Rental Question HPX250 or Sony EX3?

[John Sharaf]

Terry,

Rule of thumb for multi-cam shoots: use the same cameras, use the same recording format.

JS

[Terry Leahy]

I agree, sadly I cannot find anybody who will rent me another HPX370.

[Don Greening]

Unless you’re really good at colour matching in post then go with the Panny 250. The only advantage the EX3 will have is the 1/2″ chips for a slightly easier job of creating a shallower depth of field (if that’s a consideration).

For starters the 250 shoots intra frame 4:2:2 whereas the EX3 shoots MPEG 2 4:2:0 Long GOP. With the Panny 370 and 250 you’re going to be using P2 media so stay with one format instead of using P2 and the EX3’s Sony SxS cards. The 250 is a more recent model than the EX3 so the picture noise might be less than the earlier EX3’s CMOS sensors.

The HPX 370 and 250 will most likely share the same imaging chip family, picture profiles and setups so colour matching should be a snap. The 250 has a 21X zoom whereas the X3 is 16X.

If you ever get a response in the Panasonic P2 forum it will probably be the same general recommendations as this one. BTW, I own an EX3.

– Don

Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com

[Jan Crittenden livingston]

[Terry Leahy] “I have to rent a camera for an all day presentation event and am deciding between the Sony EX-3 or HPX250. It is a two camera shoot and the other camera will be the HPX-370 which will be used as the close up angle. I know that the 250 will match better with 370 but theoretically (at least price would dictate) that the EX-3 is superior.”

The HPX250 and the HPX370 share the same imager set. The HPX250 can record in AVC-Intra as can the HPX370 which is a 4:2:2 I frame only 10 bit codec which the EX3 can’t even come close to. It bet format is 4:2) Long GOP, and 8 bit. You will have a much easier time in matching the P2 cameras and a much better time in post with the AVC-Intra.

Best,

Jan

Jan Crittenden Livingston
Product Manager, AVCCAM, AG-3DA1, AG-AF100
Panasonic Broadcast & TV Systems

[Terry Leahy]

Thanks Guys,

I ended up going with the 250 to match the 370 codecs. I also will have to roll for multiple hours so I am shooting in AVC-Intra 50 as opposed to 100 so I can extend the record time of the P2 cards.

Thanks!

[Don Greening]

Terry, you have chosen wisely 🙂

– Don

Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com