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Hands-on with the HVX-200 at ResFest
I was able to go to the ResFest demo in NYC on Friday. I liked what I saw.
Some of the things I noted (sorry for some of which you may already know):
I found the camera to be surprisingly light. Kinda chunky wide, but not a problem in any way. Ergonomics were good in every way. I liked the color just fine. Very professional color and finish.
The camera at the demo was only showing 1080 60i. Nothing else was ready to show yet. I saw both live images with the camera and footage shot within the past week. It was displayed on a Panasonic professional LCD, which detracted from the quality I would liked to have seen. The footage displayed in the lecture hall was displayed from a DVCPro HD deck through a DLP projector. Still looked very nice.
Panasonic has decided on the pixel count for the camera, but Jan was not at liberty to share that information with us yet. She really likes the 720P images from the camera, and says that it will indeed use pixel shifting to achieve 1080i (extrapalate from that what you will)..
There’s no real advice on transfer times from P2 to computer because it depends on the speed of what you are transferring to. The P2 cards are rated at 640 MBS transfer rate for the 2 GB card. Jan said several times “faster than real time.”
P2 seems to be the right product for harsh environments–heat, cold and humidity do not affect it the way these affect tape.
10 – 12 variable frame rates (12, 24, 48, 60 for sure) are to be included. Jan, of course, is pushing for 12.
The “pre-record” function of this camera is 3 seconds for HD images. More for SD. Of course, pre-record works with P2 and not with firewire hookups. You can get pre-record functionality via firewire from Firestore and DV Rack.
The glass is a 32.5 – 422.5 MM lens, equivalent to a 35MM lens.
Color Bars has it’s own button instead of being buried in the user settings.
Transfer of data from P2 to computer will be more efficient than transfer via firewire. If you are transferring 720P, for instance, it will be a fraction of the “1 GB per minute” that it will be if you transfer 720P via firewire.
The camera will have 7 stops of latitude, comparable if not better than the DVX100A. Jan says “f8 at 2000 lux” which would be better than the 100A, right?
The same batteries and charger that the DVX100, 100A and 100B use.
No image flip for 35MM adapters for this version. The request came in too late. She likes the idea and says it will make a great option “on the HVX 300.” 🙂
There were probably 50-75 people there, in my estimation.
That’s all I have for now. Any questions from a users perspective?
Regards,
Cre8tive
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16 Replies
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“P2 seems to be the right product for harsh environments–heat, cold and humidity do not affect it the way these affect tape.”
Well the real test of any camcorder in a extreme cold or heat environment is how well is the body itself protected from the harsh environment. A poorly designed camera body may resulting in melting,warping or cracking.
FYI I spend a month in Alaska with D600 betacam sp camcorders in weather as low as -15 degrees F with a severe wind chill and never had any camera or tape problems. None of the cameras had any porta brace camera covers at all. You would be amazed how robust the betacam sp high end bvw series camcorders are.
Lenses in cold environments however will have problems with the zoom motor lubricant.
Tony Salgado
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No image flip is a real drag for those of us who want to use 35mm lenses.
Is there any possibility –or does anyone on this board know of a way of mounting an additional viewfinder and how to connect it?
With thanks
Harry
Harry Bromley-Davenport
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Can anyone help me decypher the lux reading given above? What, in film ASA sensitivity, is F8 at 2000 lux?
Many thanks,
Harry
Harry Bromley-Davenport
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[Cre8tive] “She really likes the 720P images from the camera, and says that it will indeed use pixel shifting to achieve 1080i (extrapalate from that what you will).”
Sounds like 1280×720 ccd’s with pixel shift in both axis.
If so, that’s really great, bigger pixels than Z1 or XLH1! -
[Harry] “Can anyone help me decypher the lux reading given above? What, in film ASA sensitivity, is F8 at 2000 lux?”
You cannot make a direct comparison, for many reasons, the first of which is that video cameras don’t have linear exposure curves, and the second is that “F8 aat 2000 lux” is not standardized anywhere. Is that at 0dB gain? What’s the IRE output at that level? What’s the noise level? Etc…
But — if you want to presume that Panasonic would judge their cameras by a consistent standard, then consider that the DVX is rated at F11 @ 2000 lux. While we cannot know for sure, it does seem reasonable to expect that we could use Panasonic claims to compare Panasonic cameras. Which would translate into the HVX at somewhere around 320 to 400 ASA.
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[toke lahti] “Sounds like 1280×720 ccd’s with pixel shift in both axis.
If so, that’s really great, bigger pixels than Z1 or XLH1!”As they say, there is no free lunch,
Bigger pixels will mean higher sensativity but less native resolution (for a given imager size)Mike Brennan
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There should be no less native resolution because pixelshift is valid to exten resolution by a factor of about 1.414, which is enough to compensate for the larger pixels.
However, the image should be punchier and more dynamic, and given that the human eye responds to contrast more than resolution, per se, it should look superior. Sounds like a fine compromise to me!
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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1.414? Oh that is creepy. That is a fibonnaci harmonic number I use for trading extenstions (commodities and stocks). I guess harmonics exist everywhere.
It was just creepy to see that ratio appear for pixels, when I watch it weekly for trading reversal patterns. Creepy.
https://www.flashvodcast.com (coming late sept)
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Thanks very much fot the explanation and reply.
With thanks,
Harry
Harry Bromley-Davenport
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It’s root 2.
Limit of Fibbonacci sequence ratios is (1+Root5) / 2, otherwise known as the golden ratio.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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