Panasonic AG-AF100 series

[Jonathan Palfrey]

No one else has seemed to have put this up on dvinfo yet so I thought I'd give you the info.

PANASONIC INTRODUCES AG-AF100, 4/3”
PROFESSIONAL HIGH-DEFINITION CAMCORDER

Premier AVCCAM Video Camera Combines 4/3” Sensor with Superior Video
Quality, Professional Audio Inputs, Variable Frame Rates, SDXC Card Technology

LAS VEGAS, NV (April 11, 2010) – Panasonic Solutions Company today announced a game-changing AVCCAM HD camcorder, the AG-AF100, the first professional micro 4/3-inch video camcorder optimized for high-definition video recording. Scheduled to ship by the end of 2010, the AG-AF100 will set a new benchmark for digital cinematography.

Targeted at the video and film production communities, the AF100 delivers the shallow depth of field and wider field of view of a large imager, with the flexibility and cost advantages of use with a growing line of professional quality, industry standard micro 4/3-inch lenses, filters, and adapters. The full 1080 and 720 production camera offers superior video handling, native 1080/24p recording, variable frame rates, professional audio capabilities, and compatibility with SDHC and SDXC media.

The design of the AF100’s micro 4/3-inch sensor affords depth of field and field of view similar to that of 35mm movie cameras in a less expensive camera body. Equipped with an interchangeable lens mount, the AF100 can utilize an array of low-cost, widely-available still camera lenses as well as film-style lenses with fixed focal lengths and primes.

“Designed in consultation with the filmmaking community, the AF100 eclipses the video performance of other cameras in this price range,” said Joe Facchini, Vice President of Sales & Product Management, Media & Production Services, Panasonic Solutions Company. “Ideal for film schools and independent filmmakers, this affordable, digital cinematography camera employs an advanced professional AVC/ H.264 Hi Profile AVCHD codec compatible with a wide range of editing tools and affordable players.”

The AF100 incorporates a 4/3-inch, 16:9 MOS imager. The camcorder records 1080/60i, 50i, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) and 720/60p, 50p, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) in AVCHD’s highest-quality PH mode (maximum 24Mbps). Ready for global production standards, the camcorder is 60Hz and 50Hz switchable.

The AF100 maximizes the potential of its high-resolution imager with built-in ND filtering and dramatically reduced video aliasing. Standard professional interfaces include HD-SDI out, HDMI, time code recording, built-in stereo microphone and USB 2.0. The AF100 features two XLR inputs with +48V Phantom Power capability, 48-kHz/16-bit two-channel digital audio recording and supports LPCM/Dolby-AC3.

This newest Panasonic AVCCAM camcorder is the first to enjoy the benefits of advanced SDXC media card compatibility in addition to existing SDHC card support. (SDXC is the newest SD memory card specification that supports memory capacities above 32GB up to 2TB). With two SD slots, the AF100 can record up to 12 hours on two 64GB SDXC cards in PH mode

The AG-AF100 will be available by the end of 2010. Panasonic will support the AF100 with a three-year limited warranty (one year plus two extra years upon registration)."

Panasonic USA Pressroom

[Jeff Regan]

Panasonic announced today at NAB that they will deliver a large sensor video camera using 4/3" MOS full raster sensor recording in AVCHD via SD cards by the end of the year.

Finally, an alternative to VDSLR cameras, albeit with a low end codec. Only an illustration of the camera was shown, so final form factor is probably a ways off, but at least it will have proper audio, monitoring, 12 hr. record time with 2)64Gb cards, any HD format in 60 and 50hz.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video

[Bill Strehl]

Thanks for posting this. Let's hope it is at least under glass at NAB!

[Dan Brockett]

Thanks for the hot news Jeff. We can always count on your to be up on the new stuff. Very interesting concept and I think a lot of people will be salivating over a camera like this. I have to say that the little cheap GH1 did a decent job in the Zacuto DSLR shootout, the contrast and resolution were really nice although the codec bites it in the rear as far as overall quality.

Makes me wonder if Panasonic is going to really split off P2 to only the HPX370 and higher level cameras, it does seem like Panasonic is really aiming toward the low and medium end with AVCHD and SD cards. It will be really interesting to see if this will be the successor to the HPX170/HVX200A or if it will supplement those type cameras in Panasonic's lineup.

Cheers,

Dan Brockett

[Frank Vrionis]

two critical things I want to know is if the sensor is low resolution - 2 k - thus we can get some awesome low light. if it's 14mpx then down rezzed..yucko.

also does the HDMI or SDI give us more resolution than the codec can handle - 4k?

[Dan Brockett]

This is huge! It now looks as if Panasonic will beat Canon, Nikon and RED to the market with what everyone else has been wanting, a small, light, inexpensive camera with all of the features that videographers and cinematographers need with a large sensor that can take an established line of high quality, removable lenses that are not tied to a single manufacturer.

2010, while horrible for the business, is turning out to be a technological watershed year.

Dan

[Tim Polster]

Wow, available by the end of 2010 is pretty far away. This is a shot across the bow announcement . There will be quite a lot of water to pass under the bridge by the end of the year.

[Paulo Teixeira]

This news is huge. Lest just hope it will be fully available in US when it's released.

[Jim Snow]

This should stir things up quite a bit. It looks interesting. I wonder what price point Panasonic has in mind?

[Jeff Regan]

I knew about this camera in January--obviously Panasonic is leveraging their consumer electronics divisions to keep the price point down. Rumors are a $6K price point, don't know how reliable that is, but sounds reasonable. Let's see what Scarlet has to offer--obviously a better codec.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video

[Tim Polster]

This camera reminds me of an HMC-150 with a larger sensor/DOF characteristic.

Should be wildly popular if they price it correctly.

I do not know much about the m4/3rds format and normal 35mm lenses. A nice wide to medium tele lens hard mounted would probably work for most situations and would allow for OIS and maybe some focus things.

A lot can happen in the market before December arives. With Sony's announcement of the same type of camera shows the manufacturers are hot to mark some territory even if these are paper/design stage announcements.

[Evan C. King]

I knew Panasonic would be the first to make an announcement like this. Even if they don't ship first they're always good at pushing new tech out.

[Floris van Eck]

Any idea what this is going to cost? Is this aimed at the Scarlet market or the Canon EOS market for filmmaking? I am excited about this product!

[Floris van Eck]

Okay several questions here. First the sensor is the same as the GH1 Lumix camera, then we optimize it for HD recording. There will not be aliasing as we actually have a clue about what causes that and since we actually build video cameras, we can engineer in the resolution. so no aliasing.

-- Jan Crittenden, Panasonic Product Manager

So they take the Panasonic GH1 sensor, add video processing chips, audio inputs, a video body, most likely proper Auto Focus and a whole lot of other stuff to it, ask a nice price for it and bam... our dream camera. I hope Canon has an answer to this.

They are going to make a 1080p image from a 12MP sensor. I am excited to learn how successful they are in working around the disadvantages of current VDSLR cameras. If they can fix most of them, this is going to be one hell of a camera.

[Ethan Cooper]

Interesting announcement, but over on another forum they pointed out that if it's the GH-1 sensor then it's more than likely still doing line skipping to read fast enough for video.

Still, it's the first major player to give us a non-DSLR form factor camera with interchangeable lenses and a large sensor.