Reviews on the AF100

Jan_Crittenden

Jan_Crittenden

Veteran
Here are some reviews and a Press Release on Ed David who has been making money with his camera. In spite of some negativity about the AF100, the reality is that there are a good number of people that think that the AF100 is a pretty nice camera and they are making money with it.

http://www.studiodaily.com/studiomonthly/news/REVIEW-Panasonic-AG-AF100-Camcorder_12990.html

http://arcrental.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/the-panasonic-af100-the-right-camera-at-the-right-time/

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...1033300088&surfModel=Content02142011033300088

This last one is the press release. There is a link to some footage that he shot which is nice looking as well.

Best,

Jan
 
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I've been in the thick of it, quite busy shooting, and the AF100 has become my favorite camera. No, it's not going to deliver the image quality of our Red, but it does everything well and quickly in a light-weight and fully-featured package. It's my favorite camera. Filters? Instant. Slow motion? Instant. Low light? Crank it up.

I shot some training films with it and the client was so impressed we've been handed another, larger project; bye-bye weekend off, but love to work. Also used it as the B camera on a big job in Tennessee, including some aerial work, and it was a delight to use; no problem cutting it in with the Red footage.

I'm going back sub-rosa now, but I'll say this; if you can't make very pretty pictures with the AF100, it's a case of PICNIC: problem in cinematographer not in camera.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo
 
Thanks Jan.

Yes, the AF-100 makes nice images that clients love and I can attest to it making me money.

Ed's piece was great. Really liked it a lot.
 
I completely agree. For what it is, the AF100 is one hell of a value in a camera. Can't wait to see what Panny has in store for us in the future.
 
I agree, it really is a great cam for the price. There are things that I become obsessive over, such as gradation and that posterizing effect, but then I have to keep reminding myself that it's my own obsession with it that's the issue, not the codec. Cause at the end of the day, my film is still my film, and not the cam i shot it with.

Just did the firmware update, and WOW, the LCD is fantastic now. This is a big A+ and extremely helpful. Very very good.
 
Ticheli said:
I've been in the thick of it, quite busy shooting, and the AF100 has become my favorite camera.
Click to expand...

I'm right there with you. In fact I'm actually selling my RED MX since most of my RED MX customers are now going with my AF100 to save money. I can sub-rent a RED or Alexa for those limited few who want it.
 
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Recieved my AF100 on January 4th.... Picked up a gig... my investment in the camera was fully paid back January 14th.
No worries here.
 
ZazaCast said:
Recieved my AF100 on January 4th.... Picked up a gig... my investment in the camera was fully paid back January 14th.
No worries here.
Click to expand...

That's great. Wish we all knew the secret. My cam will be paid back by the end of summer, after 12 gigs lol..

But I agree about the reputation issue, might affect client's decision in the near future.
 
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It seems to me that many people on this forum are unaware of how something becomes fact in the internet marketing world. The more something is mentioned factual or not, the more it is recognized as true. The deal is that every sing negative remains on the internet and will be there for years to come. Anyone that goes to explore the camera's viability will read all of the negative thoughts because not many post their positive thoughts. So the negative ones outnumber the positive ones, sadly. By introducing into every thread a perceived negative you up the chances for that to become the truth about a product, whether it is true or not. It took exactly 8 posts to bring this thread to a negative and most likely because I am writing this it will become another long running thread about what the camera is and what it isn't, but be assured I will close it before that happens. I am just saying for those of you that are worried about whether Panasonic will respond to the 800 line issue, we will but it will be in the BBC thread as that is the most disturbing thread I have read in a long time.

In the meantime can we talk about the good reviews and the nice job that Ed David did using the camera? I mean that is the purpose of this thread, or at least so I hoped. I mean can we have at least one thread on this forum that is not about tearing the product apart?

Thanks,

Jan
 
I LOVE IT! My clients so far LOVE IT! I have used it on at least a dozen jobs already, billing over six figures. So I have more than paid for the camera. It is a BIG step up from using the HVX200 and my Letus35 set-up. There are many great things about this camera beyond the great image I have gotten from it. The images when using my Zeiss len's have been magnificent. I'm also very happy with the images I've gotten using my Olympus lens, both the 14-35 and 35-100.

I really like the longer record time by not using the expensive P2 cards. I have not used an external recording device yet, but I will. The AVCHD codec has worked just fine in my FCP timeline. It does take a bit more work in an Avid system, but I use that less.

It is a great camera for setting up and changing lens quickly. I love the size and ease of use. It is like using a DSLR, only much better for video, and especially audio. Right now, for me, this is the BEST camera available.
 
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After careful "Review" of footage from numerous jobs the decision has been made. I'm off to pickup another body in a few minutes.

Best,
Bern
 
I have to say despite, what other people say, I love my AF100, and so do my clients. Sure, it is not a RED, but at under 5K, it is not supposed to be, and the workflow is MUCH faster, so I can do turnaround I could not do when shooting on RED. The fact is that it kills my old HPX, beats the canon DSLRs, and delivers the look my clients want and a quality level we both are happy with. Not to mention with fast 1.4 primes, the camera can see better in the dark than I can. I am more than happy with the camera, it does everything I need and more for my day to day productions and has almost paid for itself. When the need (and budget) arrises for something more, there are always rental houses and other cameras. No camera can do everything.
 
Jan,

As someone who has been reading on the net about the AF-100 in anticipation of making the jump, I can easily say that what I have read is overwhelmingly positive. Sure there are these crazy nitpicking discussions about line doubling, etc that lead nowhere, but I ignore these. The web is full of threads that become flaming exercises, that do not mean anything to real people who work in this industry. This forum, being well moderated, has little of that and I commend Barry and his team for this.

There is a lot of excitement out there about this camera. I just came back from a shoot where the discussion centered on it for a while in a very good way.

Be Calm. This has been a very successful introduction.

PS: Will be making the jump shortly and taking in the AbelCine workshop at the same time.
 
Just finished today a 3 days production of corporate film.
i used mostly the 14-54 and the 14-140 because i shot big constraction without the ability to stop
or reshoot , so i needed the option to changed frames fast.
used tripod, handheld and slider.
after ther first day the producer/director called me because he was so happy about the result.
i think the AF-100 is a great tool, and will work with it a lot again
 
Thanks for posting those links, Jan. Personally I think the AF100 is a great addition to my small fleet of cameras--they are all busy on different projects with different needs but I can definitely see a spike in rentals for the AF100, specifically from the former DSLR shooters. They love it. So do I.
 
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