More Panasonic AG-AF100 News

After yesterdays post, a few more items turned up:


Zacuto Announces Rigs for the AF100
Rig maker Zacuto has announced some baseplate kits especially for the AG-AF100: Docu Baseplate Kit [$1,012.00], Cine Baseplate Kit [$1,479.00], and the Indie Baseplate Kit [$2671.00].
Zacuto: Panasonic AG-AF100 Rigs



Is The AF100 Sensor Too Small?
Seems that some people have been complaining about the small size of the 4/3 sensor camera; and how that effects the field of view when you use different lenses. With the smaller size sensor, your lenses become much longer.

Matt Jeppsen at the ProVideo Colaition jumps to the AG-AF100's defense, writing that many of these people are unfairly comparing it to the Canon 5D, which is full-frame, and which is "not normal." He thinks video and movie makers should be comparing it to Super35mm, which is what is really the current standard for filmmaking and "Which the AF100’s sensor size compares relatively favorably to." [Nice use of a modifier -Ed.]

Using examples from Abel Cine's Field of View calculator, he goes on to show how the 5D, 7D and AF100 compare to Super35mm (the APS-C sensor of the 7D is the closest match.)

All well and good, but then he goes on to compare it to the 1/2" sensor of the Sony EX1 and I have to say, he loses me a bit. Sure many people were using 1/2" [and smaller!] chipped cameras prior to jumping on the DSLR bandwagon, but that was almost the whole point of DLSRs; they were much larger than the video cameras people were using. It would be a bit like electric car makers today saying "Well, the range doesn't compare as well to your gasoline powered car, but they're much better than the horse and buggy people were using before that."

He does have a point; the sensor of the AF100 is still larger than those video cameras, but the comparative size of sensors to me isn't the issue; if people can get the field of view they want, and the shallow depth of focus they want, then most won't care about the sensor size. But if they have to scramble to find really wide lenses with really wide f stops to get what they want, then they might not be so happy.

That's the real question; can you easily find reasonable lens combinations that do what you want?
ProVideoCoalition: Panasonic AF100 Sensor Size Comparison
Abel Cine: Field of View calculator



Some AF100 Questions Answered
Andy Shipsides at Cine Technica answers some AF100 questions that they keep getting, including an interesting issue that the camera does not record audio with variable frame rate turned on.
CineTechnia: Your AF100 Questions Answered


Yesterdays post:
NotesOnVideo: Panasonic AG-AF100 Starts Arriving


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