Jan, is there an AF200 in the pipeline or not? - Wait or buy a C300, fs700 ...?

T

thomas diehl

Active member
I think it would be clever to let us know, if Panasonic plans to release something like an AF200 soon - or not.Otherwise people will start looking for alternatives now.I am about to buy a C300, others will spend there money on an fs700 or BMDCC as soon as they are available.If we knew there was something in the pipeline a lot of people would wait for a couple of weeks - me at least.
 
I know your question is for Jan but I think that if there is a new AF100 coming that it's a year out. Jan just asked us what features we were interested in. They would have to design and engineer those changes and I can't see it happening in a matter of weeks.
 
I'm not sure where you are headed with this Thomas. There are already a full crop of cameras a lot more expensive than the AF100 available for the picking. The whole point of my AF100 purchase was the feature set available at the low price point. If they were to raise the price point up to where the C300 is then count me out as a future buyer.
 
Twice as much would be ok - C300 is too expensive for what it is - but for me it is the only interesting camera at the moment.
 
Product announcements are a careful balance of not cannibalizing the existing product, but also keeping customers from moving to other brands. You can bet Panasonic will tell us about any new products when they feel the time is right. Your asking Jan to leak information. She can't do that.
 
Jan's a very patient and informative manager but I highly doubt she or any reasonably wise person of her level would be commenting about future products before they're ready. Buy the camera you need right now, there's never going to be a 'last camera you ever need' for the foreseeable future. Far too much development going on in sensors, optics, codecs, formats, etc for what we consider a camera to stabilize right now.

Think about it- footage from an iPhone is as acceptable as 65mm IMAX in terms of what people are willing to watch right now. So trying to base your camera purchases on something that's not available the moment you need to shoot is fruitless.

-Noah
 
NoahK said:
Jan's a very patient and informative manager but I highly doubt she or any reasonably wise person of her level would be commenting about future products before they're ready. Buy the camera you need right now, there's never going to be a 'last camera you ever need' for the foreseeable future. Far too much development going on in sensors, optics, codecs, formats, etc for what we consider a camera to stabilize right now.

Think about it- footage from an iPhone is as acceptable as 65mm IMAX in terms of what people are willing to watch right now. So trying to base your camera purchases on something that's not available the moment you need to shoot is fruitless.

-Noah
Click to expand...
That sums it up.
 
This is not something soon. There is a fishing expedition for ideas in one of the sticky threads above, translate 18 months-2 years.

If you have the money for a C300, that is way outside of a target product as is the FS700.

Best,

jan
 
It seems to me that everyone is voicing their desire for a $10-15k professional interchangeable lens camera through the frame of a successor to the AF-100. It seems there is a conversation loop happening where people say they want a certain host of features that cameras like the fs700, c300, and scarlet boast, but they say they want it in an AF100 successor, and somebody always says they are not at the same price point so they are totally different cameras in totally different leagues. It's become obvious that the camera most people here want is not a successor to the AF100.

What this says to me is that people want to upgrade to a camera with these new industry standards, but they want to stay loyal to the panasonic brand. What Jan has hopefully already gleaned from the meta-dialogue on this board is that people, myself included, would love a camera with that level of functionality or higher, and would be happy to pay for it. Now whether Panasonic judges from their research if there is a market for such a device is entirely another, large ball of wax.

There is a beautiful legacy and line of conversation that started with the dvx100 and has taken us to the af100. I think everyone, panasonic probably included, is trying to fill in the blank for what comes next in the most pragmatic and eloquent way. Patients is a necessity on all fronts.
 
NoahK said:
Think about it- footage from an iPhone is as acceptable as 65mm IMAX in terms of what people are willing to watch right now. So trying to base your camera purchases on something that's not available the moment you need to shoot is fruitless.
Click to expand...

While I agree with the second half, the first is ridiculously off-base, unless you're talking about something longer than a second that was shown full screen in the 65mm format.

And besides that, I can understand the desire because I don't care if the average person can't tell the difference...*I* can and that's what matters.
 
My bottom line... I will no longer pay over $7K for a camera, with $5K closer to what I would consider paying. When I need a camera to meet client demands above what I stock for larger budget projects, I just rent it and charge the client for the rental fee. I have everything from 35mm film, Arri Alexa, Red Epic and more all available. It just no longer makes business sense for me to invest in expensive cameras in my market when clientele can't tell a difference once their commercial hits the air.

All the Best!

Dave
 
It seems that what is wanted is a little more future-proofing, that's why people, me included, are reluctant to spend big bucks on a camera these days. In my case I bought an HPX500 (over $25,000) in 2007 to shoot a documentary.. By the time it was finished (three years) that camera was being maligned on these boards and was considered obsolete.

It seems that Sony, with the introduction of the FS700, may be looking at future-proofing as a marketing concept, but who knows? It could all be smoke and mirrors...
 
Yes, these are challenging times for buyers and makers. I agree with David on the spending limit on new purchases. This is frustrating for companies like Panasonic but the pace of change is so fast these days that one can not depend upon a solid resale for your camera after two or three years. The AF-100 being a perfect case in point along with a host of $20,000+ HD broadcast cameras. Purchase decisions have an 'acceptable loss' built into the mix and under $10,000 or lower for the new price is often the tops for owner/operators.

Imho, the AF-100 has reached its true fair value in the marketplace at $3,500 new. A successor at $5,000 with improvements would be a nice camera, but this is for today. Two years from now we could be comparing the AF-200 to a $5,000 RAW camera...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top