OK, so if I were to buy an AX100, it would be the unmanned camera on the opposite side to me in a ceremony.

I would use it there because the inability to zoom is slightly solved by the ability to reframe the 4k footage.

My question is this - in timeline - considering you want to reframe, do you have to use a 4k project and upscale all your 1080 tracks, and then render out at 1080?

Or can reframing of 4k still be done in a 1080 project?

Sorry if its a stupid question.

In an ideal world, I'd be swapping all my gear for two AX100s and a GH4 (or whatever new 4k DSLR Canon may or may not launch.

But money means I may only get one camera this year, and I need another standalone autofocus option.

Actually just found this - another reason AX100 would be a good unmanned option - in cases where there is a wifi connection...

Sony FDR AX100 4K Test Video: Low-Light WiFi Remote Zoom - YouTube
http://cdn.avsforum.com/9/93/1000x1000px-LL-93c4dbd1_P1000223.jpeg

You would edit on a 1080p timeline giving you the choice of downscaling the 4K to 1080p or reframing the 4K to give a good 1080p image from what is effectively a crop.

Thanks Dave!

When going for a cropped section of the 4K image, make sure you're NLE isn't downscaling first, then zooming in to the crop which would look nasty.

On some NLEs this (downscaling) is automatic and you need to disable it on a clip by clip basis so that you can zoom in on the native resolution of the file and not an already downscaled version.