Hirano San: Shot on Panasonic AF101 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.
Turn the volume down on the vimeo player (the little bars towards the right on the controls) and play the commentary. It’s MUCH longer than the film so start audio first and follow instructions as to when to hit play and pause on the video. You can download the commentary if it makes it easier for you, just follow link below the waveform. Loads of info not in the review. I really recommend you listen to it…
Commentary to “Hirano San” by Philip Bloom by PhilipBloom
Travel is not glamorous. Ok, that is not strictly true. If you are billionaire with your own jet and crew then I am sure it is! I travel a lot, especially this year I have been away from home for most of it…no matter how nice a hotel you are staying in there is nothing like home. Now I am not complaining…far from it. I am lucky to be in this position and I know it. I am lucky to be offered awesome opportunities, both in my capacity as a DP and as a teacher.
I have just finished a very intense week of teaching DSLR cinematography in association with Vistek in Canada. Very rewarding and very fulfilling but absolutely knackering as I would do a full day workshop then go to airport to fly to another city in Canada. At the end of my last workshop in Ottawa I flew back to Toronto then back to London. I went home briefly to unpack and repack and then I flew out to Japan at the request of Panasonic Europe.
Now I used to be a Panasonic owner, I used to own an HVX200 but never really loved it. Part of the issues was the then huge expense of P2 media and I struggled in low light with it and much more. I did review other Panasonic cameras since, the HPX171 which I thought was much better than the HVX, the HPX 300 and the far superior HPX 371 earlier this year. But, the only Panasonic cameras I currently own are the GH1 and GH2 as well as a couple of point and shoots and a consumer camcorder.
It was my review of the HPX 371 and GH1 that made Panasonic Europe get in touch with me about taking a look at their new camcorder, the potential game changing AG-AF101 (101 is the Europe model, a different number for every region, but the good news is all the cameras have the same multi region functionality) Why game changing you may ask? For these reasons…this is the first affordable professional camcorder to come out with a large sensor, all because of the DSLR revolution. It’s a micro four thirds chip. Essentially half the size of a full frame 5Dmk2 sensor but not hugely smaller than a S35 sized sensor. So still big. The thing is this baby is priced at under $5k. In camcorder terms that is really aggressive pricing. Sony recently announced their S35 sized EX style camcorder and the specs look great but the price is way more than this. This camera is directly targeting the DSLR user. As a big fan of the DSLR movement (I own all the Canons, two Nikons, two Lumix cameras) and someone who uses them professionally for about 2/3rd of my work I really wanted to see if this camera was any good. It also helped that as a GH1 owner I already own a few micro four third lenses.
Panasonic prior to this had invited me to come to their factory in Osaka, Japan to give them feedback directly. A really lovely invitation that I did not think I would be able to do due to my insane schedule, but with a bit of work I was able to make it happen. It also meant I was able to check out an almost finished camera.
15 hours of flying later (I had to fly via Frankfurt) I made it to Japan and met up with my European colleagues….and of course DVXuser main man Barry Green who is going to produce an AF100 book. Barry is the man when it comes to Panasonic cameras. He knows them inside and out, so it was fortuitous for all of us that he was there.
First day I arrived I more or less slept as we arrived in the morning as I was f*****! Big mistake as this screwed up my sleep pattern for the rest of the trip!
Next day we went to the Panasonic Osaka factory where we had the most wonderful friendly welcome, so nice, and everyone there was great. We got to speak to the people who actually designed and made the camera and gave them the feedback we had so far from our limited experience with the camera. They listened intently and we were told to me as frank as possible. They didn’t want to hear just the good, they wanted to hear everything that we had issues with and how what could be improved. A really awesome breath of fresh air. I was worried about how frank I could be but after Barry told it like it was so did I!
They took everything on board which was great. Barry and I were in agreement for most of the things. Of course what we wanted from them was a perfect camera, which is naturally unrealistic. There is only so much that can be done with a camera which about to go into production, but for any future version they know exactly what else could be added to improve it.
We had a tour of the factory which was fascinating. Seeing how their big cameras were made and tested and the attention to detail was amazing. Utterly painstaking work. No way would I have the patience to do that!!
