a new 1" entry from pannie:

https://www.google.com/search?q=sku&oq=sku&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i65j69i60l2j69i61&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

looks interesting.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions

A good camcorder on paper. I will wait to look some footage, especially in low light.

Woah. First I have seen this. That link didn't work for me. This does though:

4K Ultra HD Professional Camcorder - HC-X1 - Panasonic US (http://shop.panasonic.com/cameras-and-camcorders/camcorders/HC-X1.html)

the >HC-X1 Operating Instructions< with 232 pages, in some different languages, is now available....

happy read on ... https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/hdw/oi/HC-X1/

greetings from €urope/Austria/Vienna .... Hans

Here are some Sony PXW-Z150 4K 30p examples for those that may be cross shopping...all low light/high gain ENG scenes. I am reading reviews of the X1 that slam it for being extremely noisy.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-4k-ultra-hd-handhelds/532243-pxw-z150-4k-night-eng-examples.html

I'm not sure what to make of the couple of HC-X1 reviews complaining about excessive noise. There's one from a reviewer on B&H and one on the Panasonic website complaining about excessive noise at 0 dB gain (judging from the content of the review, it's possible both reviews are from the same person).

But then most of the sample footage I've seen online so far seems to be fine. It's hard for me to see the excessive levels of noise being complained about. Of course some of these samples could have had noise reduction applied in post.

Still, I'm beginning to wonder if some of the negative reviews are due to a faulty camera. Or perhaps due to some issues with camera settings (operator error). If it's anything like the DVX200, there are quite a few options in terms of scene files for controlling the look of things (including settings for noise reduction, among other things), and I'd imagine some settings produce better results than others.

Here's one review of the camera that has some low-light shots:
https://www.hdwarrior.co.uk/2016/12/07/the-panasonic-hc-x1-video-review

And here's some sample footage from the camera that looks pretty nice:
‘A Change of Season’ [Panasonic HC-X1 4K 50p] - YouTube

Probably the same people who think 6db is "too much" on an camera ever made...this is an ECONOMY $3200USD camera...also, are they looking at the footage on an actual TV set, or a computer monitor? I can tell you all of my PC and Mac monitors look noisy compared to my actual UHD set.

Paul

Hi, i've just purchased an HC-X1, overall i'm happy with it although i've only had a limited amount of time playing with it, i'm yet to use the camera properly, some observations though.

Heaphone noise, i'm getting quite a bit of background noise in the headphones, it doesn't matter what headphones i'm using, from Sony MDR 7506's or sure in ear's or even cheap crap mobile phone headphones, using the cameras internal mics or my Sennheiser MKE600, the background hiss is there. Is this normal ? The noise isn't in the recorded video though.

User switches,,,
Slow motion, user assignable, all good, hit the button, straight into slo-mo, do the shot, hit the button, back into your chosen format mode, um no, if i'm shooting in 4K 50p then i can't do slo-mo, so i still have to dive into the menu, change the format to 1080-25p, exit the menu, then hit the user slo-mo button, then after the shot go back into the menu, switch back to my chosen format etc. It would be good, (maybe with a firmware update) if hitting the user slo-mo button took care of the format change.

High sensitivity (Hi sense), that would be good to have as a user assignable button.
Audio, there's no manual/auto switch behind the audio flap, (the DVX200 has them),again we have to dive into the menu, that would be good to have as a user assignable switch, even if it applied to both channels.

Servo noise from the zoom when zooming quite fast, the noise is recorded on the video, obviously only a problem when using the on camera mic.


Thanks, Paul.

Hey Paul. Hope you got my email. Good to hear from you again

Hi Colin,yes i'm back, hence the round 2 signature. No i didn't get an email.. Was it PM on here ?
I'll send you one with my email address. Good to hear from you, cheers Buddy.

Paul.

Paul,

I am mostly interested in two things.

does it take two sd cards,

what are the 60 p images like and the slow motion speeds, two one of which is 120 fps?

