AF100 Article by Art Adams

[Rick Burnett]

I'll have to agree, I don't see 10-bit being the keying limitation at all. The problem can be 4:2:0 and getting color contamination at color boundaries, and of course, noise. Pushing the footage around in post and limiting banding, yes, but I've never seen that as being a problem for me. I've not tested my AF100 yet with keying, but that is coming soon.

I'll also agree I thought the article is very fair in its judgements. I own the camera and am happy with it, and articles like this definitely help others as to know where the boundaries are.

 

[MichaelTiemann]

after reading the article, i played around with my af100 again,
id have to agree about the over exposed colors. this could also be another reason why some people dont like the highlights and the article pretty much sums it up.

I think you mean over-saturated colors (explaining why red brake lights look amber)? I have had this problem in spades with my HMC 150 when the subjects are electronic panels filled with LEDs (such as are found on many analog synthesizers). I was hoping to read a report that the AF was different enough in the imaging block that this camera would solve that problem, but it appears to only extend it.

Canon DSLR image sensors have no such problems distinguishing red, deep red, amber, deep amber, and yellow LEDs. The HMC...they all look the same. The AF 100...I will have to try before I buy, but looks like no, which is a bummer.

 

[dcloud]

I think you mean over-saturated colors (explaining why red brake lights look amber)? I have had this problem in spades with my HMC 150 when the subjects are electronic panels filled with LEDs (such as are found on many analog synthesizers). I was hoping to read a report that the AF was different enough in the imaging block that this camera would solve that problem, but it appears to only extend it.

Canon DSLR image sensors have no such problems distinguishing red, deep red, amber, deep amber, and yellow LEDs. The HMC...they all look the same. The AF 100...I will have to try before I buy, but looks like no, which is a bummer.

yep. I noticed it too but its more on the processing of the color gamma after the sensor acquires the image..
so... yeah theres no escaping it on an ag cameras... unless firmware update
now, future suggestion to panasonic is to have a new cinelike gamma that doesnt oversaturate the colors on highlights.

 

[Danielvilliers]

Since looking at the first footage from the Af-100, I was really afraid that the Panasonic would come with the same (old) formula from its video side. This is what People buying into the large sensor camera market doesn't want... that video look. They want a look that is the closest possible to the organic cinema one and dynamic range being one of the most important to achieve it. They should have seen that the crowd they were after with this camera had evolved, more so with the dslr revolution and that they where used to a certain quality now. A look that there photo department has done with its $ 900 GH2 camera. Sure there will be many people coming from the eng world that will buy into this camera to complement their small sensor camera who will be very happy. But a big chunk won't be and it is still winter.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?238168-Le-march%E9-de-la-Croix-Rousse-zoom-14-140-AF100 ,

For those telling us that you have to be careful, someone tell me how you can film in these conditions, in such low contrast lighting and it blows that much. When the sun will come out what will you do. I am not pin pointing at the shooter of this video at all. his subject matter etc is interesting and I don't know what I could have done much better if I had so low dynamic range to work with.

Perhaps I am overacting, I don' t know but until now I have been less than impress from a camera perhaps I was expecting too much, more so when its little $ 900 brother seems producing better footage.

 

[TheDingo]

Perhaps I am overacting, I don' t know but until now I have been less than impress from a camera perhaps I was expecting too much, more so when its little $ 900 brother seems producing better footage.

All of the Vimeo links that people are posting are pretty much meaningless because you have no idea if one camera would perform better than the other given identical circumstances.

I personally think that much of the "look" that people are associating with one camera versus another has more to do with the subject matter being shot, and much less to do with the camera being used. ( the exceptions being technical issues that might plague one camera and not the other. Things like: aliasing, moire, rolling-shutter effects, etc... )

What we need is a good side-by-side comparison of the AF-100, GH-2, Canon 5DMK2, etc... that will help to illustrate what the real camera issues are, and help to remove all these subjective Vimeo clip fan-club posts.

 

[astigmatic]

For those telling us that you have to be careful, someone tell me how you can film in these conditions, in such low contrast lighting and it blows that much. When the sun will come out what will you do.

If you read the comments section on the vimeo page the user adjusted contrast in post which could, and probably does, explain the blown highlights. That plus the scene seems to be overexposed slightly.

When the sun comes out I would adjust for exposure and turn on dynamic stretch 1 or 2.

 

[mkfotos.com]

AI personally think that much of the "look" that people are associating with one camera versus another has more to do with the subject matter being shot, and much less to do with the camera being used.

I'd add glass to the list of variables. If/when I find the time I'd like to compare my 5DII and AF100 using the very same lenses.