Then the thing that we had been waiting for, we were each given an AF101 to take back to the hotel with us for a test shoot in Kyoto the next day. I took one of their Vineten Vision 5 tripods and an Olympus F2 14-35mm. An amazing lens. So fast and sharp…but not cheap. I brought my own lenses too. A Zeiss ZF 50mm. 85mm F1.4, Sigma 20mm F1.8, Nikon 35mm F1.4, Nikon 80-200mm F2.8 and my Leica M lenses, the 35mm F2, my Voigtlander 35mm F1.2, Voigtlander 50mm F1.1. I also of course had my Lumix 20mm F1.7, 14-140, and the awesome 7-14mm F4. So a LOT of lenses. They had some CP.2 Zeiss M43 mount but I only played with them, I didn’t shoot with the…
I didn’t bring my Kessler Crane pocket dolly as I wanted to travel as light as possible, but I brought my Gitzo traveller stills tripod and my metal Gorillapod.
I did plan on doing some low light shooting that night in Osaka but was simply too shagged and we had an early start. So just one day of filming with the camera again. Not ideal. To really get the best out of any camera requires knowing it and shooting with it…so we were flying blind here mostly and made the best of it!
We went off in two buses 3 shooters in each and some Panasonic engineers too…
We went from place to place, not really spending much time in each and tried to shoot as much as we could. Everyone has a very different shooting style so when the others post their stuff I will embed it here so you can check it out. All my shots were on the tripod apart from in the bus, for that I adapted my gorillapod into a shoulder rig.
At the first stop, the temple, tripods were a big no, so I left the Vinten behind and did my best with the Gitzo but was kept on being told off, so I swapped it for the gorillapod and did most on that.
Settings wise I simply had no idea is what I had the camera set up for was best, even Barry was not sure. I has the sharpness up higher than for the previous shoot, this time at -3 as opposed to -7. Detail set to 0 had nasty halos. Barry tweaked a few more of my settings but he said he was guessing, the key one though was Cine Gamma D which gave me a nice flat curve, I used cine gamma V last time (or was it other was around?) whichever one I used it was the flattest.
I did have a Panasonic P2 gear so I could record onto P2 cards but I simply did not use it. Far too awkward to mount with the zero accessories I had. It’s about the same size as the camera…for the last shoot I used my Nanoflash….I came close to getting to try an Atomos Ninja but I just missed the guy from Atomos by a day so was not able to get a unit to use with it. This would have been cool. It’s HDMI only at moment but records directly into high bit rate pro res, perfect for me as an FCP editor and it doubles as a monitor AND is cheap! But I did not have it, so I simply recorded at 24mb/s AVCHD. Which is fine, but a real shame as I wanted to see how much better the SDI output was. Filippo Chiesa did use his Nanoflash so hopefully we will get a comparison soon…
I filmed everything in 1080p 24p and a hell of a lot of it at 60fps within 24p. I love that you can simply access this mode by a button at the back and more importantly I was not limited to 720p as I have been with every other camera I have used with overcrank. This is huge to me. Full HD 60fps looks beautiful as you can see in the edit I did.
I tried out the timelapse a couple of times, both at normal shutter speeds and at ½ second exposures. Would be good to have more options for intervals as the model I used went from one frame every 1 second to 1 frame every 10 seconds. This may change. It was one of the things we asked.
Have a listen to the commentary for my thoughts whilst shooting the piece and to get an idea of how and why I did stuff. There is a lot of info in there so I thoroughly recommend it!
Everything has been graded with Magic Bullet looks and it graded well. I have little experience with AVCHD and was concerned as the bit rate seems really low to me, but it’s super efficient and not far off XDCAM EX codec.
So here are my thoughts on the camera, based upon this pre-production model so some of this may change!
It was a real pleasure to shoot with, despite not being overly familiar with Panny menus I got used to them pretty quickly. I did not record any additional sound other than the camera mic so I cannot comment on the audio quality but I am sure it’s great as it is a proper camcorder after all. For me this is what stood out…
I saw no moiré on any shots. Check out the artist in the park at around 1:40 or so, look at his jacket. That would moiré on my Canons, not here. A joy! I also saw no sign of aliasing.
