So it's safe to say thing thing will be a game changer. Kinda makes me wish I'd have waited to hear more about this camera instead of buying my HMC40. Oh well, at least I know what my next upgrade will be.

Paul,

I agree the AF-100 is going to be a game changer.

As for the HMC40 vs the AF-100; the HMC40 is around $2,000 street price, we don't know for sure, but the guess is that the AF-100 is going to be around $5,000 --> $6,000 street price. That's a big difference in cost.

DV Expo is coming soon, September 29 - 30 and I'm sure that the AF-100 USA price will be announced.


Bob Diaz

I went over to Panasonic today and got my hands on the AF100. I have to say I'm very impressed. The big things I looked for were skew, moire, and noise.

I'm happy to say that it preformed very well on all fronts. A fast pan of the camera showed very minimal skew, less than or equal to other popular video cameras. Moire was very minimal, and will apparently be even less in the final version of the camera. Noise levels were very low overall, though I was only able to test 400 and 1600 ISO (the camera will go from 200 - 3200). We looked at a number of different charts, can't say much about that but one this is for sure..it's not the same senor as the GH1 at all, it's much better.

It is very much the Panasonic camera that we all know, with all the Cine Gamma modes and vivid colors. Functionally it is very similar to an HMC150. The VF & LCD look just like those found on the HPX370, but apparently these will also be improved before release. Removing the top and side handle is a nice feature, and with so many mounting points I'm sure we'll see this camera configured in multiple different ways.

We are all excited about this camera, and it will be selling for under $6k for sure. The AF100 will be showing at the Createasphere expo in NYC on Tues-Wednesday, so they may announce pricing then.

BTW We have had several clients asking so we've opened a pre-order list. We do not have official pricing yet, but we can put your name on a list right now. We'll match anyone's price on the camera when it ships. Email Christy <christy@abelcine.com> with the subject "AF100 Pre-order" and we'll put you on the list. Once pricing is announced we will add it to our website for Pre-Order as well. We have about 4 people on the list so far.

Also we have the Ki Pro Mini on our site - AJA Ki Pro Mini Ultra-Portable Digital CF Recorder :: Portable Players/Recorders :: Video Players/Recorders & Accessories :: Post Production Tools :: Equipment Sales :: Abel Cine Tech - which could be a nice combo.

Andy

US List Price is $4995!
 

It's official, $4995.00 is the US price for the AG-AF100. Take a Canon 5D, add monitor, support arms/rails/handles/shoulder pad/counterbalance, viewfinder loop, double system sound recorder, and you're at the AF100 price(or more) and no easy way to use PL lenses!

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video

So I've been hearing we're not going to be able to use EOS lenses on these cameras CORRECTLY.

I understand they will work and record an image but we won't be able to control iris. Please tell me that isn't true... I don't want to wait around longer for Canon to get off their butt and make a competitor.

No EOS lens control
 

There is no way the Panasonic will be able to control the aperture in Canon EF lenses. Even if Canon would allow them permission to do so, it wouldn't be a logical option for the camera. Until someone invents a third party go-between module that allows for aperture control, you'll just have to carry around a cheap EOS film body as an aperture controller. Just put the lens on it, select the aperture, hit the DOF preview button, and remove the lens while you have it pressed down. The diaphragm stays closed to the desired f-stop and you can then use it on your Panasonic.

Glad I've been buying Nikon manual primes for the last... well since the 5Dmk2 came out. :)

AG-AF100 TapeWorks Texas Sale Price $4795.00 - Taking orders now!!!
 

TapeWorks Texas is now taking orders (first come - first served) on this camera! Details on lenses has not be defined by Panasonic, our sale price for the body only is $4795.00 and we have been told that Panasonic will be Shipping in December!

Visit Panasonic AG-AF100 Micro Four Thirds CineCam(Cinema Camcorder) for all of the juicy details.

Also - check out http://panasonic.biz/sav/broch_bdf/AG-AF100.pdf

No electronic iris control "at this time"...
 

Currently the lenses that do not have adapters are the Canon EOS and Nikon AF lenses as these do not have external iris rings. Virtually every other lens has an adapter including, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Minolta, Leica, and even PL mount lenses. As we get closer to the delivery of this camera there will be more bulletins which will cover some of these desired accessories.

We know for sure that Autofocus during record with the H-VS014140 Lumix Lenses, with face recognition technology will be available, so they do have electronic lens control setup for the Lumix Lenses - I'm sure that there there will be an adapter for the EOS series (but I'm a glass half full kind of guy.)

Well it's shaping up well on paper. It appears like Panasonic have really targeted the product well, with a good compromise of features. Plus some pretty handy features to make our job easier.

But the one thing that really remains now - how does the footage look? I couldn't imagine (pre-)ordering a camera that I haven't seen the quality of. It should be good, it's impressed a lot of people, but I'm waiting for samples before I'm convinced.

It's a good step though, hopefully the other manufacturers will stop trying to hybridize 2 different things with conflicting criteria.

Someone else said on another site that the AF100 is not an event camera. I agree so doesn't that let out many of the folk reading about it?

Cheers.

AF100 - not an event camera.
 

Same has been said about DSLRs, but we are seeing many of them used on red carpet events.

Here's a great interview with Jan Crittenden Livingston (the AG-AF100 product manager) who really nails the point this is not a DSLR killer - it wasn't meant to be. What is is though is a great video camera that give a DSLR like solution (shallow depth of field) as a complete system.

@ Andrew - totally understand wanting to wait, as soon as I can get my hands on some of the footage that was shot by the Panny Crew in Amsterdam I'll let you know. Seeing is believing - and Jan showed the result of their shoot with side by side comparisons.

HI Andy,

Is this a camera you plan on putting in the rental dept?

Brad thanks for posting the video with the Panasonic Product Manager.

Of serious note, something I haven't seen posted before is the camera does overcranking to 60 frames per second in 1080. This is huge news to many who have been stuck with doing overcrank in 720 mode when the rest of your footage is 1080. The Panasonic individual says it will shoot up to 60 frames in either 1080p24 or 1080p30. Her statement on the matter begins at the 4:02 mark in the posted video.

She also mentions 3 ND filters at 2, 4 and 6 stops of light. Many would have expected only 2 NDs. She reiterates the price point as being below 5 grand USD. Finally the codec has I, B and P frames making it a more robust codec variant in the LongGOP family of codecs.