Dale.
Yes it takes 2 sd cards, so can relay record from one card slot to the other continuosly, also there's few other functions available to use with the card slots.
In 4K-50p mode a 128GB card will give me 110 minutes.
I'm in pal land so 50p not 60p, the images look good to me but i'm far from an expert.
Slow motion, that is not 4K, the camera has to be put into format 1080-25p (for me in pal land).

Paul.

I ordered my HC X1 today, and wondered if anyone can recommend third party batteries for it? The list price for the largest capacity battery is over £400 here in the UK, nearly a fifth of the price of the camera.

SWIT make a battery that fits the DVX200 for about £100 -would that also be suitable for the X1?

nearly a fifth of the price of the camera.

The price of the HC-X1 is very reasonable in Europe. Almost $1000 cheaper than US prices. Anyone ever make an order from across the pond?

I ordered my HC X1 today, and wondered if anyone can recommend third party batteries for it? The list price for the largest capacity battery is over £400 here in the UK, nearly a fifth of the price of the camera.

SWIT make a battery that fits the DVX200 for about £100 -would that also be suitable for the X1?

Matt, i presume you got your camera from Preston Media ? Not far from you, that's where i got mine. They do batteries for the X1, i've got batteries made by DOT.FOTO, 7800mAh capacity, slightly bigger than the battery that came with your camera. The batteries work ok so far, they've got the battery check button and leds. I paid £80 each for the batteries.

Paul.

I just found this lot on ebay.
On my aftermarket battery is written "for panasonic VW-VDB78". That's what i searched for on ebay, with these results.
Mine is specifically, 7.2v 7800mAh 56.2Wh

panasonic VW-VBD78 | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=panasonic%20VW-VBD78&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1&_trksid=p2045573.m1684)

Thanks Paul, that's really helpful. I had searched eBay for HC X1 battery, but nothing came up.

I ordered it from WEX Photographic as Preston's didn't have it in stock.

I noticed on one of those ebay pages that it was stated that the battery was compatible with Panasonic HC-X1000 camera, so i presume that's the same battery fitment.
Good prices if they work.

Paul.

when you gentlemen play with the slo mo I would love to see some examples.

I dont really care about the 4k but 60p & 120 frames a second would be magic for what i do.

Panasonic HC X1 - Super slow motion - YouTube

Panasonic HC-X1 Super Slow-Motion Test - YouTube

Paul.

I noticed on one of those ebay pages that it was stated that the battery was compatible with Panasonic HC-X1000 camera, so i presume that's the same battery fitment.
Good prices if they work.

Paul.

Got the battery through the post today - larger capacity than the one which came with the camera, and only cost £29. Seems to work fine!

Matt.
You got the battery that quick already ? From ebay ? What one did you buy ? Can you send the link ?
Did you see the dual charger on that link ? That looks quite nice.

Thanks, Paul.

Hi Paul, yes, very fast delivery. Hope this link works: 7.2V Battery For PANASONIC VW-VBD29 VW-VBD58 VW-VBD78 AJ-PX298 HC-MDH2 AJ-PX270 | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302070583208)

How's that battery Matt ?
Also, while we're on the subject of accessories i just bought an SD card reader. I was using a usb2 reader, little thumb drive size job which has a side slot for the card, i was getting 18MB/s transfer speed.
I've just received a reader i bought from ebay, a Lexar dual slot reader, i'm now getting 90MB/s transfer speed.

Ebay link

Lexar Professional USB 3.0 Dual Slot SD CF Memory Card Reader | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281473095954?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)


Calumet want £49 for the same reader
https://www.calphoto.co.uk/product/Lexar-USB-Pro-3.0-Dual-Slot-Reader/610-001Z

I'm wondering if i get 2 readers then i can transfer 2 cards, each at 90MB/s at the same time ?
Edit, just did a quick test, file from portable usb hard drive onto pc 40MB/s, at the same time file from Lexar card reader, still getting 90MB/s. so it looks like 2 readers could work.
Paul.

