Philip Bloom “So here are my thoughts on the camera, based upon this pre-production model so some of this may change!

It was a real pleasure to shoot with, despite not being overly familiar with Panny menus I got used to them pretty quickly. I did not record any additional sound other than the camera mic so I cannot comment on the audio quality but I am sure it’s great as it is a proper camcorder after all. For me this is what stood out…

I saw no moiré on any shots. Check out the artist in the park at around 1:40 or so, look at his jacket. That would moiré on my Canons, not here. A joy! I also saw no sign of aliasing.

Rolling shutter issues as expected were still present but way less pronounced that DSLRs. I did shoot out the side of the bus whilst moving and there was still some skew, enough for me not to use it but a lot better than what I have become used to.

LOVE that 1080p overcrank.

LOVE the ability to stick on just about any lenses. I didn’t use any of my Canon lenses as I don’t have a mount with iris control yet but I hear it is coming…

LCD was good. Detail enhancement and peaking helped focus enormously. One thing I really missed though was a digital punch in to help me get focus which the other Panny cameras have, I hope they put it in. Exposure was pretty easy…there are zebras, waveform and vectorscopes which are spot on and a very nice little addition that the previous model did not have, a meter like a DSLR has. Neat.

SDHC media is cheap and all you need is Class 6, even with overcrank. Class 4 is fine but won’t record overcrank. I used Class 10 as I like the fast offload speed.

Battery life was good with the big chunky ones.

Great to have 4 ND filter wheel. What a joy!!

Proper audio…a headphone jack too!

Things I didn’t like….

Coming from the EX3 with it’s awesome viewfinder and using a Zacuto Z-Finder on my Canons, looking in the EVF was like looking at a small screen at the end of tunnel. There was no way I could get focus with it. Too damn hard.  I have no idea what the resolution is of it but if it was magnified it would be a lot easier to use.

Button placement was odd. Because the hand grip is removable and has no electronics there is no record start stop where you expect it…there is also no record button at the front. That’s the AWB button so annoyingly when you go to hit record you accidently change your balance. Oh well, something I would get used to.

I need more timelapse flexibility. Something more akin to the EX1 and 3 with more interval choices and better slow shutter.

It would be nice to be able to overcrank to 60fps in 25p mode like the EX1 and 3 but you are limited to 50fps, 60fps is only available in 60hz mode.

AVCHD seems OK but for broadcast work I really need at least 50mb/s. The nanoflash fixes this but it would be great for it to record on a better codec than this.  Would I prefer P2? Probably, despite the cost as it would most likely mean AVC intra 100 which is an awesome format and would propel this camera into the big leagues.

Ergonomics are horrible, but then I find that with all handheld camcorders. The only cameras I have ever used with good ergonomics are the shoulder mounted cameras.

3200 ISO is noisy and should only be used when absolutely essential. 1600 was pretty good. Just be careful of the 3200, you can of course clean it up a bit. The noise is a different sort of noise to the Canons and easier to clean up. It doesn’t suffer any of the vertical banding that plagues the GH1 at 800 ISO and above.

What I found with this camera is it likes your exposure to be pretty damn close to spot on. Underexposure I found gave me noise…getting it right helped a lot and with all the help it offers you it’s a lot easier to get it right than DSLRs which also suffer the same issue with getting exposure right.

The 2x crop means I am limited on the wide end. That Olympus lens was a godsend as was my 7-14mm, but that distorts on movement and is slow at F4. What is great is all those lens choices though..it’s just most are more telephoto than I am used to. I have recently ordered a Voigtlander 25mm F0.95 This is going to be a great standard lens for this camera and whilst in Japan I bought the 100-300mm F3.5-5.6 zoom lens. It has autofocus and is super long on that 2x crop, giving me effectively 600mm. Sure, a constant aperture would be great but for that focal length, weight and price I wish I had had it for the Kyoto shoot! I found my old 80-200mm F2.8 to be a bit soft…

The compression was evident is some of the shots and I really need to nail that picture profile as it makes a huge difference to the image. But with good grading you can get a very filmic image out of it. My first grade I did very quickly as we had no time to edit before showing our footage to the Panasonic team so I regraded on the plane back home. Much better and evens out the shots a lot more and gets rids of a lot of those blown out highlights from the first grade. I am very happy with my new grade (Magic bullet looks preset I created my self…you can get 20% off Magic Bullet looks with code bloom20 when buying it from RedGiantSoftware.com), it’s way more filmic looking and more flattering and soft.