Rolling shutter issues as expected were still present but way less pronounced that DSLRs. I did shoot out the side of the bus whilst moving and there was still some skew, enough for me not to use it but a lot better than what I have become used to.
LOVE that 1080p overcrank.
LOVE the ability to stick on just about any lenses. I didn’t use any of my Canon lenses as I don’t have a mount with iris control yet but I hear it is coming…
LCD was good. Detail enhancement and peaking helped focus enormously. One thing I really missed though was a digital punch in to help me get focus which the other Panny cameras have, I hope they put it in. Exposure was pretty easy…there are zebras, waveform and vectorscopes which are spot on and a very nice little addition that the previous model did not have, a meter like a DSLR has. Neat.
SDHC media is cheap and all you need is Class 6, even with overcrank. Class 4 is fine but won’t record overcrank. I used Class 10 as I like the fast offload speed.
Battery life was good with the big chunky ones.
Great to have 4 ND filter wheel. What a joy!!
Proper audio…a headphone jack too!
Things I didn’t like….
Coming from the EX3 with it’s awesome viewfinder and using a Zacuto Z-Finder on my Canons, looking in the EVF was like looking at a small screen at the end of tunnel. It was hard get focus with it. I have no idea what the resolution is of it but if it was magnified it would be a lot easier to use. BUT, this is simply due to me being spoilt by the Z-Finder and EX3 EVF. It’s looks to be about the same as the HPX 371 quality EVF, not bad then!
Button placement was odd. Because the hand grip is removable and has no electronics there is no record start stop where you expect it…there is also no record button at the front. That’s the AWB button so annoyingly when you go to hit record you accidently change your balance. Oh well, something I would get used to.
I need more timelapse flexibility. Something more akin to the EX1 and 3 with more interval choices and better slow shutter.
It would be nice to be able to overcrank to 60fps in 25p mode like the EX1 and 3 but you are limited to 50fps, 60fps is only available in 60hz mode.
AVCHD seems OK but for broadcast work I really need at least 50mb/s. The nanoflash fixes this but it would be great for it to record on a better codec than this. Would I prefer P2? Probably, despite the cost as it would most likely mean AVC intra 100 which is an awesome format and would propel this camera into the big leagues.
Ergonomics are horrible, but then I find that with all handheld camcorders. The only cameras I have ever used with good ergonomics are the shoulder mounted cameras.
3200 ISO is noisy and should only be used when absolutely essential. 1600 was pretty good. Just be careful of the 3200, you can of course clean it up a bit. The noise is a different sort of noise to the Canons and easier to clean up. It doesn’t suffer any of the vertical banding that plagues the GH1 at 800 ISO and above.
What I found with this camera is it likes your exposure to be pretty damn close to spot on. Underexposure I found did the image no favours…getting it right helped a lot and with all the help it offers you it’s a lot easier to get it right than DSLRs which also suffer the same issue with getting exposure right.
The 2x crop means I am limited on the wide end. That Olympus lens was a godsend as was my 7-14mm, but that distorts on movement and is slow at F4. What is great is all those lens choices though..it’s just most are more telephoto than I am used to. I have recently ordered a Voigtlander 25mm F0.95 This is going to be a great standard lens for this camera and whilst in Japan I bought the 100-300mm F3.5-5.6 zoom lens. It has autofocus and is super long on that 2x crop, giving me effectively 600mm. Sure, a constant aperture would be great but for that focal length, weight and price I wish I had had it for the Kyoto shoot! I found my old 80-200mm F2.8 to be a bit soft…
The compression was evident is some of the shots and I really need to nail that picture profile as it makes a huge difference to the image. But with good grading you can get a very filmic image out of it. My first grade I did very quickly as we had no time to edit before showing our footage to the Panasonic team so I regraded on the plane back home. Much better and evens out the shots a lot more and gets rids of a lot of those blown out highlights from the first grade. I am very happy with my new grade (Magic bullet looks preset I created my self…you can get 20% off Magic Bullet looks with code bloom20 when buying it from RedGiantSoftware.com), it’s way more filmic looking and more flattering and soft.
