Petition to Panasonic to include hard drive option and 1080p24 uncompressed output

[Radek Svoboda]

Sony gave us fake nonusable 1080p24, storage with possible 1/2 second dropouts.

Panasonic, please, be friend, give us highest quality 1080p, lower cost storage option(s).

Radek

[Barry Green]

Panasonic has made it possible for any aftermarket developer to provide a wide variety of storage options. They've already signed up Focus (developers of the FireStore) to be a partner.

And the camera ALREADY OFFERS 1080/24P UNCOMPRESSED OUTPUT, that one's already done.

[Chris Hurd]

Thanks as usual, Barry. Would you mind if I have your post made into a rubber stamp? I have a feeling we'd get some good use out it.

[Laura Martone]

Firestore is working on a dual firewire drive system for it... keep your fingers crossed that it will be out soon.

[Duane Smith]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Thanks as usual, Barry. Would you mind if I have your post made into a rubber stamp? I have a feeling we'd get some good use out it.

LOL! Yeah, no kidding! :-P

[Charles Papert]

Guess the petition must have worked.

[Joe Carney]

I've gotten completely confused with all the complaints and bantering back and forth. I'm just going to wait for the camera to come out.

[Laurence Maher]

How do you guys know it has uncompressed out? Because B & H Photo has no mention of it on their site. Where do you guys come across this information. Don't get me excited and let me down, man. Are you SURE that it has uncompressed 1080p (or even real 1080p for that matter)? Thanks.

By the way, when is this camera officially shipping? Because I'm interested in getting together a production schedule for a feature and it would help me to know. Thanks again.

[Simon Wyndham]

I'm not sure why there is so much discussion either way. Nobody has even held a working model yet, and to be honest I wonder how many people who are discussing this camera at length will be able to afford it with P2 anyway(which I assume is the reason why there is so much bantering about hard drives and uncompressed output)!

Facts.

The camera records DVCpro50 and DVCproHD to P2 cards.

Thats all anybody needs to know for the moment. Anything else is just speculation and doesn't get anybody anywhere.

Now, given that the camera WILL cost a smidgen under $10k with 2 P2 cards, how many people here are ACTUALLY going to buy the camera in that configuration, and what will they be planning to do with it? Corporate? Indie moviemaking?

I think there is a certain amount of frustration going on amongst people because although the HVX will be much less than a Varicam, it still carries a hefty price tag. A case of so near and yet so far.

[Laurence Maher]

I for one am definitely getting one. 10k is a MEAGER price to pay for such a camera IMHO. Look at how many of us have spent time and energy discussing the idea of building a homemade camera or what not. Dudes, for 10k you get the real deal with no bugs and plenty of convenience as opposed to some hope that your camera won't break down in the middle of production. I'm an indie filmmaker. Thus, to me, it's WELL worth 10 k. I'll sell other stuff I've got off and trade up. So that's one vote you can count on.

[Barry Green]

Originally Posted by Laurence Maher

How do you guys know it has uncompressed out?

My info came from Jan Crittenden Livingston, the product manager for the HVX. I am 100% sure that what I was told is that it would have uncompressed output in both modes.

I am also 100% sure that there are very few people who will ever use that capability, on any of these cameras, as recording uncompressed HD is an enormously difficult, expensive, and equipment-intensive task. Uncompressed output would seem usable only in rare circumstances or in a locked-down studio environment. Or perhaps if you were doing a multicam live switched HD truck kind of situation, and had the cables to support it, etc.

By the way, when is this camera officially shipping?

4Q 2005 is all we've been told. That could mean September 1st or it could mean December 31st, or any time inbetween. But if you're trying to set a schedule, count on later rather than sooner... JVC announced the HD100 would be available in June, then they changed it to July, and now some people are reporting August... we don't know if the same thing may happen with the Panasonic, but seeing as they haven't narrowed down the delivery date, it would seem prudent to expect later rather than sooner.

[Barry Green]

No doubt it costs more than HDV cameras. That's not in question and never has been.

It also does a whole lot more than HDV cameras too -- considering it's both 1080 and 720, including 1080/24p and 1080/30p, plus variable frame rates, plus 4:2:2 DVCPRO50. And no worries ever about variable-resolution MPEG artifacts. It does more, it costs more.

P2 is one way to record high-def and DVCPRO50, but it's not the only way. The camera also supports direct streaming through its firewire port, so one could capture it for "free" on the laptop or desktop computer they already have, or invest in the forthcoming FireStore, or perhaps other technologies that will be developed.

Like Laurence, I think $10k is an amazingly low price for what's being offered. 1080/24p previously cost about $160,000. Now we're getting a version for $6,000. No it won't be the same, no it won't be as good... but it'll probably be 75% as good... for 1/27th the price. To a lot of us that's pretty darn exciting, no matter how you slice it.

[Radek Svoboda]

Originally Posted by Barry Green

My info came from Jan Crittenden Livingston, the product manager for the HVX. I am 100% sure that what I was told is that it would have uncompressed output in both modes.

Barry,

There 3 HD modes, 1080p, 1080i, and 720p. So Jan did confirmed all these are available in uncompressed analog output?

Radek

[Laurence Maher]

Good Lord,

If this camera truely does 1080 24p uncompressed output, the studios had better make sure they get that deal with the theaters signed, because they sure won't be able to stop low budget indie films from competing quality-wise anymore. Exciting as all get out. Cameras truely worthy of theatrical projection.

Let's just hope those theaters thumb their nose at the studios!

[Derek Serra]

Originally Posted by Laurence Maher

Dudes, for 10k you get the real deal with no bugs and plenty of convenience as opposed to some hope that your camera won't break down in the middle of production.

Erm, I'd wait until the camera is actually produced and tested before presuming that it is bug-free. On paper it sure does sound exciting, but the P2 cards cost will be prohibitive, and the P2 workflow is far from ideal for long-form work, as it is also costly if you consider the expense of the external card reader, backup drives, player, etc. This camera will definitely make an impact in the Indie film community, but its sales will be nowhere near the cheaper HDV offerings from Sony and JVC. I don't even see competition between the various camera's as they each seem to appeal to a different market. If you have a Z1, a HD100 and a HVX200 then you can cover all bases from wedding to corporate to music video to documentary to feature film with a range of tools to choose from.