So…is it better than say a Canon 5Dmk2? Image wise yes and no. Aesthetically the 5Dmk2 is in a class of it’s own, nothing comes close but it has many issues like moiré and aliasing. The M43 sensor gives a totally different look, it a totally different aesthetic. A bad one? No..just different. Shallow DOF is still very easy to get and as you saw it is capable of beautiful bokeh with the right lenses, check out the artist again, shot with my Zeiss lenses.

It’s not as good as the 5Dmk2 in low light either but has all those functions which make shooting so much easier. Focus assist, exposure assist, proper audio, proper overcrank. Don’t like the EVF at all though….much prefer my 5Dmk2 with a Z-Finder on.

It’s a small camera, but obviously bigger than a DSLR. So if you want to shoot in places and get away without permission, this camera will be harder to use successfully. I travel with 3 or 4 DSLR bodies. If I get an AF100 I will travel with just one of them and it won’t go in my photographic carry on, it will need a proper camera bag.

So overall…really good and very powerful camera and prices so aggressively I am sure it’s going to sell bucketloads. Is it perfect? Nope, then again no camera is. Is it good value for money? Yep! Will it replace my DSLRs? Nope and Yep. I am definitely going to buy one, although I will be at the back of the pre-order list now as I have waited so long! This camera is going to be great for my documentaries and lots of other work where the DSLRs are just so much harder to use in those situations.  But I am still going to shoot on them, I will most likely end up shooting most of my work on both…The AF100 is good in low light, but it’s not 5DmkII good.

This camera is not a DSLR killer. There won’t be…I believe there will always be a market for DSLRs as there price point and convergence factor cannot be beaten AND they will get better and better, the issues of moiré and aliasing will be reduced and hell we may ever get raw recording at some point out of those massive sensors. It is just a lot easier to use than DSLRs and is a proper video camera! Don’t underestimate how important having a proper video camera can be.  After all I run full day workshops on how to make your DSLR work like a proper video camera!!”

HDW : My thanks to Philip Bloom for allowing me to share his findings, very interesting and very honest.

I am disappointed in Philips findings about the viewfinder, Jan Crittenden Livingston, Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems Product Manager USA told me at IBC that Panasonic were changing the viewfinder for a hi-rez model, I hope this is going to happen before a production model hits the UK.

So there you have it a first hand review of the new Panasonic AF101 and I would say Philip was happy enough with the camera so much so that he is planning to buy one himself.

You can see Philips full report here and some extra footage from Filippo Chiesa :
http://philipbloom.net/2010/11/11/japanaf101

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

The BBC’s DV solutions department have today placed an official order for 50 units of the Canon XF305 compact HD camcorder with CVP, the UK’s largest supplier of Canon HD equipment.

The XF305 is the first compact camcorder to provide 50Mb/s recorded data rate, thus satisfying the BBC’s stringent quality requirements for HD broadcast applications.  It records onto solid state CF (Compact Flash) media and has been chosen by the BBC as the successor to the hugely popular Sony HVR-Z1E tape based HDV camcorder.

‘”We are delighted that the BBC has placed this order with us as it clearly demonstrates that not only is the Canon XF305 the BBC’s preferred handheld HD camcorder but that CVP is the BBC’s preferred supplier” commented Phil Baxter, CEO of CVP.

HDW…Having looked at this camcorder at ProVideo 2010 last month it produced stunning pictures I am therefore not surprised that the BBC have “approved” this HD camcorder. Canon have been very clever with this camcorder, 50Mbs and 4:2:2 should be the minimum specification that we should expect from any video manufacturer yet eyebrows were raised when the Sony Hi-end Super 35mm F3 camcorder was released only this week and once again no 50Mbs or 4:2:2 unless you take it out of the HD SDI socket into a NanoFlash.

