Just before the turn of the calendar year, Panasonic released the much-anticipated AF100 camcorder, featuring a large 4/3″ 3MOS image sensor, interchangeable lenses, plus all of the pro-video features that come standard on Panasonic professional camcorders. Many heralded the arrival of the AF100 as an answer to those DSLR enthusiasts who bemoaned the various issues associated with DSLR shooting — image wobbling due to the rolling shutter, moire effects, no support for critical audio controls and monitoring, etc. Digital cinematographers wanted the beautiful images and sexy shallow depth of field that the DSLRs offered, but they missed actual professional video features too.

Last Wednesday, VCAM staff and other video pros in the area were treated to a demonstration of the AF100 here in the VCAM studio. Bill Kennedy, Panasonic’s New England sales manager, kindly brought the camera up from Albany to show off for us. So what did we think? Is it a “DSLR killer?”

Well, no. Not really. But maybe sort of, depending on the sort of work you’re doing. Let’s break it down:

Image sensor: the micro 4/3″ image sensor on the AF100 is larger than image sensors you’ll find on other Panasonic video cameras (like VCAM’s HMC150 and HVX200) and there is a corresponding ease with getting a shallow depth of field, as you’d expect. But a 4/3″ sensor is only about 50% of the size of the full-frame 35mm sensor on the Canon 5DmkII, resulting in a 2x crop factor where lens focal lengths are concerned (by contrast, the Canon T2i’s APS-C image sensor yields a 1.6x crop factor). So a 50mm lens on the 5D will act like 100mm lens on the AF100. That’s a pretty big jump. And getting a shallow depth of field (if that’s your bag) out of the AF100 is easier than it is on, say, the HMC150, but it’s not the crazy-beautiful shallow focus of the 5D.

Lenses: Of course, depth of field isn’t just about the image sensor size — f-stop and lens focal length have a lot to do with it too, so being able to swap lenses is a really important feature on any camera that’s going to be used for cinema-style shooting. The lens mount on the AF100 is a “micro 4/3″ mount (I know, I’d never heard of it before either). The bad news is that there are at present, precious few micro 4/3 lenses out there on the market. The good news is that lens manufacturers are selling adapters for just about any kind of lens you might already have. We have a lovely set of Carl Zeiss f-mount primes that go with our HVX200/Letus adapter rig and we were able to throw those onto the AF100 on Wednesday (using the f-mount adapter that Bill K. brought up with him) and they looked great. Bill had brought a Lumix 14-140mm micro 4/3 zoom with him as a basic lens for the camera, but it was slow and didn’t really show off the camera’s ability to produce nice images. Once we threw our Zeiss lenses on, the camera really started to shine.

Here’s the tricky part for people who own their own glass and are considering the AF100: lots of basic video camera features, like iris control, auto-focus, optical image stabilization, etc., require a data connection between the lens and the camera. Unless the lens was made with the AF100 specifically in mind, that data connection won’t exist and all of those things will have to be handled manually. That’s not such a big surprise, but if you want to use, for example, your Canon EOS lenses, you’re in trouble. EOS lenses don’t have manually-adjustable aperture controls on the lens. You can put the lens on the AF100 (with the proper lens adapter), but you won’t be able to change your f-stop.

Other stuff: as video camera functionality goes, the AF100 is pretty great — XLR audio inputs, built-in waveform monitor and vectorscope, ND filters, adjustable shutter speeds, various focus assist gizmos, adjustable ISO/gain, a host of progressive and interlaced frame rates and the important ability to take a video feed straight off the chip set via an SDI-out on the back of the camera (for those who want to avoid compressing via the AVCHD video codec on the SD cards). This is a professional tool that offers the user a lot of manual control.

Conclusions: Don’t think of the AF100 as a “DSLR killer.” Think of it as a halfway point between a DSLR and an HMC150. It tries to give you the best of both those worlds and it actually comes pretty close. Right now, if I have to go out and shoot a spot for VCAM (like this Access 101 piece or this Fit & Healthy Kids PSA, for example — both shot by me on these cameras), I bring both the 5D and the HMC150 to give me a wide range of shooting options. Perhaps with the AF100, I could just bring the one camera and get everything I need.

