VidExpo in Denver has been great. Denver has never been the biggest Video Production town on the market, but it certainly has a sizable passionate group of video and film people that know their stuff. Panasonic has been touring around their upcoming AG-AF100, which has a huge buzz around it, and I was thrilled to discover 1 of only 3 working preproduction units here in Denver. I instantly got to talking shop with the two Panasonic reps, though most of the luscious details have already been thrust into the blogosphere. Yet there’s always a keen difference between knowing the specs on a camera and hands on. For example, I knew about the waveform monitor built on the camera, but was NOT ready to see THIS….(click for larger)
The HUGE waveform on the Panasonic AG-AF100
I was half expecting a dinky histogram like we see on the Canon DSLRs. A useful guide, but nothing more. But WOW! This waveform was exactly what I hope to see on every camera! Extensive detail and information on a large display. The option after the waveform monitor was a vectorscope, which I imagine would be immensely helpful for skin tones and such.
Now with the SDI out, many people are eagerly waiting to bypass the internal 24mbps long-GOP codec and go straight to a Nanoflash or Kipro Mini for a better codec. That’s all well and good, but where do you put the external recorder? Some mount the device above, some mount behind, but it all seems so clunky. Well funny enough, Panasonic seems to have thought this through already. The rep here is pointing to the handle on the side, where you normally grip the camera with your right hand. That piece detaches, allowing yet another place to mount your external recording device. This is great news if you have a good rail system, you really don’t need that handle on the side anyway, so you’ve effectively moving your external recorder out of sight, out of the way.
Pointing to the removable side handle
The top is also detachable, if the need be.
Front view, no lens, (removable handle on left side)
One potential downer is the LCD screen (though it’s still a preproduction unit). I’ve never been particularly pleased with the LCD screens on Panasonic cameras, ESPECIALLY on the HVX200, but even on the HPX cameras, the LCD has always been a weak point in my opinion. The AF100 certainly doesn’t have an LCD like the EX1 or EX3 have. Sony really did an incredible job with those screens.
But despite the LCD, this is going to be an exciting camera. No doubt a successful one from Panasonic. And I hear Birger may be designing an EF mount for the camera, so the multitude of Canon DSLR filmmakers may be able to make an easier transition…. Guess we’ll see!
WFM... Waveform Monitor! And the the rest is the usual