This might be interesting to a few of you

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f64manray said:
Hey Barry, I'm not sure of your format for these books. I would imagine that for the HVX books for instance you were dealing with a reader that was considerably experienced in the video field. But with the AF100, I think you may be getting alot of readers that are coming from a DSLR background and the AF100 will actually be their first real video camera. You might want to bold parts of the book for basic info that many readers here wouldn't require, but would be new for the photographer that isn't used to all the features of a video camera. I'm thinking the AF100 will be unique in its user base in this regard. Most people just don't jump into a $5K professional camera as their first, but I think many buyers will be first time video camera owners with only experience with DSLR's and a photographic background. So, I guess I'd like to request not only all the advanced info that will be contained, but also a parrallel "AF100 for Dummies" narrative maybe in "bold" that runs along side all the really meaty stuff. Just a thought.
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I wrestled with the angle the book should take, because it does seem to straddle two worlds -- the pros who have been looking for a digital alternative to film, the guys who have been shooting on the HVX/EX1 with an adapter and now want to gravitate towards an all-in-one solution, and the DSLR user who may very well be moving over to his/her first video camera. And given that -- I took the route that more is better, and that the best decision would be to follow exactly the path that you've already outlined. So there's enough info in there for a beginner who's never used a video camera of any type, and hopefully enough tech info in there that the more-experienced users will know exactly how this camera performs and everything that it can do.

It's the longest single-camera book I've ever done; it's almost as long as "The HMC Book", which covers the HMC150, HMC80, and HMC40 all combined. I hope the users like it, I hope they find it valuable and it answers all their questions.
 
Mike@AF said:
Better yet, can I pre-order now? (only half-joking)
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I'm not big on pre-orders. I don't like to take anyone's money unless I can deliver right that very day. I got hit with an 11-day delay on delivery of my first book (The DVX Book, back in 2004) and those 11 days nearly killed me, with everyone clamoring for their product and me sitting there holding their cash and not being able to fulfill... so... no, not big on pre-orders. But you'll know about it the instant it's available, and everyone will ship the same day, so ... no worries on that part.
 
Very cool, Timur. Can't wait to see some of your footage. Will you be posting any frame grabs or clips for us to drool over? :D
 
Timur, I was amazed how heavy the Xenars are. Happy to hear the AF100 responds to good glass. I can hardly wait to see my new Arri/Fuji Alura 18-80mm on it! The lens weighs five times as much as the camera!!
 
Dino said:
Timur, I was amazed how heavy the Xenars are. Happy to hear the AF100 responds to good glass. I can hardly wait to see my new Arri/Fuji Alura 18-80mm on it! The lens weighs five times as much as the camera!!
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With lenses its a trade off between price and performance. The optics of the Xenars is the best in the price category, but it has some quirks. It's not the fastest; T2.1, whereas the Optar Illumnias are a T1.3 optically, but have sketchy mechanics as a result of maintaining low cost. On Xenars, the focus is external, IE the lens barrel gets longer, While this is a pain while using it, it maintains a great build quality. The Xenars are heavy, again the price you pay for good optics and build quality. The RED pro primes are sharp as hell, internally focusing and have acceptable build quality, but they are unbelievably heavy as a result. Some of those lenses are like 6 pounds by themselves, and the size of a 2 liter coke bottle. Xenars are about 5-6 lbs, and the size of a coffee can, but not as fat.

Now considering all this look at a set of Zeiss Superspeed mkIII's. tiny, fast, light and most sets have been mechanicaly sound for 30 years. They also were 80 grand new.
 
Timur from your blog

One thing that is certain from this point on, the name of the game is going to be glass... the better the lens, the more stunning the image. I used a couple different grades of glass in testing, and the difference is clear as day. Good glass makes the difference here.
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I found this as well. The AF100 lets better glass be well... better. Thats not to say a 14-140 lumix lens wont do a decent enough job for its intended purpose, I picked one up. But better glass makes a big difference on this camera.
 
TimurCivan said:
On Xenars, the focus is external, IE the lens barrel gets longer, While this is a pain while using it, it maintains a great build quality. The Xenars are heavy, again the price you pay for good optics and build quality. The RED pro primes are sharp as hell, internally focusing and have acceptable build quality, but they are unbelievably heavy as a result. Some of those lenses are 8-10 pounds by themselves, and the size of a 2 liter coke bottle. Xenars are about 5-6 lbs, and the size of a coffee can, but not as fat.

