HPX-250 For those of you who own and operate please tell me the pros and cons you have found…

[Jeff Regan]

Phil, we had an HPX170 that often acted as B-camera to our HPX2700. The HPX250 is quieter, sharper than an 2700, without needing much detail enhancement(HPX170 needed plenty of detail circuit and just couldn’t resolve fine detail in wide shots, was noisier).

The 250 is slower than a 2700, about 2-stops in PAP level 2 NR filter, assuming HD gamma for both, but you gain up to 6db without too much noise or go to PAP level 1 filter.

Matching the 250 with the 2700 seems to be easiest with HD gamma vs. film like gammas, Norm 1 matrix on the 250 is close to REC709, except blue and green is a bit deficient. Will need to change chroma and chroma phase a tiny bit. zoom

The 22x lens requires electronics to keep focus tracking during zooms, as it’s not a parfocal lens. It also ramps a fair amount, from f1.7 to f3.4 at 85%-100% zoom. CA is a non-issue.

I like the fact that the 250 allows low, mid, high knee settings in Cine gammas unlike the 200, 200A, 170, AF100. Still won’t do DRS in 24, 30p.

The 250 handles highlights better than any previous Panasonic palmcorder with fine control over settings due to 20-bit DSP. Of course, besides the full raster sensors, it’s the AVC-Intra codec that really makes the 250 special.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com

[Phil Yunker]

Jeff, great info here form you, once again. I take it you ment the 250 is sharper than the 170 not the 2700.
what about a basic feature of white balance? Does the 250 give you a actual color temp or like the 200A after white balancing does the camera say white balance ok? does DRS work in the other modes (59.94) and going back to white balance can you dial in a color temp similar to a 2700 or HDX-900?

Thanks.

PHIL

PHIL YUNKER
Vanguard Media & Entertainment
http://www.philyunker.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/philyunker

[Jeff Regan]

Phil,

No, I meant the 250 is sharper than a 2700(2700 is only a 720 native chip set). What I like about the 250 is that the resolution is real and more subtle than the over enhanced look of a 200/200A/170. I find the image more subtle than an EX1/1R/3, which look more vidoeoish to me.

If you shoot a Chroma Du Monde chart and expand the vectorscope, the color points are very close to REC709 in matrix Norm 1, with Green and Blue deficient in saturation. Of course, with an HPX2700, thanks to Matrix and Color Correction circuits, you can dial every color point in perfectly, as you would expect with a 32-bit DSP in a $40K P2 Varicam. Interestingly, I could not get an EX1, which offers full Matrix controls, to do any better than the 250 with blue and green saturation, using Standard Matrix.

White balance does show color temp. You can shift white balance on A and B, but not expressed in Kelvin, unlike the AF100in variable or 2700.

DRS works in 60i. Problem with DRS, besides frame rate limitations, is that being dynamic for the mid-blacks, you can’t really light for it, due to fill ratios changing shot by shot.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com

[Phil Yunker]

“What I like about the 250 is that the resolution is real and more subtle than the over enhanced look of a 200/200A/170. I find the image more subtle than an EX1/1R/3, which look more vidoeoish to me. ”

I like hearing that. I’ll have to test a 250 out.

Thanks.

PHIL

PHIL YUNKER
Vanguard Media & Entertainment
http://www.philyunker.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/philyunker

[Phil Yunker]

One last question Jeff, any news or rumors for what Panasonic will be showing at NAB this year?

PHIL YUNKER
Vanguard Media & Entertainment
http://www.philyunker.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/philyunker

[Steve Eisen]

[Phil Yunker] “any news or rumors for what Panasonic will be showing at NAB this year?”

Have not heard anything but I would love to see a 1/2″ CMOS/CCD P2 camera.

I’ll find out April 15th.

I’m upgrading my HPX170 for the HPX250, just need a buyer.

Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

[Jeff Regan]

I think it unlikely to see 1/2″ sensors from Panasonic and am hearing from some sources that S35 sensors are also unlikely in the near term.

Jeff Regan
Shooting Star Video
http://www.ssv.com

[Dave Felder]

Hi Phil,

Just bought the 250 myself. I don’t know as much about the camera as Jeff Regan, although I’m going to sit down with his answer to you and go through the manuals term by term until I learn. I can give you a “corporate videographer’s” point of view.

Few people will to tell you that they just wasted $8K on a camera, so I’m obviously going to tell you why I made a wise decision. Hopefully, I’ve included enough content that it will serve as info and not just opinion.

I upgraded from a Canon EOS5d to the HPX250. (No argument that the EOS5d gives a great image, but no servo, short recording times if you’re doing meetings and seminars, and no professional audio capability.)

Before then, I rented the HPX370 and EX3. I own a JVC DV5000 and Sony DXC50/PVV1. Obviously, those last two cameras haven’t been used in a while, I just can’t throw something out if the power LED comes on when I throw the switch.

So far, the HPX250 has been a great investment. I’ve done 5 shoots in the past two months and am very very happy with the cameras performance in low light, the dynamic range (remember it’s a 1/3″ chip camera) and it’s useability. The long lens gives me more shooting opportunities with less equipment moving.

I’ve had to kick up the gain a few times and at 6dB couldn’t see any noise.

It fits in the overhead bin on a plane in a Portabrace, which also carry’s everything you need for a week’s worth of shooting. The camera lets you back up your P2 cards directly to an external hard drive without needing a PC.

The main reason I chose the 250 over similarly priced HD cameras was because it’s Panny’s newest model, it’s got 4:2:2 color processing which makes it truly “broadcast quality” if you’ve got clients asking for that, it uses relatively cheap batteries and P2 cards are proven technology versus SD and CF cards which do “die” from time to time. (if you don’t believe that, look on a website that sells the CF or SD cards and read the reviews).

Finally, AVC Intra 100 is at the top of its class (at least today, anyhow). Why settle for 35 or even 50 Mbps when you can get the AVC Intra100 at the same price? This might be like still camera megapixel bragging, I’m not sure. Most of my clients put their stuff on YouTube and their websites, so maybe the codec isn’t that important, but I figure may as well shoot at the highest quality level possible to try to extend the life of your footage.

One unexpected surprise: The old edit system (i3-3 Ghz) doesn’t really handle the 1080P 100Mbps stream too well. I haven’t got the horsepower.

Ryan Video Productions Inc. Rockaway, NJ

[Phil Yunker]

Dave,
thanks for the first hand info. My 250 ships today, can’t wait.

PHIL

PHIL YUNKER
Vanguard Media & Entertainment
http://www.philyunker.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/philyunker