HPX500 Teaser

[James Darren]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont....x=0&image.y=0

I understand there might be a small margin for error on pricing until its actually released, but $20,000-$25000ish for body, viewfinder, 4 x 16GB P2 cards and a choice of different 2/3" lenses in these packages??... Almost too good to be true...

[Mike Schrengohst]

Originally Posted by James Darren

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont....x=0&image.y=0

I understand there might be a small margin for error on pricing until its actually released, but $20,000-$25000ish for body, viewfinder, 4 x 16GB P2 cards and a choice of different 2/3" lenses in these packages??... Almost too good to be true...

Yes that is great. I will have to ask Jan about expected ship dates.

[Paul Toth]

Well, the B&H pricing seems to be good, with Cam, Lens, 4x16 cards and tripod plate... I wonder how long before we get it in Canada! Seems to me like this will be a much sought after rig.

Cheers
Paul

[Kaku Ito]

In Japan, this is going to be called 555. This is great, now people entering more serious video production with HVX200 can be prepared for the next step up. How much are the lenses for this cam? What kind of battery does it use?
Now I’m more set to come back to HVX200 (with little cheaper price on P2 cards and maybe finding better/cheaper battery operated portable hard disk drive) combining with other 24 frame capable cams like HV20.
Hm, maybe I shoot with HV20 and XH A1 regularly and use HVX200 for special effects only then buy HPX555 when I can afford it.

I want to ask people who are using DVCPRO HD for broadcast and cinemas about the reputation of its quality. Would it serve well enough to do a feature film? LumiereMedia made good looking film with HVR-Z1U and would it be comparable to something like that?

Edit: I saw the B&H configuration to figure out the price. Great.

[Robert Lane]

Originally Posted by Kaku Ito

I want to ask people who are using DVCPRO HD for broadcast and cinemas about the reputation of its quality. Would it serve well enough to do a feature film? LumiereMedia made good looking film with HVR-Z1U and would it be comparable to something like that?

Hi Kaku, nice to see you active here again.

As I'm fond of reminding people who ask qualitative questions specific to hardware, it's not the camera that's soley responsible for the quality of the imagery that comes out of it rather a combination of proper composition, lighting and good technical know-how of the actual camera being used. The fact that Lumiere was able to create good-looking imagery using the Z1 is irrelevant from the perspective that anyone who understands the proper methodology of shooting can use literally any camera they choose and get acceptable results. It's the age-old scenario: Put professional hardware in the hands of an amateur and you'll get amateur-ish results; put an amateur camera in the hands of an experienced professional and you'll get professional results. It's not the camera, it's the shooter.

As a general rule - and all things being equal - DVCPRO-HD is superior to HDV from several aspects, from it's color space, "i"-frame type codec and far greater acceptance/integration with post houses.

Depending on your final output and again, all things being equal, you may or may not notice a huge difference in "quality" between the Z1 and HVX200 if your final output is DVD for example. However if you're going to do a film-out or transfer to film then there will be a significant difference because the 4:2:2 color space in DVCPRO will have more information and better color overall not to mention less compression artifacts.

If you're comparing the Z1U to the HPX500/555 however then there will be a large, unmistakeable difference because you're comparing a 1/3" inch hand-held to a 2/3" inch camera that can handle both cinema primes and the Pro-35 adapter - both of which will go a long way into creating the "Holy Grail" of the film-look. Not to mention the added definition and better color the 500/555 is capable of compared to the 200.

There will be a great deal of sample footage being displayed at NAB from both the HPX500 and 2000 cameras some of which *might* in the future make it onto Panasonic's Global site where the HPX500 has it's own feature page.

The short version to your question, is that if you want to create the best possible film-like look for broadcast or feature/indie films and want to keep your budget reasonable the HPX500 is the best tool for the job.

[James Darren]

the HPX500 could be the camera i'm looking for...

i'm not a fan of the HVX200 for my uses for a few reasons...

