AC90: Comprehensive Test

T

tengo

Active member
Hi I know this comes a little too late since the Panasonic AG-AC90 has been around for some time. I have the opportunity to test a unit as my organization is looking to replace our current cameras. So I did the test with a loan unit and here's my test footage and review.

http://www.tengo.com.sg/2013/09/06/1080/

I have included quite a lot of different situations including a comparison of low light footage between the AC90 and Canon XF105.

Hope this will be useful to those considering to buy one. I am definitely seriously considering recommending this camera to my organization.

Cheers
 
tengo said:
There is only one Zebra level, one manual white balancing channel,
Click to expand...

There are two Zebra levels, each independently adjustable from 50-105%, and there are two manual white balancing channels, A & B with independent temperature adjustment for each.
 
Thanks for correcting my mistake. I only had a few hours with the camera, so I have assumed the white balance only has A channel since the toggling of the white balance button did not go to B channel.

Good to know that there are two zebra levels and 2 white balancing channels. That will make our decision even easier.
 
To get the B-channel for white balance, you have to go to the touch screen lcd, and tap the A-chan icon to toggle to the B-chan. For the zebra, you have to go into the menu to enable Zebra-2 so that it toggles when scrolling with the zebra button.
 
The white balance method is about the least intuitive process I have ever seen. Technically there are 5 white balance 'channels' 1) A (2) B (3) Tungsten 3200k (4) Daylight 5600K (5) Auto

ALSO

Not being able to dial in your own color temp was an unnecessary oversight/crippling of this camera. Even the king of Camera crippling (Canon) gives you the ability to dial a specific color temp at the upper end of their consumer models. It makes matching up the AG-AC90 difficult to match up with other Camera's.
 
My PMW350 Sony is not the most intuitive for white balance either. You can set a specific temp, but you have to drill down to a menu, not just twirl a knob to get there. So it ends up, I have programmed buttons for 5600K and 3200K or AWB, pretty much exactly as the AC90 is doing.

I have had Canons that were more easily settable to any temp, but were poorer in the AWB setting.
 
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