I just worked on a few things with the AF-100 recently and the GH2 looks like it has a about 2 stops more highlight latitude and 1 stop in the shadows. The edges and detail on the AF-100 look too digital, I think the down-sampaling from a higher megapixel image (GH2) looks much better. Then on top of that, the internal recording is the same crappy 24mb/s block-fest with no shadow detail like the stock GH2 had. Oh yea, and long-GOP motion rendering is not that great for "the film look" as we have been discussing...

It could have been a great camera... Pannaonic just needed to man-up, get with the times, and put a newer gen Lumix sensor and better codec in it. The AF-100 really only applied to the "look at me! My cameras has XLR inputs! I'm a professional!" people... those who were actually concerned with image turned away after the first samples hit the web.

Because most of my stuff I work on is commercial, I don't have the rights to post. I'll either dig in some old footage or post something new one of these days, it'll probably be later in the week. I should also mention I have yet to test Driftwoods latest I-frame patch, but was thinking about testing it this week. I have a shoot Thursday where the AF100 won't fit where I might use it.

@nomad
"But let's look at the market situation:
The sensor of the AF100 is simply not good enough, I'd say. GH2vk is looking better than AF100. Period."

Not sure what your experience with the AF100 is, but I own both the Af100 and the GH2. With the right settings the AF100's image is far superior than even the hacked GH2.

If anyone needs better recording for the AF100, get the Ninja. The HDMI output is not crippled like on the GH2. I suppose the SDI with the Samurai would give you even more options (haven't tested yet).

But let's look at the market situation:
The sensor of the AF100 is simply not good enough, I'd say. GH2vk is looking better than AF100. Period.

The FS100 has a far better sensor in a box with less quality than the AF100.

But no need for Vitaliy to waste his time on the AF100. It's getting squeezed now between GH2vk and FS100 in the market and it's up to Panasonic to do the next move. And if they move, Sony will probably make the FS100 better (like 10 bit 422 output) or the F3 cheaper…

I would have to guess that the AF100 is one of Panasonic's best selling cams right now. That being the case if sales start to slip as I suspect they have after the FS100 has come out and gotten good reviews, then why not make the slight improvements it would take to make the AF100 a bit better and more competitive?

The action right now is with the large Sensor interchangeable lens cams. The AF100 is next up for a refresh IMO. Pany released new fixed lens cams and I doubt they have anything else along those lines, so now the AF100 is the most logical to get some love. My guess is summer or late 2012.

As great as it may seem to sell a few high end cams, there's a much larger market of amateur and independent film makers out there that are the market for the AF100 and they'd sell WAY MORE of these than any of their high end models. This is good for Pany and I don't see how it's a concern if a few of the guys who used to buy the expensive Varicams also buy AF100's. It will more than make up for the slight dip in sales of Varicams by having a hot selling AF100 to a larger and growing market.

To me the industry gets shortsighted in how they deliver their video products. They're still stuck on an old paradigm of the past in which they justified the higher price of a video cam over another by removing features even if those features weren't really part of the cost factor of the camera. IMO a 20X lens over a 10X is a legit price differentiator. However, taking away frame rates on a camera that has the same sensor and internal processing is wrong.

The Sony HX9v is a pure product. It's limited by form and not artificially limited to protect another product. The next camera up in the line the HX100v is also fairly priced based in spec. It has a better lens and more buttons. Now the problem with the HD DSLR revolution is that they didn't see it coming. They didn't have time to properly set a policy or product path that fit the new reality. The creative community expanded the use of the HD DSLR beyond what they intended and it completely caught them off guard. The Genie is out of the bottle and they can't put it back, so they came up with what they thought the community wanted, but then put a PREMIUM price on it and unfairly crippled the cams to create pricing differences rather than provide pure functionality and equipment differences that would fairly account for pricing difference like the HX9v and HX100v!!!

Vitaliy_Kiselev

I really hope that this happen, a bit fed up with those blatant lies and those that undercover of like Gurus with their forums or blog help to propagate those lies. I am a creative (it is not me to call myself an artist) and to see how the art of story telling is that much harped by those company. I mean I am not naive, I do understand that they have to make a profit. But as the hacked gh1 and now gh2 is showing it is really exaggerated the way they are crippling their tech.

As i said in my previous post, I do not have anything of that anger towards the photographic company. Yes, I am a little annoyed by Nikon because they did not update their pro dx range for 4 years. I want to know their full frame line also to decide what to invest in next as a professional photographer. But does my d300 do good to very good photos, yes it does.