We see this time and time again with video manufacturers…they give us a great product but with a deliberate Achilles heal only to bring out a higher spec version next time round, this has cost Sony at least one sale as most freelance cameramen will not touch an HD camcorder that’s not 50Mbs minimum spec.

Cameramen are a suspicious lot and it comes from our fear of cables, how many times has a duff cable caused mayhem…we are not fans of what we call in the business “Christmas Trees” camcorders with lots of cables sticking from one machine to another, it’s a recipe for disaster so my point is make the camcorder capable from day one…we don’t like add on’s that have a potential to break down or go faulty.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Philip Bloom is writing the first user review of the Panasonic AG-AF101 as I write as he has just spent the last few days over in sunny Japan testing a near production camera. He has just produced a film using the AF100 (AF101 Europe) and you can see it below.

I have not had a chance to speak with Philip about his trip and his findings but I must say the footage Philip took with the AF100 is more than promising. Although Sony has just announced the F3 FilmLike camcorder at three times the price of the Panasonic I still maintain the AF101 will far outsell the Sony as long as we can get stock.

At £4000 it’s a great price and you get a lot of technology for your money and I just learned today that we can buy MTF Adaptors off the shelf for the AF101…MTF has the PL to Micro 4/3 Adaptor at £320 or the NIKON G to Micro 4/3 Adaptor at £230.

Our old pal Barry Green was also invited to Japan to give his valued opinion on the Panasonic AF100, but I am not so sure about the green liquid, looks like a mouthwash to me.

Hirano San: Shot on Panasonic AF101 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

TALKING ABOUT THE SONY F3 “The noise figure of 63db is extremely impressive. The pictures I saw at IBC were some of the cleanest video images that I have ever seen. Noise performance is crucial in this market as most commercials and movies will receive extensive post work. Generally it is the cameras noise levels that will determine the limits of how far you can push the footage in post. To put this in to some perspective this camera has (according to the specs) over 60% less noise than an EX1. This puts this camera into a different league compared to some of the cheaper competition and puts it much closer to the F35 in terms of what you can do with it.”

I can’t wait to give one a try.

Alister Chapman (XDCAM USER.COM)

So just when we were all happy with the RED ONE…SONY bring out the F3, all the boards are buzzing with RED v SONY so lets have a good look at what RED have to be frightened of.

RED PRICE “Upon its introduction, in August of 2007, the RED ONE retailed for $17,500. Many advancements were made available, by virtue of the evolving firmware upgrades, while the camera maintained its original introductory price. In January of 2010, an upgrade to a newer sensor was made available, this being the same sensor that would ultimately be used in the new EPIC camera. The cost of this amazing upgrade, which offered increased dynamic range, a lower noise floor and increased ISO rating, was $5750. The upgrade included the newer M-X sensor, a sensor board replacement and an upgraded optical low pass filter (OLPF). The upgrade was received with such positive response that a large percentage of the existing cameras were upgraded, creating a new generation of RED ONE cameras, RED ONE M-X. In September of 2010, all of the requested upgrades were performed and it was possible to offer this new generation of camera, with the M-X sensor, as a current version. From this point forward, all RED ONEs would be offered as models, at a retail price of $25,000. This new generation of cameras would also boast that they were fully assembled in the USA, creating not only a new world standard, but also establishing these models as true collectibles.”

SONY PRICE TENTATIVE “Shipping from January you have 2 options…

Option one…PMW-F3K with three lenses (35, 50, 85mm F2.0) – Euros 20,700 ($28,532)

Option two…PMW-F3L body only model – Euros 14500 ($19,986). These cameras will be made in Japan.

What cameras does the RED ONE compete with. “Because the RED ONE is a digital cinema camera (and not an HD video camera), the list of competitors is a short one. Cinema, or film based, cameras offer resolution rated a little over 3K. The RED ONE, at 4K, provides approximately 3.2+K resolution, based on the slight hit of an optical low pass filter (OLPF) used to reduce the effect of aliasing. It is RED’s considered opinion that, going forward, a system must have at least 3K resolution to meet the demand of 4K projection technologies, now being promised by many of the major projector manufacturers. Digital cameras offered by many of RED’s “competitors”, such as Sony, Arri and others, only provide, at best, 2K, and most, only High Definition, which is just not enough information to be scaled to 4K projection. It is safe to say that RED’s biggest competition comes from film, and as the sensor technology continues to improve, while film’s days of progress are numbered, the promise of digital acquisition will be realized. The advantage film has currently is one of dynamic range. With each generation of RED sensor development, the gap becomes narrower and narrower.”

