Hi.
I am looking to buy a camera to be used in my multicam productions. And I find myself standing at a crossroad wondering what to do. The sort of work I do range from making documentariesand filming rally for national TV to live events like concerts, news and weddings as well.

My current setup is a Sony EX3, a JVC 790, a Sony NX70 and a Sony Z5. They are all on their own very good cameras, in my opinion, but they all use different battery types and media for recording, making logistics a little nightmare from time to time. I always seem to find myself loaded with different equipment for each camera wondering if or what I have forgotten to bring on the shoot.

Back in the edit suite I find myself transcoding the recordings to Pro Res or XDCam EX which is a time consuming affair. I use FCP3 and multicam doesn`t handle different codecs or frame sizes very well.

And my FCP system insists on rendering everything. Even though my 4 cameras have been transcoded to the same codec. For instance when I have loaded all the clips and want to start editing in multicam I get this green line above the timeline. Since I render in Pro Res I use massive amounts of space on the harddrive. I have contacted my supplier with this problem and have bought loads of RAM as suggested by them, but to no help. My system is a MAC Pro Dual-Core Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz with 10 GB RAM. My graphics card is a ATI Radeon HD 3870.

At first I wanted to buy an EX1 so at least the codecs would match, but then I realized that the editing and rendering problem wouldn`t go away. I hve tried for a year to solve this problem. As everything plays in half resolution it is real hard to see if the shots are in focus and I alwys seem to find myself going back in the edit changing angles.

Then I started thinking of buying a vision mixer like the Datavideo HS2000, but then I would need a recording device as well like the Ki Pro.

Looking at different mixers I browsed Panasonic`s website and saw the new HPX 250. This seems ideal for multicam shoots as it has a good zoom range, TC in and out and genlock as well. Also small and portable. This should make setup a breeze if I sold of the other equipment and invested in one system. Same batteries, same codec and so on.

Looking at the B&H website I see that they offer a good price on the HPX370 as I would need a camera with interchangeable lenses.

The AF101 also seems interesting though. Does anyone know if it uses the same battery system as the HPX 250? And how these cameras would match?

I have been thinking of just buying an HPX370, or 3 HPX250s or 2 HPX250s and one Af101 down the line.

And now to my final question. I have never edited AVC Intra before. Does anyone know the workflow in FCP3. I have looked at the Log and transfer and see that there is an option to transcode to Pro Res. This also seems to be the case with the AVCHD codec used by the AF101. This leads me to think that when I import the clips they would all end up in the same codec which means I could start editing right away.

Would I be crazy to invest in a new system?

Any inputs would be highly appreciated and thanks for reading my long post.

Svein Rune

An enviable camera loadout that would be.

Logistically, I'm sure you know that the 370 is going to take different batteries than the 250 and AF100, and that the AF100 doesn't shoot to P2 (not that SD is anywhere near a logistical sticking point). I haven't found solid evidence that the 250 uses the same battery as the AF100, although it would seem likely. It is possible, with an external device, to run the AF100 off of v-mount style batteries like you'd use on the 370. The same may well be true for the 250.

In terms of codec, I'm sure you realize changing cameras probably wouldn't alter anything with your editing system... you'd still wind up editing multiple streams of ProRes, AVC-Intra (FCP handles this natively) or DVCPROHD (also native). I've had some luck in multicams using an offline edit in ProRes Proxy, which creates temporary smaller files that don't encounter the same bottlenecks as quickly. It's more time-consuming to set up, obviously, and then there's the pain of onlining everything once the edit is done, but the edit itself goes much faster, IMO. Rather than run anything through FCP L&T or even MPEG Streamclip, I'm finding ClipWrap an invaluable tool for transcoding and rewrapping raw video. FYI, my edit suite is a 17" MBP 3.08 with 8GB RAM and a eSATA RAID5 array.

I doubt you'll find much info about how the 250 matches with anything else considering it hasn't been released yet, although preliminary reports compare it favorably with a 370. Personally I've always like the 370 image (if not the heft and handling of it). I'm excited about the HPX250 and may have finally found something worth upgrading from the HVX200.

