We carry a huge variety of equipment here at AbelCine, and it is a constant challenge to stay on top of what is changing. For our clients this can be even more of a struggle, so we put together these firmware blogs to let you know what’s out and what’s coming soon for your gear. On our last Firmware Friday blog we mentioned new firmware for the Sony PVM series OLED displays and we have a new update for that. In addition, the Panasonic AF100 and Atomos Samuri have new firmware out, and we have some more details on the Sony F3 1.31 firmware on the way.

…continue reading Keeping Up with the Firmware: Friday Edition

In Part Two of his review of the Panasonic AC160, Noah Kadner discusses the camera’s audio recording options and post workflow. In case you missed Part One, you can read it here.

Audio

As I mentioned in part one of this review, the Panasonic AC160 gives you uncompressed PCM audio, in addition to the AC130‘s Dolby Digital AC3 audio. I’m a huge fan of uncompressed audio. AC3 sounds fine in-camera and in raw footage, but a decent ear can start to hear the compression artifacts as soon as you try to do major filtering and/or mixing. It’s just one of those things that separates ‘pro’ from ‘prosumer,’ and if you’re working with footage for potential broadcast you’ll want to cross that ‘t’ with uncompressed audio.

With the AC160, you have automatic audio level control (which I recommend never using) and also really great manual audio level controls. This is where Panasonic’s having made so many camcorders over the years really pays off in the little details. For example, the mic audio power switches are recessed just enough so that you really can’t accidentally switch them off (thereby ruining your audio) unintentionally. And this would be an easy thing to do, as the switches are located right on the top handle that you’re constantly grabbing to pick the camera up.

You get two audio inputs, which can utilize the onboard mics or any desired combination of outboard mic or line-level audio inputs via a of pair XLR jacks. I heartily recommend either recording double-system sound outboard with a digital audio recorder or running a mixer and boom/lav mics directly into the camera. The onboard pre-amps are solid if not the greatest in the world; but you’ll definitely never want to rely on the onboard microphones at all.

I almost wish camcorder manufacturers would remove onboard mics completely to force shooters into recording better sound. All you get from the onboard mics are the close-up sounds of the camera itself and the operator. The really important audio action is much closer to whatever you’re filming. So get in there close with a wired or wireless lav/boom and get good audio routing to your camera. Your audience will not only appreciate this quality, they will expect it.

Post-Production

Working with the AC160’s footage in post-production is very straightforward. It’s well supported in most modern NLEs, as the AVCHD format has been around for a couple of years now and is pretty much the de-facto consumer/prosumer HD codec. It looks great in post-production, very filmic if you want it to look that way, and it holds up pretty well to extensive compositing, filters and color grading.

And, even if you’ve dialed in a more than a slight amount of gain, you’ll discover the AC160 exhibits a very non-electronic, film-like grain structure at higher levels that no one will really scoff at. Although, I always recommend using gain as judiciously as possible regardless of how well it works; better to light shots that really need it whenever you can.

I ingested footage from the AC160 into Final Cut Pro 7 and X as well as Adobe Premiere and had no problems at all in any of them. Each of these NLEs take a slightly different approach to dealing with AVCHD. Final Cut Pro transcodes AVCHD into ProRes during ingest, while Adobe lets you edit AVCHD natively on a timeline.

Now, a lot of folks are champions of native AVCHD editing because you can literally drag footage directly from a card onto a timeline and start editing. But I’ve found that unless you have very high-end hardware, the trade-off is reduced performance and a consequently lower quality editing experience. So if you have a less-than-top-end computer (and that’s a lot of us), you may find that spending a bit of extra time doing the transcode to ProRes upfront in FCP results in a much more enjoyable editing experience down the road. And by more enjoyable I mean less dropped frames as you edit, less rendering required for filters/transitions and faster outputs of sequences as you complete an edit. ProRes is just a great format and totally optimized for efficient and high-speed editing. (And forgive me for assuming you’re editing on a Mac, but I’m sure there’s an equivalent Windows workflow out there as well).

Conclusion

I truly love the AVHCD format and the SDHC media, as they hit a real sweet spot of price and performance. In practiced hands (i.e. do spend some time with the manual), the AC160 is capable of producing imagery that’s nothing short of state-of-the-art in prosumer HD video. Considering its reasonable price of around $4,200 ready to shoot out of the box, this camera should knock ‘em dead in the ENG, documentary and event videography worlds.

The AC160 might even make some new friends out of indie filmmaker types who’ve been on the DSLR/interchangeable lens train for the past few years and found it too expensive, complex and/or difficult to deal with. This camera is a solid, old school workhorse that won’t let you down and is a real pleasure to use. I give a very enthusiastic thumbs up to the Panasonic AC160 camcorder.

Noah Kadner is a contributing writer for American Cinematographer magazine and wrote RED: The Ultimate Guide to Using the Revolutionary Camera for Peachpit Press. He also produces and hosts Call Box, a digital series of training courses aimed at indie filmmakers. Call Box offers The AC130/AC160 Guide, for owners wanting to get the most out of their cameras.

In part one of his hands-on review of the Panasonic AG-AC160 1/3” AVCCAM HD camera, filmmaker Noah Kadner discusses its features, controls, ergonomics and available recording formats. He also discusses applications and benefits of a fixed lens camera.

In part two, coming next week, Noah will review the camera’s audio and post-production workflows.