-only a fixed 13x lens (I shoot lots of surfing) and the 2x tele lenses available vignettes way too much

-only 2 x P2 slots

-cant shoot both PAL & NTSC formats on the same camera (a big concern for me as i shoot worldwide) and i hate that panasonic made no upgrade available given their rivals sony & canon have done so...

-poor viewfinder and barely noticeable peaking

i'll admit, i've bagged the HVX200 a lot but the HPX500 may change my mind, given its real camera handling, quality b&w viewfinder, 2/3" chip & long lenses available, NTSC & PAL format options and 5 x P2 slots.... and with the very reasonable priced complete packages of about $25,000ish (incl camera, viewfinder, batteries, tripod, plate, 4 x P2, HD lens) its all looks great...

question... can P2 cards shot on a HPX500 be played back on a HVX200?

[Kaku Ito]

Robert,

Thanks for your info, I think I have little misunderstanding on the quality of DVCHD PRO with my only experience on HVX200. Seeing HPX500's footage will change my opinion, I'm sure.

Won't be able to afford HPX555 right away, but it's great to think that next step up from HVX200 is not very very far in price (at least not the price range of HDcams) and the format stays the same.

I think I gave up on HDV with action shots, I tried every brand and they are mostly okay, but I'd have compression artifacts problems here and there. For slo-mo shots, HVX200's overcrank makes most sense, so I'd combine HV20 and HVX200 together for awhile until I can afford HPX555.

Not to forget to mention that using HDV cams with glidecam helped lessen the compression artifacts problems but I wasn't built strong enough to operate it all the time.

I look back the clips I shot with HVX200 and I prefer them with its motions over HDV although the resolution look very nice on HDV.

But I will stick to HVX200 for capturing moments, and capturing the environment and conituity, I would use HV20 or XH A1 (if I can afford it).

[Robert Lane]

Originally Posted by James Darren

question... can P2 cards shot on a HPX500 be played back on a HVX200?

Yes, the benefit of the P2 system is that any P2 card can be shot/used/played on any P2 device. The only caveat is that the playback device has to support the same format as the camera it was shot in. For example, you would not be able to playback HD content on the SPX800 since it does not support the HD formats.

Since all the formats the 200 shoots are available on the 500 then footage can easily be shared between cameras.

[Robert Lane]

Originally Posted by Kaku Ito

I think I gave up on HDV with action shots, I tried every brand and they are mostly okay, but I'd have compression artifacts problems here and there...

Jan's P2 overview presentation and much of the online documentation samples outlines this limitation with the HDV format and shows example of motion artifact differences between HDV and DVCPRO-HD. Your experience with this issue brings home the same point.

[James Darren]

what about 50i/25p shot with a HPX500, can a NTSC HVX200 play that back?

[Barry Green]

Originally Posted by James Darren

what about 50i/25p shot with a HPX500, can a NTSC HVX200 play that back?

Nope. But a PAL HVX200/202 could.

[Kaku Ito]

Originally Posted by Robert Lane

Jan's P2 overview presentation and much of the online documentation samples outlines this limitation with the HDV format and shows example of motion artifact differences between HDV and DVCPRO-HD. Your experience with this issue brings home the same point.

I came back from Seagate presentation and found out about this Seagate iDVR removable disk cartridge that provide 160GB of capacity and transferring rate of 1.5 Gbps with SATA interface (http://www.ivdr.org/iVDR/ivdr_e.html). I was talking to Seagate person about possibility to use this for direct to disk with P2 camcorders. Maybe just the matter of making cradles with rechargeable battery to use this for P2 camcorders. Me and my friend was maybe making it to do off loading clips from P2 on the road.

[Brian Ladue]

Ok, the CCDs in the HPX500 are the same as the SDX900 (2/3" 620,000)......but what size are they? are they native 1280X720?

[Michael Struthers]

"but what size are they? are they native 1280X720?"

I believe dvcpro HD format is native 1280 x 720.

.

[David Jimerson]

Don't confuse the CCD pixels with the digital image pixels, though. They're not the same thing. CCDs are analog devices.

The HPX500, like the 1/3" HVX200, has 960x540 sensors and employs a pixel shift.