AF100 Storm Gathers
You can’t yet buy a new Panasonic AG-AF100 camera but already it is threatening to rain all over the great DSLR picnic.
And after taking out a pre-production engineering sample unit – one of a only a handful worldwide – here at CREWS.TV we are beginning to think it won’t be a gentle shower that spoils the DSLR fun – it’s going to hose down.
Sure, nothing is certain, but here is why we are making this particular weather forecast.
Panasonic have grafted the advantages of DSLRs onto a proper video camera.
AF-100 CREWS evaluation
We are talking about a shallow depth of field, reminiscent of 35mm movie making and beloved by cinematographers. But the Panasonic AG-AF100 is a camera body that you can pick up with a couple of fingers and boasts a ticket price of only NZ$7,000 (say US$5,250). It is due for release by the end of 2010.
Unlike the DSLRs it aims to displace, this camera is not compromised by trying to be a good stills camera.
The Panasonic AG-AF100 conforms to Micro 4/3″ – pronounced ‘fourth thirds inch’ – specification of lens port and sensor size. That doesn’t mean Panasonic flogged the sensor from their own Lumix GH1 4/3″ DSLR. A new sensor has been built for the job.
The 4/3″ consortium originally developed their specification to allow DSLR cameras to become more compact and enable faster more compact lenses to be used.
Sure enough, 4/3″ compact stills lenses will fit the camera, but they are so compact that focus pulling is going to be a problem, and with a simple third-party adaptor cine lenses will fit straight on the camera – much to the delight of focus pullers and cinematographers.
The camera’s 4/3″ single CMOS sensor is 17.3mm wide, while a full aperture movie frame is 25mm wide and a full frame DSLR frame is 36mm wide. Larger frame sizes give a shallower depth of field.
This gives the Panasonic AG-AF100 camera a lot shallower depth of field than a 2/3″ camera, but it is not as shallow as 35mm movie and quite it is a lot less than a full frame DSLR.
That may be no bad thing, as keeping sharps on an actors eyes with wide open full frame DSLR lens can be a challenge, with the cost of missing focus being an unusable shot.
The camera has a menu structure with the usual HD video camera options – similar in style, content and feel to other Panasonic video cameras like the AG-HVX202A.
Cinematographer for the test, Matt Meikle, says he set the format to 1080/25p 1/50th shutter and didn’t delve into the setup so as to produce some baseline footage showing what the camera will do out of the box.
“It was a rapid kind of assessment without plugging in waveform monitors or setting a basic low gain structure within the camera. With the limited time available, a real world practical test was the priority,” he explains.
Meikle and Simard looking for detail shots on a hand held frame
Detail
“My first impression? It was an enjoyable experience putting Zeiss Ultraprimes on a camera that will be affordable to production companies yet offer much higher resolution and a better look than DSLRs.”
He says single-handed focus pulling was actually easier with sharper lenses that have a shallower depth of field because he could find focus rapidly by hand.
The results were sharp, with a more pleasing and natural focus drop off.
“Look at the detail in the handrails and skin tone definition. And the highlights around the windows were pretty amazing.”
Meikle pushing the cold weather boundaries
Simard sets the scene
Because the camera is designed exclusively for video, the optical low pass filter is matched to resolution of the sensor also reducing moiré effects on texture detail.
“We were pretty impressed how the detail held over a whole bunch of different fabrics at the studio and different metallic objects that we had in frame,” reports Meikle.
“From what I saw the results were stunning. The level of individual hair detail, white on black and all those sort of things like the white bra with edging. The detail was incredible in the dark hair considering the gamma was set at mid-knee.”
Meanwhile, for sound recordist Nick Treacy the shoot was a low-key affair, with a wireless link on the camera feeding into dual XLR audio inputs just as you would expect on any professional video camera.
Sound ease being a key option for this camera
using a dual channel radio link to feed the audio
Recording Option
Next morning at the edit suite DoP Yves Simard, who directed the test shoot, sat down with the footage and compared the two codecs used to record the material with Simon Coldrick from The Bigger Picture, an Auckland edit post company.
It might seem odd to put expensive Ultraprimes on a camera that only offers AVCHD PH mode with a maximum of 24Mbps to SDHC or the new higher capacity SDXC memory cards, but this is a measure that helps keep the body price low. With an 8 bit HD-SDI output connector there is always the option of dual recording to a higher spec off board device.
On this shoot Panasonic offered an AG-HPG20 P2 Memory Card Portable Recorder with AVC-Intra 100, a unit that doubled as a handy director’s monitor.
