the editman.com

Panasonic AG-AF100 release is getting closer and now Panasonic has a dedicated site for the AG-AF100.

Link to the Panasonic website.

A week ago I got a small on-camera LED light, the CN126. Now it's time for the big brother of the CN126 to be highlighted, the CN 600-HS.

Made in China is something we are used to and this is no exception. China is the new Made in Japan but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Most electronic parts are made in China and I guess many of the better film making equipment has their manufacturing in China as well.

This LED light panel has 600 LEDs in a 1x1ft square shaped aluminium fixture. It's a solid piece of equipment but the flags/barndoors is not that great. Depart from protecting the panel when transported they don't serve much use. LED panels have very little use of barndoors but at least you can clamp on some soft filter so they are not totally useless. They feel a bit weak but as they are not essential how cares right?




On the back of the unit is a power switch, a dimmer knob, a power connector for 14-15V and a V-lock battery mount. There's also a remote connector but the kit I got didn't have an external dimmer included. The dimmer works between 5% and 100% so even when it's dialled all the way down, there's an idle current going to the LEDs.

The power supply is really small for being a light PSU. But this panel draws only 36W so it can be that small. I mounted it on one of the yokes arm so it's not in the way when rigging and it doesn't get lost. The yoke is some sort of metal and powder sprayed as is the fixture it self. I will also try to mount it on the back side which should work since the unit don't generate any heat to speak of.

Looking at panels from the leading LED panel in film making - Litepanels. This one looks very similar. My guess it's made in almost the same location as this one. Somewhere in the heart of China. I don't expect this panel to be as good as the Litepanels but it's only around 500 EURO including shipping. You can even get them cheaper on ebay!



This model is a spot beamed version and rated at 600W equivalent light output to a halogen lamp. It's harder than a Kino but softer than a halogen light. Included with this kit is three filters that slide in in front of the LEDs. One filter is a minus green that reduces green spikes. It works very well producing spike free images. The panel it self is rated to 5400K and with the minus green filter it's somewhere between 5000K and 5400K. The second filter is a tungsten filter that is supposed to make this light 3200K. It's not strong enough so I ended at about 3900K and with green spiking. So to remedy this I would have to add a minus green filter and a stronger tungsten filter. The third filter being a soft filter which is useless since you'll end up with ugly green spiking.

According to the manufacture and other sources this LED panel has a CRI of >80 with the magenta/minus green filter installed. Higher end LED panels might go up to 85-90 CRI value but for the price this is about what one will get.

Light output is fairly strong but it's hard to compare different type of lights with each other. I got a properly exposed light skinned person at F2.8, 1/200s and ISO200 at about one meter distance. I shot stills. With the tungsten filter I had to reduce green as noted before. Since the CN126 uses the same LEDs ( I presume) you could use the 600 to key and the 126 to fill and it will match.



Also included in this kit was a carrying bag with plenty of room for the fixture, filters, power supply and cable. The only question that I ask my self is how Nan Guang Lighting sounds when compared with names like Litepanels and Cool lights? This is apparently the brand of the CN 600-HS and also the CN126.

DSLR rigs for video shooting are popping up everywhere but I would never expect a Swedish rig to be so complete and rugged as the Swedish Chameleon!

 

This rig is for shoulder use but can also be put on a tripod or reconfigured for other situations. Almost all parts are made in Sweden so this adds to the cost which is about 19.000 SEK or roughly translated into US$2600 inc VAT. It’s a bit steep for a shoulder rig but actually this one is much more than just a shoulder rig.

 

It has some unique features and if you consider what you get I think the price is just right. It has a follow focus, waist support, start/stop recording on the handle and it uses only top quality parts. If I compare the parts with stuff from other manufactures, all the parts on the Swedish Chameleon is above most. Just look at all the knobs. The quality and how they really tighten around rods is just amazing. This is what quality is all about!

 

A shoulder rig can become heavy and cumbersome to use. This one has an excellent approach on how to deal with weight. On the back of the shoulder pad there’s a rod going straight down to a waist belt. When you put the rig on your shoulder you can fasten the waist strap without assistance. Hold at one end of the belt and the rig stays until you have fasten the belt. It can slip off your shoulder, but just taking it slow and it works really good.

 

When mounted you don’t even have to hold it. It’s supported by your shoulder but mostly by your hips. Yes, it’s a waist belt but when you get it on your hips it feels so comfortable and effortless to wear.