The battery seems fine. I've had it on the camera for a could of days with no issues.

I've used the Lexar USB 3.0 card reader for a couple of years for copying my Nikon D800 raw files and it's much faster than anything else I've used. I'd guess the motherboard data rate will determine how fast you could copy two cards simultaneously.

thank you.

how does that work out of 30 P?

thought it was 60 or 120?

I shoot fast flying birds. wing flicker always a problem.

have any gulls or pigeons you could shoot in flight?

id buy one if i could avoid that!!

Hi Paul, yes, very fast delivery. Hope this link works: 7.2V Battery For PANASONIC VW-VBD29 VW-VBD58 VW-VBD78 AJ-PX298 HC-MDH2 AJ-PX270 | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302070583208)

Hi Matt, I was sending off for one those batteries from the ebay link for the HC-X1E and got this message back.

"Sorry, on check the stock we do not have the correct item for your device.

Regards,

Daisy"

They did ask me for the original part number battery and according to the Preston site its 1x Battery Pack (AG-VBR59)

Unless I'm asking them for the wrong battery.

Thanks.

Hi Anthony, I just looked at the seller I bought from, and they have this listed:

47.50Wh Replacement Battery For PANASONIC VW-VBD78 AJ-PX270 | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/47-50Wh-Replacement-Battery-For-PANASONIC-VW-VBD78-AJ-PX270-/401260223498?hash=item5d6cf91c0a:g:zEUAAOSw241YfCbQ)

I just searched for VW-VBD78 and there's a number of other sellers with it, like this one UK Battery for Panasonic HDC-MDH2GK VW-VBD78 7.4V RoHS | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-Battery-for-Panasonic-HDC-MDH2GK-VW-VBD78-7-4V-RoHS-/172136635818?hash=item2814249daa:g:n2EAAOSwyjBW6fzH)

Hope that helps.

Thank you Matt, I'll look into that.

UPDATE:

Matt, where did you get that part No from VW-VBD78?

Preston's original Battery Pack is AG-VBR59


Thanks again.

Have a look at Paul's post about batteries at the top of this page - I used that reference and the battery works a treat on my HC X1.

Have a look at Paul's post about batteries at the top of this page - I used that reference and the battery works a treat on my HC X1.

OK Matt, perfect. Thank you again.

Hi, a few questions for Matt.
I came across your Youtube video with the X1 samples.
You shot in 4K so the shots are not timelapse in camera, so sped up slightly in edit ?
Did you colour grade in Vegas or is that straight out of the camera ?
What render templates are you using ?
What render times are you getting for different templates ? PC specs would be handy.
I'm also using Vegas (pro 14).
To render out 1080-50p using Sony AVC takes me about 1.5 x
MC 1080-50p almost 3x
MC 4K-50p about 10 times.

i7 6700
32GB ram
SSD
AMD RX480 8GB version.

Cheers, Paul.

PS, if admin wants to move this to the vegas section i understand

Hi Paul, yes, I sped up some of the footage by three times in Vegas (version 13). No colour grading applied to the footage.

Without looking at my PC, I think I did a customised Main Concept 4k render at 135,000 bit rate.

I used my three year old laptop - i7 4700, 16gb, 760m graphics chip. I didn't time it but it was at the very least 10x render time, I guess the speeded up footage would have added to the render time.

As an aside, I was experimenting with HD All-I 200mbps footage from the X1, and my laptop found it much easier to deal with. I could preview it in much higher quality than the more compressed HD settings in the camera.

Hi Matt.
The footage looks good, i had a feeling the footage was sped up slightly.
My PC takes about 10x to render outer 4K-50p (Main concept 135/50) so your 3 year old laptop is doing ok.
I've also rendered 4K 50/28 MC, that seems a bit quicker, file sizes smaller obviously bit i can't really see much difference in quality.
Rendering out to 1080-50p, MC takes just over 2.5 x. I found the fastest for rendering out 1080-50p was Sony AVC, just under 1.5 x. I can't see any difference in quality between MC and Sony AVC.
Preview wise on the timeline,4K project properties in best-full with a load of effects, i get the full 50fps playback, this graphics card is quite good. Usually i stick to preview -full, that's good enough.
Edit, that's running 2 monitors from the graphics card, i don't know if that makes a difference. Having this PC built has been a bit of a learning curve as far as graphics cards go.