So…is it better than say a Canon 5Dmk2? Image wise yes and no. Aesthetically the 5Dmk2 is in a class of it’s own, nothing comes close but it has many issues like moiré and aliasing. The M43 sensor gives a totally different look, it a totally different aesthetic. A bad one? No..just different. Shallow DOF is still very easy to get and as you saw it is capable of beautiful bokeh with the right lenses, check out the artist again, shot with my Zeiss lenses.
It’s not as good as the 5Dmk2 in low light either but has all those functions which make shooting so much easier. Focus assist, exposure assist, proper audio, proper overcrank. Don’t like the EVF at all though….much prefer my 5Dmk2 with a Z-Finder on.
It’s a small camera, but obviously bigger than a DSLR. So if you want to shoot in places and get away without permission, this camera will be harder to use successfully. I travel with 3 or 4 DSLR bodies. If I get an AF100 I will travel with just one of them and it won’t go in my photographic carry on, it will need a proper camera bag.
So overall…really good and very powerful camera and prices so aggressively I am sure it’s going to sell bucketloads. Is it perfect? Nope, then again no camera is. Is it good value for money? Yep! Will it replace my DSLRs? Nope and Yep. I am definitely going to buy one, although I will be at the back of the pre-order list now as I have waited so long! This camera is going to be great for my documentaries and lots of other work where the DSLRs are just so much harder to use in those situations. But I am still going to shoot on them, I will most likely end up shooting most of my work on both…The AF100 is good in low light, but it’s not 5DmkII good.
This camera is not a DSLR killer. There won’t be…I believe there will always be a market for DSLRs as the price point and convergence factor cannot be beaten AND they will get better and better, the issues of moiré and aliasing will be reduced and hell we may ever get raw recording at some point out of those massive sensors. It is just a lot easier to use than DSLRs and is a proper video camera! Don’t underestimate how important having a proper video camera can be. After all I run full day workshops on how to make your DSLR work like a proper video camera!!
Next up is the new Sony…what will that be like. Things are moving fast. Great times to be a shooter! I don’t know if I will be able to get my hands on it though. There is an event I was invited to on the 17th but I cannot make it. A real shame, hopefully at some point I will be able to try it out and report back!
Enjoy the photos of the trip. The black and white ones are from my Leica M9…man I love that camera!!
But first is footage from 3 of the other shooters, good to look at as they all have very different style of shooting to me. First is Filippo Chiesa’s footage from the same day..as well as his fun video blog. Below that is Vicenc Ascensio‘s footage from the same day and then Emmanuel Pampuri’s.
Day #03 (Kyoto) from Filippo Chiesa on Vimeo.
Osaka day #02 from Filippo Chiesa on Vimeo.
Vicenç Asensio – Panasonic AF101 from Visual13 on Vimeo.
Kyoto avec l’AG-AF101 Panasonic from Emmanuel Pampuri on Vimeo.
207 comments
Hi Philip
This is awesome! I can’t wait for it to come out. I’ve always wondered why they never combined a video cam with a dslr… I guess panasonic beat everyone to it with a head start. Do you think Canon will be rolling one out soon? The sony one looks way too expensive and I have a hunch that if Canon makes one it’ll be similar in price to the Sony as they wouldn’t want it cutting into their dslr sales…
I was realy happy after watching yours demo, now even more certain about Af100 is my chose. For the past mount I am thinking about lens conbinations and crop x2 is a headache. My question, are the zeiss cp2 focal distance is for super 35 or full frame diagonal ? The hardest part is to chose what non fish lens for wide,
Voigtlander 12&15 mm are intresting and leica M&R adapter gives lot of options. Nice job Philip hope to see more maybe AF100 & AJA KI mini and more lenses.
Thanks for the cool footage Philip.
I really enjoyed watching it.
One question though:
Will you still use HDSLRs in the near future?
Thanks,
Sebastian
I suspect the answer would be a resounding “YES”. possibly a simple humble “yes”.
Stunning.
Nice one, Philip.
It’s great to finally see this camera in action. It’s a hybrid camera, that’s what you get when a normal camcorder and a DSLR mate, and that’s what the images look like. It’s shallow depth of field, but very different from DSLRs – more camcorder-ish, I also think sometimes a bit over-sharpened and with some colour fringing.
