my Panasonic HPX3000 P2 HD camera white paper

[Doug Nichol]

Hey Joe,
Good to read through the white paper. I also own a HPX-3000 and like it a lot.
To archive my P2 files, I bought a Quantum LTO-3 drive which works great. It’s better than Bluray or using hard drives as each tape holds 400G of material (or 800G compressed) and has a 30 year lifespan.

[Joe Incardona]

Doug, thanks so much for taking the time to read my white paper and respond to it.

We also have bought the Quantum tape drive, but the dealer here in Memphis who sold it to us has yet to help us install it in our FCP HD edit bay.

I’m anxious to hear how it’s working for you. There’s no question, I think, it’s the best option right now for permanent archival of P2 material, although it is rather pricey.

Let me know how well the Quantum is working for you, and if there are any tips you might share on how to use it best.

Thanks again!

Joe Incardona
President
Media Source
Memphis, TN

[Joe Incardona]

Doug, I forgot to ask: where are you located geographically?

Trying to get a handle on how many other production houses have the camera, in case there is need to collaborate with someone on a multi-camera HPX3000 situation.

The Panasonic rep for the mid-US region told me as of two weeks ago only 94 had been sold worldwide, he got that from Panasonic’s order entry people.

Thanks again for your feedback!

Joe Incardona
President
Media Source
Memphis, TN
http://www.memphismediasource.com

[Doug Nichol]

Hey Joe,
The Quantum LTO-3 is easy to use (now that I figured it out…) Just make sure you buy or download a copy of Retrospect. I couldn’t figure out how to make the deck work and only after downloading a copy of Retrospect (and installing it) did it show up on my computer. I had to buy a SCSI card from ATTO as that is the only way to hook it up to the MacPro. Anyway – once you have Retrospect it’s really easy – just select the all the folders containing your footage or project and click “back-up”.
Best,
Doug

[Joe Incardona]

I can’t thank you enough for this, Doug, I don’t think the dealer here in Memphis who sold us the Quantum drive would have known all this. Seems as if you should get some kind of tech support fee from them for the tip you just passed along!

Thanks again, I really appreciate that, it has been frustrating trying to get all this bleeding edge stuff configured without much support from the people who sold it to us!

[Helmut Kobler]

Thanks a lot for putting this together, Joe! I’ve been very very interested in the HPX3000 because I like P2 (especially once the 64GB cards start shipping), and I LOVE the idea of a 2/3″, 2.2MP imager on a shoulder-mount body, recording 10bit 4:2:2 video. .

Except for not being able to do slow motion, this camera seems to have everything, and for a pretty reasonable price. I’m not so enamored of the RED–for broadcast, a 4K imager isn’t that useful, and the RED is heavier and much harder to operate as a one or two-man crew.

ANYWAY….I’m surprised to hear that Panasonic has sold only 100 or so of these cameras. Does that strike people as an unusually low number? Perhaps the sales rep is mistaken, or maybe the HPX3000 is having a hard time finding its niche. For dramatic and commercial production, people are very aware of the RED, and new Sony cameras. And for reality tv/news/documentaries, the 3000 is definitely on the pricey side of cameras these days.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Helmut Kobler] “Except for not being able to do slow motion”

You can actually shoot 60i and get really decent 24p slow motion.

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Hi Doug,

Which Quantum LTO drive are you using the 600? I thought we had connected to it via the network connnection(cat5.)

No?

Best,

Jan

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

[Doug Nichol]

Hi Jan,
I’m using the Quantum LTO-3 Ultrium. It’s a lot less money than the 600 and does basically the same job. Only problem is that this drive only has a SCSI connection, thus I had to get the SCSI card from ATTO. Still the whole thing worked out nearly 50% less than buying the 600.
Best,
Doug

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

Hi,

That does explain the difference in our experiences.

Thanks,

Jan

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