Panasonic hdx900 Liked it so much I just brought one.

[Peter Steinman]

I have both now. I originally was looking at the 900 to replace the Varicam but, the value of a used Varicam is such that I decided to keep both and just rent out the Varicam rather then sell it. Varicam rental market is still very strong. I haven’t even actually had anyone ask to rent my HDX900 yet.

The 900 provides all the features I actually use on the Varicam and the idea was to buy the 900 sell off the Varicam and pocket the change. No sense paying for features I don’t actually use. I can’t remember the last time that I’ve ever used anything but, 24, 30, or 60 fps unless playing around. I’m a video guy so, I don’t use shutter angles either.

[Scott Brown]

Interesting…looks like BBC Scotland are going for the Panasonic HDX900. This is a BIG move for the BBC as they have been Sony users for as long as I can remember.

I think the decision was driven by economics – Panasonic are offering some amazing camera + HD lens (Fujinon)combo deals and this is working out around

[Michael Brennan]

[bchsiao] “Michael,

How does discovery HD know if you’re using a HDX900 if you’re delivering in 1080i? Did they require HDCam masters? What about images from the previous HDX400?”

The production company sign a contract detailing what camera will be used. DVCPROHD is acceptable as a delivery format, I’m not sure they have actually said that the 900 is OK yet, as they tend not to list cameras but codecs in their producers guide. The assumption has been the camera head is a “good match” for the compression and subsampling of the on board recorder, but the 900 is the first to turn this on its head and up res in camera so it will make waves.

The interesting point is that they don’t accept Varicam pics for 1080i delivery without “special permission”.ie you need to have lots of slow mo in a project to justify it.

At the current time DIscovery are only interested in the recording format so in theory the HDX400 and 900 is good to go for Discovery HD.. until they ratify or fine tune their spec.

If Disco HD do accept 900 but not Varicam, then Vari owners should be pissed, as editing Varicam and then upresing to DVCPROHD 1080i (or D5 ect) should look pretty similar to pics acquired on 900

Of course for SD work it is the best value pro camera available this week 🙂 and something BBC Scotland will benifit from on their SD transmissions.

Mike Brennan

[Jeff Merritt]

All,

Several of you have made speculation as to what Discovery will allow to be shot and delivered. I’d like you to know that Discovery will not only accept VariCam but has now OK’d the HDX900 as well after doing extensive testing. The HDX400 was approved a long time ago. For confirmation, please contact Mr. Josh Derby, Manager of Technical Standards and Operations at Discovery. 240-662-4705. Josh told me recently that Discovery has several programs in the pipeline that will be shot on the HDX900.

And just for grins, the most watched of all programs on all the Discovery channels, American Chopper, is shot with VariCam and will start using HDX900s as well.

Discovery has new camera and delivery specs and if you intend to shoot for Discovery, it may be a good idea to contact Mr. Derby directly to get a copy of the specs.

Thanks,

Jeff Merritt
Product Line Business Manager
High Definition Products
Panasonic Broadcast
323-436-3676

[Michael Brennan]

Thanks Jeff,
I’ll give the man a call.
My enquires are regarding content for Discovery HD channel, which as I undersatand it have different standards to other Disco channels.
Has the 900 been accepted for Disco HD?

Issues in UK are lack of NLE support for 720p 25/50 frame rates. So we need to shoot USA frame rates which makes life complicated for offline viewing ect.

cheers

Mike Brennan

[Michael Brennan]

Hey Johann,
drop a line to Julian at High Definition Magazine he is interested in an article on the 900.
julian@definitionmagazine.com

cheers

Mike

[Jeff Merritt]

Hi,

My understanding is that the HD Channel is the most discriminating and the VariCam and HDX900 are both approved for acquisition. Remember however that their delivery spec is 1080i on HDCam, SRW or Panasonic D5-HD.

Please Contact Josh Derby to be sure. You may mention that I sent you as he and I talk often.

Thanks,

Jeff Merritt
Product Line Business Manager
High Definition Products
Panasonic Broadcast
323-436-3676

[Johann Perry]

Thanks for that Mike,
I’ll get in contact,
best Johann

[Pat Mcgowan]

Jeff, your sales guys better get busy selling the 1400 series decks into the networks for playout.

[Michael Brennan]

Discovery have confirmed that the 900 is ok for HD acquisition, unrestricted in all its recording modes.

Mike Brennan