The 370 is certainly a robust camera, it begs to be used outdoors and the "panasonic look" of the footage certainly adds to it. It does have it caveats though, it takes some expertise to set it up properly and some time to dial in all the settings just right, so it's definitely not an out-of-the-box camera. The stock lens also leaves some things to be desired, especially in the wide angle range.

The codec is immaculate though, point the camera at whatever you want and you'll never see macro blocks anywhere and for any reason. If the 250 is anything like the 370 in it's good qualities, it'd definitely be a strong option to consider. I can't say much about the AF100 as I've never used it, but I suspect it's a rather different beast from the other options since it's a large-sensor camera that uses still-camera lenses.

As for your computer... it sure beats the hell out of what I have in my iMac right now, so performance shouldn't be a problem when editing, seeing as I'm fine with it. If you don't want FCP to even to load the video data onto the HDD, there is always this solution for P2 media: Affordable P2 Slot Reader for Macs (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?137738-Affordable-P2-Slot-Reader-for-Macs)

I use panasonic P2 all the time and have the HPX371 and hire in 3700 cameras.

The 251 will be a good 2nd camera as it uses the same recording forma and codec but the AF101 is a different beast and more for film like shooting.

If I were you I would go for an HPX371 with two 251's as B cameras, you can then shoot on the same format using codecs from DV all the way up to AVC Intra 100.

As for the FCP workflow, I personally clone and verify the cards to a USB hard drive which is then my safety back-up, you can re-name the card copy at this stage as it keeps things neat on larger shoots.

You can then load into FCP via log and transfer as native or like I have been doing this week pro res LT as I have been shooting AVC Intra 50 to get more card space. At LT level I am editing a drama on a macbook pro with 2gb ram off a firewire 800 5400 rpm drive and it all works great. You can also choose pro res 422 or HQ but as the native import is the same as HQ I usually just set it to native so it matches the recording codec.

The AVC codec is very efficient and the look of the panasonic cameras is superb and I have mine set up for BBC use as defined here: http://thebrownings.name/WHP034/pdf/WHP034-ADD53_Panasonic_HPX371.pdf

The look is quite neutral when you first load it but the codec grades superbly and with the high contrast reversal look cinelike setting it looks fantastic.

...and with the high contrast reversal look cinelike setting it looks fantastic.

Sorry for the OT. What's a "high contrast reversal look"?

Sorry for the OT. What's a "high contrast reversal look"?

Its the cine like V setting that is meant to replicate the high contrast graded look similar to reversal film stock. The cine like D is more like a neutral ungraded negative type of film stock.

I have both settings with BBC presets but tend to use the cine like V more as it looks great straight out of the camera and needs little grading.

Oh that's it. Thanks. I use cinelike D...and after post the picture looks great:) CineV is like you said: better for a workflow where there is little time for post.
Although one must be careful if you shoot with to little contrast - then while grading it's highly possible that banding will occur. At least that's what happened to me a couple of times...

Banding on a 10-bit codec? You've probably been pushing it too hard! It's always a good idea to get the look as close to "right" in-camera as possible, even if you know that you have the head room. Speaking of AVC-intra, I've started using FCP-X recently, and it can load intra footage without having to log&transfer, just drag it in and away you go; this is going to be a big time-saver for me.

As for storing the clips, it's a really good idea to "ingest" them using Panny's P2CMS software, and then export to an external drive, because it links together clips that get broken up into 4gb chunks during long recording times. It's convenient in a number of other ways too.

One thing I haven't quite figured out yet is the audio levels on the 370: I have an SD302 hooked up to it for audio feed, and both have matched levels, yet while I can hear everything through the 302 clear as day, the camera has fairly quite audio, even without the mixer in the equation. Even though the level meters in several programs read the audio as being of a loud listening level, I have to turn the audio up to 11 on my computer to hear anything. I'm pretty sure all inputs are set correctly, so I'll try it with a separate audio recorder to see if the camera is part of the problem.

Never had a problem with the 371 for audio as it is superb, have done live OB's with it and set everything to auto with the limiters on and all was OK.

Have just done another drama on mine too and used a radio boom direct to ch1 with the camera mic on ch2 for fx and as a back-up.

