HPX500 5600 Preset Fix

[Nate Stephens]

Jan,

The new HPX500 that I ordered from our local dealer last Monday, will it arrive with the 5600 preset fixed or should we just mail it back for an early fix..

Has the HPX500 factory implemented the 5600 correction if so, when, manufacture date/serial numbers

I have yet to receive the HPX500 or hear of a ship to date.

Thanks

[David Hudson]

This is directly answering Nates questions.

You really have to ask yourself what you’re going to do with the camera and who your clients are. If you’ve been shooting with a 200 or an SD camera yes you’ll be impressed.

If your clients are used to full HD cameras like the 900 or others of their ilk and you try to sell them on the 500 the answer is no, particularly if you’re doing alot of big nature photography. To my eyes the pixel shift tech really falls down on big wide shots. They always tend to look a bit soft and noisy. I notice this with the 200 too but to a greater degree.
It’s also more noticeable on high res computer monitors then it is on HDTV. But of course the first place you usually see the stuff is in post, on a computer screen.
I know there are technical reasons for this but it just gets boring. Pixel shift tech is a compromise to get HD cameras to certain price point. The bigger the chip the lower the yield so the higher the price per chip. So if you can make small chips perform like big chips with some elec wizardry you can produce a camera that looks pretty good most of the time for a reasonable price.

I shoot with a lot of different cameras not just the ones I own so I have a pretty good idea of the looks they’re capable of producing. Don’t just read the brochure. Rent the camera first and see if you like it or at least go demo it somewhere.
Am I glad I bought it a while back? No. But not for the reasons of tech. This is the first Panasonic camera I’ve bought or used that just didn’t grow on me. I think a lot of it had to do with the preset problem. This was something so obvious that they should have caught before the cameras shipped. It was always in the back of my mind and left me with the nagging feeling that there might be another surprise waiting. On set with the train of production rolling down the tracks is no place for equipment in which you have no faith.

Cheers

[Nate Stephens]

Thanks David,

You have confirmed some of my hopes for this camera. I shoot Betacam SP with a Sony DXCwsl35. I was hoping when I purchased it that Sony would develop a pixel shift upgrade and HDV VTR back for this camera. But not..

It sounds from your reply that the HPX500 is an improved picture over the Sony DXCwsl (even with SD lens on HPX) The Panny 900 with 2 man crew commands a 2K rate in our Ohio market. It is my goal to match our Betacam SP rate (or slight rate uptick) of 1.4K per day with 2 man crew.

I would love to buy the 3000 for the image and the P2 workflow, but I know that our market will not support it and my current clients will not notice the difference.

I appreciate your pioneering spirit. Somebody has to be first inline…

[David Hudson]

My sentiments exactly about the price point. I try to send a package out in the 1000-1200 price range.

If you can buy a 200A too as your some of your younger clients wont’t get the shoulder mount thing.

Good luck.

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Hi Nate,

Not sure of the implementation date. Send me you serial number when you get it and I will confirm.

Best,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, HPX500, HVX200, DVX100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

[Paul Colin]

Have missed the last couple of days at this forum.
So I was little taken aback with the vociferous froufoura around the 5600K preset issue.
Either my color vision is going to heck in a hand basket or the HPX500 I purchased last September does not have this problem. In any case I do not notice any color cast on footage shot out of doors with the 5600K preset. Am I also to understand the manual white balance using the old white card method doesn’t work?
I was just shooting outside this afternoon and the footage included large portions of sky (albeit shot with ND filter) none of which looked greenish on my HD monitor after ingest. Am I missing something?
Cheers,
Paul Colin,
Cezanne Studio, NYC

[Nate Stephens]

Paul,

Take your camera outside and just use the 5600 preset value and then look at your monitor. Do not use the white balance and white card method.

And get back to us wether you have a greenish cast to your blue skys..

I just ordered my HPX500…. It would be interesting to know if I should really worry about this issue..

[Adam Smith]

[Nate Stephens] “And get back to us wether you have a greenish cast to your blue skys..

I just ordered my HPX500…. It would be interesting to know if I should really worry about this issue..”

It’s mostly visible in neutral-colored areas, grey sidewalks and the like… shoot something with the preset, then white balance and shoot it again. It’s not horribly off, and certainly fixable in a number of ways, but having the preset work correctly would certainly be better.

I’ll be sending my camera off to be tweaked once I have the time, but I have a few shoots lined up first (that will turn out just fine).

-Adam

– – –
Video Photographer / Avid & Final Cut Editor

[Paul Colin]

Nate,
Yikes! Bad news! Indeed the dreaded green cast is there.
I rarely use the presets. Usually I white balance with a card to get the advantage of shooting in real prevailing conditions
rather than the presets.
Hmmm now I have to decide whether I want to send the camera out for the fix or live with it.
I’ll think it over.
Actually I usually shoot a tad warmer outside, about 4900K, makes those skies just little bluer than 5600.
Other than that I love this camera, with the caveat of having invested in really good glass. My lens costs almost twice as much as the camera itself. But it’s worth it.
Good luck w/your 500.
Best,
Paul

[Nate Stephens]

Paul,

Thanks for checking. I always use a white card also. But why bring in a new camera with a known problem. Hopefully they will fix it before they ship it….. Ya think….

You mentioned that you have a great lens. What lens are you using? Is it HD with the CAC?

I ordered the camera without lens, so I don’t miss out on the rebate. Hopefully a couple of jobs later I can purchase a good piece of glass, but which kind???