For me, the only major and significant (for me) difference between the AF100 and FS100/F3 is the bloody DR, and specifically the highlight roll off. I am kind of obsessed with clipping highlights.My gh2 is the same as AF100 and it's the only drawback that really annoys me. In every other respect, it's better than the5d for example, but even the 5d handles highlights so much nicer than the M4/3 cams. The roll-off is just so harsh and the colours get oversaturated and towards the cyane, it's just ugly and I hope the next generation of sensors fixes this.

Here is second part:

Look at my first reply, his big gripe about AF100 is the exact same thing as me, about how the camera deals with highlights:)

well i dont think u can compare pany af100 and sony fs 100, as sony no better at all , what it gives a slightly larger sensor and as a result a little better law light performance, but it stops here. how good law light performance do u need at all? get a faster lens....

anyway pany cheaper for like 1000$ + now free lens 14-140, yes lens sucks in law low light , but its great for outside , has silent AF, IS. so its like 1500$ cheaper then fs100 now. also consider that - u not necessary need a mate box or at least not that expansive as u already have nd filter

does sony has pal/ntsc - NO! does it has ND - No! does it has SDI - No? does it has a 2 card slots - no just 1! does it has a good handle - NO! does it has a good build quality - Noooo in fact it sucks here! my AF100 build quality - i can KILL with it, it fills like if it falls down on a ground ill probably get a few scratches nothing else...
Who 1st will get Birger mount - Af 100! lol

its advertised like fs 100 was designed by few camera guys, well, invited couple of fatties, who were tricked never listened at all, because no one in normal mind who has at list minimum filming experience - will never suggest to put a lcd on top. what will u see if you are in the crowd and you hold the cam above your head?!
u dont need to come up with a new bicycle idea as some one already did it before . No ND filters! - how crazy is that, even semi pro cams - do have nd.
and that crazy idea about its view finder? dont even want to comment that "thing"

who 1st was on a market - af100 - u can respect it only for it! sony could get something much better , but it did not.

also these talks about fs100 has same sensor as f3, well if everything is same than why image is so different ?

in my opinion sony asks too much for brand.

so what u can really compare is af100 and f3, well pany sucks here yes, but the price x3 i believe or even more, so at the end its all up to your budget.

in over all its seems like fs100 was designed by Consumer division. pany by Pro

5d Mark II still gives the most pro film look with the best tones and details for that matter.
No such a non-real digital sharp details like in the Panasonic model.

Terrible. Does every site must have his troll!!!!!!!!!! From what I have seen the gh2 highlight roll off is much better than the af-100. Now it is subjective from what I have seen on the internet. It seems that no one want to benchmark the GH2 against at least the Af-100. With the hack you can underexpose your image to protect the highlight because as detail is preserve in the shadows you can boost in in post with a curve.

@producer
@danyyyel
@nomad

Look at the topic title, please.

@bwhitz
Last warning.

I finally had a chance to play around with an FS-100 the other day. Image quality aside...I was surprised by how cheap the build quality felt...I now understand an owner's comment from another (more "politically correct") forum:

"...the plastic FS100 feels like it was made from the cheapest plastics Sony could possibly get. The panels sound hollow. I'm shocked at the low build quality for a $5,000 product."

With the unit I tried the detachable handle squeaked/wobbled at the attachment point during filming/movement...annoying and a worry for mic pick-up.

It's not a camera I'd have much confidence taking on a tough, remote desert / jungle location filming expedition for a few weeks. I'll stay with my current rig, thanks.


@tolik

"fs 100 was designed by few camera guys, well, invited couple of fatties, who were tricked never listened at all"

...LOL (I agree build quality is better...but AF100 also has it's "unnecessary" limitations also...).

The engineers might listen to the "fatties"...but the Marketing/Production Managers follow their own agenda.

The thing is that Sony and Panasonic are dragging their foot, because they had no intention to produce any large sensor camera at these price point. They have been forced to do that because of the dslr revolution. So they made sure that those camera had the minimum specification or qualities for them to compete with the hdslr but not compete with what some would call proper video camera. Take the FS100 they put a super chip in there but crippled everything around. They just needed to put it into the NX-cam 5 body and electronic, which has everything like hdsdi 10 bit etc for $ 1000 less (a model with a lens). For the Panasonic af100 they did not develop a new chip just adapted from there still division and again crippled it by putting only 24 mbit avchd and 8 bit, while a little month later releasing a 10 bit AVC-intra model for about the same price. A model that comes with a lens. It was suppose to cost more $ 10 000 was the argument behind the crippled spec when it was being mentioned if they added 10 bit codec to the Af100.