Will be getting another mixer soon and whilst I have used the cheaper behringer with no problems setting the audio gain structure is worth checking out by sending a test tone thru your mixer and finding the best reference level on your mixer and making sure the camera is following this at -18db for 0db PPM 1khz line up or -4db VU. You can also set the camera to -20 ref levels but I use -18 as per the BBC spec.

It can also be useful to put the large meter display on a preset button so you can do a quick level check or keep them on during a take as they also show on the ext display via SDI or component.

Banding on a 10-bit codec?

Talking about HPX171 - DVCproHD 8bit...

I see... you didn't mention the camera used, so I made an assumption. Cinelike-D is fairly hard on the codec, so I didn't think anyone would be using it on a camera that didn't have 10-bit recording.

I know nothing about Panasonic cameras, and I'm wondering what the reason is for the $2000 off right now on the HPX370?

I know nothing about Panasonic cameras, and I'm wondering what the reason is for the $2000 off right now on the HPX370?

It's because they are not selling enough and the 250/251 is coming out so the deal is a great one if you want a shoulder mount camera.

The 370/371 is a superb camera and I just shot a TV commercial on one today.

I wrote this article HD Video Pro - Small Sensors Still Thriving | HDVideoPro.com (http://www.hdvideopro.com/gear/cameras/small-sensors-still-thriving.html) in this month's issue of HD Video Pro on the new crop of 1/3" Panasonic cameras. The HPX250 shares the same imager set as the 370, the only difference in looks would be if they tweaked the DSP a lot (not likely as "the Panasonic look" is almost universally admired) or if the fixed lens on the 250/251 was substantially different than the Fujinon that the 370 comes with.

I wasn't able to get my hands a 250, even a prototype for the article but I have feeling it will be a hit. The 370 looks superb so the 250 should just be a smaller, lighter version. Hot new stuff on the 250: 21X zoom, 50/59Hz switchable, VFR in 1080P (albeit only up to 30fps), genlock, timecode input, a lot of stuff that would be perfect for your multi camera shooting.

Dan

Thanks for all the input.

It certainly seems that whatever camera I choose they are all great products. I just need to decide which is better for me. I am probably going to end up with the HPX370 and 250 because they use the same codec and seem a perfect match.

However, I have ordered the new DVD on the AF100 by Barry Green, so at least it gives me an idea of what the AF100 is like. I live to far from any dealer. That is why this forum and whatever I can get my hand on is so valuable to me.

Does anyone what the stock lens on the 370 is like? Does it have bad CAC? I am looking at some shots right now from my HM790 and EX3. Out of the box I do like the images on my HM790 better, but the stock lens on the EX3 seems sharper and doesn`t suffer from CAC as the Canon lens on the 790 does. At least under the circumstances these images were recorded at.

I also have the the PL- adaptor from JVC but B&H were not able to tell me whether it would fit the HPX370.

There are a lot of considerations to be made as I would have to sell a lot of my equipment, including all the SxS cards. I would like to keep whatever I can though, like the V- lock batteries and PL- adaptor.

Stock lens on the 370 is very good and OK for most things, the cameras have CAC software to improve things and as long as you stick to f1.6 - f5.6 you will be OK, there are also ND filters on board.

The lens is 4.5 to 77 so is not very wide and like most breathes a bit but for general shooting I find it perfectly useable.

Make sure you set you gain settings as per the BBC document and -3db +3db and +6db will give you an extra exposure margin.

Also note for PAL use the HPX 371 and 251 are the designated models for our region to enable the 5 year warranty.

If the PL adaptor is for a 1/3" JVC camera then it should fit OK.

I am in the same boat as you. I love my HM 700 but I am wondering if I should make the switch to the HPX 370 for better low light performance. My only fear is the skew with the CMOS sensors. I'll be shooting a lot of fast sports like hockey really tight. Anyone have any sports experience with the 370?

Done quite a bit of sport with the HPX371 and it is fine for most things, best to shoot at 720p though.

Interestingly enough, I spoke to a salesperson today and he told me to beware of the limitations of 1/3 inch sensors. He said they are not as good in low light situations as 1/2 inch sensors, also regarding noise. He felt the AF 101would suit me better coming from 1/2 inch with the EX3. Obviously not to be used as an ENG- camera, though.

