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DAY 1:
Well I just got back from Boston/ NY and am knackered. First thing I did was go to Panasonic HQ in Bracknell. Drop off the Gh2, the review of which is delayed as I have a faulty sample am afraid, and then picked up the AG-AF100 pre-production model (so image quality may not be same as retail version)
First off I need to point out this is a totally independent review/ analysis of the AF100. Panasonic are being completely hands off and letting me have free reign here. Hats off to them for this.
I will be updating this blog as I play with it and get to grips with it. It’s a funny looking camera and certainly looks better proportioned with a nice PL lens on it rather than still lenses but I am not interested in how sexy it looks. I care how well it performs in the following areas.
Low light
Moire
Aliasing
Rolling Shutter
Resolution
I will do as much testing as I can, unfortunately the timing is not ideal as I have a shoot tomorrow so I won’t get a chance to do anything with it. But first impressions are good. I have shot a little footage at 3200 ISO and it looks pretty damn good! Great to have features on the camera that I miss SOOOOO much on my DSLRs.
Great to have a 4 setting ND filter wheel. Great to have a really good quality waveform, XLR inputs, zebras, headphone jack (!), the list goes on and on…stuff I struggle with not having on my DSLRs.
First thing I did, despite my hideous jet lag was a quick and dirty low light test. In the devastation that used to be my kitchen I set the camera to 3200 ISO, stuck a Leica M mount Voigtlander 50mm 1.1 with Fotodiox adaptor (costs around $900 for the lens, an amazing lens), used a box of matches and a fat cuban cigar (smoking is bad, only lit it for the piece…mostly!) Unfortunately I have found out that it was ISO 2000, the 3200 ISO just said it was on this pre-production camera…have to wait to Japan to see it now.
One thing I noticed straight off is if you are serious about your filmmaking you will need to invest in a Nanoflash, Ki-Pro type device. 24mbs AVCHD is fine for most things but you simply are not getting the best out of the camera. The HD-SDI of the camera may only be 8-bit but with a nice I-Frame codec you will get a much better image out of it…this camera with a higher bit rate using an external recorder will be much more powerful.
3200 ISO Panasonic AF100 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.
A qucik and dirty test of the low light of the AF100.
Voigtlander 50mm F1.1
3200 ISO
Ungraded
Music by Aphex Twin
DAY 2:
Unfortunately i have been working all day today on a proper shoot on so the AF100 stayed at home. Tomorrow is when i will do as much shooting as I can, with only 1 battery!
I have prepped the gear for what I need.
Got my Philip Bloom Kessler Crane Slider
Miller Compass head with Solo sticks
Zacuto counterbalanced handheld rig
Nanoflash with powerbase 70
Adaptors for Leica M, Canon EOS and Nikon lenses
7-14mm F4 M4/3 lens
Kit lens from my GH1
Various vintage Nikon lenses
Zeiss ZF 50mm, 85mm and 100mm
Canon 70-200 F4
So am am all ready to shoot tomorrow. I am not planning on making a “film” as such. I feel it’s more important to test out the different options, see how well it performs etc…I just hope that battery lasts!
Wish me luck!
Day 3:
It was a bumpy start! I put the one battery I had, ones which are designed for the HM150, on charge and when it was done that night to make sure I did not forget it I put it back on the camera before I went to sleep. That was a mistake as I had left the camera on so when I woke up and started fiddling with the camera. It was dead. The only day I had to shoot. The only battery I had. FLAT. Not good. I put out a desperate tweet, no joy. I emailed Panasonic who had no spares when I saw them two days earlier, got back to me saying they had two spares with chargers and they would bike them to me. THANK GOD! Although when they arrived they were the small batteries and both flat! Still we managed to make it work!
I met my good friend Suresh Kara from Documovie.co.uk, currently a 5DmkII shooter/ director but also an HPX 171 and prior to that an HVX owner so he was very keen on seeing this new camera.
Now this camera is only 75% finished. I get to play with a production version at the Panasonic factory in Osaka, Japan in November and will be shooting with it in Kyoto. For now I had to work within it’s limitations. Yes, it was buggy and fiddly but not enough to stop me shooting with it. Proper white balancing is part of the missing 25% as well as lots of other things including facial tracking focusing which is one of the tests I wanted to do with my kit lens from the GH1 which works so well on that camera.