I have always adored how Panasonic carefully listens to customers’ and professionals’ feedback. Back in the days of the DVX100, they went through the list of requests by filmmakers on dvxuser.com one-by-one and enhanced a much better version next time. It’s a really great idea to invite opinion leaders like you from around the world to actually see how it is all done.
Looking forward to your thoughts not only on the camera, but on your impressions after an inside view of Panasonic.
Hello Philip
Beautiful work as always. Looks like you had a great time too.
I just have a quick question, I noticed whenever there were car tail lights in shot, they looked rather blotchy. Is this Vimeo compression or something else.
Sorry to jump straight in with a criticism.
Kind regards
Phil
What lenses did you mostly end up using with it?
Nice season for shooting in japan it seems!
Shame the camera design has not been inspired by the beauty of this country…
Really enjoyed that! Thanks
Really looking forward to the full review. I hopt that my pre-ordering two for my group was not premature. Also, very cool that Barry Green was participating.
The image look’s very good for the price. To bad it’s not full frame, and the not perfect compression it records. Further I would like the screen a little bigger. But that are things you walk in to if you don’t spent 10K+ for a cam
But I’v put some money to the site for buying it. I love the external look of the camera. I’t reminds me to the ‘old school’ DV-panasonic camera’s used for most skatevideo’s.
Thanx for blogging Phil. You always let me know some stuff I wanted to know (besides from how you look with a moustache).
Nice picts Philip, don’t forget to send me some ones …
See you @ diner 😉
STUNNING! Well done Phil, I felt as if i was in the cab with Hirano San myself – worked so well with the music – good old Gustav – I’m guessing that Panasonic are going to be VERY happy with that effort. Exciting to see the camera used in a doco style too – do you think this is a viable doco camera Phil? I’m a little concerned about the lack of a good mid range zoom – but you seem to have pulled it off more than admirably.
I was seeing some pixelation at some points (in the saturated reds) but I’m guessing this comes down to the down rezzing to h264 and Vimeo – or my crap monitor!
Congratulations again – very heart warming – you should be very …very happy…bastard! (Not jealous at all you understand).
Bananas!
this reminds me of a Steven Spielberg quote when speaking about first seeing George Lucas’s work…”man i hate that guy, hes so much better than me!”
With a lot of your work, the one biggest question i always have is “how do you get those people to let you shoot them so naturally”? the people in your pieces always look so natural and at ease…that’s what i want to learn about at the next session.
the first high iso shot of the driver, what iso was that at?
beautiful beautiful stuff, sharp and great colors…i’m off to buy more Gustov Holst cds now 🙂
I also would LOVE to see a video out the LUMIX with the PL mount!
Philip thanks for the material, beautifully and accurately, however as always
I have a question – why 1280×540?
4:10 – awful color artifacts and noise on the cheek. This is the source material? or so after clamping Vimeo? A lot of noise in the shadows! VERY! Is bad
The camera looks great. As seen in the pic you used a Nikon lens so I assume Canon lenses can be used as well? How is the LCD screen? Hopefully an improvement from the HVX 200 🙂
Fabulous work, as usual, Phil. Look forward to the review. How about a hint – should I start saving up my pennies for this camera?
yes i think so. but wait for full review
Very nice Philip.
The DR and low light shots looks amazing.
Thank you for all your hard efforts.
Philip…Congratulations on another wonderful film!
I love it! Beautiful images. Really raised my interest in the AF100
…simply wow…you’ve done the camera justice my friend…
Wow, great video Philip, thanks for sharing!
Hi Phil,
Very nice, peaceful, colourful and very intimate. You are an expert in translating an atmosphere into film.
That is why i am feeling, as a spectator, all the more awkward and confused about what is going on in Taiji in Japan, every year and right now.
These are the images i have in my head, all the time, thinking; why ?
So thank you for bringing some peace into the equation !
Cheers,
Michiel
Philip, I love this video and the other stuff you do. I have a quick question. When you shoot people do you go and get their permission to shoot them. If so do you do it before hand or after. I’ve all ways wondered this because I get caught up in the legality of what I do.
Thanks.
i don’t get any formal permission no
Philip,
Great stuff, can’t wait to hear your feelings on the camera.
