AF-100 Wishlist/Suggestion Discussion Thread

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Ben_B said:
Because not every shot in a movie uses shallow DOF.

Wow.

If the Auto Focus is ALREADY IMPLEMENTED IN THE LENS there is no reason not to have some software to support it in the camera. You already incurred the AF cost when you bought the lens.

Also, this implementation of AVCHD performs better than XDCAM EX which is also a 4:2:0 long GOP codec.
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My point is not debating whether AVCHD or XDCAM are better, but just pointed out this camera is not geared for run and gun ENG work, but for cinematographic types of projects. So insisting on something like AF will just increase the cost.
 
XLR inputs
(this should have been a given, wake up pana)

P2 cards
(this should have been a given, wake up pana, didn't u guys invent this??)

iso not gain

shutter angle measurements as well as shutter speed

histograms and traffic lights

adjustable guides on viewfinder for various aspect ratios

double battery connections hot swappable
 
robertrogoz said:
LANC port!
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Don't mean to shoot down ideas but just so you don't get hopes up, this one I can virtually guarantee won't happen or else we wouldn't have the control we do have. This is a very none standardized protocol, from manufacturer to Manufacture. We have protocol that works. I think we will stick with it.

Best,

Jan
 
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J Davis said:
organized and professional distribution of sale units - not like the gh1 release debacle
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Oddly enough we are a different company under the same parent company, my fear is a huge back order which will slow down delivery. We do try to give each dealer some inventory, but when backorders are large, it is hard to get to the end of the line, i.e., the HVX200 deliveries. Or how soon we forget. ;-)

Best,

Jan
 
J Davis said:
XLR inputs
(this should have been a given, wake up pana
Click to expand...
)

This has already been done.

P2 cards
(this should have been a given, wake up pana, didn't u guys invent this??)[/QUOTE])

We did and for the price point this is what can deliver.

iso not gain

Please explain.


shutter angle measurements as well as shutter speed

Please give an example, this sounds like you want both on the display, which to mee sounds confusing.


histograms and traffic lights
What are traffic lights?

adjustable guides on viewfinder for various aspect ratios
Please identify which ones.


double battery connections hot swappable[/QUOTE]
this probably won't happen. no geography.

Thanks,

Jan
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
)
iso not gain

Please explain.
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Gain is camera specific, ISO is typically not. Ex. ISO 100 should give you the same exposure (with all else the same) across multiple cameras.

More people know ISO. More books use ISO. More instruments use ISO. Actually, since gain is camera specific, it would be impossible to make any external instruments or programs with also being camera specific which no one wants.

ISO isn't without its legacy problems but given the choice its still better.
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
)

This has already been done.

P2 cards
(this should have been a given, wake up pana, didn't u guys invent this??)

We did and for the price point this is what can deliver.

iso not gain

Please explain.


shutter angle measurements as well as shutter speed

Please give an example, this sounds like you want both on the display, which to mee sounds confusing.


histograms and traffic lights
What are traffic lights?

adjustable guides on viewfinder for various aspect ratios
Please identify which ones.


double battery connections hot swappable
this probably won't happen. no geography.

Thanks,

Jan
Click to expand...



Hi Jan, thanks you for responding to my post I am glad you are listening

Delivery and Distribution
I'm glad you recognize this. My complaint with the GH1 distribution is more about fairness than pace of units. I understand backlogs happen but there were situations
where people were ordering directly from Panasonic – people who ordered early waited months and some who ordered late got theirs in a few weeks. I'm sure you have
seen this monster thread filled with irate customers
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=173023
Its easily the longest thread in the whole GH1 section.

P2 cards
No p2? I thought the AF100 was coming in at the $6000 price point? I would understand an abscence of P2 at a $3000 price point

ISO not Gain
(see shao's post above)

Shutter angle as well as shutter speed
A shutter speed measurement such as s1/50 is great for still photography. It tells us that the shhutter was open for one 50th of a second. A shutter angle simply gives us the same measurement in relation to the frame rate which is how it should be done on a cinema camera. For example When shooting 24 frames per second a shutter speed of 1/48 would be a shutter angle of 180 degrees. ie the shutter is open for half the time and closed for half the time. Simple maths, not much electronics to be added, just give the user an option to display this info in either way if screen real estate is tight.

Histograms
please keep them like the GH1 where you have the option to keep them on screen at all times while recording

Traffic lights
Red Green and Blue lights down the side of the image on the LCD – like a traffic light. Each light lights up as soon as we have clipping on that channel.
Even better have it light up at 98% – 2% off clipping gives us headroom.

Adjustable guides – here are the main ones to overlay on the LCD for 1080p (16:9) capture
1.85 : 1
2.39 : 1
and 2:1 is an upcoming big one for new media
(note that youtube moved to 2:1)

hot swappable batts
fair enough if it can't be done
 
I've said this elsewhere but I'm going to have to say it here.

It already has a lot of features I want but 1080 60p would be a good option to have as long as their isn't heating issues involved. Over and Under cranking at 1080p would also be good if possible.



Because of the 10x lens of the GH1, I've sort have gotten used to it but it would be nice to have a powered zoom lens.
 
