Used AF100 or new Blackmagic?

[GrahamH]

Is it 3x crop? I thought it was slightly smaller than 4/3. It cant be 3x

I read that somewhere last night ... but perhaps incorrect. The sensor is 16.64 mm x 14.04 mm, active 15.6 mm x 8.8 mm, so perhaps someone can do the math for us...

[hscully]

If I were you, I'd get the AF100 at this time. The BMD is geared to digital cinema and a raw workflow and the images, at least what I've seen so far, are just OK. The AF100 is a far better choice for the type of shooting you suggest. It sets up easily, the workflow is fast and you can shoot all day on 2 batteries. You'll have focus assist and a wave form monitor on board whereas the BMD has scopes, you need to connect via thunderbolt (gotta be a mac right now) to a laptop to use them. The media for the AF100 is cheap and sturdy. You'd need to figure in the SSDs for the BMD. The AF100 also comes with an electronic viewfinder which is necessary for shooting outdoors.

I think BMD is onto something for indy film makers who want the sort of latitude it may render. It's odd how happy everyone is about it since it's sensor is smaller than the AF100 and so many people clamor for FF.

Also, regarding the GH2, I think you might want to consider the fact that the GH2 is subject to considerable skew and aliasing since it does not incorporate an optical low pass filter. If you move it you will get some jello and you'll have to be careful in shooting buildings of bricks and that shiny crunchy aliasing evident in high light outdoors. Do yourself a favor and get the AF100. Just my 2 cents.

[Inveresk]

If I were you, I'd get the AF100 at this time. The BMD is geared to digital cinema and a raw workflow and the images, at least what I've seen so far, are just OK. The AF100 is a far better choice for the type of shooting you suggest. It sets up easily, the workflow is fast and you can shoot all day on 2 batteries. You'll have focus assist and a wave form monitor on board whereas the BMD has scopes, you need to connect via thunderbolt (gotta be a mac right now) to a laptop to use them. The media for the AF100 is cheap and sturdy. You'd need to figure in the SSDs for the BMD. The AF100 also comes with an electronic viewfinder which is necessary for shooting outdoors.

I think BMD is onto something for indy film makers who want the sort of latitude it may render. It's odd how happy everyone is about it since it's sensor is smaller than the AF100 and so many people clamor for FF.

Also, regarding the GH2, I think you might want to consider the fact that the GH2 is subject to considerable skew and aliasing since it does not incorporate an optical low pass filter. If you move it you will get some jello and you'll have to be careful in shooting buildings of bricks and that shiny crunchy aliasing evident in high light outdoors. Do yourself a favor and get the AF100. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks. That was the way I was leaning. I was confused by the description by BMD about the sensor being 4/3. According to their spec., the active sensor size of the BMD is 61% that of a 4/3 sensor. I'm a novice, but nearly 40% smaller seems a pretty big chunk to me.

I do have reservations about the GH2, but I need a fairly inexpensive camera for the microkopter that is light but gives good HD quality. I haven't ruled out the GoPro yet.

I don't like the thought of a $250 firmware upgrade for the AF. Panasonic need to reconsider.

[Erik Naso]

My batteries been lasting over 2 hours.

It's a pain for sure, but it's not that hard to work around.

jb

I’m surprised they went with the internal battery. This must change. Adding a powerdock and external power doesn’t make sense if your going for a compact camera design.

[WhiteMonkey]

Black Magic. It looks to be a better camera in terms of exposure latitude and it can record in 12bpc RAW. That makes all of the difference with me. I do a lot of color correcting and timing and having 4:4:4 RAW to work with is still a dream for me. I'd also have to get used to the different crop factor ( I use a 7D now ).

I make movies mostly. The Black Magic would work for me better than an AF100. I hate compression in the master image.

[mcbob]

Here's a question people aren't asking:

The BlackMagic uses either a Nikon F or EF mount, but has a smaller-than-4/3 sensor; if people thought finding wide lenses (as one might use in, say, architectural and scenic video) for µ43 was hard (which it isn't, with the Tokina 11-16 and Lumix 7-14), how possible will it be with these long-flange mounts and ~3x crop?

Not sure why they didn't just make it C-mount with a plethora of adapters like the µ43 systems.

The BM cam is interesting within a particular niche (commercial and narrative), but I currently prefer the flexibility vs. price of the AF100 or FS100 systems.

[Brian@202020]

They went with an internal battery so you could have a quick light handheld solution. I think they are assuming you'd be hooked up to a power source most of the time.

[spotts]

The BlackMagic uses either a Nikon F or EF mount, but has a smaller-than-4/3 sensor; if people thought finding wide lenses (as one might use in, say, architectural and scenic video) for µ43 was hard (which it isn't, with the Tokina 11-16 and Lumix 7-14), how possible will it be with these long-flange mounts and ~3x crop?

Pretty sure I saw a video from the NAB show floor of one of the Blackmagic Design people stating clearly that the sensor used is M43. Crop factor should then be identical to the AF100 I would think.

[ErikTande]

The Black Magic shoots at a max of 30fps. That's a big red flag for me, no thanks.

[Zephyrnoid]

The Black Magic shoots at a max of 30fps. That's a big red flag for me, no thanks.

yes. major oversight. Plus one for FS-700