After a session examining the footage Simard confirmed Meikle’s assessment.
“We’ve set up this camera to work with the best possible glass and the best possible recording. That was the test – is this camera worthy of the claims made about it? To put it simply, for me this camera is everything the DSLR should have been.
“What I love about this camera is you have the ability to offer up an entire range of choices. So if you want to do a drama, this is far easier to interface with than any DSLR on the market. It works, acts and feels like a proper camera. The next step above this is the RED. So for people who want to achieve drama looks it’s not only done easily but done well.”
He admits that in the edit suite monitor the different between the onboard recording codec and high spec off board monitor is hard to spot.
Simon Coldrick from Bigger Picture checking out the first images of the AF-100
“But if you are going through all that effort you don’t want the weakest link to be the 24Mbps codec so you have to go with an off board option,” he says. “That’s where the DSLRs will always let you down. The look is great but it falls over when you try to grade it.”
With reduced a rolling shutter slew effect a benefit Panasonic holds out as an advantage over DSLRs optimised for still photography, Simard was eager to examine the footage containing vertical edged window frames and buildings. True to the Panasonic claim the handheld footage and panning came out clean.
The shoot did encounter some technical bugs, but no-one seemed worried. As one crew member says: “This is Panasonic, they won’t let it happen in the production models.”
Certainly not when this is the chance to send the DSLR party running for shelter.
Download the full brochure here (posted dec 11, 2010)
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Peter Parnham is a freelance technology writer and chief editor of CREWS.TV
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The Zeiss Ultraprimes were kindly supplied by Andy Roelants of Auckland rental house, Metro Film.
Yves Simard is a working DOP in New Zealand, Australia & Asia. Yves is also the founder of CREWS.TV.
Joe Lawry is a freelance cameraman and steadicam operator based in Auckland
Simon Coldrick is an editor with the The Bigger Picture post company in Auckland
Matt Meikle, based in Auckland is a Cinematographer & Camera Operator
This independent article was produced without any inducement or restrictions from Panasonic, thanks guys.
Model Victoria Williams, Photographer/Videographer Michel Perrin
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- AF-100 CREWS evaluation
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- Sound ease being a key option for this camera
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- using a dual channel radio link to feed the audio
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- In the edit suite with the AF-100
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- AF100 with a 4/3″ compact stills lens
The images on the internet are very nice, and you seem to like them even more so in the edit suite.
The cam for its price is rather appealing. It seems like a great tool for telling stories.
These are the good old days for videographers and this technology.
Great footage. Also what type and brand of mics were used in this footage?
This sounds great, really can’t wait till it’s out there!
I was wondering if you guys compared the 24 mbps footage with the 45 mbps Canon DSLR footage?
24mbps sounds more like HDV while 45mbps almost meets up with 50 mbps XDCAM HD right? If so, is the AF100 24 mpbs image comparable with HDV + mini 35 adapter in the hose down of the future..? Or is the AVCHD PH codec doing it’s work a lot better than H264?
And how fluid does the iris control works on the electronic canon lenses most of the DSLR filmers have at home..
In terms of lenses the 2.0 crop factor is making it difficult to find a nice F2.8 wide-to-medium zoom lens like the EF 24-70 L for example.. Panasonic’s lenses F4-5.8 doesn’t help out much with depth of field..
And the last one, wouldn’t it be possible to download a short sample (24mbps/100mbps) in full res?
I’ve been purplexed by the Canon’s 45Mb/s video – H.264 at that bitrate should be a LOT better than it is. In fact, it should out perform XDCAM HD422 50Mb/s, but it doesn’t. Compression artifacts are easily spotted in any Canon DSLR footage I’ve looked at. My assumption has been that the Canon hardware can’t really deliver high performance compression, so it’s using a higher bitrate to make it easier on the hardware.
AVCHD is a much more advanced codec than HDV and performs much better at similar bitrates. So a 24Mb/s AVCHD will out perform HDV at 25Mb/s.
In most usage I’d be very surprised if you could identify visual differences between the recorded AVCHD material and the HD-SDI output.
The AG-AF100′s internal codec is borderline crapola. One should only use that in a bind, otherwise just shoot with the DMC-GH1/GH2 HDSLR, you get the same codec that way as well, really. And spend less money, too.