Now there is also a problem doing this. You really don’t want to shoot anything else than what’s level with the camera. Any tilting just feels awkward. The rod connected to your hips makes it almost impossible, without doing some acrobatic moves, to shoot anything high or low. Okay, so I would forget about these kinda shots and I guess you can’t have it both ways. Either a  comfortable shoulder rig or a more flexible one.

The belt is comfortable to use and adjustable. If not tighten the vertical rod will stick out so be sure to make it tight. It’s a bit disappointing that you can’t adjust tilt angle when mounted and this will be a problem if you plan any tilting to adjust the camera to fit your height while using the waist belt. You can always loosen the belt if you want it to tilt down but that’s the only way.

The handles are a bit funny looking and I wasn’t sure why they are bent like they are. But when you start to use it one thing is clear. Having them bent means you can rest your hands when shooting. Not the other way around as is with shoulder rigs in general. This rig I feel like I can shoot all day and not feel to much fatigue.

 

One special thing is the follow focus unit. It uses belts to turn the focus ring and works fine with Canon lenses (or Nikon if that’s your brand) as long as the rings are rubber ones. On metal rings like those on Zeiss glass you just put a rubber on and then the belt get a good grip. Despite sounding like a quick fix it works. No lens gears are needed.

The belt does slip when you turn the wheel past the lens focus ring ends and the follow focus don't have a marker for an AC to pull focus. But this rig isn't intended to be used by anyone else than the DP.

The follow focus is a one-rod one and as you tighten belt to follow focus, the camera will turn towards the follow focus side. This is the opposite to when you have a geared follow focus and you push the unit to the lens. The Velbon quick release plate has two small flip-up stops that are intended to stop the camera from turning, but when you start to tighten it will turn sooner than I would want. The problem lies in the fact that DSLR cameras don’t have an azimuth pinhole and all camera will turn when pushed. There is a lens support, rod mounted, that will help to avoid the lens from turning. But that makes it another thing to adjust when swapping lenses.

 

A traditional follow focus unit is faster to use since you don’t have to take into account the belt. But on the other hand this follow focus suits this rig better since it has that angle. It's also positioned so that you can hold the handle and still turn the wheel.

This would be difficult with a straight mounted focus unit. When shoulder mounted you don’t even have to hold the left hand by the handle since all weight is on the shoulder but mostly your hip.

The right handle is a little special. It has a built in record button. It also has a goose neck IR emitter that you turn against the IR receiver on a 7D/5D or 1D. Setting the camera for timer/remote gives you the ability to start recording with a press on the handles red button. An excellent feature, but if I may wish a x10 zoom button would make focusing much easier and it could be placed just beside the recording button for convenient use. You have to check focus by zooming in to be sure, so this would be a very nice feature.

I can see three ways to use this rig. The first one is as it’s intended to be used. Shoulder mounted with the waist belt on. If you take away the shoulder pad part it mounts on a tripod so this is another way to use it. The third being if you hand hold it without the pad part. I feel this works very good for shorter periods of time giving me steady footage.

The Swedish Chameleon has standard 15mm rod and 60mm rod spacing. So to hook up a mattebox or other rod mounted things is not a problem.

So is this the answer to all our dreams? Well, nothing is really but it comes close.

A DSLR isn’t a video camera and misses many things a pro video camera can do. You have to add some sort of audio hardware and when other people have to monitor what you are doing HDMI splitters or converters has to be deployed. Maybe this rig best use is for what it is – a very good shoulder rig.

Just to try it out with other hardware I mounted my own DSLR cage rig with just the shoulder pad part from Swedish Chameleon and it made my rig almost as easy to carry. I did miss the record button, the handles and the angled follow focus unit but on the other hand my rig is built to accommodate more hardware and protection for my camera.

Having tried many different parts and rigs it’s clear the Swedish Chameleon is above all others when it comes to quality. When I talked to the designer/inventor Guffe Funck this guy has done some serious thinking and he has more things coming.

I have the rig staring at me telling me I need one. It just looks so darn sexy and the feeling of using it is a joy despite the small shortcomings!

You can read more about it on http://swedishchameleon.se/

Small things are also good. Today I received new blocks for my slider. The ones that came with the slider didn't work to screw straight into a 3/8 tripod screw. But thanks to Brian Berkey I now can use the slider mounted, either like in the picture, on one tripod or one at each end

I would recommend two tripods but this also works. The Manfrotto 055 is steady but it does weight down a bit when the slider moves to one end. A great thing about the blocks is you can slide them anywhere under the slider. With a bit of counter weight you can even flip the slider vertical and do those kind of shots.

