My two-day assessment of the AF100

I was strictly against this camera until a few days ago when I found myself buying one at 4am and now it's on its way to my apartment. :)

The codec and 420 was the big drawback to me, but then I saw some of the on-board codecs performance and my nerves were calmed. It really is more robust than people think. It's NOT going to give me 422, and that's fine on-board. As others said, an external recorder basically gives me the camera I want. Just because it's not inside the body of the camera is no reason to whine. All in all, I'm getting the camera I want, it just needed an accessory or two to get there. Seems like far too many are spoiled by the ability to hold in their hand an HVX and feel like they have it all. Those days are over I feel, and definitely over if you're in a more professional environment. The accessories always cost you more than the camera if you're going with a full setup, so why is this any different? Honestly, even if the AF100 had a better internal recording system, it STILL would be missing some of what the KiPro Mini can give you...so it's sorta nice that the AF doesn't have it and I can add it, then I don't feel like I paid for an internal function I won't be using...
 
To day I start exploring the AF100. I got it with a Olympic 12-60 lens and a KIPON-NIK/G-m4/3 adapter from Adorama.
Four 64gb Lexar C10 from B&H, 3 extra batteries from Adorama, A Manfrotto 521PFI from B&H with an extention cable that doesn't fit(B&H advises it on the site of the remote) and of course the remote doesn't work with the Olympic 12-60 lens because AF is not supported by Panasonic with this lens(????) I wonder why not. So perhaps one day I will be able to use it with a good AF lens, but I refuse to pay so much money for the 14-140 lens from Pana because IMO it is not that good to charge so much. Perhaps the JAG35 remote can help me out with my Jib.
When is Panasoc going to swing a deal with lensmaker like Fujinon to manufacture a fast/good/AF/RemoteZoom
of say 12-200mm f1.6 -3.5 ENG-style lens. Never I guess because of killing other products.

Back to earth: I tried the KIPON-adapter ( http://www.adorama.com/searchsite/default.aspx?searchinfo=KIPON+NIK+4%2f3+adapter ) and IMO it is very well build and I can use all my Nikon lenses - with or without aperture ring. When connected there is no play whoatsoever. It has a nice ring for changing the aperture and not a ugly unhandy screw IMO.

AF doesn't work with the Olympic 12-60 lens, only Exposure (aperture setting).
I saw the yellow in the highlight when over-exposed, but dialing the aperture down (closing the aperture) solves the problem.
Only the manual sucks IMO; volume 2 is on the CD disk I guess. The book that Barry wrote, looks nice.

First impressing of the AF100 is very possitive. I will test all my lenses( Olypic 12-60 f2.8-f4/ ViViTar 7mm f3.5/Tokina 11-16 f2.8/ Sigma 20mm f1.8/ Nikon 35mm f2.0/ Nikon 50mm 1.4/ Nikon 85mm f1.8/ Nikon 70-200mm f2.8/ Nikon 70-300 f4.5-5.6).

I wil do a comparative test with the same lenses on the Canon SLR T2i. Also a comparative test with some scenes using the AF100, the Canon T2i, the Sony EX1 and the Canon HV40(my location spotting cam). When finished, I will post the results on VIMEO.
It will include: handheld, Tripod, Monopod, "Carpod", Jib, Dolly, Pan L-R, Pan U-D, Pan L-U and R-U visa versa. Moving objects and stationaries. XWS, WS, MS, CU and XCU shots. Daylight out-doors and in-doors. Nightshots. The whole lot.
In the end I will do some tweaking with the different parameters on the AF100, some from Barry and some from me.

Looks like I will be busy for quite a while...........
 
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I can certainly chime in here as Jan can probably be the first to remember I have been a strong critic of some of the features (or lack there of) on the AF100. I have shot EXTENSIVELY with a 7D (which I still own) and a 5D on occasion. I had my first real shoot this last weekend with my AF100 and really put it to the test in very challenging situations. Having compared footage from others of the internal codec and nanoflash, I decided to just go with the internal codec. After the shoot, I went through the footage pixel peeping every little bit of it. I was absolutely shocked at the quality of the footage. I've done TONS of visual effects work with 7D footage so I am very familiar with the artifacts and noise in that system. What amazed me more was the image during motion, as a lot of cameras really show a lot of macroblocking and breakup in these situations. I didn't see that. The frames were very smooth. Much smoother than the 7D.

One thing that lead to these beautiful renditions was my settings. I spent a LONG time fine tuning what I like my settings to be in camera. I did this working with my 7D and using that as a base (so I could compare the two) and then fine tuned from there. I was VERY easily able to make the AF100 exceed the 7D. The issue I had with the sensor is that it can be too clean, and the 8-bit doesn't handle the gradients as well when that occurs (as the nanoflash results I have seen also can have banding as well). Looking at the same scenes with the 7D, it was clear even at low ISO settings that noise was actually there, and that noise was helping to dither to transition between shades. Working with that, I adjusted my settings until I felt the tiniest bit of noise helped to blend those gradients together. So far, I've not had a banding problem since.

I also want to add that the AF100 provides 2 HUGELY significant advantages over the 5D that the nanoflash has no ability enhance.

1) The AF100 read/reset of the sensor is TWICE as fast as the 5D. It takes ~25ms for the 5D to read everything, whereas the AF100 takes ~12ms. I've made these measurements. This gives you SIGNIFICANT freedom when shooting long lenses and almost completely eliminates vertical jello for most shots. I can hand held shoot a fight scene and it looks REALLY good.

2) The AF100 doesn't have the chroma aliasing that is REALLY horrible on the 5D. EVERY shoot I've been involved with having a Canon DSLR has lost shots from moire. And this is not just me shooting either. It's bad because it's a rainbow, and it crops up EVERYWHERE. Sometimes you just never know an outfit is going to get it, or a roof, fins on an AC unit, grill of a car, high contrast edges, on and on.

I still have my 7D and I love the camera. I have done amazing things with it and I am a huge Canon fan after they made these cameras, but that said, I purchased the AF100 for the two above reasons I have stated. This weekend proved to me that these advantages are significant. I'm not even really touting the 1080p60 which we also used a lot of this weekend. The 720p60 on all Canon DSLRs is really really bad. The moire/aliasing is out of this world. We used it once because we had no other option and just shot unfocused to combat the moire/aliasing as our shot was impossible with it in focus.

In the right circumstances, I do think the 7D/5D produce AMAZING results for what they are, I just want some more freedom shooting. And please don't think I don't take your feelings as serious, or valid, because I do. Everyone has a different level of what they find acceptable. I just think there is a lot more to the price of the AF100 that gets ignored that is important. After being on a shoot with someone shooting a 5D and me the AF100, they REALLY wanted my camera :) Right now, I have only 2 complaints with the AF100, which of course I know Jan will cringe hearing because I mention them often, and that's just 1:1 magnification for focus assist and the ability to scan through ISO settings from one of the dials (preferably the back one) with also more ISO settings. That's it. That's a pretty small list if I say so.
 
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