hc x1500 opinion

[Stefano Capasso]

Hello, it is a while i am looking for a camcorder. Till now, having decided to 1 inch sensor would be important i have focused on Sony AX700 as the camera that is of my interest, also because of size. now i am not so firmly convinced that 1 inch sensor it is a MUST..so the panasonic hc x1500 naturally come out as a really interesting camera. Size, possibility to add handle with audio, zoom excursion, 50/60 p, 4:2:2..are really actrattive. What i can't tell is the IQ, thaa autofocus and perhaps other things not good that i don't know. I would like to know from x1500 (or 2000 being the same) their experience with this camcorder...and if someone has a direct comparision with ax700, even better
Thanks a lot

[Ronald Jackson]

HC X1500 sensor is 1/2.5 inch, not 1 inch. Small, same size as a iPhone sensor I'm informed.

The attraction of such a small sensor for me is the long tele it provides in a fairly small camcorder, equivalent to 600mm "full 35". If long tele not your interest then I'd go for a larger sensor camera.

Ron

[Stefano Capasso]

yes i know the sensos size of hcx1500. This is exacty what i mean...till now i have only considered 1inch sensor, so my obvious choice was ax700. But now i start to think that smaller sensor have their benefit, and this panasonic has a lots of good benefit, other than the tele which is something nice for me..it is also a much newer technology than the sony ax700, it has 50p recording 4.2.2..lots of nice feature. So i would like to know more about this camcorder, excpecially from who use it!

[Ronald Jackson]

Well I've only recently purchased my X1500 so not the best person to ask for an opinion. Plenty of stuff on YouTube.

As for me, image quality good which a relief but an extremely difficult camera to set up and use (I'm mainly manual).

The user guide that comes with the camera is pretty useless and the online much longer version (English) a bit better but still very hard work.

The camera relies on "User Buttons" to as it were create your own menu. So for example "digital zoom" must first be allocated a user button, then you press that user button to enable digital zoom. There are twelve User Buttons, five on camera and seven internally via the Menu.

Ron

[Stefano Capasso]

Ok so are you satisfy with rhe quality od images produced?autofocus?

[Stefano Capasso]

And for the manual issue...you think is the camera that will not let you work in manual(or make it too difficilt) or it is just a matter to learn the proper method?

[Dave Baker]

I've had mine for about a year and coming from a Fuji X-T3 (APS-C, F-log, all-i at 400mbps etc.), I find the image quality from the HC-X1500 nothing short of amazing, preferring it in some ways. It is the first camera I have had that I have used auto focus on regularly and it does a nifty focus pull automatically too. I have no idea how well the tracking works, I have yet to try it. Manual focus is fine too, but a bit slower.

I have found it interesting working out which picture profiles to use and which customisations suit which ones best for my taste. It is so easy to use the buttons to select functions e. g. zebras, waveform monitor/vectorscope, auto or manual focusing, OIS on or off, plus others and just by touching the LCD, being able to select picture profiles, face detect, level gauge, DRS, auto white balance and such. There are so many settings I will possibly never use, I shall never get bored with it, there will always be something new to play with.

I am a run-and-gun shooter (at my age walk-and-gun is more apt!) and it suits what I do very well.

[Graham Laws]

I have mentioned it before on this site, though it was quite a long time ago now. The X1500 (X2000, CX10) is a cut-down version of the CX350. The menus and settings are very similar.

It's worth downloading Barry Green's excellent (and free) book "A guide to the Panasonic CX350" here https://na.panasonic.com/us/CX350book
Far, far better than the X1500 manual.

Graham

[Stefano Capasso]

Originally Posted by Dave Baker

I've had mine for about a year and coming from a Fuji X-T3 (APS-C, F-log, all-i at 400mbps etc.), I find the image quality from the HC-X1500 nothing short of amazing, preferring it in some ways. It is the first camera I have had that I have used auto focus on regularly and it does a nifty focus pull automatically too. I have no idea how well the tracking works, I have yet to try it. Manual focus is fine too, but a bit slower.

I have found it interesting working out which picture profiles to use and which customisations suit which ones best for my taste. It is so easy to use the buttons to select functions e. g. zebras, waveform monitor/vectorscope, auto or manual focusing, OIS on or off, plus others and just by touching the LCD, being able to select picture profiles, face detect, level gauge, DRS, auto white balance and such. There are so many settings I will possibly never use, I shall never get bored with it, there will always be something new to play with.

I am a run-and-gun shooter (at my age walk-and-gun is more apt!) and it suits what I do very well.

I have an xt3 also, and i am looking for a camcorder for the same reason, for run and gun😀
But i did not understand how you compare the IQ of xt3 to h1500, do you prefer x1500?

[Dave Baker]

Originally Posted by Stefano Capasso

I have an xt3 also, and i am looking for a camcorder for the same reason, for run and gun😀
But i did not understand how you compare the IQ of xt3 to h1500, do you prefer x1500?

Coming from the X-T3 which, in theory, has all the video advantages - bigger sensor, higher bit rate etc., I expected to see a marked lowering in video quality from the HC-X1500, but it was not so. I can detect no quality change at all. The look is different as you would expect and using my favourite profile, I prefer the overall look of HC-X1500 footage. The "disadvantages" of the smaller sensor don't bother me, the current holy grail of shallow depth-of-field is much over done and I don't like it, but it can be achieved if required and I have yet to see any low light noise.

Any "disadvantages" are far outweighed by the sheer convenience of the HC-X1500 ergonomics, the camcorder shape makes it easier to hold one-handed so the controls can be accessed, the manually selectable ND filters make life easier and having a customiseable control panel on the left side means everything I could need to access quickly and easily is just a button press away. The tiltable EVF is very useful and the LCD is easier to see in bright light than the X-T3 one.

[Stefano Capasso]

Originally Posted by Dave Baker

Coming from the X-T3 which, in theory, has all the video advantages - bigger sensor, higher bit rate etc., I expected to see a marked lowering in video quality from the HC-X1500, but it was not so. I can detect no quality change at all. The look is different as you would expect and using my favourite profile, I prefer the overall look of HC-X1500 footage. The "disadvantages" of the smaller sensor don't bother me, the current holy grail of shallow depth-of-field is much over done and I don't like it, but it can be achieved if required and I have yet to see any low light noise.

Any "disadvantages" are far outweighed by the sheer convenience of the HC-X1500 ergonomics, the camcorder shape makes it easier to hold one-handed so the controls can be accessed, the manually selectable ND filters make life easier and having a customiseable control panel on the left side means everything I could need to access quickly and easily is just a button press away. The tiltable EVF is very useful and the LCD is easier to see in bright light than the X-T3 one.

Great, thanks, it is clear now.
One more thing:HAVE you tried to use footage from both cameras in same project?how do they match, is it possible to use them together?

[Dave Baker]

Originally Posted by Stefano Capasso

Great, thanks, it is clear now.
One more thing:HAVE you tried to use footage from both cameras in same project?how do they match, is it possible to use them together?

Sorry, no I haven't.

[Stefano Capasso]

ok..you have an opinion on that?for what you see, would need lots of work to match them

[Dave Baker]

My own footage looks as though it would match quite well, but it depends on the profiles and profile customisations used for each camera. For me, I believe F-log and Cine D should be matchable without too much trouble. If I get time, I will try in the next day or so, but no promises!

[Stefano Capasso]

great!thanks anyway!
would be nice if you could send me some plain x1500 footage...