The Sony F3 uses a super 35mm CMOS sensor which is quoted at 25mm x 14mm. This is the first Super 35mm CMOS sensor from Sony as they have used CCDs in the past.

How does the RED ONE differ from a traditional HD camcorder “High Definition video cameras come in many flavors, recording anywhere from 720P resolution to as high as 1080P, using anything from a standard resolution sensor with pixel shifting to a true 1920 x 1080 pixel sensor, and using a variety of different compression and processing algorithms. In the very highest quality HD cams, those costing well into six figures, the RGB signal is not sub-sampled, offering the best HD quality at 4:4:4 (HDCAM SR). Typically, the chroma is sub-sampled at 4:2:2 RGB (DVCPRO HD) and 4:2:0 (HDV). Effectively, where HD tops out, resolution-wise, the RED ONE begins, offering 2K (2048 x 1152), 3K (3072 x 1728), 4K (4096 x 2304) and 4.5K (4480 x 1920)recording options. RED uses a sensor measured at 4520 x 2540 pixels, more than 5 times the number of pixels of the very best HD camera and, most importantly, records the signal as RAW, similar to a DSLR, with no color sub-sampling. All information travels in a single channel, as opposed to three separate RGB paths. Where a video camera requires the “baking in” of white balance, color and gain before recording, these are adjustments that can be made after the fact with a RED ONE, thus making the process of capture all the easier and more fool-proof. These attributes, plus the large S35 film-sized sensor, which provides the beauty of selective depth of field, both contribute to the enormous success of the RED ONE”

I find all this information rather “tekkie” to say the least, there is no doubt that the RED ONE has taken the world by storm and produces fantastic cinematic pictures, on the other hand the Sony F3 has just been announced and is due for shipping in January 2011.

There is a lot of excitement over the F3 and the people who it’s aimed at don’t seem to be bothered by it’s price and lets be honest if it uses the same size 35mm sensor as the F35 can you blame them. Sony have a lot more up their sleeves with the roll out of this new camera for example. “The SR Recorder will be recording using a proprietory memory pack, recording the open standard MPEG-4 HDCAM SR format. It will be considerably smaller than the SRW-1.”

It’s down to money and choice, I don’t doubt that the RED ONE has a large close nit family of passionate followers and owners and it’s made in the USA while the Sony F3 Super 35mm camera is collecting a lot of new friends and owners, in January, personally there is a market for both cameras and I get to play with an F3 next week so if you have any questions you would like me to ask Sony leave them in the comments box.

I will be filming a “WEBDOC” about the new Sony F3 and post it ASAP. PS. I am also taking one of my SxS cards with me and Bill Drummond is allowing me to film onto my card so I can also post you an image from the camera.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

CVP invite you to get HANDS-ON with the latest video technology at the Holdan Roadshow. We’ll have a range of Panasonic AVCHD camcorders, including the AG-HCK10 POV and the much-talked-about Panasonic AG-3DA1 3D which we’ll be demonstrating – and which you can try for yourself! Not only that, but we’ll have Decklink Editing, Ultrascopes and Routers from Blackmagic Design, Hard Disc Recorders and Monitors from Datavideo, the Grass Valley T2 hard disc recorder, Archive Solutions for all tapeless media and LOTS MORE BESIDES. If you want to know how the imminent radio microphone frequency changes will affect you, Peter Knowles will be there to explain and to demonstrate some of the latest digital audio equipment. In fact, whether you want to SHOOT, EDIT, BROADCAST or ARCHIVE the Holdan Roadshow will be packed full of equipment you’ll want to get your hands on!

Convenient, reasonably-priced parking is available at the adjacent Science Centre Car Park, and the CVP team will be there to welcome you at The Hub, answer your questions and to arrange any demos you’d like to set up.

The event runs from 10am to 5pm on both Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th – and i’s FREE! We look forward to seeing you there!

