AF100 / AF101 - initial report

[Barry_Green]

Is the SDI output 10-bits?

No answer was given. My guess is 8-bit, but we'll see. All the other AG-series cameras are 8-bit. (well, except the HPX370, but that's an AVC-Intra camcorder so it has to be 10-bit all the way through).

[Barry_Green]

Hi Barry: Did the press conference happen? Any interesting announcements? (It's now 11PM in Amsterdam.)

Press conference happened, not really any new announcements that I haven't already listed (except the "tentative" suggested retail price of 4900 euros).

They also talked about the HPX3100, which we already knew about, and the 3-D camera, which we already knew about. Showed 3D footage, talked about the end-to-end 3D production chain (they called it "Camera To Couch"). Lots of talk about switchers and remote cameras and stuff that I'm not really interested in. They said that they've pulled even with Sony in terms of overall market share, which is a huge accomplishment for Europe. They said they've sold 165,000 P2 cameras worldwide, which is a huge uptake, and they had several guest speakers commenting about how they're using their products (of which I was one; I got to go up and tell about my experiences with the AF100). Someone from Sky told about how they're building a whole studio out of P2/AVC-Intra products, which was pretty big news for Europe. They talked about a new version of the P2 Mobile (HPM200) and that they have a studio deck version of it, but ... really, it was all fairly well-trod territory, most of it having been listed in the press releases already.

[Barry_Green]

I shudder to think about where Barry might be at 11PM in Amsterdam.

Dude, I grew up in Las Vegas. And I >never< saw stuff there, like they have here.

Was shooting in downtown and we walked by a cafe that had a "no smoking" sign. Well, at least, that's what I thought it was: it had a picture of a cigarette with a circle and a slash through it." And I thought -- wait -- this is Europe, I thought you were >required< to smoke? So I looked closer and it said "Smoking allowed. No tobacco."

Ah, I get it...

But yeah, that was the tame stuff. Amsterdam is not a shy town.

[Barry_Green]

Peter, interestingly, the specs on that landing page tout, "Twin HD-SDI output(L/R)". Huh? I'm guessing this isn't Dual Link 4:4:4.

Barry?

Uh, no idea what that means. There's only one HD-SDI port on it. There's HD-SDI and also HDMI, but ... I think you're looking at some sort of marketing typo there.

There's no beamsplitter, there's no 3-D, it's a conventional cinema camera.

[Barry_Green]

Recording format HE only for 1080/59 and 1080/50 - thats confuses me a little. Does it mean you can only record those formats in HE mode at a measly 6mbps?

No, it's the opposite -- it means you can only record 6mbps in 59.94i or 50i. Meaning, no access to 1080@24p/25p/30p or 720p.

HE and HA mode are only for 1080 interlaced mode. PH mode is the only one that supports 1080p and 720p.

And what is 97P/23 etc? Does it mean you can shoot 97 fps into a 23fps recording?

I had >no< idea what you were talking about, so I looked at the blog, and it looks like they used a "," instead of a "." Read it again, but substitute periods for the commas, and it makes a lot more sense:

1080i/50, 25p, 1080/59.94i/29.97p/23.98p, 720/50p, 25p, 720/59.94p/29.97p/23.98p

[Peter J. DeCrescenzo]

Barry, thanks very much for all the info!

Aside: Maybe this thread should be moved to the new AF100 category on DVXuser, to keep all the info/threads in one place?

[Barry_Green]

Has panasonic given an official sensitivity rating yet? 800 is kind of the new standard new with a lot of high end cameras, I wonder if they were able to do that to the af100 as well. 800 iso clean, and up to 2000 iso with a very acceptable noise threshold puts it right up there with a RED MX and Alexa.

No official rating has been set yet or standardized. But from what I experienced on the early prototype, 800 looks to be pretty darn usable.

[Barry_Green]

will there be a remote port for start stop?

Yes there is, and there's also remote control for iris and for focus (on autofocus-enabled lenses of course). Same remote controls as a DVX/HVX/HPX170/HMC150.

[Joe Lawry]

Do we know officially what magnification you get with this camera and nikon lenses yet? sorry if this has already been confirmed.

[Barry_Green]

Do you know any reason for this?
I know about AVCHD standards problems.
But from hardware POV it sounds nuts.
As I understand, if you use NLE with custom set fps it do not matter at all.
And Barry, send them my personal request to add two CinemaLike(tm) :-) fps at 48fps and 72fps with ability to combine frames in camera.

I don't know what the reasoning is. But I can answer at least part of your second question -- it already has 48fps...