Introduction

In an era of interchangeable-lens digital cinema cameras from companies like RED and ARRI (along with HD video-enabled DSLR cameras with large image sensors from Nikon, Canon, Sony and Panasonic), it’s becoming increasingly rare to find a new fixed lens camcorder like the Panasonic AC160. But in my opinion, they still very much have their place in the production world. Say you’re working in news, documentary, event or corporate videography, where having extremely shallow depth of field can be counterproductive. You only have a single chance to get a shot in focus and can’t repeat actions the way a narrative film shoot could. In that case, you may need the deep-focus depth of field that you’d get with a fixed lens, smaller sensor camera.

Or, perhaps you just don’t want to deal with the technical considerations and sizable investment needed to build up a robust set of interchangeable lenses. That’s another case where having a fixed lens camera would serve your needs better. If that sounds more like you read on, because the Panasonic AC160 represents the state-of-the-art in fixed lens, 1/3” sensor high-definition cameras

AC160 vs. AC130

One question to consider before I get into the full review is: do you need the AC160 or can you get by with its little brother, the AC130 (which costs about $600 less than the 160)? There are four primary differences: the 160 offers HD-SDI out, PCM uncompressed audio, 50Hz/60Hz system switching, and variable frame rates over the 130.

If you need to capture footage to an outboard recorder (such as a Blackmagic Hyperdeck, ATOMOS Ninja or AJA Ki Pro), perhaps for critical compositing work, you’ll want the HD-SDI port of the AC160. If you feel that Dolby Digital AC3 audio sounds a little too compressed vs. uncompressed linear PCM audio (which is what most DV, AVC-Intra and DVCPROHD camcorders record by the way), you’ll want the 160. If you’re planning to shoot in a number of different countries with different video/electricity standards (i.e. NTSC 60Hz vs. PAL 50Hz), you’ll also want the 160. If you want to shoot slow motion or sped up variable frame rate shots in-camera, you’ll need the 160. If you don’t truly need any of these features, you might just grab the 130 and save yourself a little dough for other key accessories.

For the purposes of this review, I used an AC160. Personally, I think it’s worth the extra money as the difference in cost is not really that much, and it’s always nicer to have a feature and not need it than vice-versa. That said the overall image quality and operation is identical between the two cameras – outside of the aforementioned differences. So, let’s dive right into some specifics.

…continue reading A Hands On Review of the Panasonic AC160, Part One

We are in the middle of what some would call the “small camera with a large sensor” revolution, which includes Panasonic’s AF100. However, large sensor cameras can be difficult to use in certain situations. Sometimes you may want a camera that gives you a lot of depth of field and has a long zoom range for run-and-gun shooting. Small sensor cameras such as the HVX200 and HPX170 have always been good for this application. Panasonic has continued that tradition with their new HPX250.

The HPX250 has the same 1080P 1/3″ 3MOS sensors that are found in the HPX370, but with a fixed zoom lens and small form factor. It really shines because it records to P2 cards in Panasonic’s AVC-Intra 100 4:2:2 recording format, and is very well balanced for hand-held operation. Watch my video above to learn more about the camera.

Panasonic has now released the AVCCAM Importer software that was announced at NAB 2011. This Final Cut Pro 7 plug-in allows you to edit AVCCAM (Panasonic’s variant of AVCHD) footage directly, without having to run it through Log and Transfer first. Previously, you would have to transcode AVCCAM footage to ProRes before working with it in FCP 7, but now you can work directly off the .mts files from the camera. This software also allows you to use QuickTime to view the AVCCAM footage, so even if you’re using Final Cut Pro X (which has native support for AVCHD), this will add AVCHD playback to QuickTime.

…continue reading Panasonic AVCCAM Importer for FCP 7 Now Available

Panasonic has made several announcements at IBC this year including two new monitors, pricing on their new 3D camera, and more on the future of AVC Ultra.

Originally announced at NAB, the new shoulder-mounted AG-3DP1 takes the idea of Panasonic’s 3DA1 camera and puts it in a shoulder-mounted form factor with larger chips. It features two 1/3″ 3MOS chips (the same as those found in the HPX370 and HPX250) and a twin-lens system, while stereoscopic adjustment controls make it easier to use and operate. Recently Panasonic brought the camera in for us to check out, and we were impressed by its ease of operation. The convergence point can be adjusted on the lens and information can be displayed on the LCD and viewfinder to let the operator know if the image is creating ‘safe’ 3D. The camera will display different color blocks over areas of the image that are either too close to the camera, or too far based on the convergence point. The 3DP1 represents another step into bringing 3D production to a larger market. It will be available in December at a list price of $34,950.

…continue reading IBC 2011 Updates: Panasonic

Over the years I’ve held a lot of one-on-one camera training sessions with owner-operators of varying skill sets – some who had been working with a particular camera for years and were finally buying their own, all the way to people who had never worked in the industry and were just getting started. I can tell you that the vast majority of them did not know how to load or copy scene files. You can all breathe a sigh of relief, knowing you’re not alone in this world. However, I do have a visual that should help those of you too afraid to ask for help: a simple ladle, some soup and a bowl. Hopefully, this analogy will help you the next time you try to load or copy a scene file from one camera to another, and it applies to both Panasonic & Sony cameras.

…continue reading Loading & Copying Scene Files