Panasonic AG-100

I had a chance to handle the Panasonic AG-100 at both HD Expo and a Birns & Sawyer seminar (thanks for the free food!).  If you've used any Panasonic camera you won't have any trouble transitioning to this one.

One interesting difference is when you switch the camera from "Video Camera" to "Film Camera" the gain switch changes into an ASA switch which really reminds you about the relationship between speed and noise.


The AF-100 isn't the fastest camera and the Panasonic people say it's "normal" ASA is in the 300 range.  I played with the gain/ASA and couldn't see an appreciable jump in noise up to 800 ASA but I couldn't compare two images side by side, either.

What did change the look of the image was the glass used.  I saw the AF-100 shooting side by side with Olympus still camera glass and Zeiss compact primes.  What a difference!  I actually thought the Olympus glass was sharper but the Zeiss was more pleasing.

Is the AF-100 the DSLR killer?  In a word, no. It's more the DOF adapter killer.


DSLR's are cheap, they take stills, are great for stolen shots and did I mention are cheap?  Plus, the 5D is still the only camera with a full size sensor, bigger than a RED's.

But the AF-100's lack of moire and aliasing, less rolling shutter skew, built-in ND filters, XLR's in, headphone out and Zebras make it a proper camera.  Zebras and built in ND filters, I'm so excited!

This camera is for people who shoot moving images and don't have the time to fool with work-arounds.  You shoot, edit and deliver.

My big complaint is the AVCHD codec but clients aren't complaining about the 5D's codec, so what do I know?  And the Panasonic people say the 24MBPS AVCHD is better than the 5D's mpg4 because it compares frames both forward and backward.  

And if you want uncompressed 4:2:2 you can always record what's coming out the HDSDI.  Get a KiPro for $3000 grand and you're good to go. 

One thing Panasonic doesn't announce too loudly is you only get standard frame rates out the HDSDI.  As soon as you undercrank or overcrank nothing comes out that connection.

Here's a good link:

http://philipbloom.net/2010/10/19/af100/

Go to the Day Three portion of the review.  That's when it starts to get good.


A funny note:  A rental guy at HD Expo was extolling the virtues of using the AF-100 with a KiPro and bragged that you would get quality almost equal to a F900 for about $8000 dollars.  I'm glad to know the camera I bought 10 years ago is still the benchmark.  And still better!