I almost want to go for this camera save 2 critical flaws IMHO:

1. 1/3'' sensors.

2. P2 workflow.

P2 has NEVER been PC friendly save Adobe Premiere and maybe Edius. (which I don't edit on)

I may be waiting for the Sony 1/2'' equivalent when XAVC (non -S) Long GOP 1080p60 at 50mbps comes out.

Panasonic may have a winner with the PX270 but we will have to wait until they are in the hands of users/reviewers. The previous generation had user issues with auto focus which Panasonic played down to the tune of "pros don't need autofocus anyway...". Lets hope they let go of their pride and fix the situation with this cameras.

I am waiting to see if Canon brings out a competitor as the only thing lacking on the XF300 was the sensitivity imho. I like how the PX-270 is only 5 pounds comapred to 6 with the XF300 and that is has a super codec for 50mbps recording that can handle 1080p60. Canon will have to move beyond Mpeg-2 in order to get 1080p60 so it will be interesting to see what they do, if anything.

P.S. You forgot the 12 axis color matrix along with 3 axis for skin tones! This is a first for under $15,000 Panasonic cameras. Great news for folks needing to match between different brands of cameras or just dial in the color you want.

Tim,
I had a very small opportunity to get my hands on the PX270 yesterday at the Cascade Mt. Show in Portland. It was an engineering example, which I was told was pre-production. The zoom rocker was phenomenal, in my opinion nicer than even the XF300. The zoom rocker AND the zoom ring could be used at the same time without switching, and the zoom ring did not exhibit that "slack' in the ring at the outer extreme which makes it difficult to get a slow start on a zoom. The EVF is large and clear, but the LCD is disappointingly small compared to the lovely one on the XFR300. I tried what I felt was difficult auto-focusing scenes, like maximum zoom and moving from subject-to-subject, and maximum zoom in difficult light and low contrast, and the focus held perfectly throughout. No hunting at all. On the other hand, at the Canon booth it was all Cinema EOS with no-one even remotely interested in talking XF and its future.

Hey Scott,

Thanks for the update. Great to hear about the servo motors and auto-focus. I am excited to try out this camera. If they had to sacrifice one screen i am glad it was the LCD and not the EVF. I always trust the EVF the most since it is enclosed and not affected by ambient light.

Shame about Canon...

Not sure there's a better small sensor camera out there than this one...

Here's a link to a great "First Look" write up of the new PX270 by Barry Green:
OTHER: First Look: Panasonic PX270 (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?321934-First-Look-Panasonic-PX270)

Also here's a nice demo video that is included in that first look above:
Panasonic PX270 Demo Footage on Vimeo

Yes, on paper/message boards it sounds amazing, however when I think of the price plus media and batts I get the threatenings of a reversal in my gastrointestinal processes.

It uses the same batteries as the HPX250/HPX170/HVX200/DVX100, and also has a new battery with a built-in charge meter on it. Plus, it shoots 10bit, 4:2:2 50Mbps video right onto SDHC cards. Can't get much cheaper than that.

My mistake, I should have clarified. I don't own any batteries/cards etc., so I'd be buying a complete kit if I got one. Bag too.

I was thinking the same thing and it's worth it in the end. It's like any previous package i may have purchased, be it a DVX100 back in the day or an HVX with the batteries, media, bag etc.

I don't see this as much different.

We started this thread in Sept 2013 and are proud to now have a pre-order link available!

Panasonic AJ-PX270 (http://www.omegabroadcast.com/product-p/pan-ajpx270-90-4727.htm)

new review looks great but what about this ?
AVC-Ultra at 200 Mbps requires a paid upgrade!!

here is the article


First Look: Panasonic AJ-PX270 Camcorder | Studio Daily (http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/04/first-look-panasonic-aj-px270-camcorder/)

It took some help to get the menu to work on the AJ-PX270 - you have to hold the MENU button down for 3 seconds...

Also - no AVCultra option in the menu?

https://www.facebook.com/OmegaBroadcast/photos/a.614934791882534.1073741825.107885055920846/724128824296463

Actually, the AVCUltra refers to the "family" of codecs which include the AVCi and LongG variations. So they are ALL AVCUltra.

Panasonic AVC-Ultra family of codecs (http://www.panasonic.com/business-solutions/avc-ultra.asp)
the relevant picture from this site http://666kb.com/i/cnqey797ns8jzmkpy.jpg

IIRC... this is the latest AVC-ULTRA Overview as .pdf
ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/panasonic/business/provideo/whitepapers/Panasonic-AVC-ULTRA-white-paper.pdf

AVC-ultra 200 is a paid upgrade. I ended up shooting 1080 60p AVC-Intra 100 cine-v at sunset last night.

just ordered one will have it in 4 days :)

Downloadable original P2 card file for loading into your NLE is posted. Shot with the camera in the front yard as the sun was going down. Close ups, mediums and wide shots. All shots AVCintra-100 60p / 5600K white balance / F5: CINE V. I reset the camera to factory settings and reset the scene file before shooting. I did a black balance as well.

