Panasonic HPX3100 Clip name on HD-SDI out..?

[Helmut Kobler]

Glad you like the reviews, thanks!

In my mind, there are a few reasons for an absence of buzz/noise about the 3100. #1) Panasonic has not been doing much Pro-oriented marketing at all, except for a few banner ads I see on the Cow and a few other sites. But beyond that, not much. 2) I think two of the most interesting features of the 3100 are the higher-res proxies it can record to an SD card, and the wireless metadata, but neither of these were available when the 3100 started shipping in October. They’ve only begun shipping since around NAB. 3) I have heard 3 dealers tell me that there’s virtually no interest in 2/3″ shoulder mount cameras now. It’s been DSLRs/AF100 on the low-end, and then the Sony F3 in the middle, and then Alexa and maybe Red on the higher-end.

Personally, I think there’s a ton of life left in 2/3″ cameras, but some of that life comes from smart workflow improvements, not a bigger imager or 2k/4k resolution that other cameras have. I really think Panasonic is missing a big opportunity to make workflow their thing, and impress people with some out-of-the-box innovations. But so far, no one’s listened to me. 😉

They’re just now shipping the proxy and wireless metadata options, but not talking about them at all. No sample videos online to watch. No sample proxies to download. No brochures. I don’t really get it…

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Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com

[Helmut Kobler]

By the way, Robin, I’m just checking out Shotput 4 now. Will post some impressions in a week or two…

——————-
Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com

[Robin Probyn]

Hi there

Yes Ive down loaded it.. but yet to use in anger.. the HD-VU also looks interesting as Im not a big fan of the pana P2 CMS or anyway Iam not that familiar with it.

But this HD-VU looks just what I wanted.. simple and easy.. I hope.. to view P2 cards, as easy as viewing CF downloads from my nanoflash.. just for checking.. I dont do any editing..

My work .. doc,s and corp is for sure still in the 2/3 chip shoulder mount realm.. have used the 7D for drama stuff for a recent doc.. ok now that there is a decent EV around.. but ofcourse one HDMI cable broke.. I basically live and die by the zoom lens (fujinon 4.7) only rarely even put on a standard zoom for the telephoto.. plus no assistant and no time to change lenses these days ! and I need a camera I can put on my shoulder straight off the tripod..

The 3100 seems a great camera to me.. at am amazing price.. varicam quality for 1/3 the price.. my option is Sony 800 XDCAM.. also great camera but still moving parts,need a player etc.. although it is popular.. dont want to play out from the camera with P2 or XDCAM unless an emergency

Anyway look forward to your shotput V4 review.. and when will thunderbolt card reader/HDD arrive !!
Please hassle your contacts at Pana !! emailed a guy here but ominously no reply ..

[Helmut Kobler]

Is that Sony camera XDCAM disk? You say “moving parts” so I assume so. If I’m right, I would avoid the camera because XDCAM disk is a “dead man walking” format.

It used to be that the future belonged to solid-state, but now it’s clear that the present also belongs to solid-state. I would not touch a spinning-disk format that has such a short shooting capacity, and requires you to have some chunky and slow disk reader just to read the footage into a computer.

Also, many shoots call for multiple cameras….usually a bigger A camera (like the XDCAM) and then a smaller camera like a EX1 or HVX200 or 5D or whatever else. All those B-style cameras these days shoot to solid-state, so suddenly, you have to have two different workflows and archival approaches–one for your XDCAM disk camera, and one for the smaller B cameras. You might as well keep everything solid-state.

I really don’t think Sony will be making any more XDCAM disk cameras in 2 years…

As for the 3100, one notable feature it’s missing vs a Varicam is off-speed shooting (slow mo or 1fps). I would miss that a bit if I had a 3100.

——————-
Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com

[Robin Probyn]

Hi Helmut

Yes that was my feelings too re XDCAM.Yes no slo mo with the 3100.. I presumed it had time lapse though.. better check that..
Yeah solid state is logically the best way to go..down loading time only seeming to be the cookie in the silk sheets at the moment.. although this soon looks like it could become a 10/15 minute job at the end of the day.. and only a slight pain for having a non moving parts camera and all the advantages of that.

I cant see P2 64GB cards ever being $40 and so chargeable as tapes.. a bit cheaper would be good,but at least now its affordable to have a days worth of cards without the need to down load during your lunch break.or the stress of having to think about it !!

What is your down load system for in the field work?

Thanks again for your time