Sony PMW-EX3 vs Pana AG-AF101

T

treefidi

New member
Hi All,

New to posting on this site although I have been an avid reader for some time. I am a professional videographer specialising mostly in high end weddings and am about to upgrade my primary camera. I can't seem to make up my mind between the Sony PMW-EX3 and Pana AG-AF101. Love the large sensor on the panasonic however, although this may seem like a silly thing, I would really miss having a rocker zoom! Although perhaps a little cheesy, slow zooms are bread a butter for weddings and having to do it manually never quite achieves the same effect.

There is also the issue of expense recording media wise as the sonys cards seem to be much more expensive although my local Pro shop has told me that they can supply an adapter that reduces the price by 1/4. ( [FONT=Arial+1]E-FILMS MXR EXPRESSCARD ADAPTER FOR SONY with [FONT=Arial+1]SANDISK 32GB SDHC EXTREME 45MB/S[/FONT]).[/FONT]

I have read reviews for months now and its time to make a decision as the new wedding season is about to kick off. Does anyone have any advice/experience with these cameras or even any other recommendations? I am presently using two Canon XH A1s' as primary and secondary cameras and a Canon 7D as a tertiary camera. (The 7D mostly for glide work).

Thanks for any help...
 
What you want?

What you want?

You have to decide what is most important. For me I would choose the EX3 every time. Having used an EX1 for many years and now owning an F3...I have been nothing but impressed. However I use them very differently. What's more important....shallow depth of field (af100) or catching the quick action(ex3). Also...having used an AF100....I would never own the camera. There are internal ghosting issues in the camera and the way it clips highlights, in my opinion, is quite ugly. That doesn't mean you can't get good looking material out of it but most of the material that I have seen that looks descent is in controlled environments....not a run and gun wedding situation. That my 2 cents.
 
You can get power zooms for the AF100. I haven't used one so I don't know how smooth it is, but the Lumix X 14-45 and Lumix X 45-170 lenses have motorized power zooms.
 
rmsarver said:
There are internal ghosting issues in the camera
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If you're talking about the "green ghost" issue, that is nothing to do with the AF100 and everything to do with interchangeable lens cameras. Exact same issue happens on the F3 and FS100 and Red, and will undoubtedly affect the C300 as well.

and the way it clips highlights, in my opinion, is quite ugly.
Click to expand...
And, again, the same as how the FS100 and F3 do it. And if you take a little effort to learn how the camera works (and how to expose) you can easily control and greatly minimize that.

In general I would agree with you -- an EX1 type of camera would be my choice over a digital cine-type camera for any uncontrolled environment. However, people are shooting weddings on DSLRs, fer cryin' out loud, and the AF100 will deliver that same look with infinitely more control and reliability, so it seems to me to be a reasonable choice for that purpose.
 
We do use a DSLR for close ups in bright conditions but I would never use one for an entire wedding. In fact, you can't really as they turn themselves off after 12 minutes, (Something to do with them falling into a different tax bracket, they become video cameras rather than snappy snap cameras apparently) not ideal for speeches or the ceremony.

Does anyone have any experience with Canon XH A1s' and the Sony PMW EX3? I would love to know how they compare in practical terms? Also if anyone has any other camera suggestions in the £4500-£6000 bracket I am all ears.....

Thanks for your input
 
treefidi said:
hey turn themselves off after 12 minutes, (Something to do with them falling into a different tax bracket, they become video cameras rather than snappy snap cameras apparently)
Click to expand...

That's only for the European Union, VAT, and the limit is 30 minutes, not 12. The 12 minute record limit as to do with the fact that the file system is FAT32 and that it doesn't support sizes over 4GB per file. Getting around that requires a camera system that will still split the files up, but knows that it's a single "take". The Canon DSLRs, not being proper video cameras, don't bother to do this and simply stop at the limit.
 
ive learned to avoid highlight problems on my af100.
though it could be better, its certainly not detrimental
 
treefidi said:
We do use a DSLR for close ups in bright conditions but I would never use one for an entire wedding. In fact, you can't really as they turn themselves off after 12 minutes
Click to expand...

The 12 minute limit is a Canon DSLR limitation, which I think is a limitation of storing footage on FAT32 formatted memory cards.

The 30 minute limit is a European imposed limit.

If you shoot with a hacked Panasonic GH-2 camera, you are only limited by the size of your memory card and battery size. With a big external battery and a 128 GB SDXC card it's possible to shoot continuous video as long as 12 hours. ( though you might want to use one of the higher bit rate patches, like the 42 Mbit one, which will cut this maximum time in half, which would still be 6 hours )
 
In practical terms, I don't think you can beat an EX3. I've owned a 7D, GH1 & 2, AF100, F3. They are all gone. I now have two EX3's, an EX1R and a PMW320K. They are quite often rented as Camera A on two camera shoots with DSLR's and as Camera B on larger sensor cameras for a reason--because they are more practical, they're in focus, they have audio and timecode, they can get b-roll quicker and easier and better, and they are truly the new standard for ENG cameras. And if you know how to light at all, creamy backgrounds and foregrounds are pretty easy to achieve, which is what all those others are all about anyway! IMHO
 
Thanks

Thanks

Thank you all for your input, it has been very helpful. Best of luck to you with all your future projects, i will keep my fingers crossed for all of you.

Chris, The Cotswolds, UK
 
btw a b4 lens can be used with af100 - it will gives u zoom rocker , just need an adopter and external power
 
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