We started off at a company called Livity in Brixton to see how well it worked under mixed lighting, fluorescents and daylight. I shot a small sequence in there before venturing onto the roof to get some nice high shots of the South London skyline. My 7-14mm lumix lens is a stonking lens. Minimal distortion and just bloody wide. Equivalent of a 14mm on a full frame camera. One downer is it’s F4, which caused me issues later on in the shoot. I also used the 80-200mm F2.8 Nikon push pull zoom and I did a few rolling shutter tests with it. Yes, skew is still present but pretty minimal with this lens. This you can see on my test footage. The camera with the 7-14mm lens on looks ridiculous. It’s so small! It looked SO much better with the big zoom on it!
We used my Kessler Crane Philip Bloom special edition Pocket Dolly inside the office. Worked a treat with the camera!! Again, this is on the test footage at the bottom of the blog.
From the roof onwards I shot dual AVCHD and Nanoflash XDCAM 422 160mb/s. I will show the footage side by side later this week in a separate blog with full frame screen grabs, right now I just concentrated on the native 24mb/s AVCHD footage.
After that I did some handheld stuff with an absolute frankenrig I knocked together from some of my Zacuto parts. Using the counter balance weight, an arm for the Nanoflash and a Switronix Powerbase 70 to power the Nanoflash.
Although I did bring with my a Canon EOS lens I didn’t bother. With no way to control the aperture I stuck with my full manual lenses I understand someone is making an aperture controllable EOS mount at the moment. I need that! Mostly I used some really old Nikons that I own. In particular a 50mm F1.2 I picked up from ebay for about $250 and a 10 year old 80-200mm zoom. These lenses performed really well and I was swapping a lot as Suresh will tell you! I also used the Sigma F1.4 30mm. It’s a four thirds lens so needs an adaptor, but it’s the same glass as I recommend for T2i/ 7d users. A cracking lens!
I got some cracking shallow depth of field with the 50mm and the joy of this camera is I was able to maintain the perfect shutter speed for optimum film motion and more or less be at the aperture I wanted due to the 4 wheel ND filter. No need for a Vari ND here. Something I have become use to with my DSLRS and it does work a treat. But coming from a video camera background having proper NDs built into the camera was a real joy.
The menus are more reminiscent of the HM line than the HPX line, a bit more basic but still got lots of tweaks in there for picture adjustment. To be honest I did not take not of the exact settings I had in there. I don’t know Panasonic cameras as well as my Sony or Canon cameras. I did set it to Cine V gamma and had the sharpness down to -7 as well as some other things.
I set the camera to 50hz as I shot at 1080p 25p, you can set to 59.97hz for the US frame rates and 24p. I also set it to film mode so instead of gain I had ISO. It was slightly odd in that you have 3 settings on the gain switch low, medium and high and you can assign one in a set range for each one. I am so used to gain on video cameras, for them to suddenly become different ISOs was interesting. The lowest ISO is 200, the highest is 3200 (but not working on this pre-prodution camera) Not 5Dmk2 good but better than the 7D for sure. In film mode you can set your shutter to 180 degrees for perfect film motion, so even when you change frame rates it stays at 180 degrees. One thing you need to be aware of you can only shoot one format per card. So if you switch between 50 and 59.97 hertz use separate cards.
The waveform/ vectorscopes are fantastic, 100 times better than what the histogram on the Canon DSLRs. A very accurate way of judging exposure. The viewfinder on the other hand was not good, but that because this is not the one that will end up on the final camera. Just a temporary one. So I used the LCD screen all the time and sometime my Marshall 5″ HDMI monitor. The LCD screen is actually pretty good. You can help get focus by adding detail on and there is a peaking option too…No digital zoom in that I could tell, but that may be added in the 25% to come, or not!
I actually did not record any XLR audio. It’s there, I am sure it works a treat. It’s a proper video camera after all with XLRs, levels, a headphone jack. The thing that REALLY excited me was the overcrank mode. I could record 1080p 25p at 50FPS or 60FPS in 24p mode!! Wonderful, no more limited to 720p mode here! The overcrank in this camera is simply beautiful. I used to shoot so much slow motion with my EX1/ Letus combo but obviously not possible with my 5Dmk2 and the 720p 50p/60p of the 7D has so much moire and aliasing that it gets me down, shoot shallow depth of field and it works fine as demonstrated in my film “As the water”
Being able to shoot full HD overcranked to 50FPS or 60 and the ability to record high quality audio in camera has totally sold me on this camera.
