Digital Filmmaking

The Buzz about Panasonic’s AG-AF100 Camera

November 24, 2010



There has been a lot of buzz about Panasonic's very soon-to-be-released AG•AF100 camera. As usual, Rule•Boston camera are the first on the scene to host a demonstration of the camera - and it really was a great presentation! Jean-Georges introduced Jan Crittenden, who provided a lively commentary to the 'power-point' style presentation, as she is known to do. Bernie Mitchell was there for even more technical answers and feedback. Jan is the Product Manager for this model of camera, and has been with Panasonic for many years; this is the first product she has seen from its birth to its very first light-of-day minutes, so its great to see a technical person who has a strong personal commitment be able to demonstrate and discuss the camera so well. I met Jan about 8 years years ago after having carried out some pre-release testing and feedback on the Panasonic DVX100, and truly revolutionary camera that made '24p' a standard expectation for digital filmmakers around the world. If you're interested, check out a test I had the pleasure of participating in along with Jon Fauer, ASC and my brother Michael Phillips in an article for American Cinematographer at the time of that camera's release: http://www.theasc.com/magazine/product.htm Some nice comparative images are here too: http://www.theasc.com/magazine/product.htm

So with a background in both film camera as well as digital camera testing, and like many people, I've been REALLY curious how the larger-sensor AF100 camera would look! The demo room was overflowing, but there it was, with a beautiful Zeiss 50mm prime and a lovely Voca matte box on rails...heart a-pounding but playing coy, I chatted with Jan and Bernie as well as Mike from Rule•Boston Camera, and the presentation began. The camera uses a larger-than-usual sensor, a MOS chip in the Micro 4/3" format. The advantage of this is first and foremost a much easier way to get shallower depth-of-field in a small, camcorder-sized camera package! Jan immediately dispelled the rumor that this camera is intended as a 'DSLR killer' as some marketing-happy people have been claiming (none from Panasonic, by the way). The AF100 is priced at about $5000.00 while most HDSLRs are in the $2500 or lower price range, explained Jan. That being said, and especially for digital filmmakers, comparisons will be made, and purchasing decisions will also be made! The Micro 4/3rd format allows a very wide range of lenses to be mounted, including Canon EOS lenses, Leica and Zeiss and Angénieux and Cookes, Nikons and Yahisca/Contax...and on and on!

While the sensor size is smaller than that of the Canon5Dmark2, it's close to that of the Canon 7D, and in 'film terms' is similar to working with Super16mm. What that translates to in broad terms, is that lenses designed for 35mm photo or movie cameras will be 'longer'. More telephoto in their fields-of-view than they would be in 35mm. If you use lenses designed for 16mm or for the 4/3 format from Leica or Olympus, then the field of view you expect will match up much more closely. I'll let apps like Pcam and various sites provide you with multiple & division factors, just be broadly aware that a 'normal' 50mm from a Zeiss or Nikon intended for 35mm will be longer than a 'normal' field of view. To get wide angle fields of view, we'll need to look to very wide '35mm still' lenses, or to lenses designed for S16mm such as 10, 12 or 14mm from Zeiss and others.

OK, key questions: how is the depth-of-field, and how is the picture quality? The picture quality reminds me of the Lumix GH1 but with reduced noise, higher ISO or EI, expose-index; even at ISO 1600, images looked good. In other words, a very 'pretty' colorimetry, very flattering to skin tones, and very 'sweet' colors, a look that really has an organic and flattering quality, what I think of as a Panasonic trademark. Tom Talbot had the recent Philip Bloom media playing, and Jan also had some informal, "home-movie" footage of some boys carving pumpkins, and the colors were truly beautiful. Dare I say "Agfa" for anyone who recalls film-stock tones? There are a number of Cine Gamma looks which will enhance certain zones of the dynamic range, some moderate control over the knee circuit (middle-tones), all of which you can read about and check out online, for the purposes of this blog, I can report that the footage really was beautiful! There were at least ten or more BU-CDiA students and alum there, I think its safe to speak for them that the camera was impressive. Depth of field, you're wondering..? Well, yes, it definitely is noticeably shallower than our beloved Sony EX1's, and it was fairly straightforward to get some nice-looking soft backgrounds even at normal to wide shots. At moderate telephoto, it was very easy to really separate the planes of focus and get what's called 'the film look' very quickly. I'd played it cool long enough, so I pounced on the camera and was able to frame up very easily, the viewfinder is crisp and very easy to focus on. There will be focus-peaking on the camera, this pre-pro model wasn't offering it, but even without, it was much easier to focus with than any DSLR I've used, namely the Lumix GH1 and the Canon 5dm2. The menu layout and ergonomics are logical, with buttons you need the most available quickly, and 3 buttons for storing customized settings. The AF100 really is a thing of beauty, it will take HD (video) 2MB stills, offers sound recording. 2 channels of 16bit audio with XLR input. The boxy shape is clever in that you can remove the handles and customize it to your own comfort level - as it is, its MUCH more comfortable than filming with a DSLR; even with the tilting viewfinder in the Lumix of the recent Canon D60, the AF100's viewfinder is superior. There's also the 'one-eyed-jack' type of viewfinder for people who like that, or when ambient light makes the side-LCD finder impractical. Its big and crisp, a good -quality ENG-type of viewfinder. Otherwise this camera has no other 'video-electronic-news camera' qualities, no rocking zoom control, since it accepts interchangeable lenses.

Impressions from this near final version of the camera is that it is an ideal camera for indie filmmakers, and for corporate media makers too, for any film or DSLR-video/photographers wanting to add better handling comfort, a huge range of lenses and a super-efficient recording format - the Panasonic records to SD cards! Are we finally getting back to the 'master source' where it becomes affordable to shoot and archive that original media..? I can only hope so, in any case, check out Panasonic and the Rule•Boston Camera sites for fuller technical specs, and remember, its holiday season, pre-orders are being taken..!

http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/af100/ http://www.rule.com/events