Sony PMW-EX1 vs Panasonic HVX-200 Shootout footage online

[Gary Adcock]

[Barry Green] “When both cameras were configured to deliver a fundamentally identical image (i.e., comparable gamma, comparable color rendition, both in 1080/24p mode, both in 180-degree shutter) the EX1 was more sensitive — by 1/2 of one stop. 0.5 stops. Not three stops! One half of one stop.”

Barry

that was not my finding with the testing I am currently doing at Fletcher Chicago, while our tests are not yet finished, we are finding that the EX1 camera is showing about 1 – 1.5 stops of additional lowlight capability over the HVX however. This is not close to 3 stops, and in all honesty the tests images shown on that website cannot properly evaluate the 2 cameras,

The big one for me was the resolution charts should have been set up better, the shots are useless to in in comparison between the 2 cameras since the HVX chart was NOT perfectly square to the chart being shot and that can dramatically skew the quality of the captured result.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Gary Adcock]

[Barry Green] “currently have a Vocas (aka Century) mattebox and I know for sure the Vocas won’t work — you can’t even physically move the mattebox in to mate to the lens, the mic/LCD sticks out so massively far.”

I have the Vocas Matte box adaptor for the EW1 I am testing and it works just fine, I can even rotate my 4×4 Polarizer 180*in the matte box.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Gary Adcock]

[Craig Seeman] ” one of the things both the HVX200 and the EX1 do have in common is undercrank/overcrank. I shot at 720p60 in 720p24. The interesting things was having the shallow DOF the 1/2″ chips provided. You can see on the close-up of the faces on the carousel, they go from soft to sharp to soft again as they pass through the “sweet” spot.”

True- but do the test again with a frame rate that is not divisible by 3 or 5 and you will see something very different, by shooting at 60fps you let the 15 frame GOP take control.
By working at a slightly different frame rate ( say 59) you are forceing the camera to generate more iframes than p or B frames, providing you with better images overall.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Mariusz Cichon]

Hi,

I made chart test with both cameras. HVX200 was at 1080/24PA and detail at 0.
EX1 was set to 108024P HQ with detail at 0 and second chart with 1080P HQ detail OFF which actually looks better for me.
Both cameras were on the same tripod 8 feet away from chart and F stop was F4. You can see charts here: https://idisk.mac.com/mcichon-Public/charts?view=web

[James Carroccio]

hey craig,

i just have a question because it seems that u know alot.

if i invest in the panasonic hvx200, do u think itll lastm e 5 years?

thanks in advance

JimmyJames
film student

[Benton Collins]

Thanks Matt for posting your shootout clips between the EX-1 and the HVX.

If all I had to judge these cameras on was by your clips, I would have to go with the HVX hands down as my personal choice. The EX-1 is by far much sharper, but it looks over sharpened and screams “video” to me. The HVX was indeed softer, but the look was to my eye much more film like, organic and with better more solid colors. Viewing the HVX clips I could almost believe it was shot on film, not so with the EX-1. This is not to say that the EX-1 had a bad picture, as it clearly was excellent, it just looked more like good but typical HD video.

Hopefully, the prices on the HVX will drop now that the EX-1 has made its appearance!

[Bj Ahlen]

As HD cameras become more and more advanced, I am finding more and more value in my film shooting experience.

Back in the ye olde days nobody expected (or even desired) to have the uncorrected film dailies look like the intended end result.

When shooting film, it is often possible to get more out of each frame by shooting in ways that result in really ugly dailies.

I have found the same to apply when shooting 2/3″ broadcast video also. It takes a bit of work to figure out what to do, but once you have developed your work flow and “look” it sure is a joy…

Even the $6500 XDCAM EX can be “painted” (image adjustments in menus) to look like a Varicam (or an HVX200).

The HVX200 gives very nice-looking images right out of the box, while the Sony needs tweaking.

Is that bad? I don’t care, because I put a fair amount of work into developing my looks, so the “Auto” setting is of only academic interest for me.

[Connor Roberts]

kinda funny how Panasonic release the hvx200 over 3 years ago, and this comparison on the brand NEW ex1 whows the sony barely beating the 3yr old hvx, lol. sounds to me like oanasonic is doing their job well. i guess that is why they compare the EX1 to the hvx200 and not the current panasonic model (hpx500) since that panasonic would blow the sony away.

[Richard Ladkani]

If any you you are interested in a new test where EX1 is compared to other cameras like the Z7 or the HVX201 visit

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/142/858581

Best
Richard

http://www.richardladkani.com

[Elijah Lynn]

The resolution drop is all in the “detail”.