Interestingly enough, I spoke to a salesperson today and he told me to beware of the limitations of 1/3 inch sensors. He said they are not as good in low light situations as 1/2 inch sensors, also regarding noise. He felt the AF 101would suit me better coming from 1/2 inch with the EX3. Obviously not to be used as an ENG- camera, though.

That is a load of crap and you need to read Barry Green's report on the HPX371 as he says it equals and possibly outperforms 1/2" sensors, also the AF101 is no where near as good as the 371 and barely resolves 800 lines and the codec is limited.

This is a still shot from an HPX301 shoot and there are a 100w and a 60w lamp to light the whole scene: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/TheLastStrawMASTERHDd08.jpg

Reading Barry Greens report was very interesting. They sure don`t make it easy for us.

Gary you mentioned that I should buy the HXP371 as opposed to the 370. Looking at the B&H website and also talking to them via their chat line they claim the cameras to be the same, just different regions and that the camera can record to PAL. My reason for looking to the US is because of the very good offer now as the camera is reduced by 2000 USD. Here I can`t even come close to that price tag. Do you think the 5 years warranty in Europe is worth it?

All new cameras that Panasonic makes nowadays are world format switchable, the model number simply designates where it is sold. 370 is sold in NTSC regions, 371 in PAL regions, and 374 everywhere else, however there is really no difference to them. This 1/2/4 designation goes the same for other Panny cameras as well.

Buying technology in the US is a very smart move, as long as there won't be trouble from importing it, most people are still surprised for how much I got my 370 over here.

Reading Barry Greens report was very interesting. They sure don`t make it easy for us.

Gary you mentioned that I should buy the HXP371 as opposed to the 370. Looking at the B&H website and also talking to them via their chat line they claim the cameras to be the same, just different regions and that the camera can record to PAL. My reason for looking to the US is because of the very good offer now as the camera is reduced by 2000 USD. Here I can`t even come close to that price tag. Do you think the 5 years warranty in Europe is worth it?

Buy in the USA if you wish but I doubt you will get the warranty cover, I think the reason the USA camera's are cheaper is because you then buy the warranty as an add on.

Yes they are now the same camera so it's up to you.

From what I understand, the 5 year warranty is world-wide (I would personally find it very strange if it wasn't) and comes with the camera. All you have to do to get it is rummage around some obscure Panasonic website, register, and add all the serial numbers of the Panny stuff you own.

Before I make my decision tonight. I have read the specs for the cameras and as far as I understand the AF101 has, as Gary mentioned, 800 lines of resolution, whereas the HPX370 has 1000 lines.

The thing that confuses me is that I thought that a bigger sensor would also give a higher resolution of lines.

Is the only advantage that you getter more DOF with a bigger sensor, but not necessarily higher resolution?

This has leaned me more towards the 370 now as it seems to make more sense to use my PL- adapter on that camera and rather invest in better lenses such as those from Carl Zeiss called CP2. This instead of buying into a new system with batteries, AJA Ki Pro and 4/ 3 lenses.

I know this has been discussed and I have read many articles about 1/3 inch sensors. Do you think this would limit my images in anyway with a PL- adaptor than a 4/3 sensor?

I am a little confused.

Imo, the difference between 800 lines and 1000 is starting to approach the limit of what can seen under normal shooting circumstances, not counting compression depending on the delivery medium.

As the 5D mark II has shown us, a bigger sensor does not mean higher resolution unless the sensor is properly designed with down-scaling and a strong enough AA filter in mind. What bigger sensors (and good lenses) do offer is higher micro-contrast, which gives an increase in "apparent sharpness", even if not absolute resolution. Also, you get less depth of field with a bigger sensor, not more.

What is the ghosting I read about on the HPX370?

I have my mind set on the HPX- 370 and HPX 250 as they seem to fit my sort of work perfectly. Different batteries, but the same codec and media. They also seem to be robust cameras.