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

This is just to make a point to other manufacturers, Sony have always supplied large 20MP TIFFs of all their products and this gives bloggers like myself a head start when promoting and blogging about their products.

I have a simple policy that I stick rigidly to and thats NO blogging unless I get decent pictures of a product.

HD Warrior is almost up to the 500,000 hits mark and thats in one year, I have one other policy and thats no payed advertising littering up my web space. I am happy to supply a free add or a blog about new products but they must contain photographs.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

CALLING ALL ADVANCED SHOOTERS: DV Talent brings its acclaimed ‘Shooting and Directing 360º’ course to Glasgow.

“Hands On, Full On.  Highly practical, excellent value for money and time spent.” Uli Hesse, Shooting AP/Director.

‘Concentrated + Efficient + Friendly = 10/10’ Tessa Mayes, Reporter/Director.

DV Talent has been running courses for over ten years and has become THE place to come for industry training – preferred suppliers to the main terrestrial broadcasters, and used by all the major Indies.

This 2 day course will teach you everything you need to know about handling the Sony EX3.  Using practical exercises, you’ll develop your technical skills and combat all fears you may have about shooting tapeless to BBC and C4 HD standards.

All of DV Talent’s trainers are acclaimed and active industry film-makers at the cutting edge of the TV industry.  Drawing on their experience of using the EX3 (and indeed the formidable NanoFlash) on a daily basis they offer unbeatable advice. By the end of the course you will be able to shoot to a competent standard on the Sony EX3, be able to frame, shoot and compose professional video footage for broadcast and multi-platforms.

Best of all, Skillset are offering a few training bursaries of up to 80% to freelancers and 50% for company employees, making for unbeatable value. THEY DO HOWEVER TAKE UP TO A MONTH TO PROCESS – with the limited number of bursaries being awarded on a first come, first served basis – SO APPLY NOW!

THIS INTENSIVE, HANDS-ON COURSE WILL PROPEL YOUR MOVE TO TAPELESS.

Standard Rate Card Price – £845 + VAT

£164 + VAT for freelancers

£420 + VAT for companies

To join us on the 18^th and 19^th December 2010 please contact Vicky on 02072 672300 or email vicky@dvtalent.co.uk

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Always been a fan of detailed pictures and this blog is no exception, I was wrong about my price of £6,500 but when you read the specs on this camcorder you understand why it’s a cut above the competition.

Firstly it uses a Super 35mm CMOS sensor which will output 4:2:0 onto the SxS card running up to 35Mbs, 4:2:2 out of the HD SDI socket and here is the best news 4:4:4 out of the dual link HD SDI option. ISO equivalent in standard mode is ISO 800…SONY  “Supported as standard is 4:2:2 50P via dual-link HD-SDI. For 3G-SDI you need to add the 4:4:4 Option” This sounds like the PMW-350 SD option, you get Sony to insert an extra PCB when you order the camera at extra cost. UPDATE…4:4:4 is available via dual link again in April 2011 price tbc.

The back of the camcorder has the usual suspects apart from the Dual link HD SDI sockets that when connected give 1080 50p if you have chosen the optional 4:4:4, now that’s impressive, I don’t know what Sony have up their sleeve for that Dual link HD-SDI but you can bet it will record 4:4:4 at 1080 50p. The battery compartment is interesting as it looks and indeed uses BP- U60 batteries as seen on the EX3.

The spare socket intrigues me but I will make a stab at a connector for the record unit that the Dual HD SDI sockets plug into that will control record, on and off, timecode and supply power…only an educated guess.

A brilliant bit of genius is the zoom rocker switch, now from day one this camcorder will only take prime lenses but Sony are designing a new zoom lens for this camera that can be used with the rocker switch. That single addition gives the cameraman two camcorders in one, thinking about the freelancer who can’t justify two cameras, one for drama and one for television news coverage. As we all know you don’t send a cameraman out on a news job with a camcorder that has one focal length, this type of camerawork suits the zoom lens. As you would expect we have two XLRs with MIC, LINE and 48V phantom. As Sony had some space left over they have included two phono outputs.

