Kyle Prohaska

I've had the camera over a month now and find it to be just like any other camera, with the user making the difference. Many have picked this thing up without reading about internal settings and called it crap, while those who have spent enough time with it find it to be very capable and fantastic on a lot of levels. I was one of the guys who after taking it out the box and shooting something quickly nearly had a heart-attack due to my stupidity, and not until a day later actually tore through the book by Barry to find out why it wasn't looking how I was hoping. This camera definitely needs the user to know the internal settings. Honestly I think most of the presets the camera came with can work great as I've seen a ton of stuff taken with them and great results, but every person wants something different. Some don't mind the noise in Cine-D and prefer the latitude, and some prefer the Detail level at 0 or higher while others don't like the halo and EE you can get from even a setting like -2 or -3...so they stick to -5 or less. Some want something super clean so they choose B.Press (the lowest noise gamma) and use Knee to help with highlight handling, or if they want one of the cine settings will use Cine-V which is 2nd place for clean signal but you lose the Knee function. It's like cooking...a little of this a little of that and find the taste you like. Yes the camera can have some issues with highlights but again the internal settings make a big difference. Many I think just want the camera to make up for their poor exposure tendencies because they've been spoiled a little by other cameras. Yes, a camera should be good at handling highlights and I don't think this camera is awful at that, but lots of people don't expose well to begin with and are looking for some sort of magic camera that makes up for their poor shooting techniques. The camera does have some chroma clipping in the highlights which can be annoying but didn't the Varicam have similar issues? I swear I just saw a film shot on it recently that had purple in the highlights of stadium lights. It's no excuse, but hardly anything detrimental or new to the game. I find the camera to be exactly what I want in a DSLR and can't have for whatever reason. The XLR's, the ND's, focus assist, HDMI/HDSDI out, etc. The weight of the thing with a simple Nikon Nikkor on it is actually LIGHTER than the Canon 5D with standard 24-105. Even the Canon 5D naked with no lens is heavier than the AF100 by 3 ounces, and if you remove the AF100's side grip or top handle it can be even lighter. So it has the weight advantages of a DSLR without the disadvantages of using one. The rolling shutter is there but not even close to the kind of jello you can get on the 5D/7D, and the moiring is for the most part a thing of the part. It can still be there in very VERY specific circumstances but for the most part it's gone. Turning up your detail setting on the camera definitely will make the issue worse or bring it into play. EVF is garbage but there aren't any cameras I've ever owned that have a good internal EVF. Battery life is really nice with the built-in battery, and I'm actually really shocked at how much you can fit onto the little SD cards. They're super cheap and honestly the on-board codec is far better than anyone things. Yes, it's 420 and a lower bit-rate then maybe I would like, but after using it in different situations I think it's a lot better than most would jump to assume. I was one of the people who lit up AF100 threads around the internet about how awful the codec was until I really put it through the motions. It holds up really well and even people using Nanoflash or something similar find the difference (especially to the eye) between on-board and high bit-rate 422 8-bit external negligible at best. The difference will be there in the CC process, but even so the on-board holds its own. Don't let it scare you away, try it for yourself. Not a perfect camera by any stretch of the imagination, but incredibly solid and for $5000 what's to complain about? Did I mention it has 1080p60? :)

http://vimeo.com/23780466 This is my first reel so I hope you enjoy! It includes footage from my feature film Standing Firm, camera/lighting tests, fun short films with friends, and various other things. Cameras Used: Canon XHA1 (with and without Letus Extreme), Canon 5D, & Panasonic AF100