The SDI output from the AG-AF100 is strictly 8-bit color depth resolution, so it is not really “professional” these days, when to get a good quality master, you really need 4:22 and 10-bit w/o mickey-mousing around. Incidentally, Sony had Digital Betacam way back in 1993-94, that was already 4:2:2 and 10-bit. Panasonic is still thinking that what we want in 2010-11 is good old ancient 8-bit. Oh well, whatever…
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Re. the Canon codecs, obviously of all the HDSLRs, the Canon variants are the poorest for recording video. Personally, I would much rather shoot with a Panny, Pentax, Nikon, or maybe even Sony HDSLR that with one of the Canons. The best for video out of the whole Canon lot is the T2i/550D, anyhow. At least according to a Canon rep I talked to “in confidence” and “off the record” at a recent trade show in New York City.
few questions
what is the asa rate this camera stands for , 640?
which adaptor did you use for the pl mount ?
how much % of the lens you lost by using 35 film lenses ?
thanks
The Camera has adjustable ISO settings. we were shooting 200.
We were using a HotRodCameras PL mount adapter.
The magnification factor with the AF100 is 2x the focal length compared to a full frame chip like the 5D2. 1.6x when compared with 35mm motion picture film.
what is the maximum iso?
what is the maximum usable iso before the grain becomes a problem
did you check for grain with 1200 and up
The ideal iso will always be 100. I can see degradation after 400 usually. Whether you can see it or not, it is there. The real question should be, why don’t I just find more light? In a low light scenario, there is always a sufficient amount of light somewhere within 200 yards. Maybe you should just go there.
The thing with Canon, the H.264 they’re using is I and P frames only, not B frames. That’s not really an excuse… a B-Frame might typically run 1/2 the size of a P-Frame, but you can’t stuff a GOP entirely full of P-Frames. So it’s more like a 25Mb/s IPB encoding should match a 35-40Mb/s IP encoding. And of course, the Canons are recording 4:2:0 at speeds awfully close to Panasonic’s AVC-Intra 50, but also using P Frames. They’re not going to be better over all than 50Mb/s XDCAM HD, simply because they’re not 4:2:2.
Well encoded AVC will generally deliver 2:1 encoding efficiency over well encoded MPEG-2. So a 25Mb/s AVC camera ought to about match a 50Mb/s MPEG-2… you’d think. But there’s kind of a point of diminishing returns in static encoding… the 2:1 ratio probably holds true at lower bitrates, maybe not so much at higher bitrates.
Then there’s motion… that’s really going to ping any CODEC with Interframe encoding. But the P-Frame only Canons (and some other HDSLRs) more than a full IPB frame camera, simply because of the action of the B-Frame (a B-Frame can be based on changes to the previous or next frame)… the GOP deals with changes better, given the two points of reference for each B-Frame. Motion is where I’ve seen my Canon most fragile, but then again, nothing doing MPEG-2 or AVC is comparable to an Intraframe-only encoder when it comes to motion.
And finally, there’s technology. AVC has been improving every year, as tiny video DSPs get more powerful, as camera makers gain experience with the AVC CODEC, which is far more complex than MPEG-2, etc. Keep in mind, the 5DmkII is from 2008, and back then, I think video was kind of a “because we can” feature, when Canon first introed it. I wasn’t happy with any AVC-based camcorder back then… a few years later, they all started beating HDV and sometimes even higher bitrate MPEG-2 on at least some measures of quality.
Far as the sensor goes, nothing special or weird. Practically every other sensor this side of a Red One is 4:3, but cropped to 16:9. I mean, really, look inside just about any device, you’ll probably find a 4:3 aspect sensor, perhaps with some portion permanently cropped. This is a 12MPixel sensor, same one used in the GF1 I think it was (but with higher bitrate recording, and an optical anti-alias filter), and the camera only really needs 8Mpixels anyway… it’s going to pixel bucket 4:1 to deliver the HD video without Bayer interpolation. Anything else is a waste.
Where can I find the lens adapter in those pictures? Is it made by Panasonic?
I absolutely loved the result for the test..The footage looks great..
This is the next answer for young film makers..
Cheers
Dimi
I noticed a clip on cinema5d and I think Phillip Blooms site from a firmware hacked GH1 at 50Mb/s I wonder if the same thing will happen to this camera. It seems like the public expect a camera model similar to the computer model with generic hardware and the flexibility to change the software to suit future needs. I very much doubt sony and panasonic are willing to go this direction. Canon made it much harder to reverse engineer the 7d firmware after Trammell Hudson’s development of magiclantern for the 5d mk2, but I bet they were watching very closely or they would have never released the firmware update 2.0.4 which allowed the AGC to be switched off and input gain setting.