On the business side of the camcorder we see a switch for instant 5600K, a sensor plane guide used for focus pullers, a cache record indicator which may light when you have cache record switched on. As seen on the EX3 we have the Slow & Quick control knob which will be useful for instant access to this particular feature. Sadly I can report one switch that did not please me in the mock up and that was the 3 position ND switch, now Sony may have something up their sleeve to help this but most professional camcorders have 4 positions of ND in fact the Panasonic AF101 has a 4 position ND filter ring !

Not the biggest LCD in the world but I am assured it has the same pixel count as the EX3s LCD and that’s a dammed sharp LCD. I am not sure about 2 channels of sound though for most jobs I take on 2 channels are usually more than enough.

You have 2 options when buying this camcorder in January 2011…There are two models, one PMW-F3K with three lenses (35, 50, 85mm F2.0) – Euros 20,700 (£17,814), and a body only version the PMW-F3L BO model – Euros 14500. (£12,511).

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Many pundits like myself have predicted a cooling down for the HDSLR market after the introduction of the new camcorders from Panasonic and Sony, so whats the reality ! Today has been the second game changer in a matter of weeks as we saw the introduction of the Panasonic AF101 at IBC in Amsterdam only a few weeks ago then today Sony have come in with the F3K FilmLike camcorder.

So how do these camcorders change the politics of the game so far, we have to hark back to February 2009 when this all kicked off with Canon giving the 5DMk11 the ability to record HD video onto a Full frame 35mm photographic sensor but at 30fps not many of us payed attention…at first. Time marched on and the HDSLR band wagon started to roll with many more flavours of cameras from Canon, Nikon and Panasonic. We were witnessing a major change in the way people perceived the filmlike camera and that change has set us all on a path that is changing film/video forever.

Students could finally afford to make low budget films that had that coveted shallow depth of field but the HDSLR came at a price and that price was quality…moire patterning has been a major setback for all but none of the HDSLR movement let alone the very poor sound facilities on such cameras.

One major player RED DIGITAL CINEMA had finally produced the RED ONE 4K digital cinema camcorder and at $25,000 is set at the hi-end of the FilmLike camcorders. RED are looking at introducing a lesser spec camera called the Scarlet but I think time and new camcorders from the big players my have put paid to Scarlet.

2010 can go down in the history books as the year of the FilmLike camcorder, it took Panasonic and Sony long enough to change tac but finally we are now sailing towards a great future for all companies concerned…yes ALL companies. No one denys the important part the HDSLR has played in the advent of the AF101 and the F3K. Canon, Nikon and Panasonic will no doubt come out with more enhanced features for their large following of students and professionals alike.

RED will still sell RED ONE’s for Hi-end productions though I do think Scarlet may now be shelved. Panasonic Broadcast are looking to have the first AF101s out for the end of December 2010 and Sony have announced their F3K to be shipping during January 2011.

So where do they all stand…the HDSLR will continue as long as DPs like Philip Bloom remain faithful to them, RED is priced at $25,000 and is priced accordingly though Sony have come in at £$20,000 with some would say a lesser spec camera than the RED ONE but with 3 prime lenses included and the backing of Sony…who knows.

The Panasonic is the RED herring among all the new camcorders, not that it will be any competition to the RED ONE or the Sony but out of all the new breed of cinematography cameras the AF101 is in my opinion priced at an affordable price of £4200.

The Panasonic AF101 price point gives you a fantastic shallow depth of field camcorder at a cost that won’t break the bank and with a special Canon adaptor just around the corner this camcorder is set to break all records when it finally hits the specialised professional video retailers at the end of December.

We are indeed living in exiting times and I for one look forward to seeing and reviewing both the AF101 and the Sony F3K as soon as they are available to me. DPs have a new choice when filming drama and you can expect all the hire companies to re stock with AF101s and the Sony F3K.

I hope with such quality now available to the professional FilmLike market we will no longer see HDSLRs used because the technology is limited and lets be honest Canon have stood aside for over a year now knowing that moire patterning is a major problem and done nothing to remedy the fault. As professionals we owe it to the future of our industry to embrace the new professional shallow depth of field camcorders from Panasonic and Sony…after all we have shouted for long enough about having a camera fit for purpose and the video manufacturers have delivered…BIG TIME.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions