Af 105a announced in japan

I thought the hvx200A update was significant enough to warrant purchase. I couldn't stand the original 200 but the improvements in the 200A made me pretty happy. The hpx-170 however... Ugh.

There's a slight chance the update could be great. Wait for footage and details?
 
I learned to deal with highlight issues, and noise in the black with workarounds.

But there was no workaround for banding to my satisfaction. The 8 bit issues was a joke from the beginning and Panasonic still hasn't addressed it. I really wonder who the market is for the AF105? Documentary shooters I guess. Certainly not cinema especially with BMCC, and GoPro coming on strong and RED cutting their prices in half.

I think there is some kind of endemic problem with Japanese tech companies - look how Samsung has trumped them in the phone and TV market, for example. Also, they seem very slow to adjust and - like their car industry where they used to have a gentleman's agreement to govern the hp to 273 - the camera manufacturers seem to govern the way they push technology in order to release next generation cameras with slight technological advances.

I really feel that Panasonic has internal issues which makes them inflexible. I am guessing that it is a big fight for Jan or the AG division with the aging AJ division to get tech advances that would make the cameras more evolved than their ENG big brothers. I am guessing here. But I know Panasonic is in trouble. That is very clear. As is Sony. The movie industry never embraced the F23 or F35 and has run, not walked from the F65. Will it embrace the F55? Good question but my guess, living and working in the industry, is probably no. RED and Arri are loved like Apple is loved. It is not a love, it is a true brand loyalty like the world's brand loyalty to Apple.

Will the F55 be that good? Better than the F65? Well considering it's a fraction the price of the F65 and knowing the brand caste system of the Japanese tech companies embrace so tenaciously where it is improper, no blasphemy for a new upstart junior to surpass his elder father (camera), I'd say no way in hell.
 
What do you think the price will be when they release the new AF-100A camera in the US? I don't think it will be more than the AF-100 is now at $4500.
 
Erik Naso said:
What do you think the price will be when they release the new AF-100A camera in the US? I don't think it will be more than the AF-100 is now at $4500.
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I would pay at most $3,200 and if that. I like my Af100 for certain shooting. Run and gun its a great camera. But unless the image improves with the 2 years that has gone by who really is going to buy this? It's not even a camera that has many people locked in and invested into. Every now I consider selling it and I don't because the money I'd probably get for it would be too low. So I keep it knowing the features it has around for interviews and run and gun pick ups. It can be and is the right camera for certain situations due to the built in features. But if the image is the same or marginally better in terms of DR, you could put 16bits in it and I'd pass.

But Barry's right, wait to see real world footage and performance before drawing final conclusions.

I do agree with Erik though. I like the m4/3's format. I like the lens options and even the native lenses and compactness. If Panny announced a internal 10bit 422 with a better chip containing more DR (i dont need 14 stops, but I'd like 12) I would hold off considering any camera until I saw this new Panny. Then, see if you can put those electronics into a body lower profiled like a new space age HPX250 profile so I can pack it in a common carry on case without removing handles. Then Panny would spark my interest again.

10 bits on the same chip won't do it Panny. And the longer you wait, the more users invest in other systems making you lose marketshare...
 
This "new" feature isn't even new tech. It could've (and should've) been in the AF100. Panasonic left it out specifically so they could sell you the AF105. This "new" camera has probably been on their product roadmaps since 2002, and the tech in it has probably been feasible since then.

Even if that wasn't true, this should've been a very affordable upgrade, not a whole new camera.

Either way, it's the same old "iteration scam" the Japanese camera companies have been pulling on us for decades. The, uh...let's call them "trusting"...individuals who keep falling for this scam are driving the rest of us CRAZY. They will keep doing this to us as long as you keep falling for it. Vote "no" with your wallet!
 
I think Panasonic did what they could within their business model on the AF100. But much changed since then and I don't think the AF-line has high priority. They have the new varicam in the works so I presume resources are allocated to develop that instead but also felt they had to do something for the AF hence these features being added.
 
Considering the abysmal financial situation of Panasonic this tiny tiny move represented by the "AF 105A" seems a desperate attempt from their broadcast division to survive. This half-heated "upgrade" reminds me sadly of the DVX100B upgrade and Sony's EX1R "upgrades". IMHO the only way Panasonic could ever succeed to persuade their AF100 AF101 AF102 customers to buy a AF105A is to offer them a cheap trade in hardware upgrade: trade in your old AF100 and get a new AF105A for...say.. 2000$ or less. The car industry has been doing this kind of "hardware trade in" for decades. If Panasonic on the contrary fails to innovate in its customer relation policies, no hope.
 
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if that would be a payed hard ware upgrade i would consider it! if not its sucks as i just will not be able to resell my old af100.....especially if the price for new will be the same!
 
If you are Jonesing for this camera, hold off. If you wait long enough they will throw in a rebate and a free lens, which will tick off the early buyers.:undecided
 
Smith's 2nd Law of Technology Acquisition (aka "The Dumpster Diver's Credo"):

Any piece of high-tech equipment which you covet but cannot afford will be available for free in 20 years.

It's how I got my PDP-8 and three (count 'em) Ikegami HL-79's.

- Greg
 
Greg Smith said:
Smith's 2nd Law of Technology Acquisition (aka "The Dumpster Diver's Credo"):

Any piece of high-tech equipment which you covet but cannot afford will be available for free in 20 years.

It's how I got my PDP-8 and three (count 'em) Ikegami HL-79's.

- Greg
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Can I intrest you in a Portable Sony D2 recorder?
 
Meh. When will Panasonic show us something really special? I like my AF100 and all, but when you have Sony and Canon releasing new cameras every few months, the Black Magic camera, and the new GoPro, Panny is starting to look lost in this race.
 
I shot with an AF100 yesterday for the first time in a few months, recording to a Samurai. I lit the first scene the way I would for our Canon C300 PL and the AF100 didn't respond to subtle bounce light. Part of it was the sloooow Lumix 14-140, but the camera just doesn't have the clean, sensitive, high resolution image of the C300. I last time I shot something with our AF100, we had a Canon 60D as a B-camera for interviews. The 60D popped resolution wise by comparison. Having said that, I don't think the 60D or GH2 look very filmic. When I shoot with a C300, I am wary of moire issues that I never had to worry about with the AF100.

We had to move on from Panasonic in the large sensor arena. I know that Panasonic canceled some product plans, were not allowed to OEM an S35 sensor, due to cost cutting and the effect of the earthquake, but Sony has been going full speed ahead as has Canon. The AF100 was not a big seller and I don't expect the AF100A to provide much of a bump in sales. Our one remaining AF100 is not renting very often these days and I don't expect that we'd invest in an AF100A for rental inventory. Happily, our HPX2700, HPX250 and new HPX255 are doing very well, so Panasonic cameras are still workhorses for us.
 
Dino said:
I shot with an AF100 yesterday for the first time in a few months, recording to a Samurai. I lit the first scene the way I would for our Canon C300 PL and the AF100 didn't respond to subtle bounce light. Part of it was the sloooow Lumix 14-140, but the camera just doesn't have the clean, sensitive, high resolution image of the C300.
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ummm- there is an $11,400 difference between the AF100 and C300. Let's try to keep some perspective around here.
 
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