For a long time I wanted to go with the AF 101, but I think the HPX`s codec and their workflow seem better. Also to invest in the AF 101 seems I would have to buy all sorts of lenses, follow focus and accessories. I don`t think that would suit me and my style of shooting. Good for interviews, though.

To me it makes more sense to buy the HPX 370 now, especially at this price point.

What is the ghosting I read about on the HPX370?

When the 370 was released, it was claimed as having equal sensitivity to 1/2" camcorders, but apparently it turned out that this was achieved through "temporal noise reduction". Although a sound technique, since the software plugin Neat Video does the same thing and very well too, it's implementation in the 370 was rather poor since Panasonic didn't mention it's inclusion, nor did it allow the user to adjust it's parameters or intensity.

Since temporal NR tracks changes between frames and leaves only constant information, it is effective at reducing noise because digital noise is always 100% random between frames, however if you make it too aggressive then it will begin to erase actual detail between frames if there is enough motion. This can lead to smearing of fine detail when panning, especially when zoomed in. It also causes trails of noise that follow moving objects as the NR hardware tries to catch up.

Ghosting is a more extreme case when the changes between frames are so great that the NR can't keep up and actually blends the previous frame over the next one, this is mainly noticeable when you pan and there is a high-contrast object in the scene or especially while zooming.

Panasonic has since released a fix that lets you switch to PAP mode 2, which either turns off or heavily tones down the effect, which for all intents and purposes makes the camera behave just like the 300 but without the cmos skew. This is probably the preferred setting to use as it fixes a lot of problems, noise can always be reduced later but loss of detail and ghosting can't.

And this was most prominent on the 370 not the 371 as I understand it... NTSC not PAL

And this was most prominent on the 370 not the 371 as I understand it... NTSC not PAL
All 37x cameras have this, the last number simply states where it's sold, and the only physical difference between them is the sticker with the serial number on it.

If you mean that this effect is not as prominent in PAL modes, I'm really not so sure. I seem to have tried out all the modes available on the camera, and it seems present to varying degrees regardless of the system mode. Being in PAL territory I have to use 25/50p, but I notice it's effects quite clearly when flipping back and forth PAP modes and using focus assist.

There are other artifacts present in the camera that are affected by resolution and frame rate modes, such as the amount of skew/strobing/jutter/etc. but I'm under the impression that these "anomalies" are a normal part of shooting CMOS cameras in progressive modes.

I have found that the noise and skew issues were more prominent when I switched the 301 to NTSC or 24p modes, PAL 25p and 50p have always been acceptable to me on the 301 and 371 with PAP 2 selected.

Pardon me for being ignorant. Is PAP2 a fix for these issues? Is this something I would have to download after having bought the camera?

Today I actually contacted the dealer and wanted to buy the HPX371, but the salesman advised me to wait till after IBC was over. Maybe because I am insecure. Or is there something new coming? Makes me wonder, though I don`t want to speculate. Anyway I took his advice and will wait and see what comes out of IBC.

PAP2 is a fix for the ghosting and noise trail issues on the 370 cameras, I'm assuming a new camera should already come with the latest firmware pre-installed, otherwise you just have to update the camera with a download from the Panasonic site to enable this feature.

As for something new coming out... Panasonic already has solid options on the high-end with the 3xxx series cameras, and the newly announced HPX250 refreshes their low-end. Now the 370 may be a few years old already, and is basically a refresh of a design that's even older, but Panasonic has spots in their lineup that are in much worse need of updates than the 3xx series.

The real question is: "do you need this thing now?" If you feel it's going to buy back it's purchase price and improve the results of your labor, then waiting is just wasting the time you could have been using it. Even if something is announced, you'd have to wait for a few more months before it's even available for purchase. The 370 won't suddenly become unusable from envy as soon as something new comes out.

If you mean that this effect is not as prominent in PAL modes, I'm really not so sure.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I know what the number on the cameras mean, don't know why I wrote that...:)

Anyway my post was regarding the bad skew the camera had. As I understand it was most prominent in 24p. As for the noise I researched that the problem was on both cameras...

Panasonic doesn't have a competitor for the Sony 350 EX camera. Panasonic isn't really interested in developing cmos sensors in my opinion. Just look at how much time they needed to lunch the HPX250...and also the 301 for that matter...