Other upsides of the camera. It takes just about any lens with the right adaptor. Everything from PL to Leica M. Really useful that! Loads of really accessible and useful buttons on the outside include the ability to easily switch to overcrank at the touch of a button. I have heard rumours that you can change the speed during a shot but I was not able to do that. This may be because of the 25% or you simply may not be able to!
The US list price is pretty damn good too. It’s a lot of video camera for the money! Here in England we are a bit screwed as always. So frustrating that.
Yes it is a bit ugly, especially with little lenses…but I would rather have a camera that performs really well and was a bit odd looking than a beautiful camera that shoots ok pictures. But still a nice manly lens on there and she looks WAY better!
It has an interval record feature, but like all the other Panasonic cameras it is not as good as the Sony EX1/ Ex3 as there is no slow shutter and undercrank only goes to 12FPS. But still it is there and that is a good thing. Being the timelapse junky that I am in does not come anywhere near the power of a DSLR for timelapse though. NOWHERE NEAR…
Downsides, UK price…ugly, menus a bit fiddly (but this may improve with the production version), sensor size being micro four thirds means most of your 35mm lens are a bit telephoto. With a 2x crop from a full frame 35mm sensor you lose a lot on those lenses. So my 50mm gives me a field of view of 100mm. That is the biggest issue. On the wide end I have my Lumix 7-14mm, not the cheapest lens in the world but pretty DAMN good. Sharp and rectalinear. SO minimal distortion. BUT it’s F4 so at night it was a struggle. I was trying to get a good shot of the London eye and I simply could not get it all in. My F4 at 3200 ISO was too dark and my next lens from that is my 30mm F1.4 Sigma which is like 60mm EFL.
Ergonomics…it’s awkward handheld. More so than the other cameras of this size due to still lenses being used. It needs a handheld rig. I used a big zacuto one but I think I may adapt one of my smaller DSLR rigs from them instead…
Panasonic urgently need to bring out some fast wide lenses. it’s the single biggest issues with the camera. Now there is an Olympus 14-35mm F2, now that’s bloody fast for a zoom. It’s pricey but this is the next best lens to use for this camera.
It was a real pleasure shooting with this camera, wide lenses and pre-production aside. The low light was really good, not full frame DSLR amazing but MILES better than my GH1. User friendly. Great exposure assistants like waveform and zebras. Two features to help you focus. Proper sound. Minimal rolling shutter but best of all. I could not see ANY moire or aliasing in things that would show up with my DSLRs normally…this is a big deal. I would actually like to see this camera in front of a chart and i HATE charts!
The AVCHD 24mb’s is OK… My short “South” below is totally ungraded. I think something like the Atomos , Nanoflash , P2 gear or the KiPro mini are going to be essential for serious filmmakers. AVCHD is fine for a lot of stuff, just don’t expect it to hold up to too much…
The real question…and I loathe this question but get asked a lot. “IS IT A DLSR KILLER?”….the answer is simply no.No camera is a “killer”, cameras can quite happily and should co-exist! There is a market for them all. Sure when this type of thing becomes more common when Sony and Canon do something similar more pros with larger pockets will start using them but they are different to DSLRs, bigger and more expensive and this camera is priced pretty aggressively am sure the Sony and Canon offerings will struggle to match this price point.
It’s another tool for a cinematographer like myself to use. I would choose this over my 5Dmk2 for many things, I would also happily use it in conjunction. For recording sound in camera, filming actuality (this is a great documentary camera and great for wedding shooters too, great for one man band and great low light) , getting easier focus and amazing slow motion this wins hands down. But the DSLRs are cheaper, lenses are less of an issue, are smaller, less conspicuous, shoot better timelapse, I can take multiple bodies with me…there are loads of reasons why I will continue to shoot with my Canons or whatever other DSLRs I end up buying. Will I buy this camera the moment it comes out? Bloody right. It performed so well, despite being 75% finished, and was a joy to shoot with but more importantly I was very happy with the images I got. I still could get my beloved shallow depth of field, sure not 5dmk2 or 7d shallow but not far off the APS-C. i cannot wait to go to Japan and shoot with the finished camera!
At the moment I am purely guessing the latitude, i need to get the camera set up better so anything i say could be wrong so I will stay quiet on that for now!
