Ah Panasonic. So this is what you've been up to..

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AG-AF100_illust-New-670x503.jpg

Ah Panasonic. So this is what you've been up to..

Man is it ugly. Glad to see Panny is paying attention though. Why AVCCAM? And why do these big company's always find it necessary to "test the waters" with a product that's close, but ultimately not really what users want? I guess why sell you one camera when they can sell you two.

Anyways, Panasonic AG-AF100: 4/3" single MOS chip, interchangeable lens on an actual video camera - SDI and HDMI out, built in ND, Time Code, phantom powered XLR ins, etc. Available 4th quarter 2010. No mention of price yet. 

http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2010/04/7529-panasonic-introduces-ag-af100-43-professional-hd-camcorder/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+videomaker%2Fvideo-news+%28Video+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

From the brief:

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.

panny2.jpg

They're calling it a "Production Camcorder". I like the picture of the kid holding the slate. Nice touch.

I think the AF-100 is definitely a big step in the right direction. I'm not crazy about AVCCAM but I'm sure it will make big waves nonetheless. That is unless Canon just gives users the camera they actually want sometime this year. Fingers are crossed but won't be surprised if they take their time and milk this new market for all it's worth.