zooms in post. This was shot with the original Mysterium chip in our Red One.
I have included a behind the scenes little promo we did for their national meeting in this clip.
We received our cameras in 2007 and one of the first projects our cameras worked on outside of internal projects was a film called True Nature. As with most indie films, it took some time for them to wrap up all the shooting and post, but the film is now complete and looking for distribution. Here is a link to the trailer
The DP was Marco Fargnoli and Jeff Killian was our DIT who got them going on location in Ohio. Marco has some TIFF’s pulled from the original R3D files that you may enjoy. The film was lit beautifully and they were able to shoot as if they were shooting on celluloid.
While not everyone agrees on the details, most will agree that the RED ONE revolutionized digital cinema, either directly or indirectly. Nearly two and half years after it’s introduction RED turned the industry on it’s head again by offering a cost effective major upgrade to their cameras. This upgrade to the Mysterium X sensor has the potential to radically improve the camera already in the hands of it’s owners — some owners, like us, had their RED cameras since 2007. This is a big deal, something never done by Sony, Panasonic, Ikegami, Arri in the history of the industry. Sure you could repair a camera or replace a part – put I have never been able to essentially upgrade a camera I already own without buying an entire new model!
Well? Did RED do it? Does the Mysterium X outshine the Mysterium, and is it worth the investment?
We decided to put it to the test and results are posted below. Here are some stills that represent the tests:
Low Light Compare - Tungsten
Mysterium on left, MX on right, both cameras at ISO 2000. You can immediately see the noise floor and additional image information.
This vehicle headlights and dusk shot is dramatic. Notice the low noise in the MX image, the better sensitivity and contrast range (ability to handle brights and darks). ISO 2000.
We exposed this scene at proper exposure and then opened up 3 stops to make the recording. Using REDcine FLUT controls in POST we wanted to see if scene could be recovered. As you can easily see, the MX was easily recovered (look at the blown out leaves in the sky if the before and after) and would have been completely useable with some additional color correction, but the Mysterium was missing so much information that it would have been impossible to correct. Both cameras were at ISO 800.
The video clips speak for themselves. Enjoy. Both clips are the same, We are testing out the both YouTube and Exposure Room – let me know which player works best for you.
On Exposure Room (download link available – file is 250mb)
On YouTube. Make sure you choose the 720P version and zoom to full screen for best view.
We believe the MX is worth the investment and have upgraded both of our cameras to the new MX sensor. Looking towards the future, our upgraded RED ONES will be a nice compliment to the Scarlet and the EPIC cameras.
Details for the Camera Test and the processing:
We upgraded our camera #15 to Mysterium X and held back our second camera, #16 to Mysterium. The test was conducted with gathering of some industry friends at our OC facilities on Feb. 26, 2010. The tests were informal, yet provide valuable insight into the major differences between the Mysterium and Mysterium X sensor upgrade. The firmware is a beta release, as is the RED Cine program used to convert the R3D files to PRORES and to export snapshot TIFF images.
The process for the test was simple – the same set-up was used for each cameras series of shots. We used the same lighting, tripod, subjects and lenses. Between each test, as few minutes of time lapse and the subject movements and poses were similar, though not exact.
Our goal was to demonstrate any differences between the two sensors. We were expecting a difference in the noise floor and the contrast range. Both were evident and significant to us, see if you agree by reviewing the representative samples we provided. A log of the complete test is available here.
Both cameras set to factory defaults and black shaded before test. Shooting 4K 2:1, RED Code 42 Camera B is Serial No. 16 “Connor”, Mysterium Build 21.4.1 Camera A is Serial No. 15 “RIpley”, Mysterium X upgrade, Build 30.2.4 White balance was matched in Red Cine and all clips were set to REDcolor and REDgamma. No other corrections were made.
The R3D files were exported from REDcine as Apple Pro Res HQ, then brought into FCP. The video files were edited in Final Cut Pro using Apple Pro Res HQ and then exported as a reference file. The reference file was exported to H264 1080P using Telestream Episode. The H264 file was uploaded to web video server where they did their own conversions.
For the split screen comparisons, I exported TIFF still frames from REDcine and, using Photoshop created the split screen and text overlays. The files were exported from Photoshop as TIFF files and then converted to 80% quality JPEG files. As a reminder to all, TIFF single frame exports from the Red 4K 2:1 RAW file are 48MB each frame. The JPEG exports seen her are only 2.5MB so some details are missing as a result. If you are interested in seeing the TIFF files I can make links available on request, however, I feel the additional artifacts don’t distract from the comparative results, but always always happy to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks to all of our colleagues that participated in the test at our Orange County facilities and share our enthusiasm for RED technology.
PS: We are happy to say that our both of our cameras are now equipped with the MX sensors and are available for rent.
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