So…should you buy an AF100 instead of a Canon DSLR? Well it has many plusses, the lack of moire and aliasing. Less rolling shutter skew, proper sound, better focusing and exposure assist. Proper SDI and HDMI clean outs and loads more. But it’s just different…it’s a video camera. This is not a convergence camera! Don’t expect to be taking awesome stills and video with this. THIS IS A VIDEO CAMERA! That is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. I have missed video cameras. Welcome back, but I will still have my 5D or two in my bag. There is so much I love about my DSLRs still! This is like a replacement for my EX1 and 35mm adaptor.
I am looking forward to getting a production GH2 as the pre one I had was very buggy, it could be a killer B-camera for the AF100…especially as you can shoot awesome time-lapse with it! 😉
Below is the test short film I shot called “South”. I am currently editing together a few test shots of handheld, rolling shutter etc that I will upload straight after so keep an eye out for that too!
The short is very much one of my snapshots of people and places that I love to do…very much like my older 35mm adaptor work.
South: Test film shot with Panasonic AF100 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.
Shot in South London and the South Bank with a 75% finished Panasonic AF100 and Lumix and Nikon lenses.
Read more on my blog here! http://philipbloom.net2010/10/19/af100/
Music by Shigeru Umebayashi
“George’s Waltz”
Here is a commentary….don’t press play on video until I tell you to and then press pause on video when I say…
Commentary for South: AF100 test film by PhilipBloom
AF100 test shots from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.
Here are some tests by other people to check out!!!
Panasonic AG AF-100 01/02 evaluation footage by CREWS.TV from Yves Simard on Vimeo.
Panasonic AG-AF100 test II from Filippo Chiesa on Vimeo.
New video filmed on Panasonic AG-AF100 (last release), mixed with Canon 5D MK II BTS footage.
NO GRADING!
536 comments
“The AF101 feels much more of a generalist camera. ”
This is exactly where the drive really may come from in the end – being a dedicated generalist I already succumbed
Phillip, so I can fully understand (being a video guy and not a film or still guy), the Nikon primes I use with my Letus and HVX, will essentially all be multiplied by x2 with this camera? In other words, if I shoot the full frame of my Letus with my 80 f2.0, that same lens on this Panny would become a 160!? (Like zooming in on the Letus frame?)
Your mention of the Olympus 14-35 f2 is tempting. So that would become equivalent of a 28-70mm, and similar to coverage I currently have on my primes and Letus?
And would you say the the relative softness of your images (compared to crew.tv test with model) is due to the glass you were using, combined with your -7 detail reduction? Or mostly just due to the fact they had a $12,000 lens on their test camera?
Curious how the BBC will rate this camera. (with the Nanoflash)
Do you get artifacts when keeping the sharpness under -7? (why did you choose that setting?)
Philip, you write the Olympus 14-35 f2 was the “next best lens.”
Which did you think was the best?
I’d also love to hear more thoughts about lenses for documentary work.
Thanks for the test Philip, glad to see the rolling shutter isn’t really evident until you abruptly switch panning direction.
I think that the footage would look even better if shot with the Cinelike D (D for dynamic range) gamma setting instead of Cine V. This is at least the case with previous Panasonic models, HVX200 and such. I’m guessing the CREWS.TV footage is shot with this setting as it looks a tad more flat than yours and the Alfa Romeo footage.
What lens would you recommend for a scenario where you have to be able to get a fair shot in every situation without having to switch lenses? Would be nice to just have a “safe” lens for shoots when you don’t know what to expect and just have one chance at a situation.
Great review, keep em’ coming 🙂
Hi Philip,
Thanks so much for posting this film. With its current max AVCHD bit rate of 24 Mbps, did you notice any artifacting issues in complex scenes. Perhaps 24 Mpbs is sufficiently higher than 17Mbps to handle complex scenes like a camp fire, running water, fast action. I wouldn’t know.
The reason I ask is that I’m thinking of holding onto my hacked GH1, in the event the GH2 or AF100’s max 24Mbps bitrate might not be hackable.
I havent done enough tests to be honest
I have to admit the long zoom lens looked so big that it would break off the camera..
I realize it’s a 75% finished camera, but if I were to base a decision of buying this from the available video I’ve seen, I certainly would not buy this camera. Mind you, not that it’s bad video, just not worth the price tag. I’ll stick with my 5Ds.
Philip, you weren’t kidding about the great overcrank! WOW! It looks so fluid and smooth. I think you sold me on this camera already. The only thing I have to do now is find one in person and see the glory for myself!
