Panasonic 4K DVX200 Announced

I see a lot of noise in that, even thought it's bright daylight. Look at the shadows on the sidewalk.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Yep - but he wrote this on the YouTube page. My French is not as good as it used to be... but basically he's saying it was a very early mock-up he had - it did not even have V log in the firmware. Direct quote below:

Voici quelques images de la DVX200 issues de la première prise en main de la caméra par la chef-op Emilie Aujé, début Juillet 2015.
La caméra était un exemplaire de pré-production qui n'intégrait pas encore la courbe V-Log

I do wonder about the marketing sense of Panasonic allowing footage to appear well before the camera is (clearly) finished - i.e. outside of NDA's that usually prevent this. Could back-fire on them big time.

[Josh Bass]

Already HAS back-fired. On "the other" forum people are losing their crap (in the bad way) over this footage.

I agree. . .I still don't understand why anyone would post anything less than fully uncompressed straight-from-the-cam footage, or at least something output with that quality. I understand files would be huge, but you could do a few seconds instead of a few minutes, at least THAT would be accurate. This is. . .not super smart. Like having people judge your rough cut of a film.

[Andy Wilkinson]

More 4K footage. Recorded on a DVX200 with Atomos Shogun.

YouTube (Short URL)

[Rich Adrion]

What does High Sens mean, is that a gain setting? I saw a lot of noise in some shots, the red hue on the flower was very over-saturated and it did not have a natural look to it. I did see some shots that looked really nice so maybe the shooter made poor setting choices for the others??

[Josh Bass]

maybe thats the color science? original dvx was known for over the top reds, right? so maybe...

[Philip Lipetz]

Almost every image parameter is user adjustable. Reds too strong then dial them down.

[Jeff Zimmerman]

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

More 4K footage. Recorded on a DVX200 with Atomos Shogun.

https://youtu.be/aU7WyzZXDu0

Thanks Andy! Do you recall what profile you were shooting in? Have you tried V-log? Interested in seeing V-log original footage.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Jeff, not my footage...

[Dylan Couper]

I can never tell watching stuff on Youtube if it's not great because it's the camera or my cheap laptop... How did that look for everyone else?

[Andy Wilkinson]

OK, sure it's not going to compete with a C300 MkII regarding superb image quality...and it's still not a finalised camera used with optimal, fine tuned set-up etc.... and of course YouTube compression issues aside...but it certainly looks very promising to me. I think it will suit my shooting style perfectly/may suppass my Sony PMW-300 as the main go to camera for fast paced work.

Biggest dilemma I have is this:

Do I buy a "cheap" Sony X70, a "cheapish" JVC LS-300, especially after the JVC Log news this week that might help highlight handling (this is to be confirmed)... or (more likely) the Panasonic DVX200 to test the water with my clients regarding shooting 4K, reframing flexibility etc. (I expect it will still be 1-2-3 years before I ever deliver in 4K). DVX200 could certainly be "good enough" for me to make money.

Or do I just "be done with it" and buy a C300 MkII (I also have a C100 and lots of Canon glass).

I can easily afford any one of them - in fact all of them as so much work is coming in right now - but what I am agonising over is which one makes business sense at this point in time.

Of course, I could just sit and wait for the perfect 4K cam to appear. But that's no fun - and will never happen anyway!

[Cliff Totten]

I would seriously wait until IBC next month. You can be certain there will be some new options for you to consider from there too.

I'm in a "holding pattern" myself. I'm ready for the Sony A7sII and maybe a "pro" version of the Sony NX100.

Let's see what else comes out.

[David Heath]

Since the DVX200 won't be available for about 2 months at best, I'd wait and see if anything else gets announced in that period, especially with IBC before any DVX200s are in the shops. I'm not sure why Panasonic announce new product so long before it's available to actually buy, that must be of benefit to their competitors in terms of planning to compete, surely? Most other companies seem to announce a couple of months at most before actual availability.

[EDIT - I see Cliff is thinking along similar lines! Realistically, it's plausible to imagine something with the back end of the Z100 (and hence XAVC), with the front end derived from the tech of the latest RX10/100. The optics of the RX10 would be pretty good - just needs more video friendly power zoom etc.

Although the words "digital zoom" normally fill me with horror, then it could work very well for such a camera. Although the optical zoom is only just over 8x, then because the 20Mp is so heavily super-sampled for 4K, a digital zoom extension mode could conceivably work very well to give an effective doubling and more with no quality loss. In other words, to an operator it could theoretically seem like a 20x zoom with no quality drop at the tight end.]

[Andy Wilkinson]

Yep, all good advice. The way Sony are spitting out new cams we might have a X100 and FS70 to consider by then!

[Ron Evans]

If you want 50/60P UHD then you choice is more limited and I do not think the C300 has these higher frame rates. FS7 or see what else comes out other than the DVX200 for larger than 1/3" sensors of the HC-X1000, FDR-AX1 and the PXW-Z100

Ron Evans