Panasonic doesn't have a competitor for the Sony 350 EX camera. Panasonic isn't really interested in developing cmos sensors in my opinion. Just look at how much time they needed to lunch the HPX250...and also the 301 for that matter...
Oh, you don't have to tell me about that, the pain's been there for a while now. Spend 20k to fully outfit a HPX370 top to bottom, from tripod on up to sound and lighting gear, or spend even more on just a PMW 350K with ext. recorder.
The HPX500 is just too old, and the 3100 is just too expensive, despite being a breakthrough camera in terms of price given that it's a 3700 in a 370 body. If the Sony 350 had at least 4:2:2 50mbps recording to SxS like the PMW 500, we'd be having a very different conversation right now.

20k to outfit the 370. That seems a bit to much... What are you buying? Diamonds:)

Anyway...yeah, Panasonic has a big hole between the 370 and 3100. They are not addressing quite a substantial amount of the market. They would have to design a brand new sensor to that.

20k to outfit the 370. That seems a bit to much... What are you buying? Diamonds:)

Anyway...yeah, Panasonic has a big hole between the 370 and 3100. They are not addressing quite a substantial amount of the market. They would have to design a brand new sensor to that.

Yes I think I invested around £14k in total for my camera, sound and lighting kit.

A new sensor well, there is always the possibility of an HPX600/601 with a 4/3" sensor that they already have, it probably will only resolve the same as the AF100 but I would personally prefer a triple chip camera.

A new sensor well, there is always the possibility of an HPX600/601 with a 4/3" sensor ...

And how would a 4/3 ENG lens look?:)

The HPX500 is just too old, and the 3100 is just too expensive, despite being a breakthrough camera in terms of price given that it's a 3700 in a 370 body.

Does the HPX500 have the "film-rec 600%" function?

And how would a 4/3 ENG lens look?:)

I think it may look rather front end heavy! ;0)

20k to outfit the 370. That seems a bit to much... What are you buying? Diamonds:)
Yes I think I invested around £14k in total for my camera, sound and lighting kit.
Ok so... $7,200 HPX370 w/ rebate, $1400 tripod, $220 plate, $900 battery + charger, $1250 2x 64gb p2 cards, $2,400 SD302 mixer + headset + microphones, $1,200 lighting, and maybe a couple hundred more on other stuff like cables. So about $15,000 at current B&H prices, which a bit lower than what they were last year when I got the camera.

Ok, so maybe 20k was an optimistic statement, but you get the idea. When you buy a pro camera it comes pretty much naked, which can be hard on the wallet if you have to start from scratch because you don't already own any video equipment, as was my case.

14k gbp is about $22k, so Gary is clearly better kitted out than I am, though I still need more audio gear, extra battery, extra, extra, extra...

Does the HPX500 have the "film-rec 600%" function?
Doesn't seem so, only 2xxx and 3xxx cameras have film rec.

And how would a 4/3 ENG lens look?:)
Ask Ikegami, they seem to be working on a new 4/3 ENG camera, so it would make sense if they also had a good idea of which lenses it would be using. But yes, if it's going to use a more than 10x zoom, I suspect there will be a lot of early footage of floors.

Garry doesn't necessarily have more equipment than you. Everything over the great "pond" as we call it cost way less. The lowest price that I can get on the 371 is 9000€ which equals to 12300 dollars. If I could get the 371 for 7200 dollars (+ WAT ?) which comes out at 5200€ I would buy the camera tomorrow!

As for the HPX500 I wouldn't call it a 3700 in a 370 body if it doesn't have "film rec". Wait, isn't 3700 a new camera. It's a new chip and it records AVCi doesn't it? If so than I don't see at all how the two cameras could be compared...

Anyway, yeah, a ENG lens for a 4/3 sensor would be a beast:)

Yes sadly everything here is rather expensive so my HPX301 with four cards and a portabrace body armour worked out at around $15k

I bought a lot of my other kit second hand and already had v-lok batteries and a portabrace case, if I were to get another 371 I would get it from the USA this time as you guys seem to get all the best deals.

The 500 and the 3700 are two totally different cameras so cannot be compared but they are both great at what they do.