Nice footage, Phil! I am impressed with the lack of aliasing and moire, as I have a GH1. I wonder what was the shutter speed you used in the skew test…
I think one of the main advantage of such a camera will be the possibility of cinema/video people to have a proper video camera instead of adapting a dslr for such a job. Naturally the dslr will become a B camera, very suitable for it and like you said, with better results in some shots wit, for instance, time lapse. But the AF100 presents the advantages of interchangeable lenses to an affordable price range in video cameras, and the years of 5D, GH1, 7D, T2i will be remembered as the necessary step to it.
As a long time still photographer moving into video the one thing that jumps out at me is how much I dislike the look of the wide angle pans (rooftop, fish market, office.)
It has nothing to do with what this camera brings to the market in terms of features, tools, etc., and is really just determined by the chip size. Maybe those coming from video/film are more used to it but the wide pans have so much pulling and skewing in the corners.
One aspect about the AG-AF100 I’m curious about is dust. On an HDSLR it’s a matter of cleaning the chip (actually the glass covering the chip), is the AG-AF100 similar? Is there one glass cover between the lens and the internals to be cleaned? Is it as accessible as a HDSLR? Are the ND filters behind that or do they present a potential dust issue, too?
the ND filters are in front of the sensor…i get that pulling and skewing if i do a wide pan with my Canon 14mm, it’s not designed for movement…every wide angle lens I have ever used as wide as that has distortion and when you move that is when you see it. no way around it…
Philip – I realize that the ND filters are in front of the sensor. What I meant was are they open to the air or are they themselves behind a cover glass/ir filter/etc.? IOW, does using them introduce another surface between the lens and the chip which could have dust?
Thanks for all the info, your wonderful work, and the great site!
Ahaha, the test shot montage was really funny to watch imo.
i hate tests. so i made it brief. the real test for me was south!
Just bookmarked this post.
Great job philip, congratulations!
love “south.” great shots and the soundtrack really set a mood
Thanks Jon
Just one question Philip, maybe you still didn’t done propper tests to tell that but, Has this camera better image quality then 5DMk2 or not. I know the diference between shooting DSLR and video camera(i have HVX200). But just picture quality in this way you were shooting. Ignore rolling shutter and aliasing isues and dof, if you shoot with wide lens bouth. Which has better picture quality? I ask this because us no budget filmmakers are only for picture quality and price, other isues we can improvise.
totally different aesthetic…
Hi Philip,
first of all thanks a lot for testing the AF100.
I thought about buying one,but now I’m not that sure anymore… I need a camera to shoot a Trailer. The image should be really cinematic… like in a Fantasy Film…
If you were in my place, which camera would you choose…
Which camera has the more cinematic fantasy look to it?
AF100, 5D, 7D, 1DMarkIV or even GH1?
Thanks in advance!
any of them will work well. Use what you can.
Thanks for all your efforts Phil and compliments for being able to produce these 3 short movies in so little time. I would go nuts!
Footage looks great, great cam. Another big difference between the 5D and AF100 that you didn’t mention yet is the 12 minute time limit on the 5D, the AF100 doesn’t have any time limit at all, right? I find the 12 minute limit on the Canons very problematic.
it’s a video camera so it’s not something I mention. There is no time limit on this camera.
Hi Phillip! Did you notice any rolling shutter issues?
very little
You mention issue of 7-14 being too slow, and 2x crop factor of Sigma 30 1.4 being too telephoto. Was Tokina your 11-16 2.8 not an option with this cam?
no aperture control was the issue.
Did you happen to try the 11-16 with ISO set to 100 and ND clicked up to max? I’ve used one with my hacked GH1 and a fader ND and it worked pretty good…
i have a hmc151 kit, based near bracknell too, if you ever need one of those batteries again!
great work and effort.. thanks 🙂
as i wrote you on dvxuser,
i’m very interested in the difference between the af100 and GH2.
as i wait for Scarlet, i only have a few hundred $ to invest in the meantime.
so if i can’t find the hacked GH1 i’ll be glad to know the GH2 is close to the af100..
hoping to get gh2 soon
Gaday Mr Bloom how do you think a Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Len or http://zenitar16.com/zenitar-16mm-canon.html will come out looking on this camera?I shot bmx and Im hoping this camera will work well with this fisheye!
nah…would crop too much to a 30mm equivalent. I believe there is an 8mm M43 coming out
Out now – $759 at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-8mm-Fisheye-Digital-Cameras/dp/B003O868UG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287971689&sr=8-1
Clarification please, is a “stonking lens ” a good lens ?
yes it’s corking
Clarification please: does “corking” mean a “good” lens?