One question I have is how do you always come up with great music to use?
Takes time to find it Chris!
This may be the dumbest comment ever…but I find it hard to tell the difference between each camera that was used to shoot your films. They all look great. Maybe I don’t have an eye for this stuff but I don’t notice any major or minor differences, for the most part, between this film and, say, A Day at the Races.
That’s great! Shows the camera does not matter!
Amazing Camera with really cool memories . . 🙂
Wow– amazing footage, Philip. Just my opinion, but there is something more cinematic about the AF100 footage than Canon 5d footage.
The video is awesome. What frame rates did you use for the slow motion shots? Was it all shot in 1080 or did you also shoot 720?
I thoroughly enjoyed your short film! Your and Filipo’s footage of the “Rat Pack” in Japan looked like a great time, and we look forward to your reviews of the AF100 and GH2. Excellent taste in music also over the years- inspirational …
Looking forward to the review, very nice little film, and I must say the Leica is looking splendid, the stills look wonderful.
Great stuff!
Thanks so much for posting this. Absolutely love the shot of the Lumix with the big Cine Lens on it pointing at the AF100 rocking the little Pancake. Brilliant 🙂
Really terrific. Thanks for posting. I still like my 5D2 footage better for some reason. Yet I am still drawn to this camera.
yeah 5dmk2 is so unique and my favourite image out of any camera i have ever shot with, despite image issues
Hiya Phil,
I am so glad you took the advice to got to Kyoto, rather than stay in Osaka. You captured the feel of the place quite beautifully…Thank you!!! I can’t wait to return there next Spring!
All the best.
I have a Varicam AJ-HDC27F and a Grass Valley Viper LDK7500 4:4:4. Should i sell them and buy this new and more affordable cam? The low light shoot looks very good with no noise.
Great footage. I know you will go into this in the full write up but what lenses where you using with the shallow DoF shoots. Where they the Panasonic lenses?
Amazing- very nice work, Phillip. You have a great knack for capturing the inner life of people. Cheers!
What a beautiful, beautiful film. Loved the music & photographs too!
Hi Philip,
great footage, I just don´t get how do i turn down the volume of video, i wanna hear your voice from audio. Is it just me?
Mike
There is a volume bar on the vimeo player Mike, those little bars…
Hey Philip:
how did you like the Olympus lenses? Heavy little buggers?..comparable to the Canon L Series lenses?
AMAZING lens!
Wow…AMAZING is not a word I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say before. I never thought there would be any lenses as good as my L Series Canon’s. Do they extend much when zooming or focusing…or is it al internal? Thanks my brother…..
internal lens. i want one
Hi Philip,
First, I think the short was great! I played it on my 100in. viewing wall out of HDMI and it looks wonderful!
I read some posts over a dvxuser and I just have to disagree with most of the comments over there. I think they have to understand that you had limited time with the camera and like you said, not much experience with panasonic. So in terms of the “video look” I feel they need to relax. There are plenty of shots in this short that look filmic to me. ANd anything looking video, well..It’s a video camera! One that will sell for less than $5,000!!!! Come on people, this is still a pre-production unit! Let’s thank Philip for what he has shown us here as a promising recorder!
Here is what I see though, or don’t see more likely…NO MORIE and VERY LITTLE ALIASING!!!! Even the shot of you in the minivan filming the driver looked great. That jelly didn’t make me sick as an HDSLR would have had you used it.
I think the camera is going to be wonderful! I’m going to buy it for sure. Then, I’ll have my 5d, HVX, T2i, Nex10 and this as a tool shed to get the right shot on the right camera. For the same price as a Canon 1dmk4, you can’t really go wrong..
Thanks Philip for shooting real images with this, and showing what the camera is capable of.
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed and appreciated every second of it. I miss Japan and all the beauty of it. I think having a Canon and a Panasonic would be a great combination for a filmmaker.
It’s great hearing your thoughts and opinions, as always.
Keep up the good work!
When you use this camera with a shoulder rig… isn’t it a bit uncomfortable to use it with the viewfinder, since it isn’t off set?
yep
Looks like there’s an OIS button on the body…did you play with it? Those first shots in the car look so jittery, was the OIS not on??