It is a 1.45gb download and may take some time depending on your connection speed. Download will start instantly. Make your browser window full size so you don't start downloading it twice.

Go here and scroll down:

Panasonic AJ-PX270 (http://www.omegabroadcast.com/product-p/pan-ajpx270-90-4727.htm)

Hi Phil, how good was it in dim lighting situations considering the 1/3 inch chip?

I cancelled my order because importing it into to FCP X it didn't look good . Very noisy then I did some research on it . An article said the Long -Gop is cleaner but that it is not supported i FCPX :(

Thats a deal breaker for me

Doug

Low light was good in my use and comparison so far. Really good for a 1/3" sensor. It's a stop faster than the best previous 1/3" Panny cameras and it handles noise better too so going to +6 or +12db isn't bad at all. Definitely a welcome bonus on top of everything else it offers.

I have this camera on loan and its amazing . I am really thinking of getting this now . I was able to shoot with a class 10 SD card at 1080 I and it looks so amazing I can't imagine what it will eb will the micro p2 cards . Will post some footage of some nature stuff I did later on this week

Doug

Please do not ever take any of the footage I post on the Internet to download and manipulate in your video editing system and claim it at the primary reason to buy or not to buy a camera. When I get a new camera I reset all the settings and set the camera to manual and build up a couple settings / controls. I report what I have set the camera to. I sometimes have time to take requests and shoot footage again a little differently. I sometimes get original media cards back from experienced camera operators and share that too. I know what I shoot isn't a proper "test" with a charts and such and I am not on a film set shooting extra footage over someone's shoulder, but what I provide should simply be a conversation starter. We sell all cameras and have lots of options. There is this thing called a learning curve. We are all on it somewhere.

Follow us @omegabroadcast

Well Phil I work on a mac and the only way fo see the files was to import it in to the mac on FCPX

Have a great weekend too


Doug

I have had this camera for a week now and its so amazing to use. I even shot some footage on auto and it worked out very well. Doing a big event in Orllando with a Red camera next Friday and Sautrday will post some footage from that event .


Doug

Hey Guys, we are a hindu temple located in India and we recently bought a few of the Panasonic AJ-PX270 P2 cameras and we are having some difficulty optimizing the settings. We do a daily broadcast every morning, and have been seeing some problems with the quality of the video. Attached below is a sample of the type of shooting done with the camera. Please note the lighting, the background and clothing of the personnel in the frame, as they are the same more or less everyday. Most of the lighting is composed of halogen lights and or tube lighting with occasional sunlight peaking through. We have been previously using the Panasonic AC 160 and loved those results. When we compare it to the new PX-270 we've found that the quality and sharpness on the PX-270 is a bit lower than the AC 160. Is this something that is done post production? or is there a setting for that?. Any idea as to what could be causing this? Any and all help is appreciated here. Thanks again! The video in the link is has 3 cameras The side cameras are the PX270's and the center camera is AC160. The video is a reference for the type of shooting we do. On the PX270 our resolution is 1920 X 1080 at 50p, the codec is AVC-LongG 25. We can't get the PX270 to look as sharp and detailed as the AC160.

Swaminarayan, 24 05 14 AAJNA SADVICHAR by Pu Gyanjivandasjiswami, Kundaldham - YouTube


Thanks,
-Parth Savalia

Question:

There had been reported issues with noise & artifacting in AVCIntra100. Would this be due to over sharpening, or other factors?

Answer:

- AVC-Intra 100 is a great production CODEC, it's 4:2:2 and 10 bit, thus great for 95% of the programming you see on TV.
- The efficiency of H.264 / AVC is about 2:1 over the older MJPEG based CODECs, so AVC-Intra 100 compares favorably to D-5HD's 235Mbs, the then HD "gold standard" HD mastering format.
- That said if you take a tough shot and blow that up on a 50 ft theatre screen using a high contrast 2k / 1080p DLP, every little wrinkle appears larger than life.
AVC-Intra 100 was very carefully optimized to "behave" well (be predictable and stable) on the majority of programming content, some content, test patterns or unusual "synthetic" imagery may result in some artifacting,
- All CODECs will show such degradation, as usual you're mileage may vary. That's why critical post production processing is often performed as uncompressed.

Consider purchasing from a DVinfo sponsor:
Panasonic AJ-PX270 (http://www.omegabroadcast.com/product-p/pan-ajpx270-90-4727.htm)