AF100a, any takers?

Sparky874 said:
Here's a great GH3 video showing a decent range of DR.
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see its this kind of performance that makes $4,000 for the AF100A a hard sell- much like the hacked GH2 dogged the original AF100.

BTW- great video and nice use of composition- but at 3:10 I would have picked a different shot to pair up with the music crescendo. Perhaps something a bit more grand than the sidewalk.
 
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RE: AF100a, any takers?

Sttratos said:
It has been a while since the release of the AF100a now. But yet I haven't seen anybody here who said they have upgraded or posted a review.
I actually can't find any hands on review online at all. What happened?
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I see I'm firmly in the minority here. My next camera purchase for work will probably be an AF100A. Our next fiscal year starts in September, so if there isn't anything in the AF100A price range with the same or more features, we're sticking with this camera. Biggest incentives are I/O options, lens flexibility, built in features (ND, SDI, HDMI, XLR, VFR, PAL/NTSC) and portability. If the AF100 didn't pack so many features and 'picture tweakabilty', we would probably be looking at the C100 or FS700. For personal use, I'm keeping my eye on the BMCC, although I do have an AF100 at home.

Shawn
 
If I shot a lot of 2 camera stuff I would buy an AF100a to use with my AF100. I think that's a great idea. I'm one camera most all the time so I'm good with my AF100 for another 5 months. My only thing is is the AF100a a good upgrade for me from the AF100 and right now? I have to say no only because the AF100 will do 95% of what I need as well.
 
My prediction is that soon you will be able to buy a new AF100a for a massive discount. That is if the lack of any AF100a posts here is any indication of how many are selling.
Eventually they will have to move that inventory somehow.
 
DVXuser activity certainly isn’t the standard by which a camera is judged as success or not. There are many AF users over at dvinfo, vimeo, and probably many more that don't even bother with online forums.
 
Ed Kishel said:
DVXuser activity certainly isn’t the standard by which a camera is judged as success or not. There are many AF users over at dvinfo, vimeo, and probably many more that don't even bother with online forums.
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Yep! Hence why I said IF the lack of any AF100a posts here is any indication of how many are selling. But this community seems to be the largest AF100 community online though.
Although there doesn't seem to be any videos on Vimeo either. I've been looking as I'm interested in seeing some comparison. But nada!
On the other hand GH3 is all over!
 
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I see- I didn't see the IF in your previous statment. Yes, no clips out there- yet. The 100A has only been out a couple months.
I would especially like to see a 8bit(af100) vs "10"bit (af100A) SDI capture comparison.
 
The GH3 has also only been out for a couple of months, but the web is full of GH3 clips. I know the GH3 is cheaper, but I think it's safe to say the AF100a was not a very "anticipated" camera.
Yes, this is what I would like to see as well. The "10 bit" capture and see if the mentioned new circuit-board change anything on how the camera performs.
 
I am looking at one for work. I teach high school film classes. We have a bunch of old HD mini dv camcorders. A few Gh2s with a GH3 on the way. We haven't had a serious higher end video camera since we transitioned to HD. We went straight to DSLRS as our main higher end option. I went with GH2's because they were cheaper than 5ds and worked better as video cameras. Now I dunno. If I wasn't so invested in panny stuff I might just switch over to canon. But a c100 is too expensive. We have the budget for it but having a $6k camera and handing it out to High School kids make me a bit uneasy. It is reaching the level where if it broken or lost it would take the entire budget for a year to replace. A ~$3k camera is easier for me to sleep at night letting responsible kids take it. So the af100a is what we are looking at. Just for its feature set and ease of using audio. We also have the lenses etc.

But it has been a month or so and I haven't placed the order for one. Just not excited about the camera. I feel like I am buying old tech. this is something that we will have to have for a few years and it seems like it is just a reboot until something hugely better comes a long.
 
tommyp said:
I am looking at one for work. I teach high school film classes. We have a bunch of old HD mini dv camcorders. A few Gh2s with a GH3 on the way. We haven't had a serious higher end video camera since we transitioned to HD. We went straight to DSLRS as our main higher end option. I went with GH2's because they were cheaper than 5ds and worked better as video cameras. Now I dunno. If I wasn't so invested in panny stuff I might just switch over to canon. But a c100 is too expensive. We have the budget for it but having a $6k camera and handing it out to High School kids make me a bit uneasy. It is reaching the level where if it broken or lost it would take the entire budget for a year to replace. A ~$3k camera is easier for me to sleep at night letting responsible kids take it. So the af100a is what we are looking at. Just for its feature set and ease of using audio. We also have the lenses etc.

But it has been a month or so and I haven't placed the order for one. Just not excited about the camera. I feel like I am buying old tech. this is something that we will have to have for a few years and it seems like it is just a reboot until something hugely better comes a long.
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Honestly, for your application, if I had to go with an AF100 I would buy an used AF100 instead of a new AF100a. There's nothing in the update that will give you any advantages. I don't think you would be recording to an external recorder for high school videos. Buy used and save yourself a load of money while getting the same results.
 
Yeah, the AF100 is a great teaching camera, especially if you kit it out with prime lenses and a follow focus. There is little you cannot acheive with regard to film grammar, lens selection (one quick class on crop factor ;) and a few decent manual still lenses. With it you can teach focal lengths, depth of field, proper exposure techniques, etc. It has all the features necessary including ND filters.

I think it would be a great service to your students, particularly if you're teaching them how to shoot cinema style. A used AF100 would serve as well as an AF100a for the purpose, I agree.
 
Makes sense to look at a used af100. We usually try to buy for warranties etc. But it is probably our best option if the prices fall on the af100.

we do alot of the cinema style shooting on the GH2's we have one pretty well kitted out. We use a vari ND instead of a matte box but have follow focus rails etc.

The af100 camera would pull dual duty for shooting longer event type stuff so we have a mess of requirements. For my strict film production classes only I would be looking hard at the BMCC in M43. But I don't think that would be what we want for more of the event type stuff.

This is a clip from the film we are shooting now. hacked GH2 + old FD/FL primes.


One of my HS students for an external film in a weekend contest - his t2i and mostly canon 50mm 1.4

 
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Nice film and good grading. I have the Af101E pal for Europe. I have not use it for long. This moment I need to put 24fps for my movie frames. Anyone here knows how to make those settings?
thanking you in advance.
 
kyriakides said:
Nice film and good grading. I have the Af101E pal for Europe. I have not use it for long. This moment I need to put 24fps for my movie frames. Anyone here knows how to make those settings?
thanking you in advance.
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Just change your camera to 60Hz mode. Menu>Other Functions> System Freq: Choose 59.94Hz.
 
Thanks, but this will not be a problem filming in Europe? I thing we need to have 50hz.
is any other way or this will be okay.
 
kyriakides said:
Thanks, but this will not be a problem filming in Europe? I thing we need to have 50hz.
is any other way or this will be okay.
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You may have problems with light flickering. Just set your shutter to a 172.8° angle. Should solve it.
24fps (23.976) is only available under 60hz as far as I know.
 
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