Many thanks to you and Barry for the hands-on look. Beautiful stuff!
As I just posted, no screamed at the top of my lungs over at the DVX forum, you MUST see this footage on a big 50″ plasma or something proper, from the full HD file, to appreciate this camera. It is STUNNING. I just sent the recently uploaded full HD version of Phillip’s film through my PS3 to the big Panny plasma, and this is a game-changer folks. Many don’t know it yet, because they haven’t been able to see it like this. My question remains though – what of this footage was shot with a lens i wouldn’t be allowed to touch, let alone afford?
But, bravo, Phillip. I’m not sure if you’ve been able to see your film properly displayed yet, but even at 8 mb/s, it’s really amazing. Especially the low-light stuff.
Any idea whether this camera will have a “Cine-D” setting, like the soft, painted look of the HVX cine-d gamma?
Hi. I think your coverage of AF101 is brilliant.
I just bought an Olympus OM 55mm F1.2 and aim to get very similar shallow DOF as you get when you film people in portrait. Or like when you filmed the taxi on 3:50.
I wonder one thing tho, does the camera compress differently in 1080p overcrank? Is it still 24Mbit in 25fps playback?
Great work Philip. I gotta say, I’m really interested in this camera. I’ve been needing to buy my own HD camera. But i’ve dragged my heels. I come from a very videocamera background, so the idea of using a DSLR as my main camera seems very foreign to me still.
the AG-AF100 seems to not have a zoom servo. Is this true? Is this just that 5% that still might be missing? It seems like a pretty big drawback for the videocamera crowd. Or should I just change my shooting style to adapt to this?
Phil can correct me, but there will be no zoom rocker on the AF-100. It is not designed to work with servo lenses. If you need servo lens control you’ll need a separate servo motor (or a different camera). FWIW, many of the lenses that would be used on this camera are not parafocal so a servo zoom would be tough.
there are no servo lenses for this camera. all still lenses.
One would think that there will be a ENG style lens with a servo zoom. etc. for this camera soon enough, yes?
not for some time. the sensor is huge and a video lens for that would be huge and heavy and expensive. chip is twice the size of 2/3″!!!
Great work on the video.
But I have issues with the image the Panny gives, it’s got this camcorder-ish quality to it in a lot of shots, certainly not on 5D mk2 level, but I guess it’s not full frame so that’s to be expected. I don’t know what it is, and maybe I’m taking crazy pills but it lacks a certain oomph. If a 7D doesn’t compare in IQ to a 5D then what hope does a jazzed up GH2 have? (that’s probably being a little unfair, but it’s still a 4/3rds cam at the end of the day, it’s not seeing the scene the same as a 5D IMO).
Phil is a brilliant filmmaker so it’s gotta be the camera. I don’t think you could make ‘Sophia’s people’ with this cam, or Solitude or any other of the really good 5D films, I just don’t think it’s got the chops to produce that kind of eye-popping shot.
Still, I think it’s a great camera for doco makers where a film like image is not the key, but for indie filmmakers after the ‘film look’ I think you are better off slugging it out with 2x5D mk2s for the money, or maybe wait to the mk3, sure life will be harder on the 5D, you’ll spend more time in post, but you’ll get a richer image as an end result, which after all is what it’s all about in the end.
On a side note the lack of image stabilisation in any way on the camera is pretty frustrating, this microjitter than you can get on the 5D drives me bonkers so it’s a shame they couldn’t nip this in the bud.
No motion 35mm film camera has ever had a “full frame” like the 5D. So to say, “I think it’s a great camera for doco makers where a film like image is not the key”, you think that the image is not film like?!? Don’t get me wrong I LOVE the image that a 5D puts out but I think you’ve been watching too many 5D Broll Films with super duper shallow DOF. I think we’re going to see ALOT of inde films shot on these cameras. The AF100 is the first video camera (not DSLR) for this kind of money to exist and everything about it gives a film like image in my opinion.
For a $5,000 camera this is one heck of deal. I know a ton of other cameras that have average image quality compare to this guy.