Protection of product lines is an unavoidable issue we have to live with. Unless a company is created that comes in with the express purpose of creating a Hybrid Large Sensor Video Camera at an affordable price. This fictional company wouldn't have to artificially inflate the price of the camera in order to protect other products with a huge mark up. Companies like Pany and Sony, Canon have too much politics internally to be able to make such a camera. The closest anyone came was VG10, but of course it was a bit too underwhelming an effort.

Perhaps now Sony is ready to bump it up with the VG20. I would guess that they addressed the UI, Moire, Aliasing. Bumped up the frame rate to 1080/60p and maybe just maybe they added 24p. Given the market they claim to be aiming which already includes 24p cameras I don't see how they can avoid it any longer. Pany TM900, Canon HF G10 and their own CX700V have 24p and those are consumer cameras, so why not the supposedly consumer VG20?

>She repeatedly said that it would cost many thousand more to implement a 10 bit codec or 10 bit hdsdi output to the Af-100.

From hardware standpoint it'll cost about $2.
Pro division, from economical standpoint, is better to be completely closed, and moved to Lumix platform in next year or two. Remains must form broadcast division and specialize in high cost, small sensor cameras.

The FS100 image quality is almost identical to that of the F3 from everything i've seen and read. The camera functionality isn't the same and clearly the lowest between it and the AF100. In fact I really think highly of the AF100 for that reason. As I mentioned if they can improve the IQ they'd have a winner. However right now the FS100 has more DR, IQ and a passable level of functionality as a camera given what you get with the image. It's close enough to an F3 in terms of image that I don't see how I could pass it up if I had the money.

I'm pretty positive that VG20 and A77 will have 1080/60p at the least and possibly 24p. Sony might just leave the 24p off, but who knows, maybe the pressure from buyers who have complained about the lack of 24p will motivate them to finally include it.

I think Pany has big problems with Sony. The FS100 outputs 4:2:2 and timecode over HDMI. Frame rates: 1080/60p, 1080/30p, 1080/24p. Camera capture: 60fps, 30fps, 15fps, 8fps, 4fps, 2fps, 1fps.

If the FS100 had ND filter it would be a slam dunk. It has nearly the same IQ as the F3 for the most part and that's great at that price point. Now if they somehow add 60p and 24p to the A77 and VG20 it's a wrap for 2012. Sony wins! The reason I think they'll add 60p/24p is what they did with the HX9v. How can they have a P&S with that and not they're more expensive units?

I think it is a mix bag. If I am not mistaken Pany is offering the 14-140 with the AF-100 now. You can interpret that they are under pressure from someone, my guess it is Sony Fs-100 or even after the first rush (many of the video guys that want the traditional form factor and functionality of traditional video cameras) the move they expected from the dslr crowd is not materializing. Pany aimed very low in terms of pure image quality with the Af-100 compared to the DSLR. Yes, compared to the Canons they did solve the moire/aliasing and In terms of functionality it is much better, but they underestimated the importance of image quality for this market.

When you see the dslr showing more DR (In the case of the gh2 even better resolution) than a camera costing many times more people are not going to flock to the Af-100. They did not see that this crowd first priority is image quality. That the dslr crowd have been prepared for all type of workaround for the image quality first and foremost. Even their own offering the gh2 seems at least for me having a better IQ even before the hack.

For me the Sony fs-100 is not much better and I was disappointed when it was clear that it had only 8 bit output. But at least it has one very strong point in its low light image quality that can sway people from the dslr. In fact they are both trying to have a product that just about give a little better image quality than the dslr Canon standard without cannibalizing their high-end line. Since the release of the video dslr perception on price performance has change a lot. I will never pay 5 times more to get the same or a little superior image IQ and I think lot of people feel the same. The days of the 8bit should be numbered by now and I hope that they both fail. Be it because of the hacked gh2 (viva Vitaliy) or future Canon and Nikon dslr. Don't expect the Sony VG20 or A77 to have 24p for example.

@Aria

We can agree to disagree. In my opinion, Panasonic does not see that they "must correct the situation." They will continue selling the AF100 and the GH2 as is. Maybe a year or two from now, they may introduce an AF100A, but they will market the current build like crazy before then. Look back at how long it took them to introduce an A-rev to the DVX or the HVX.

Panny thinks they have Sony beat, because the AF100 has better imaging, better 24P and can interchange with almost any lens made. Look at their ads; that's how they pitch the camera.

Panasonic has a different agenda than the user. Panny wants to sell a lot of cameras without investing more money, while protecting their high-end camera line. Users want the best features at the lowest price. These two agendas conflict. Panasonic won't change until they absolutely have to.

Which is why I'd rather put my trust in Vitaliy than in Panasonic to improve the AF100.