Thanks, Paul.

Does anybody knows how to acivate synchro scan? When i select in meny for example 1/67 synchro scan and return to record mode i can not changed to 1/67 , i dont know what im doing wrong

Matt, i presume you got your camera from Preston Media ? .
Paul.

A friend of mine is waiting 6/8 weeks for a HC-X1E 4K from Prestons and still no sign of one.
Wonder what's the reason, is there a big demand for them??

I've never been a big fan of Prestons, and bought mine from Wex Photographic.

I've never been a big fan of Prestons, and bought mine from Wex Photographic.

My friends contacting them to see what they are going to do.

Got a message from B&H that they are now in stock.

Hi all. I've been using a Canon XF100 since it came out, to record live music events. At the time I bought it, it was one of the few in that price range that had uncompressed audio recording. I use an external mic plugged into the xlr inputs. I've done well with it, but the video gets fairly noisy in anything less than very good lighting, which is no surprise given the 1/3" sensor.

I've been looking to upgrade and have not seen anything that looks worthwhile for my purposes until I came across the HC-X1. Similar form and function to the XF100 but a 1" type sensor and bigger zoom range. Internet research has turned up very little information, other than this thread and a few scattered reviews from last year, which is surprising to me. Is this camera something I should consider? Are there other cameras I should be looking at? Max budget is around $3500. Apologize if this is not the correct sub-forum for this post. Thanks for any advice.

Len

This camera is definitely worth considering, though I don't understand why there is so little info, and so few reviews. The Sony Z150 is also worth considering in this price range. If your work is geared more towards documentary work and not run and gun, the JVC LS300 (which I own) is a bargain.

Thanks Jim. Can anyone tell me if the HC-X1 has lanc control?

Len

Found the user manual on line, apparently it does, but they call it "remote control", no reference to lanc.

Yes there is lanc control on the HC-X1, i've got a controller, Libec ZC-3DV, it controls zoom in and out and record start stop.
There is another controller which also controls i think focus and iris, however, with that controller connected to the camera the actual rings on the lens no longer respond to being moved, which means you're doing everything with the right thumb !!
I've got left hand on the lens rings, right thumb on the controller on the tripod arm
I hope this helps.

https://www.hpreston.co.uk/libec-zc3dv-lanc-control.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwi7vIBRDpo9W8y7Ct6ZcBEiQA1CwV2LjdzSeiwm0ESeBseA1i0lva69oLvzM-agrIAAT0iGkaAr428P8HAQ

Paul.

It takes the two cable variety. Wired remote yes, lanc no. I use a VariZoom controller it has dials for focus and iris, record btn , auto/man switch for focus and iris, and a rocker to zoom.

Mine is only one cable, small jack plug into the camera.

Paul.

I bought a Varizoom remote which also allows remote focus and aperture control: VariZoom VZROCKPZFI | Panasonic Zoom / Focus / Iris Control (http://www.varizoom.com/product-p/vzrockpzfi.htm) via two plugs.

Matt, does that one disable the lens ?
I tried one in the shop on mine and it disabled the lens which is why i didn't get it, i can't remember what make it was though.

Paul.

No, this one works really well.

I first bought a Libec ZFC 5HD and that allowed remote focusing but it meant the aperture was always on auto, so I returned it and got the Varizoom.

Just ordered an HC-X1, should arrive by this weekend. The manual says that the camera is compatible with SDXC cards from 48 to 128 GB, as of November 2016. San Disk makes a Class 3 SDXC card of 512GB. Any one know if the camera will work with the 512GB card, or any card larger than 128GB?
Thanks,
Len