@ Jan
I can be a harsh critic (like the gh1 distribution debacle) but I also like to give credit where credit is due. In many ways pana lead the charge with the release of the GH1 which is a very forward thinking camera. Nevermind that the 5DM2 came first – its full frame is a drawback (IMO) and at the time it lacked 24p. The GH1 came out with a sensor closer to cinema film standards and it had 24p. Plus you ditched the internal mirror and added an articulated LCD which puts this video DSLR much closer to a video camera than any of the canons. Metering is much more accurate than the canons, you can have live histograms while recording and in my opinion the highlight roll off on the image is better. The biggest drawback with the GH1 is the whole pulldown issue with the codec. This was the sole reason I switched to canon as I can't pass on files to a producer without an explanation that is a page long.
 
I'd reiterate a few things and add a few things:

ISO over gain. I came from film cameras. I know ISO. My light meters know ISO too. :)

Ability to monitor externally for video and audio while recording.

Manual control over everything (personally I don't use autofocus while recording, etc.), however I would love to see a focus assist light in the OSD so you know when you are in focus when you do it manually and don't have a good monitor to see it.

I would be OK with using smaller I/O ports for XLR and such if the body of the camera could be smaller. I'd just use external adapter cables when needed.

I don't think I'd need any abnormal framerates or shutter speeds. a handful of the usual suspects would do the trick for probably 90% of the folks around here. 24P/48 shutter, 60P/120 shutter, etc.

global shutter or some kind of processing that gets rid of the jello. jello from a pro level camera would be unacceptable. I deal with it in the GH1 because I love the way the video looks otherwise but first and foremost it was pretty cheap for the quality.

I'm not picky about the codec that is used as long as the output looks good. No codec breakup during whip panning, etc. Same goes for storage, I'm not picky. I have some SDHC cards but I'd be fine with getting something else too as long as it works. I don't, however, want to use something obscure, expensive, or need special readers or programs to read.

I know this is going to be a pro camera, and it's a little out of my price range at 6k$. A lesser model with fewer features would be very tempting for me since I don't normally use a lot of the extra features other folks have mentioned needing.

There are other things like the knee on the high and low ends of the dynamic ranges where things just seem to become white and black. I'm not sure what the technical term is but it seems like once you get above or below a threshold things just become dead black or blown out without a whole lot of in-between. I think this contributes a lot to the "video" look versus the "film" look which has a much softer transition into the extremes. If you could figure out a way to process that or capture it in a way that would lessen that drastic drop off, that would be great. I guess you have to remember that most of the folks are using digital cameras for the ease and relatively cheap cost of a digital system but are also looking for the holy grail of the "film" look too. The more you can make it look like film, the more folks are going to jump on it IMHO.

Anyway, it's still very awesome to know that a panasonic rep is interested in what we want and what we have to say. I appreciate it very much!
 
Basically rather than having the sensor rated at a specific ISO and allowing gain adjustments you have a quick way to select from different ISOs, in increments of 100 and 160, from 100 to say, 3200 or higher.
 
Ben_B said:
Basically rather than having the sensor rated at a specific ISO and allowing gain adjustments you have a quick way to select from different ISOs, in increments of 100 and 160, from 100 to say, 3200 or higher.
Click to expand...

In other words, ISO adjustments just like on the GH1. Not gain adjustments as on video cameras.
 
J Davis said:
...Luis points in post one
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Just to be clear - the points in the first post are a collection of suggestions made by everyone. I'll be going through this thread periodically and updating the list so that it will be easy for Jan and any other interested Panasonic rep to see a clear list of suggestions.
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
)


P2 cards
(this should have been a given, wake up pana, didn't u guys invent this??)

We did and for the price point this is what can deliver.
Click to expand...

How about a optional adaptor for 2 P2 cards recording full res codex like DvcProHD and AVCD-Intra, it could ether fit on the back or underneath the F100. P2 is needed to make this a full Pro-camera in my opinion. After using P2 I do not want to have to step down to a Long GOP work flow if I can help it.
 
Yak said:
How about a optional adaptor for 2 P2 cards recording full res codex like DvcProHD and AVCD-Intra, it could ether fit on the back or underneath the F100. P2 is needed to make this a full Pro-camera in my opinion. After using P2 I do not want to have to step down to a Long GOP work flow if I can help it.
Click to expand...

Allready available right now... this camera has uncompressed hdsdi out, you just hook it up to a P2 recorder (AG-HPG20) and capture avc-i or dvcproHD on p2 cards. 2.5Lbs... you could mount it under the camera if you wanted.
 
Some things I'd like to see on the AF100:

1) A "windowed" sensor for using c-mount 16mm lenses.

2) LCD and Viewfinder overlays for different aspect ratios (i.e. 2.35:1 frame guides), adjustable for center-cut or top-weighted framing.

3) Film gamma settings from the HVX and HPX170.

4) Waveform and Histogram overlays.

5) Scene Files

6)Adjustable white shading...because we're going to be using different lenses.


Uh, I'll try to think up some more. Keep up the good work, Panasonic! Just gave a seminar tonight at the Kansas City Film Fest about DSLRs and filmmaking. I think I converted a lot of Canon users to the GH1!!
 
Things I would love to see:

1. In-body stabilization (My stack of old Konica primes await)
2. High res evf/viewfinder ala GH1
3. The option of having the same data written to both cards for backup
4. 1080/60p
5. Over and undercrank

I will be buying this cam no matter what, but I really hope we can get some more features =p
 
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