HPX-170 for telephoto/stage work

[David Morgan]

#1-Considering the lens on this camera, has anyone tried using it for stage shows? At distances of 60 feet or so from the stage, can one at least get a medium CU? I'm also assuming I can get a full stage L/ stage R wide shot from the same location.

#2- How does this camera compare to other 1/3" chip cameras under low light conditions?

[Daniel Epstein]

David,
I wouldn't count on the lens being long enough for a 60 ft throw to a medium close up. The 170 is faster than a 200, about the same as 200A but a little slower than a 100B. Panasonic is usually slower than Sony of comparable chip size.
Stage lighting can vary so much from bright to dark that it is hard to say from show to show what is worse too little light or too much from stage shows

[David Morgan]

thx for the reply.
I have a couple of Canon XH-A1 cameras now. However the lens is a 20x. Most times actually more than I need. can lead to focus issues. I take your point about lighting. Been doing stage shows for a couple of years myself.

[Dan Brockett]

As a satisfied owner of a 170, I would recommend you spend a little more and buy a camera with a longer lens, like the HPX370.

Dan

[David Morgan]

yeah, 10-4 to that Dan. Although,......scary posting lately about artifacts/compression issues with that cam. I guess I should lean toward the EX1r?

[Robert Turchick]

I have used my hmc150 (same lens as 170) for shows and its just not enough for my taste. From 50' i was getting about a half body shot and found myself nearly breaking the zoom controller to get more. For the wide shot, it's awesome. I'd look at Sonys nxcam or if you have the dough the canon xf.

Low light is another thing. I have used the 170 to shoot a music video in a dark club and my 150 for several others. While my clients were happy with the end results I was not. Both cams really like light. Without it, there's just too much grain.
That said, all the theater shows ive done are anything but low light. Stage lighting and spots just blast the cameras even though your eye might see a mostly dark stage.
A friend uses the ex1 and she definitely get a cleaner picture in the same situations. We shot one show together and I did the edit so I have seen the same show shot with both cameras. Very big difference...but price difference is big too.

Another thing to know is the panny's have terrible lcd's. So when I shoot a show, I have it as a full studio setup with an external monitor to use for manual focus and a zoom/focus/iris controller so I don't have to touch the camera. Makes life a lot easier.

[David Morgan]

Lots of informative info, thx. I've used the 170 a couple of times on a set for interviews but haven't had an opportunity to shoot shows.

Yeah, I believe the nxcam has 1/4" chips, so most likely will be even worse in low light. Also thinking about the CMOS flash band situation and how severe that could be with stage lighting. However, seems that we're headed for the H.264 compression scheme with all cameras. It looks very promising when you consider the amount of shooting time you can fit onto a relatively low cost card. Since I'm a final cut pro, mac user, I'm looking into the software log and transfer issues right now.
Looking at the EX-1r, seems like you get a lot more "cluck for the buck" than the new Canon series. Probably hard to tell the difference between 35 and 50 mb/sec capture in most situations.

The overall push is that I'm ready to leave tape based camera's. I use a DTE recorder for one of my 2 XH-A1's now but it's a hassle.

[Robert Turchick]

I use FCP too and have had no problems with L&T from any of the cameras. There is a method to it which may seem cumbersome but has saved my butt once already. There's also two other methods of getting footage transcoded to pro res so it's pretty easy to do and on my system is about 1/3 real time. Much better than tape!

With my 150, I get almost 200 minutes on a 32 gig card at its highest quality which I think is 24mbs.
The Sony NXCAMs are 1/3" CMOS. Except for that really tiny new one. They are also 24mbs.

As for the CMOS, my b-cam for wide angle is the hmc40 which is 1/4" CMOS and I've had no flash banding problems so far but all the shows prohibit flash photography as it distracts the performers. Stage lights have never interfered. If you do run into an issue, there are plugins that can deal with it. (or so I've read somewhere on this forum!)

[Dan Brockett]

AG-HPX170 3.9mm x 51mm = 28mm - 364mm (in 35mm FF terms)
EX1R 5.8mm to 81.2mm = 31.4mm - 439mm (in 35mm FF terms)

[David Morgan]

thx to all for the replys.