Hmm, probably would have been cheaper to just cross "the pond" and get the stuff yourself there, I've been doing that with nearly all the tech I've been buying the last 5+ years. Unless whatever it is you're trying to stuff in the plane is bigger than a standard luggage, I doubt anyone would bat an eyelash. Just in case, I always set everything up beforehand to make it seem as something I've been using for a while, not that I need any of the bulky packing it comes in; the 370's box is big enough to fit a couple small TV's in there.

And I didn't say the 500 was a 3700 in a 370 body, I was calling the 3100 a 3700 in a 370 body, minus it's 4:4:4 recording option.

Speaking of which, I still need a Portabrace, why did I forget that?..

Oh, don't know why I thought you were from US. So you bought all your equipment in the US...did you have any problems at the customs? What about warranty?

Yes I see that you were comparing the 3100 to the 3700. Sorry:)

Portabrace The list of equipment newer stops!:)

I suppose it depends on the country in question, but in over 5 years, I didn't have problems bringing things into Russia ranging from antiques to high-tech equipment, nothing to declare at all. If anything, the TSA would be more concerned with picking me apart for nail clippers, having me take my top clothes, belt & shoes off, and going through a multitude of scanners.

I once brought a full ensemble of knifes, forks, spoons and other antique silverware through, with one of the workers accidentally tipping the box over after taking it out of the x-ray, and spilled the stuff out on the table. That bit got a few whistles of bewilderment from all nearby security workers, but they were nice about it and let me take the stuff along on in the cabin.

Warranty for equipment of this level should be world-wide replacement or bust. Panasonic cameras arguably see the most across-the-world action, what with Varicams being the tool of choice for nature videographers, so I would be surprised if anyone still bought them if they only offered service in one place.

It has been a while but I have finally made a decision to get a demo model of the HPX250 shipped to me for testing on a real job. We will use it along side an EX1 just for cut aways to begin with. I need to learn the ins and outs of the camera first. I am really looking forward to test the HPX250 and also its codecs as I have never shot AVC Intra before. Any good advice on how to setup up the camera, or is it pretty much ready to go out of the box?

Use the BBC HPX371 settings as a starting point as they should be pretty much the same for the HPX250.

http://thebrownings.name/WHP034/pdf/WHP034-ADD53_Panasonic_HPX371.pdf

I also have a set of scene files for my HPX cameras and can e-mail them to you if you wish but they are mostly BBC set-ups as per above.

Thanks for the BBC settings, Gary. Interesting read. Looking forward to use them.

If you have your settings available as well I sure would appreciate them. I really want to see what this camera is capable of.

Thank you so much in advance.

