Coming alternatives to DSLRs

[Tom Khazoyan]

I have been waiting to see what manufacturers would come up with to leverage the popularity of DSLRs (Canon 5D, etc.) but with a more professional bent. 

Here's a link to a soon-to-be-released camera from Panasonic, the AF100

I love things that DSLRs offer, like low-light capability and shallow depth-of-field, but working with them seems like a hack to me. A huge set of accessories can only approximate standard features of a professional camera. And they cease to be super inexpensive by the time you purchase all of the toys. 

The RED Scarlet seems doomed(?) but it held the promise of an incredible sensor in a professional package for real filmmaking. 

Thoughts? 

Tom

[Jim Brennan]

I don't think the Scarlet is doomed (although I stopped holding my breath about a year ago), but the AF100 seems like a great choice. I have been itching to pre-order one, but I will wait until after the VidExpo next month.

Following the development has been fun. Having the option of a shallow DOF with true video/cinema camera functions like xlr inputs is great. It also has much better low-light sensitivity than the HVX. Plus, since the sensor is 4/3" but only shooting at 1080P you loose nearly all of the artifacting and moiré that you get with a DSLR. I'm still waitng to see the footage since they went with the AVCHD codec instead of DVCPRO, but all of the reviews have been pretty amazing. I don't really want to have to output to another recorder for uncompressed files.

The biggest adjustment for me will be the completely manual lens situation. But I will not be using this to replace my HVX in all cases. Only for the times demand a more cinematic style.

[Andrew Gingerich]

I agree that DSLR shooting is a hack. I just had a gig as first AC on a feature out of Minneapolis that shot on a 7D with PL lenses and I was constantly fighting with the camera, particularly in regards to monitoring. Whenever the director wanted a monitor, which was all the time, we had to run a second on-camera monitor for the operator because the onboard screen goes dead whenever you plug anything in to the HDMI port. Plus, you can only preview out 480i footage when you're shooting.

I like Panasonic's approach to the AF100 (and truth be told, AVCHD is plenty good for most applications, unless you're doing greenscreen or really heavy color grading) and I have always loved the DVX and the HMC150 (HVX is a total clunker and always was, IMHO), but let's not forget that the AF100 costs nearly twice as much as the 5D, which has the advantage of a full-frame sensor. I honestly can't see crossing the $3000 threshold unless it's to buy something like the Scarlet that shoots RAW.

For $4000 less than the AF100, I'm more than happy with my T2i. The line-skipping is obviously not ideal, but it still produces nice images and I've never had too much issue with moiré. The only thing that really kills me is the lack of any kind of real-time focus assist, like the ability to use expanded focus while shooting. When it comes right down to it (particularly for narrative work, which is mostly what I do), I'd rather shoot with a DSLR and put my money into a nice set of Nikon primes.

[Jim Brennan]

I like my HVX. I opted for that over the HPX-170 because my clients still need stuff on tape at times. But I would never shoot a film with it. Maybe with adapter, but that brings its own set of problems. Until I saw the AF-100 release coming, I never thought I would use anything but a Red again for a film, and I was (still am) excited about the Scarlet. As much as I love working with raw images in post, 9 times out of ten I wiind up doing a direct L&T into FCP anyway and never use the raw files. I have loved the Panasonic look since I got my first DVX, so the AF100 may be a good fit for me. Of course I may re-evaluate when the Scarlet is released, but I'm not going to wait around for that when a good quality 1080P camera with interchangeable lenses and 4/3" sensor is available.