Hi Philip,
Thank you so much for posting this review. I have been patiently waiting for this camera to come out and for someone to review it before I bought it. The video was stunning!!! I agree with Dan, when it all comes down to it, the client rarely notices the little details that all of us tech nerds do. They only notice the beautiful shots, the art and skill of the shooter and a well told story. You do such a wonderful job in all of that. In the end it is not the sword that matters, but the swordsman….
Out of all the lenses that you used, which one would you recommend the most? That is going to be the hardest part I think, deciding which lens to buy. Do you think it is worth it to get the Zeiss?
Thanks in advance!
Nancy
Once again you prove it’s the man not the camera. ALL the cameras you have played sing with the music you choose. You are like a conductor of light, frame, and story. Thank you again.
really kind commend John. Thanks
Hi Philip,
great coverage of the af-101. is there any difference to the af-100 model you tested earlier? (i thought, you could switch between 50/60 fps on any model…). can’t see the nanoflash on the photos of you filming – so this is all shot using the avchd-codec, isn’t it?
different number for each region. 101 is Europe. all the same functions. All shot AVCHD
Is that your Vinten Vision 5AS? Thought you were a Miller man.
Loaned tripod. Am actually a Vinten guy too. I own two awesome Vinten tripods aswell as two Millers
Great video Philip. Kyoto’s a magical place. Did you film the Higashi Otani Cemetery in the main temple park? Remember filming Kyoto 7 years ago on a DV handheld… ah memories!
I have no idea where I was most of the time!
There were a few moments that I thought I was watching a real Hollywood multi-million production, the shots are that good.
I believe the importance of this camera far outweighs the image quality it delivers. It makes other makers re-examine their positioning and affordability. That Sony APS-C camera price is obscene and Sony should be ashamed since the truth is it is only a different sensor in a very similar form factor. One of many to come I’m sure.
Thank you for the commentary and excellent images!
what lenses are you using in shots 1:28 – 1:40 ?? stunning shots…
Very nice Phil, thanks so much for that – also just wanted to say how much I love your stills !! Amazing shot of the B+W Japanese couple – really captured the moment.
Also appreciate the huge wealth of BTS photos you upload – great seeing the setups / shots around you whilst you work.
Good work Panasonic on being first in with a solid effort.
Cheers
seb
Check out my commentary Seb, should answer most of your questions. P
SCRUMPTIOUS – perfect choice for that part!! ( my fav as well )
fantastic commentary – totally forgot to check it out the other day after watching / reading the review – thanks again !
zeiss + nanoflash combo will be pretty solid…
Cheers Phil – hope you give yourself some time out after all this epic info you keeping giving us!
Another great film. Looking forward to the full post on the camera.
looks good!
I can’t say it’s anything more than I already expected from this camera though, and can’t say it blows DSLRs ‘out of the water’ considering the price. can’t wait to hear a full review and jello, dealing with post flow with this footage vs dslrs.
good on you mate!
Loved your film, as always 🙂
I see you using Carl Zeiss lenses in the photos, is there a real and noticeable difference (better quality etc) between those and Nikon, Canon lenses ?
they are my Nikon Zeiss lenses. use them on all my cameras. Great video lenses for these cams
WOW! Stunning footage
thanks Adan
Very interesting stuff and beautifully shot as well. However, if I wanted to go commando…oops I think it’s called ‘guerrilla style’ in order not to get noticed I would definitely stick with my HDSLRs every time.r
agreed Nigel
thanks!!! great job under a such limited time.
and Am really liking your audio commentary.
Philip, I would like to know if you are planning to make a review of the Sony PMW-500. I have read great things about it but your opinion is always of consideration.
Thank you.
no plans to unless Sony ask me to.
Hi Philip,
Nicely done as always … interesting camera … kind of what I wanted in the DVX 100 when that camera first came out. Give me a shout when to next get to Tokyo.
all the best
cheers Dean
im loving the images this camera is producing and can’t wait to get my hands on one…but also cant wait for you to get your hands on the new sony pmw f3k to see what thats like. bet your looking forward to it too.
Thanks for the peek at the new gear. I noticed that the screen format is very wide, (2:35?) is it an in camera option or a post crop? Also, is the rear viewfinder large/sharp enough for easy focusing?