Ver 1.00-00
AG-HPX301E
SYSTEM FREQ:50Hz
TITLE:BBC FILE
<F1>
SCENE NAME :BBC-HD
00005000: 1 ; VFR : OFF
00005001: 25 ; FRAME RATE: 25 FRAME
00005002: 021C0708 ; (SYNCHRO SCAN):
00005003: 6 ; DETAIL LEVEL: -2
00005004: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005005: 8 ; DETAIL CORING : 0
00005006: 6 ; CHROMA LEVEL: -2
00005007: 8 ; CHROMA PHASE: 0
00005008: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Ach: 0
00005009: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Bch: 0
0000500A: 131 ; MASTER PED: 3
0000500B: 16 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: 0
0000500C: 2 ; DRS EFFECT: 3
0000500D: 0 ; GAMMA : HD NORM
0000500E: 1 ; KNEE: MID
0000500F: 0 ; MATRIX: NORM1
00005010: 1 ; SKIN TONE DTL : OFF
00005011: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN
<F2>
SCENE NAME :FLURO
00005000: 1 ; VFR : OFF
00005001: 25 ; FRAME RATE: 25 FRAME
00005002: 021C0708 ; (SYNCHRO SCAN):
00005003: 6 ; DETAIL LEVEL: -2
00005004: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005005: 8 ; DETAIL CORING : 0
00005006: 6 ; CHROMA LEVEL: -2
00005007: 8 ; CHROMA PHASE: 0
00005008: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Ach: 0
00005009: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Bch: 0
0000500A: 131 ; MASTER PED: 3
0000500B: 16 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: 0
0000500C: 2 ; DRS EFFECT: 3
0000500D: 0 ; GAMMA : HD NORM
0000500E: 1 ; KNEE: MID
0000500F: 2 ; MATRIX: FLUO
00005010: 1 ; SKIN TONE DTL : OFF
00005011: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN
<F3>
SCENE NAME :BBC-SD
00005000: 1 ; VFR : OFF
00005001: 25 ; FRAME RATE: 25 FRAME
00005002: 021C0708 ; (SYNCHRO SCAN):
00005003: 12 ; DETAIL LEVEL: 4
00005004: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005005: 13 ; DETAIL CORING : 5
00005006: 8 ; CHROMA LEVEL: 0
00005007: 8 ; CHROMA PHASE: 0
00005008: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Ach: 0
00005009: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Bch: 0
0000500A: 128 ; MASTER PED: 0
0000500B: 16 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: 0
0000500C: 2 ; DRS EFFECT: 3
0000500D: 2 ; GAMMA : SD NORM
0000500E: 2 ; KNEE: LOW
0000500F: 1 ; MATRIX: NORM2
00005010: 0 ; SKIN TONE DTL : ON
00005011: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN
<F4>
SCENE NAME :HICOLR
00005000: 1 ; VFR : OFF
00005001: 25 ; FRAME RATE: 25 FRAME
00005002: 021C0708 ; (SYNCHRO SCAN):
00005003: 4 ; DETAIL LEVEL: -4
00005004: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005005: 8 ; DETAIL CORING : 0
00005006: 8 ; CHROMA LEVEL: 0
00005007: 8 ; CHROMA PHASE: 0
00005008: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Ach: 0
00005009: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Bch: 0
0000500A: 108 ; MASTER PED: -20
0000500B: 16 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: 0
0000500C: 0 ; DRS EFFECT: 1
0000500D: 4 ; GAMMA : B.PRESS
0000500E: 2 ; KNEE: LOW
0000500F: 3 ; MATRIX: CINE-LIKE
00005010: 1 ; SKIN TONE DTL : OFF
00005011: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN
<F5>
SCENE NAME :BBCFHC
00005000: 1 ; VFR : OFF
00005001: 50 ; FRAME RATE: 50 FRAME
00005002: 01AB0708 ; (SYNCHRO SCAN):
00005003: 4 ; DETAIL LEVEL: -4
00005004: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005005: 8 ; DETAIL CORING : 0
00005006: 4 ; CHROMA LEVEL: -4
00005007: 8 ; CHROMA PHASE: 0
00005008: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Ach: 0
00005009: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Bch: 0
0000500A: 131 ; MASTER PED: 3
0000500B: 16 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: 0
0000500C: 2 ; DRS EFFECT: 3
0000500D: 6 ; GAMMA : CINELIKE V
0000500E: 0 ; KNEE: HIGH
0000500F: 3 ; MATRIX: CINE-LIKE
00005010: 1 ; SKIN TONE DTL : OFF
00005011: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN
<F6>
SCENE NAME :BBCFLM
00005000: 1 ; VFR : OFF
00005001: 50 ; FRAME RATE: 50 FRAME
00005002: 01AB0708 ; (SYNCHRO SCAN):
00005003: 4 ; DETAIL LEVEL: -4
00005004: 8 ; V DETAIL LEVEL: 0
00005005: 8 ; DETAIL CORING : 0
00005006: 4 ; CHROMA LEVEL: -4
00005007: 8 ; CHROMA PHASE: 0
00005008: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Ach: 0
00005009: 8 ; COLOR TEMP Bch: 0
0000500A: 131 ; MASTER PED: 3
0000500B: 16 ; A.IRIS LEVEL: 0
0000500C: 2 ; DRS EFFECT: 3
0000500D: 5 ; GAMMA : CINELIKE D
0000500E: 0 ; KNEE: HIGH
0000500F: 3 ; MATRIX: CINE-LIKE
00005010: 1 ; SKIN TONE DTL : OFF
00005011: 0 ; V DETAIL FREQ : THIN