It’s a shame really, image how powerful a camera could be in it were like the iPhone. When you look back over the last 25 years of camera development we are definitely witnessing a revolution right now.
Thanks for the report and footage – much appreciated. Also loving the photo of the camera with 20mm ƒ/1.7 mounted – it’s a combination I’m keen to try, though it might be hard to use on a shoot without everyone falling about laughing.
Thanks so much for the footage
2 questions though irrelevant:
1) are there frame guides for diff aspect ratios?
2) are there off board recording that would permit higher bitrates but with panasonics codec?
lastly: are there any rumors of expected release date?
NJOP, supposedly there is even a 2.35:1 “CinemaScope” framing marker that you can pull up in the VF and LCD. But thing about that for a moment. The AG-AF100 has a high megapixel DSLR-type sensor, so the poor camera has to desperate downsample and downpixel and downconvert that high MP sensor image to something usable — like a 2.2MP 1080 or 1MP 720 HD video. The sensor is 1.33:1 aspect ratio as well — very useful for video acquisition in the era of 1.78:1, 1.85:1, and 2.35:1 widescreen formats, right?
Bitrate is at a MAXIMUM SUSTANINED RATE (“AVERAGE” rate) of 21Mb/sec, but hey, the good new is that you can drop down to as low as 6Mb/sec recording rate with the AG-AF100, and save on CF card costs.
Now, you can call me foolish and irresponsible, but when I spend $5,000 on an allegedly “professional” video camera in 2010 or 2011, I do NOT really need to save pennies by shooting video at a grotesque birate of 6Mb/sec. Does anyone?
Panny claims camera will be released on 1 December 2010, my sources place it more in the 15 January – 1 February 2011 time frame. Whenever it first comes out, I would wait a good 2-3 months to order mine — let them “iron out the kinks” on someone else’s camera, not mine.
thanks a lot for your reply man, its appreciated and as you suggested I would wait a few months to see reviews and any updates to purchase it. Although i am looking forward to this professional cam because of long recording time, timecode and all man
Okay, if you look at the camera closely, it IS a video-enabled DSLR from Panasonic. It is, therefore, NOT a brand new product category, as Panasonic is perhaps trying to position it. Panny makes the Lumix DMC-GH1, GH2…. and now, the AG-AF100. Granted, there are some differences, but where it really counts — sensor type and size, lenses used, compression used, etc, the DMC-GH2 is much closer to the AG-AF100 that they are apart.
Hi Stunko:
I have been testing both the GH2 and the AF 100 and there is a huge difference in image between both cameras. Why? I don´t know but even if you just compare image quality the difference is easily spotted by anyone looking at it.
Other thing to note is the general unavailability of lenses for this camera. THERE ARE NO VIDEO LENSES FOR IT, and none planned by Panasonic, folks. As strange as that may sound.
Panasonic claims the AG-AF100 is a VIDEO CAMCORDER, but frankly, they somehow “forgot” to create a video lens for it, or even ask a lens maker to do the same. Hmmmm….
So, you are basically stuck with SLR/DSLR lenses — not all that good for video shooting, are they now?
Or, if you have the mullah, how about those nifty cine-zooms and cine-primes? Super 16mm lenses will not cover the sensor. The ANSI/DIN Super 35mm cine lenses will work with a 1.5x crop factor, and the “full frame” 35mm lenses with an even more brutal 2x crop! This means that when you use Arri CP.2 or similar cine-style lenses, you can just as well forget about your ultra-wide and wide angle perspectives, and start right at a mild wild angle/normal setting. After all, your 50mm normal lens suddenly becomes the 35mm equivalent of a 100mm telephoto glass. Ouch, that hurts!
Panny claims that the AG-AF100 was “designed for video.” Okay, then why do they use a 4:3 (i.e. 1.33:1) aspect ration sensor in it? I mean…. how many of us are really going to shoot 1.33:1 AR video with something like this thing today? Seems to me they are using the Lumix DMC-GH2′s sensor with an extra optical low-pass filter added for good measure.
“On this shoot Panasonic offered an AG-HPG20 P2 Memory Card Portable Recorder with AVC-Intra 100…” Well, whereas that is very nice of Panasonic, I am sure, but the sad fact remains that when you connect the AG-AF100 this way, you are feeding an 8-bit signal to a recorder that records in a 10-bit codec. Ahumm…. “no comment” on that one, I guess.