In terms of depth of field, I actually want a middle ground. For years I shot with the DVX100, HVX200 and HMC150 and constantly stayed at the longest end of the lens and wide open on the aperture in order to force the camera to give me some shallow focus. With the 5D I have the opposite problem. Sometimes I need to have more focus options other than “super shallow,” and I don’t want to have to travel around with a 5-ton grip truck to get the shots I want. The AF100 might just be the Goldilocks camera I’ve been waiting for.

• VCAM is proud to be a sponsor of  The Vermont International Film Festival, taking place at the Palace 9 Cinemas Oct. 23- Nov. 1. The festival released it’s schedule this week. Check it out! (Also, follow the festival on Twitter and Facebook.)
• A Wisconsin Representative introduced a bill in the US House this week aimed at preserving community access centers’ funding. Congratulations, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, (D-WI) you’re the community media heroine of the week! Read more about the bill on Congresswoman Baldwin’s website.
• Check out the Open in Vermont booth at the Vermont 3.0 Innovation Jam at the Sheraton on Monday October 26. It’s run by a bunch of Vermonters committed to the free and open source software movement. Stop by and learn more!
• There was a lot of buzz this week about tiny Vermont craft brewers, Rock Art Brewery, getting hounded with legal trademark letters from the lawyers at the corporate offices of Monster Energy drinks. The lawyers didn’t like Rock Art’s use of the word “Vermontster” on their recent 10% barley wine release. Green River Pictures (our neighbors!) made a little informational video about the situation featuring an interview with Rock Art owner, Matt Nadeau.
• This week the US House Energy and Finance Committee unanimously passed the Local Community Radio Act. Now the bill must go the floor of the House for a vote. Another small victory for LPFM and community media! Contact your representative today to say it’s time to pass the Local Community Radio Act, HR 1147 (VT Rep. Peter Welch is already on board — thank him!).

Art Lovers from Graham Raubvogel on Vimeo.

If you click through to Vimeo you can watch the film in HD.

One of VCAM’s security cameras caught all the action, one frame per second. Below is all 12 hours of shooting — from the minute the first crew walked in the door at 8:00 AM, until the last staff person shut out the lights and left at 8:00 PM — compressed into a single minute of video. Enjoy…

As with the last few of these events, the evening will be emceed by Seven Days videographer (and VCAM producer) Eva Sollberger. Our keynote speaker will be author, blogger, VPR commentator and UVM prof, Philip Baruth.

These dinners are always a good opportunity to take a look back at some of the accomplishments of our community of media-makers. Here are a few highlights…

• Our hostess tomorrow, the afore mentioned Eva Sollberger, recently won first place in her category at the Alliance for Community Media Northeast Regional Video Festival for her Stuck in Vermont series.
• VCAM’s own staff took home the first place prize in the “PEG Promo” category in that same festival for the first episode of our rare-but-excellent VCAM VCAST!
• In October, two BHS students who are VCAM producers were the only high schoolers to compete in the Vermont International Film Festival’s Student Showcase — and they won awards! Sophomore Graham Raubvogel took home the Best Short award for a film he co-directed called The First Supper, and freshman Keith LaFountaine won an Honorable Mention for his film, If You Can’t Say Anything Nice….
• The very same Graham Raubvogel won first place at the Santa Monica Teen Film Festival this summer for his film, Keeping Time.
• At the Alliance for Community Media’s national conference this past summer, VCAM took the prize for best access center website, and VCAM production Manager, Bill Simmon, got an Honorable Mention for his short documentary about Vermont blogger, Steve Benen.
• That same short documentary, Digital Pamphleteer, screened at several film festivals in 2008 and won the Best Short Documentary award at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival in July.

I hope I’m not forgetting anyone — if I am, send me a note and I’ll update the post.

Congratulations to all of the award-winners and keep up the great work! And remember, we’re giving out some awards ourselves tomorrow night, so stay tuned for that!