FZ2500 Impressions and Comments?

[Chris Harding]

To be honest Sony have never taken my fancy at all. I had, like Tom, 2 x EA-50's and despite trying every lens combination in the book they never matched the sharpness of the Panasonics! The HC-X1 seems awfully pricey so for me it would have to perform a LOT better than the FZ2500 or FZ1000 which is a tall order.

Admittedly the FZ series have a very stills orientated form factor body and even on a rig they are tough to operate but it's hard to beat the sharpness of the Leica optics !!

I'm still shooting on 2 x FZ's but for live streaming we use the shoulder mount AC-8 camera as it has enough space on the body for all the extra encoders, routers and audio mixers to keep the rig portable. The IQ however, although, adequate still is not nearly as good as my FZ's !! I would love the FZ2500 in a "bigger box" just for video!!

[Mike Griffiths]

I had a Sony X70 and could never get used to the menu sytem on it and the poor autofocus. I've ended up with an FZ2500, a great stills/video camera, lightweight and good optics and an HC-X1. The camcorder form factor is a great advantage when 'run and gun'. Everything about the X1 makes life easier. So FZ for travel/ B camera, the X1 for known video work. The colour profiles don't match and I've still to sort that out but I work in FCPX and usually sort it out there. Very happy I exchanged the X70 for the X1. The battery life of the 2500 is short so it's necessary to get a work around, the X1 lasts several hours. All in all, a great combination.

[Anthony Lelli]

4K on a 1080 timeline and rendering for me. So 4K is important because at the end of 2018 there are phones and gopros producing pretty much the same quality and you just can't stay in business with just HD. Each one of us may have different needs but we all shoot videos and we should concentrate on the important things.
The FZ2500 (or 2000) does the vast majority of the necessary tasks and well. Smooth zoom and good enough slow panning , no time limit, remote lanc in panasonic protocol for wired remote controllers when pan and zoom must be performed at the same time (sports for example).A good enough low light performance with "salt & pepper" good looking noise instead of the blurred/mushy noise reductions that many still cameras apply
these things are important (very) to me and the FZ2500 checks out

1. Decent pans in 4K
2. Wired remote zoom control
3. no time limit
4. Servo and smooth zoom that doesn't blur when you start zooming.
5. Touch focus

No still camera for video gives all those 5 requirements

for interviews the touch screen/focus is mandatory nowadays. long gone are the low rez days when you lock focus on the shirts/ties and move between the talent and the interviewer. A touch on the faces is the best reliable way.

[Gary Yek]

I have a HC-X1. Would the FZ2500 be a suitable B cam, i.e. will it cut-well with the HC-X1? Thanks!!!