😉
Yes, he means it’s blinding
Philip;
The footage from “South” was absolutely breathtaking.
Having seen your previous footage from lesser cameras
in the past, you do have a gift no matter what camera you touch –
no question about it!
Thank you for sharing this.
George
Thanks so much George
Great review. I wouldnt mind knowing which lense you used for each shot, to figure out what was achieved for what price. It seems like no matter what, its all about the lenses, but the video camera form factor and XLRs are the main reasons to buy this camera for me.
Any ideas what, if any, lenses will ship with it?
you won’t get any lenses with it…i will do a VO for the short Ian
Philip;
One question; what camera did you use for “Skywalker Ranch”?
George
5Dmk2 and 7d
Maybe I wasn’t reading carefully enough but I couldn’t find the price of the camera anywhere in your post. You’d do me an enormous favor by telling me 🙂
Depends on where you live…US is around $4500
Are there import restrictions on buying cameras in the USA or will you just not have the PAL features?
Wow! I really dig the lack of aliasing and moire with this camera. Guess the low pass filter really works.
However, no CMOS chip will ever solve the whip-pan conundrum, I guess… you need CCDs for that (like the Ikonoskope has).
I am still not completely sold on this camera. Main problem I have is that aside from the body, I would have to buy a couple of wide angle lenses, yet Panasonic’s lenses are too slow/variable. Sure, you could put on different lenses, with an adapter, but you loose in-camera control. The other is the codec – I want to know what it means for my workflow: do you need to transcode or can CS5 handle the AVCHD natively? Or should you invest in a separate recorder?
If you could share an AVCHD clip with us, that would be truly great.
Finally – does this camera have a LANC connection? Besides being perfect as a second camera for doing interviews (built-in XLR audio), I can imagine mounting this one on a 12-foot Kessler jib/crane and it would be nice if you could control some features remotely, like focus/zoom. If that would be made available in the remaining 25%, I would happily buy a few (fast) Panasonic lenses that allow for such control on this camera. It’s either that, or investing in wireless motors for use with DSLRs.
no chance of a lanc am afraid
Too bad – another thing that makes me go hmmmm…
That’s surprises me. No LANC. Or even the I/O there physically, with a promise to implement the best they can on future firmware updates. With a full camcorder, one expects that option for multiple shooting needs. ‘Hope Canon and other competitors are paying attention on this for how they’re going to wow us. ;~)
how can it have a LANC when it doesn’t have a video lens on it?
Including a LANC would be an excellent reason for users to buy Panasonic’s lenses if only these can be controlled with it. Just like the in-camera autofocus features will be. So unless that autofocus feature works miracles, without the LANC, I am not so sure of whether to buy this camera…
Lanc is for video lenses, these aren’t video lenses so will never happen…
Ok. So only video lenses can be controlled internally because they have special motors? Isn’t LANC nothing more than a protocol that communicates with the motors inside those lenses?
yes but you would need a specially designed still lens to take the lanc and none exist. this camera only takes stills lenses.
All I am saying is that it might be a good reason for Panasonic to design such lenses, as it would open up another market for them and help them sell glass for this camera (which is where they’ll make the most margin).
The “whip pan” thing is solved by CMOS’s already. Look at the RED and the Alexa and the D21 and SI-2K and the digital back proposed by Aaton for the Penelope. Everything in that price range. It’s a function of something called “recycle rate” the DSLR’s do it slow. The digital cinema cameras do it fast. It’s the same technology, it just costs more. From worst to best you can see Nikon D90, Canon 7D, Pana GH1, RED. The nikon was the only one people couldn’t work with. Oh and at even more of a low end you can see the iPhone 3GS.
If you can get in touch with Adam Mills at High-End TV in Nashville, he can explain it all.
Oh and Richard, before you invest in a seperate recorder like the Ki-Pro, contact Cineform. I think you’ll be pleased 🙂 .
Thanks Ben, I know how Cineform works – basically they reinterprete an 8-bit 4:2:0 compressed file and make a 10-bit 4:2:2 file out of it. That’s like taking a RAW picture from a printed JPEG. I do agree that as a result of this, you’ll probably be able to better manipulate the colors in post with Cineform than if you were to wrangle the 8-bit compressed file.
