Panasonic AG-PX270

[Allan Barnwell]

New panasonic 4K camera at #ibc2013

NEW Panasonic AG-PX270 4K Camera | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Glen Vandermolen]

Say what?

Any details?

[Mark Williams]

Let's hope the put a better lens on it than they did with the HPX250.

[Glen Vandermolen]

The Panasonic press release states it's not a 4K camera, but an AVC-Ultra camera.
It's actually the AJ-PX270.

TVTechnology: IBC 2013: Panasonic Debuts First Ultra-AVC Handheld Camera


Interesting, that it has the designation AJ instead of AG. AJ is reserved for their higher end cameras, like the HPX3100. The HPX250 is an AG camera.

[Glen Vandermolen]

Originally Posted by Mark Williams

Let's hope the put a better lens on it than they did with the HPX250.

According to the press release, it's a newly developed 22x lens.

[Allan Barnwell]

Yes. Thanks for that correction. There are also new AVC-ULTRA recorders:

NEW Panasonic AVC-Ultra Field Recorder_side | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Tim Polster]

Also an AG-AC8 shoulder mount camera.

The PX270 looks interesting.

[Zach Love]

If it is still 1/3" chips, how much are you gaining from AVC-Ultra?

I color corrected some footage shot on DVCPro HD with a 2/3" broadcast camera (unsure of the model) & I felt I had a lot more room for adjustment than anything I ever got out of a HVX200. The codec was the same between the cameras, but I really feel like the HVX chips weren't amazing enough to really take advantage of the codec.

I'm sure the PX270 chips are much better than the HVX chips, but the HPX250 already has AVC-Intra, which is a generation beyond DVCPro HD. So I really wonder since the HVX chips were worse than the codec (in my opinion), are the chips in the HPX250 or PX270 going to be advanced enough to really take advantage of the advanced codecs.

[Allan Barnwell]

Panasonic AJ-PX270

http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/sales...f/aj-px270.pdf

[Mark Williams]

Don't see a Leica badge on the lens. That doesn't bode well.

[Allan Barnwell]

The AG-HVX200 used spacial offset / Advanced Progressive Technology with a pixel count of 960 x 540.

"While pixel count is one of the many important factors that determine picture quality, it is not the only one that should be considered. Using a progressive type chip along with a precise implementation of Spatial Offset can optimize the resolution that is possible." From ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/panasoni...200.CCD-WP.pdf

We have some thoughts on the new AJ-PX270 as a news item on our site:

Omega - News - Panasonic - Panasonic AJ-PX270 announced

[Jack Zhang]

The question is, will Intra200 support 1080p50/60? If so, that would make it slightly tempting for me, as it would be the first non-shoulder 3-chip 1080p50/60 cam with AVC-I.

Strike that, It's MicroP2, which is guaranteed to not support 1080p50/60.

[Glen Vandermolen]

Does it have slots for regular P2 cards?

Okay, I'm confused. This video taken at NAB 2013 shows the prototype of a hand-held AVC-Ultra camera, which I assume is now the PX-270. At the :13 sec. mark of the video, the info card says it's a micro P2 card cam with 1080/60P. Either micro P2 cards can handle 1080/50-60P, or the cam can also take regular P2 cards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=SqN4Mm9_N8w

I understand the base model of the PX-270 does not have AVC-Ultra, you have to order it with the camera.

edit - never mind, I think Jack is correct. I have no idea what camera Panasonic displayed at NAB, but it's not the PX-270. My apologies, Jack.

[Glen Vandermolen]

Right now, I think the only handheld cam that supports 1080p50/60 in 10-bit, 4:2:2 is the Sony PXW-Z100 4K cam. It does "standard" HD in 50/60P. We're talking internally recording, of course.

[Tim Polster]

This camera or group of cameras (Pana, Sony Canon) could be interesting, could be the perfection of the 1/3" camera or be stepping stones imho.

A long time ago...the only option for shooting anything associated with television was the large 2/3" camera. It was the only way to get great imaging sensors and great glass, and the broadcast codecs. These cameras were the profit centers for Sony and Panasonic. A lot has changed and you can probably see as many small cameras as large cameras on broadcast television today. I noticed a C300 being used as the main camera during Espn's draft day coverage. Things have changed.

One no longer has to have a 2/3" camera to get acceptable images for broadcast. So when I look at 1/3" cameras, I am looking for when the companies decide to not protect the larger cameras and put the useability features in the small cameras. We will see if it happens in the 4k round of small cameras.

The features I want/need are smooth servo motors (like a true broadcast lens) and light sensitivity of at least f11 at 2000 lux (without gain or detail robbing noise reduction).

The codec and resolution choices really make these cameras worth looking at, but for me it is the useability features that will make them worth buying. 4k might be useful in some situations, but these need to be an evolution of the 1/3" chip camera, not just resolution in a box for me to replace anything.

I went with the XF300 from the last round of 1/3" chip cameras (HPX-250, EX1...) because it checked a lot of boxes. I thought the Panasonic HPX-250, 160/130 were pretty nice but the servo motors were generic imho, there was no color matrix in the menu and the codec choices were only 100mbps or 25mbps (nobody likes AVC Intra 50). The lens had some question marks as well. I would hope that Panasonic would improve upon somethings with this PX270 as it has a lot of potential of being "the" 1/3" camera, but we will have to wait and see.
I am wondering how long it will take Canon to participate in the competition? They are usually last to arrive at the party. I hope that does not mean after NAB next year...