Dino
Veteran
I had some time with an AF100 side by side with an Alexa today for the fun of it. The Alexa had my Arri Alura 18-80mm cine zoom, the AF100 had a Zeiss 35mm ZF prime. The good news is that both cameras looked very nice. The DP who I was with commented, "remember when we thought BETACAM SP camcorders looked pretty sweet?"
Bottom line for me is that the AF100 acquitted itself well. It was a bit noisier, softer, not as graceful in highlight handling--no surprises here. Alexa is the standard for digital cine cameras for many, afterall. REC709 was a bit closer in latitude to an AF100 in HD Norm or even Cine D than S Log, which provides amazing latitude unlike anything I've ever seen in a video camera, although a P2 Varicam in Film-Rec 600% isn't bad, but not the 13-14 stops of an Alexa! Overall, AF100 latitude impressed me, seemed better than 1/3" Panasonic cameras.
The AF100 noise floor is certainly no worse at low ISO's than an HVX200A/HPX170 and what amazes me, as it did with the pre-production models I saw, is that higher ISO's, like 800 are still very usable. I'd never consider using gain boost with our HPX170. As usual, it's important to put coring at +2 for reduced noise. I didn't see the chroma noise that I saw with the pre-production units in November.
I think it's pretty clear that for those looking for the Canon 5D MkII crazy shallow DOF look, an AF100 will need a fast lens. The crop we saw compared to an Alexa was closer to 1.4X than 1.3X for Super 35mm cameras, due to the Alexa sensor being a bit larger than something like an F35 sensor. A 14mm lens is a good choice for a wide vs. an 18mm or longer.
In my mind, an AF100 will do most of what my clients need a camera to do, as long as editors are satisfied with the codec and an external recorder is always an option. The Alexa is a fantastic image maker, but probably overkill for web delivered video. The fact is the AF100 did not embarrass itself in any substantive way--and that's saying something!
Bottom line for me is that the AF100 acquitted itself well. It was a bit noisier, softer, not as graceful in highlight handling--no surprises here. Alexa is the standard for digital cine cameras for many, afterall. REC709 was a bit closer in latitude to an AF100 in HD Norm or even Cine D than S Log, which provides amazing latitude unlike anything I've ever seen in a video camera, although a P2 Varicam in Film-Rec 600% isn't bad, but not the 13-14 stops of an Alexa! Overall, AF100 latitude impressed me, seemed better than 1/3" Panasonic cameras.
The AF100 noise floor is certainly no worse at low ISO's than an HVX200A/HPX170 and what amazes me, as it did with the pre-production models I saw, is that higher ISO's, like 800 are still very usable. I'd never consider using gain boost with our HPX170. As usual, it's important to put coring at +2 for reduced noise. I didn't see the chroma noise that I saw with the pre-production units in November.
I think it's pretty clear that for those looking for the Canon 5D MkII crazy shallow DOF look, an AF100 will need a fast lens. The crop we saw compared to an Alexa was closer to 1.4X than 1.3X for Super 35mm cameras, due to the Alexa sensor being a bit larger than something like an F35 sensor. A 14mm lens is a good choice for a wide vs. an 18mm or longer.
In my mind, an AF100 will do most of what my clients need a camera to do, as long as editors are satisfied with the codec and an external recorder is always an option. The Alexa is a fantastic image maker, but probably overkill for web delivered video. The fact is the AF100 did not embarrass itself in any substantive way--and that's saying something!
