Questions for HDX900 users

[Lee Dashiell]

There are pros and cons to both cameras. We used the HDX900 nine days in the last 2 weeks. Two of those days were from clients looking for a CineAlta crew in South Carolina. The benefit was that we were able to use the HDX900 in 1080i in for both customers. That’s two jobs that we wouldn’t have booked with the Varicam. Both clients were very pleased and we are comfortably offering the HDX900 as an alternative for the CineAlta projects.

You can’t own everything…..but the HDX900 sure helps bridge the HD formats.

http://www.varicamcrew.com
South Carolina HDX900 Varicam Crew
DP/CamMate Crane Owner/Operator

[Johann Perry]

Hi,
I’m a London based Dp and I’ve had my HDX900 for a month now. In the Uk broadcast market I am having no problems switching all my clients to the HDX900 (BBC and Chanel 4 so far). The main driver has been the superb picture quality and the flexibilty of recording modes. I’ve now had the chance to test grade material shot on the hdx900, sony750 and the sony900cinealta and make comparisons with a top colourist using a Baselight grading system and a Grade 1 Monitor. I’m not going to get into comparisons with the cinealta beacuse it performed beautifully in the grade and is ultimately a much more expensive camera (oranges and apples). The panasonic held its own but you are definately aware that there is more information available from the cinealta giving you a hyperreal picture when finished, quite simply you can acheive stunning results.
The comparison to be made is with the 750 and the hdx900 which are at a closer price point. Like all tests there are limitations because you cannot test for all shooting situations but my main observations were;
Looking at the raw footage out the cameras, the HDX is much cleaner in the Blacks than the 750, even at 9db there is hardly any grain.
The 750 had a much flatter colour palette, the HDX900 is richer.
We were able to pull more information out of the blacks and whites on the HDX900 shooting in FILMLIKE3 gamma mode than on the 750. When you look at the scopes the hdx900 just has more lattitude.
The skin tones were more subtle on the hdx900.
The panasonic is particularly impressive in low light, in real life by my calculations it was two stops more sensitive.
Now having said all of the above the colourist I was working with was able to get a pretty near seamless match between the cameras after some fancy knob twiddling and plenty of talent.
So I think we are back to the old argument that as long as your footage is well composed and lit by someone with some flair and that you treat that footage with the same care through all the production processes then you will get a good result on a variety of cameras.
The Panasonic’s selling point though is it produces a great Hi definition picture for little more than a standard def price. And on that basis mine is booked out until the end of next April, now how do you like them apples……

[Patrick Fries]

I’m not completely sure I know what breathing is when related to the lens, can someone explain por favor?

Does that mean that it rolls thru the crisp focus point?

Thanks

Patrick Fries
Director/DP
Arrowhead Films
Austin, Texas 512-302-1100

[John Sharaf]

Patrick,

“Breathing” in a lens refers to the image size changing as the focus does; especially noticable when you focus from near to far of vias versa. The Lens can be seen to be “zooming” while you are only turning the focus knob. Cine style HD lenses are designed to minimize or eliminate this effect, as well as exposure “ramping” but usually with the penalty of added weight and mass.

JS

[Tom Miller]

This is all great information. Thank you all for your replies.

[Joseph Hudson]

“Breathiing” is when the size of the image changes (along with focus) when you rotate the focus ring–i.e. it looks like you are zooming a bit when all you are doing is changing focus. Most zoom lenses have this to some extent. When it is extreme it can be really irritating if you don’t want the size of the image to change.

Sometimes you can work around this by using the macro funciton on video lenses. This works particularly well if you are going from close to far as you can set the far focus exactly with no macro, set close focus with the macro and all you have to do is move the macro lever until it is disengaged and you end at the exact focus mark. Going from far to close you can do the reverse, but it’s not as easy to hit the exact focus spot (unless you set it up for the close focus to be at the exact end of the close macro position.) There is no breathing using the macro. This doesn’t work with all focal lengths depending the distance between close and far focus, but can come in handy when it works.

[Patrick Fries]

Thanks so much for that information. All my years behind the camera and I never came across that. Still learning. We just got our 900 today and we have the Cannon super wide lens, which is scarey because it’s such an incredible piece of glass. I can’t wait to see what it can do. We have a Tyler nose mount shoot next week to break it in.

PF

Patrick Fries
Director/DP
Arrowhead Films
Austin, Texas 512-302-1100

[Tom Miller]

Hi Johanne,

Did you buy this camera with the Fujinon lens (17x) that Panasonic packaged with it?

Tom Miller
Big Pictures
http://www.getbigpix.com

[Johann Perry]

hi Tom,
I’ve already got canon lenses (22 and 11) and personally would stick with canon over fujinon lenses.
best johann