End of the AF line?

Status
Not open for further replies.
The source has "rumors" in it's name so I remain skeptical. However, I could see how, at the current price, the AF100 is not a big money maker for Panasonic. I think they did a nice job on the AF100, especially the feature set and form factor and with considerable investment in m4/3 lenses, I'd be surprised if they walked away from it. There is no limit to hyperbole around this subject "but... you never know" (he said, skeptically) ;)
 
Obviously it's a rumor and not necessarily dependable, but the 43rumors guy does tend to get fairly accurate info.
 
Just havin' a little fun. I apologize if that came off disparagingly. I meant it more as play on words than an assessment on the veracity of 43rumors' report.
 
Too many cameras had, arguably, a better image. At the very least, images that were easier to achieve. Can an incredibly skilled DP get a lot out of an AF100? Sure. But it just seems easier to get an equivalent image from other cameras. Even in Barry's original test video (the dolly shot moving in on a couple eating at a bar), he color corrected to match the FS100, not the other way around.

Time and time again I saw people words to the effect, "But the AF100 had built-in ND and SDI & XLR ports," somehow forgetting that in a hundred years of film production, no film camera had those features either. How many "real" movies record their primary sound into the camera? How many "real" productions can't wrangle up a couple of ND filters? HDMI isn't as nice as SDIs... but it still works. Those additional features just aren't that big a deal - yet the marketing of the AF100 made them sound like deal killers for the FS100 or any DSLR.

Pretty clearly, most buyers thought otherwise.

In the end, the picture is king, and simply put, two cameras made (to most shooters) better pictures for a similar (or much cheaper) price - the FS100, and Panny's own (hacked) GH2. Ease of use is a factor, but seeing so many people post how hard it was to tune in a AF100's "sweet spot", it sort of negates having a ND wheel.

Perhaps you'll see an AF200 next year, but I'd be shocked if it had a whole lot in common with the AF100. And frankly, I'm not sure why they wouldn't just let it die, and market their next camera as the HVX300 - they need some mojo right now.

One other thing about Andrew Reid/Eoshd - One, he's far from the first person to suggest the AF100 is a fail - many here have done the same. Two, if the village idiot says two and two is four, he's still right - even if he's wrong about everything else.
 
Pointless and totally uninformed rumor, irresponsibly reported as "news", by people who don't know what they're talking about.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top