Panasonic AG-AF100 Starts Arriving

As promised, the Panasonic AG-AF100 (AG-AF101 in Europe) started arriving in the hands of happy customers around the 27th of December. Note: it's availability is limited; B & H still lists it only as available for pre-order.

Over at HD Warrior, Philip Johnston has been wowed by it's low light performance, and general fit and finish, though he's found a few interface/design quibbles. In general, he seems to be happy:
The AF101 excels in every way, solid punchy pictures, sharp as a tac and with the odd NOKTON lens shot for that Hollywood shallow depth of field and best of all it’s not a heavy camera to use so you dont feel as tired or sore after a days shoot and a client who is very happy with the new look.
Note that Philip is also the creator of the website: www.101crew.co.uk, which is devoted to the AG-AF100 (AF101) so he might be a little biased!

HDWarrior: Something I wasn't expecting
HDWarrior: Early conclusion on the Panasonic AF101



Sebastian Wiegärtner gives his impressions, though they are with a pre-production model. He was also impressed by the low-light performance, and thinks that moirè issues are improved. When it comes to Rolling Shutter:
I haven’t seen any rolling shutter in the footage, but I used only wide angles. If you are using a tele lens you can still the the rolling shutter issues. But it’s still better than any Video DSLR’s out right now.
Sebastian Wiegärtner: THE PANASONIC AG AF 100 / 101 CAMERA QUICK TEST

Panasonic AG AF 100 / 101 quick test from Sebastian Wiegärtner on Vimeo.


The OutBack Photo blog bought their own AF100 and have been blogging about their experiences with it:
  • We like the control the AF100 provides (Zebras, Wave Front Monitor)
  • Moire and Aliasing is lower than any HDSLR we have used so far
  • ND filters are so helpful
OutbackPhoto: Panasonic AF100 Journey


Andrew Saunderson has posted a "natural light" test shot by Justin Alpern with the AF100. You can see some examples of shallow depth-of-field (they used Zeiss Cine lenses) in this video.


Panasonic AF-100 Test from Andrew Saunderson on Vimeo.


For a less enthusiastic view, read John Pope's thoughts after going to a launch event for the AF100
...after pulling in the clips into FCP and viewing the raw footage…I was disheartened to see Panasonic’s familiar noisy, creepy crawly blacks…even at ISO 200.
[...] At the end of the day, I feel that Panasonic missed their opportunity to reclaim their crown with the indie film market. Yes, it’s capable of great imagery and I’d be happy to use it for the right job. But coming from one of many who have adopted the Canon 5D and 7D, I will continue to favor them for the time being.
JohnPope: Panasonic AF-100 Launch Event (Part 1)



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