My slider differs in that the ends are chromed where as the version you can buy at slidekamera.com are black.

LED has come a long way these days. They are such a great little component and when combined with more than a hundred we get something useful for video and photo. I got this very cheap LED on-camera light from ebay. They have the exact same model in Swedish stores but it's priced about six times as much!

Six times as much means you can get six of these for the same price but with much higher light output. These lights are not of high quality. Plastic housing and a little flimsy foot. But they do deliver very much light for the small size. Having 126 LED pointing the same way will hurt your eyes if it's close. It's just blasting from the panel. It runs of six AA batteries or Panasonic SD. A battery tray for the Panasonic SD is included and snaps into place on the rear.



Thank good they are dimmable! Just turn the dial to fine tune light output. I can imagine these being a great way to fill in some shades outdoors if not in direct sunlight of course. Combine three or more and you can model light pretty decent for a small cost. If it breaks you're only about $35 shorter so not a heavy investment. I bought this one to try if LED really can be useful and it seams to work just as it should. There are more rugged models costing ten times more but I guess the LED's will last just as long on the cheaper versions.



Included in this small kit is three filters. A diffuser, a yellow (tungsten) filter and a magenta filter to get rid of some green. The light is rated to about 5400K but I serious doubt they are spot on. I don't think the yellow filter makes it tungsten but at least not as cold as 5400K. There is a small arm and a hot shoe mount under the light and a small foot to place it on a tripod or table. Again cheap quality but as they are so cheap I don't feel it to be a big loss if or when they break. I will look into a bigger brother to this LED panel next week that runs on V-lock or AC!

Gathering hardware is good but to store and transport them safely makes everything so much more useful. I'm fond of Lowepro's bags and I already got two of them - Computrekker AW plus and a Magnum AW650, but they still can't take everything so I got a Magnum DV4000 to cover the last pieces of equipment.

The DV4000 is not bigger than my Magnum AW650 but shaped a bit different and that suits the rest of my equipment. Tucked inside is my rod rig, mattebox, spare rods, skate dolly, two pan/tilt heads and some spare room for bits and pieces. It's not packed dens so not to heavy carrying.




As all Lowepro bags and many other brands camera bags, this one also has dividers that can be somewhat customized. I wish they could be even more flexible but it works. I like this kind of bags that are soft and still protects everything from bumps and moister. A rain cover is included and it's so easy pulling it out and you're protected!




On three sides there are pockets for all sorts of stuff. Side pockets are easy accessible without open the bag all the way so they are great when reaching for a spare part of some sort. There are rugged handles and a good shoulder strap to carry the load. Exterior is well padded and I think it would survive drops and bumps very well.

 


What's so great about this bag is I can have my camera on the rig and still tuck it inside for safe transportation. And there's still room for my skate dolly! After using Lowepros bags for many years I think they are well built and does a very good job of protection gear. There are other bags from Kata which I also like but the bigger ones I prefer Lowepros.

This is one odd little support for smaller cameras. It's a monopod on top of a tiny tripod. That's right! Now a tripod can stand on it's own and sure the 561BHDV can stand all by itself but I wouldn't trust it to do so without calculating it will eventually tip over.

Somehow it's a beauty to behold in it's simple form. On top of that double packed pod is a special version of the Manfrotto 701HDV head. You can't lock panning but there is a tilt lock. I guess the idea is to pan turning on the monopods shaft and holding the other hand at the handle of the head.



This head matches my 701HDV heads I have on my slider and on my main tripod, thus making it easy to slide the camera on and off which ever support I want. It's rated 4kg maximal load and that's borderline but works with my usual setup of just a 5D or 7D on top with lens attached.




The pole has 4 sections and can go really high for a monopod - 200cm and I tell you that is more than one will need. If I had a tilt able display I could shoot pretty high up and still see what I'm doing. But with the Canons you are stuck with a fixed display.



The three feet locks in position when folding them out and folds back easily. They are rugged and seams to last long. On top of the base is a small ball head and it can support the 561BHDV standing straight up.



Looks familiar right? Basically it's a 701HDV so just pop that quick release on and off on different supports.

I have to do some shooting before telling how well it performs. I love my other Manfrotto monopod with just a small tilt head but this one seams to be more versatile!