However, Adobe CS5 does something similar, but they do it on-the-fly. As soon as the file lives in their applications it operates in 32-bit float mode. See this comment on Shane Hurlbut’s blog: http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2010/09/17/when-a-small-move-makes-all-the-difference-kessler-cranes-cineslider/comment-page-1/#comment-4668
Great short Philip the music selection is superb.
The camera shows a lot of promise and it will be nice to have all these “video” features back. Looks like a a good option for a reasonable price (in the US).
If you need any help while you’re in Japan, let me know.
Hmmmmm… i dunno… GH1 does all i need atm except the bloody scewing… IF if if just Red gets the Scarlet going for 6k and with the HDR chip… this would in comparison be just another random video cam and an awkward lot of money for what it is (no im not a RED lover, i’m just waiting for the camera that’s actually closer to film than video). I mean you dont buy AF100 to shoot in AVCHD, either do it right or actually stick to the Canons and your GH1 for the highdetail shots. Or EX + adapter. Or buy this. I’ve been sold on AF100 last few months but really, don’t see why i shouldnt wait for Scarlet cus if it has the Epic HDR chip for any price bellow 10k that’s just MAGIC right there.
Reasons to NOT wait for the Scarlet:
1 – Who knows how long you’ll be waiting…
2 – The big difference between the two (Scarlet and EPIC) is processing power inside the camera. That means frame rates and REDCODE capabilities. EPIC has every capability. Scarlet does not. EPIC has all the “hard stuff”.
3 – Who knows, at this point, what specs it will ship with. Obviously they are having a lot of troubles with the features they’ve promised at the price range they’ve allowed themselves. They’re even saying it was a mistake to go this route. Will the HDRX (isn’t that what it’s called? Maybe I’m mistaken) mode, in fact, be on the camera? Will the price still be in competition with this camera? Or even a good HDSLR (not looking like it)?
Too many problems, too many “what ifs” and too little confidence. If a camera comes along that I like, I’m gonna buy that and the thought of “should I wait for a Scarlet?” will no longer enter my head.
Hey, I’d be happy as heck if the Scarlet came out and proved me wrong, if it comes out and is, indeed, the best camera in the market for the price, I’ll be a happy camper. But, honestly, I just don’t see that happening anymore…
And, unfortunately, the Panasonic isn’t for me, either. Just never been a huge Panny fan. Plus that codec. Meh.
Oh well, here’s to waiting and enjoying the ride along the way. Cheers.
Everything you say is true apart from point 2. The frame rates are the same. 150fps burst at 3k. The big difference is the sensor size and the bit rate. They differ.
Other than that, it’s a painful ride. RED is cool in one sense. It wants to push the camera world and bring out something revolutionary. But the constant bullshit surrounding the release date is getting tiresome. They are now saying early 2011. Going by track record, this wont happen. And I think that they should start being honest about that. Just say, early 2012. That would be more likely. Thing is, people still believe these release dates and unfortunately schedule new equipment around them.
This panny is not right for me either. The fact that it STILL can’t shoot 1080p at 50fps is somewhat laughable. IMO
For now, I’ll stick to my EX1 and dslr for all the artsy stuff
Peace
Do consider the Sony F3.
Thats a bomb and a half.
Yes its hefty on the price tag, but worth every penny.
The Sony can even do 60p at full resolution.
are you sure about the 1080p 60p?
It is lovely seeing AF100 footage in a real project- gives one so much more feel for the camera’s capabilities! Thank you for taking the time to produce and post this (and reply to all the comments!)
As Stu said of your work “sometimes there are literally SEVERAL things in focus!” 🙂 But great to see that the depth of field achievable is plenty shallow enough for any storytelling purposes of mine.
Quick question- do you know if the sensor has automatic dust removal? Shooting with primes and swapping lenses a lot would be a real challenge without (Like the early Canon dSLRs). I guess the sensor is easier to clean as m4/3 has such a shallow flange distance, but having to inspect and blower brush at every lens change is no fun especially in a fairly dusty environment…
I didn’t spot any dust bunnies in South… did you have to inspect/clean the sensor a lot?
the ND filter covers the sensor so it’s a bit protected.
Would this camera be better suited over DSLRs for action sports like surfing & skating? The 7D is tough with focus as the subject moves so frequently.