Thinking about dumping my AF100

Why I'm not selling my AF 100.

My clients love it, it makes me money, its paid for, it works well with others (gh2 and hmc 150), and it looks great on broadcast tv, projected in a digital theatre, and on the internet. Since it cost so little I'm financially free to upgrade whenever the next opportunity presents itself. I'm always looking for the next home run investment like the DVX 100a.
 
Let me preface this by saying I have been a huge critic of the AF100 since the day I received it in Feb 2011 when most everyone else was singing it's, as yet unproven, praises. I'm still not wild about the teensy little cards (wished for P2) and felt at the time that Panasonic had cut corners making it an AVCHD, amateur codec, camera. I've also been very adamant that the lack of a proprietary zoom lens further lessens it's appeal. And I wished it had been designed as a modular camera to allow for a flexible finder arrangement and future hardware upgrades. Check my past posts to review my bitching about the AF100.

I bought one because it was cheap (and it's REALLY cheap now) and with adapters I could use Canon FD and Leicaflex lenses that I already owned (which had been sitting unused in a cupboard for over 10 years). Not crazy about the AF at first, I also bought an HPX250 as soon as it was available - for the P2, AVC-I, and the zoom.

Now I have to admit that I really like this thing. Properly set up (which takes more testing than any other camera I've ever used) it delivers pictures that compare with many much more expensive cameras. Highlight clipping and banding, often discussed, are an issue, but not nearly as bad as some have described. I've used it in almost every condition imaginable - from 200 ISO to 2500 ISO -and, after using the HPX250 (which I don't like that much) and my HPX500 (which is a brick) I really enjoy using the AF with a good small lens, and "prowling" with it. As a documentary filmmaker for over 40 years I had forgotten my early days, shooting with a Bolex and a 10mm or 16mm prime, how fun shooting can be. And I forgot the visual difference having a short lens makes in moving shots, very different than using the same focal length on a zoom. And because the camera's so inexpensive, I don't worry about taking it into adverse conditions (a point worth considering - State Farm loves me).

As for AVCHD, I have color corrected 90% of the footage I've shot and find, after converted to ProRes, that it holds up fine. And, as Bucknfl says above, people love it and it makes money.
 
Mac said:
I really enjoy using the AF with a good small lens, and "prowling" with it. As a documentary filmmaker for over 40 years I had forgotten my early days, shooting with a Bolex and a 10mm or 16mm prime, how fun shooting can be. And I forgot the visual difference having a short lens makes in moving shots, very different than using the same focal length on a zoom. And because the camera's so inexpensive, I don't worry about taking it into adverse conditions (a point worth considering - State Farm loves me).

As for AVCHD, I have color corrected 90% of the footage I've shot and find, after converted to ProRes, that it holds up fine. And, as Bucknfl says above, people love it and it makes money.
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Mac, I have a lot of lenses but find myself in love with my small 25mm prime which I use as much as I can. One question.... do you find that converting to ProRes or some intra codec helps the footage hold up better to color correction? I've been editing in AVCHD and am not always happy with CC.
 
Don't know, I'm not a technical person - I just know that FCP handles ProRes better in the timeline. However, I haven't experienced many of the CC problems that have been "featured" here, so maybe. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of AVCHD, but it's way better than I thought - but maybe that is because I've never tried to edit it native. Now with FCPX I have considered trying it, just to see. I have been editing AVC-I (from the 250) in X and comparing it to PrRes, and visually can't see much difference. I'm sure there are many that know better than i. I just use this stuff and expect it to work.
 
The lack of a propietary zoom lens is a *****, but all larger chip cameras share this problem. The lense makers can't seem to catch up with the camera makers in price points.
 
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