Also, it is misleading to claim that the AG-AF100 is using a “24Mb/sec codec,” when the fact is that even in the highest resolution mode, it uses a 21Mb/sec AVERAGE BITRATE, and in the “eco” mode, it uses a 6Mb/sec bitrate. The lower the recording bitrate, the better for everyone concerned, Panasonic must have figured. Cheaper on the CompactFash cards, too.
“Other thing to note is the general unavailability of lenses for this camera. THERE ARE NO VIDEO LENSES FOR IT, and none planned by Panasonic, folks. As strange as that may sound.”
I think you have to change the way you look at this camera. This is not a camera between HPX170 – HPX370
This is a head on assault on the HDSLR indy film market.
If you want a camera with a ‘video’ lens you buy $9000 HPX370 or up.
This camera has ridiculous amount of lens options. From Ultra Prime to Compact Prime to DSLR zoom lenses, all you need is an adapter.
You think DSLR lenses are not good for video? I disagree but ok… I’ll give you that… what about Zeis Prime lenses? Or Digioptical lenses.
I can use this camera for high end looking commercials, music videos, documentaries, corporate videos and more. I have used many Panny cameras including HMC150. AVCHD codec is very nice clean codec.
Yes the bitrate is low. SO?
It is $4800 camera. If you want higher rate go with RED.
I am a videographer in the States and work all kinds of assignments with all kinds of equipment.
There have been great technical strides in smaller cameras over the last 5 years. They are now capable and being used for producing “A” camera footage.
Most ENG operators cant wait to drop their 40lbs rigs for higher quailty smaller units.
If you are used to shooting with support staff or only work with staged action then you can NOT understand the advantages of this style of hardware. The AF100 promissed to be that camera BUT it may have just miss the mark. Yes is physicaly a Video Cam, but no ENG zoom lens, big mistake. 35 body cameras are impossible to use as work horses. You are forced to operate in film style mode. Most jobs dont exsist there. 8 bit what a HUGE dissapointment. I own a Nanoflash, what advantage will I really attain?
With all that said, from someone with hands on experience how will this compare to a 2/3 Broadcast camera?
Stunko:
I’ve seen your posts to this blog and another where you use a different screen name, but you’re sating the same things, and trashing this camera pretty hard, spending a lot of time writing a lot about a camera still in a pre-production phase – but you’re pretty hostile. Wondering if you may have some other agenda…
Lenses have come up quite a bit. I presume we are not looking at a perfect all encompassing product here. Panasonic and Sony for that matter already have a huge range of video cameras with Video Lenses. What they clearly don’t have is a low cost large sensor cinematic camera with changeable lenses. The other matter about them making lenses is crazy. Panasonic have NEVER made lenses, neither has Sony. They make cameras and get lenses 3rd party. I think people have to be realistic.
Nice shots. I was wondering if you were working near a military complex. I didn’t know they had any in KiwiLand. I see the space missile outside the window. Is that for disposing of all the EOS still cameras that pretend to be movie cams, with all the expensive extra crap attached to them?
Hi,
can You please find out if AF-100 has AUTOMATIC Audio AGS or just LIMITER as on HVX-200??
Thanks
jiri
1920 x 1080 25p over-cranked to 50fps!! Cant Wait!
hey, i have a question, though i want to buy a camera next year, I was thinking on HPX-500 i have used 200, canon 5d, 7d… im a joung film maker, so I saw this camera Panasonic AG-AF100 a few hours ago, so I saw its 4/3 and it costs les 10k less than the HPX-500 so I was like “WTF!!!”
Can any one explain me why is 2/3 hpx-500 more expensive? and even canon 5d, or 7d cost like 4k… and this new Panasonic AG-AF100 costs almost 5k.
I know, 4/3 are better than 2/3…
You know, I was in love of hpx-500, i like big cameras… and I thought that would be a good camera to have and start working with it, but how bout this new Panasonic AG-AF100?
Can you change the ISO? the lenss mount? can I put NIKON lensses? If i buy it, what would you recomend to me? what lensses should I buy? any adapter? tripod? etc… plz.
ah and… I dont want to spend more money in lensses more expenssive than the camera ya know…
if you want this sort of look with these sorts of lenses, simply rent them.
We did not test other lenses because we did not have the time.
Cheers
Any answers to my question? if possible this financial Year
Jiri,
We had the camera for an afternoon, it has long gone. Even then it was a pre-production engineering sample. Establishing the final details of the audio circuits was not our priority and they would not have been finalised anyway.
Now we could contact our Panasonic guy and ask him to find out this detail from the factory.
But here’s a better suggestion,
You do it.
Testing camera and do not know basic thing regarding Audio?