Now considering all this look at a set of Zeiss Superspeed mkIII's. tiny, fast, light and most sets have been mechanicaly sound for 30 years. They also were 80 grand new.
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I was a bit surprised when I saw the external focus on the Xenars--a pain for matte box use. I look forward to your comparison of Xenars and Zeiss CP's, I've been using a CP 1 set a lot this year. On my Letus Ultimates it's hard to see lens differences, especially with 540p pixel cameras or even 720p cameras--the ground glass does too much softening.

The Arri Alura 18-85 lens is a beast at 11" long and 10 lbs, but as you say, there are primes that approach that. I like the Zeiss Super Speeds, fast, small and light. The CP's are light, small enough, but the CP 2's lost some speed in the important 50 and 85mm focal lengths.

Have you checked out Unique Optics primes? Or the Cookes? The latter are only T2.8.

Happy to hear you think the AF100 looks organic. I thought some of the footage and what I saw at a trade show looked too videoish. Want to hear more about your thoughts on the Coring control and overall detail level, ditto gammas and other scene file settings.
 
Noel Evans said:
I found this as well. The AF100 lets better glass be well... better. Thats not to say a 14-140 lumix lens wont do a decent enough job for its intended purpose, I picked one up. But better glass makes a big difference on this camera.
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I was comparing Zeiss ZF and the 14-140. The 14-140 is a great outdoors sporting lens. Wide to telephoto in a small form factor at the cost of speed and optical quality. The ZF's made it look it was attached to a different camera.

Dino said:
I was a bit surprised when I saw the external focus on the Xenars--a pain for matte box use. The Arri Alura 18-85 lens is a beast at 11" long and 10 lbs, but as you say, there are primes that approach that. I like the Zeiss Super Speeds, fast, small and light. The CP's are light, small enough, but the CP 2's lost some speed in the important 50 and 85mm focal lengths. Have you checked out Unique Optics primes? Or the Cookes? The latter are only T2.8.
Happy to hear you think the AF100 looks organic. I thought some of the footage and what I saw at a trade show looked too videoish. Want to hear more about your thoughts on the Coring control and overall detail level, ditto gammas and other scene file settings.
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You can use clip on matteboxes, No sweat, also Chroziel makes a special 40mm Collar that allows the lens to move within the mattebox, its like a super bellows. The good news is this, despite the physical motion, there is ZERO image breathing. Perhaps this is why they built it this way. Id rather have a sharp, buttery bokeh lens that does not breathe at all than one that is static but breathes.

My business partner and i came to the Xenar decision based on the fact that when push comes to shove, the footage looks amazing. We have used CP2's. CP1's. And the Cooke Panchros while amazing performers are a bit too slow for a prime with a T2.8 maximum aperture. The Unique optics are not available yet, so they are out of the running. The Optar Illuminas while being a T1.3 across the board, are mechanically flawed, and difficult to find. The Xenars will be available when i am ready to buy in short time.
 
TimurCivan said:
I was comparing Zeiss ZF and the 14-140. The 14-140 is a great outdoors sporting lens. Wide to telephoto in a small form factor at the cost of speed and optical quality. The ZF's made it look it was attached to a different camera.



You can use clip on matteboxes, No sweat, also Chroziel makes a special 40mm Collar that allows the lens to move within the mattebox, its like a super bellows. The good news is this, despite the physical motion, there is ZERO image breathing. Perhaps this is why they built it this way. Id rather have a sharp, buttery bokeh lens that does not breathe at all than one that is static but breathes.

My business partner and i came to the Xenar decision based on the fact that when push comes to shove, the footage looks amazing. We have used CP2's. CP1's. And the Cooke Panchros while amazing performers are a bit too slow for a prime with a T2.8 maximum aperture. The Unique optics are not available yet, so they are out of the running. The Optar Illuminas while being a T1.3 across the board, are mechanically flawed, and difficult to find. The Xenars will be available when i am ready to buy in short time.
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for the price point there is always a quirk. super speeds are fast, light, but in all honestly aren't the sharpest, and are finally seeing the end of their shelf life as modern large sensor cameras come out by the day. great bang for the buck and still popular, but at modern sensitivities of sensors, super fast glass isn't the highest priority. sharpness is one thing, everybody wants sharp to a certain extent, but glass with a "look" i think always has a place in this world. major reason why cooke s4's go out so often day in and day out. a master prime or panavision primo will give you the most prestine look you've ever seen. the cine xenars are somewhere in between. some of the finest bokeh i've ever seen come off a lens, a sharpness rendition that is very pleasing for skin, but retains all the fine details that you'd want in hair, clothing, and so on. light illuminating the lens evenly, it's really quite a sight. with all the options these days it's pretty rare to get me to go wow that's pretty awesome, and these were such a happy surprise. the barreling while focusing is annoying, but there's always a compromise at this price point. nothing that can't be solved with a few pieces of gear.
 
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