is the hpx 500 really a hd camera ?

[Steve Wargo]

Same chip as the HVX200 and those guys claim that the 200 is HD. key word is “claim”. I have two in our rental department.

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1.

[Peter Corbett]

Isn’t the HVX200 a 1/3″ x 3 CD and whilst the 500 uses a 2/3″ x 3 CCD derived from the SDX900? Maybe not “HD” but streets ahead of the HVX200.

Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au

[Bob Woodhead]

Peter’s correct. NOT same sensors as 200. TONS of threads regarding quality, comparisons, etc over on DVXUser.com

“Constituo, ergo sum”

Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
http://www.CoolNewMedia.net
Quantel-Avid-FCP-3D-Crayola
Panasonic HPX500

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Hi,

The HPX as well as the HVX indeed are HD cameras. The folks that claim that they are SD chips and thus are only capable of SD are totally ignoring the effect of the spatial offset technology whic brings both cameras CCDs to above a million pixels each.

The EX camera works using a CMOS imager, not the same as a CCD. Do a google search on the EX1 and Rolling Shutter. The CMOS imager with all of its pixel count does not come without a price. And then there is the wierd issue that it won’t allow you to go into record from the playback mode. You have to switch the camera off and have it reboot to get to the recording side. This will take over 10 seconds.

Hope this helps,

Jan

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

[Michael Sacci]

There is no way a HPX200 or 500 is going to live up to a highend HD camera, nor should anyone expect it to. After all, look at the cost of HD lenses that are being put on Varicams, F900 and now the HPX3000, they cost more than what most people are paying for an entire HPX500 setup, no way is it going to be as good. But the question is what can you afford and well that do well enough for your needs. Get the best camera you can afford that meets your needs.

I have the HPX200, love it, clients love it, have used the 500 a couple of times and it offers some much needed improvements, what better with low light, bigger lenses but that comes at a much higher price, when I can afford a 500 I plan to buy one.

[Ryan Early]

I plan to demo both cameras however I would like to see a resolution chart shot by the 500. Does the spatial offset technology give the camera the same level of detail as a native 1920 x 1080 sensor ?

I have looked on dvx user but I haven’t found a side by side comparison with the ex1. My preference is for the 500 over the ex1, but I want to be sure that it is in fact HD and not an SD camera made a little sharper. If it can resolve enough detail to qualify it as HD then I really don’t care how it gets there.

Thanks

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Michael Sacci] “There is no way a HPX200 or 500 is going to live up to a highend HD camera”

Are you talking the HVX200 or HPX2000?

[Mitch Ives]

As everyone has pointed out, the 500 and the 200 are not the same chips.

Comparing the EX-1 to the 200 is a difficult task… the EX-1 has a far superior camera head and lens, but records to a far inferior format… and of course there is the CMOS baggage and tradeoffs with the EX-1 as well. Comparing the EX-1 to the 500 is even more difficult.

You can chase down resolution charts, but in the end, I think you’ll want to shoot with both and bring the footage into an editing system. Connecting the cameras to monitors is a completely meaningless exercise… unless of course you never have to actually record or edit anything.

Walk the footage through YOUR production chain and then decide. Personally, I think you’ll do fine with either camera. My 200’s have made me more money than any of the cameras I’ve ever owned… but then again (to quote my friend Bill) “it ain’t the piano, it’s the piano player… always has been”.

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com

Apple Certified Trainer: Final Cut Pro

[Michael Sacci]

Sorry, HVX200. Hard to keep everything straight.

[Nate Stephens]

Thanks Jan,

I love my 200 even more after I googled CMOS/rolling shutter and read Barry Greens article
—- https://dvxuser.com/jason/CMOS-CCD/ —-

I have read all the great things about CMOS for the last five years and was waiting for them to show up in cameras…. Now I am very happy that I am waiting a while longer for the global shutter…

I know that I don’t want smear in my images, but I don’t want to start explaining wobble, skew, or partial exposure to a client.

Maybe out in the sunny west they are used to everything a little askew…..

but I am an Ohio type of guy 😉