[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

You don’t want to transcode to H.264. Not only was that the original recording codec, but by making those files smaller you did lose significant quality even if you can’t immediately see it. Trust me, when it comes times to color correct, you will see it. More than that,H.264 is great for acquisition but misery for actually working with. It is an extremely CPU intensive codec. I would recommend transcoding to a more standard editing codec. You would have a wonderful time downloading the free version of GoPro Cineform Studio and converting all of your ORIGINAL files to Cineform and editing them from there. Cineform works wonders for H.264 footage. File size may even increase but don’t worry; it is a much stronger codec to use for editing and even for your final output depending on where it’s going. You should see a pretty serious increase in performance. If not, I’d be very surprised.

Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

Hard question to answer…

Really depends on what you’re doing. Could not agree more with Noah. Honestly I’ve been at major broadcast networks that use a DVX100B every day for small casting shoots and other various things like that so it is definitely a nice camera to have around. Honestly, I would keep it just because you probably won’t get the type of money out of it that you would hope for. At that point, I’d be happier keeping it for that rainy day when a good looking SD camera that can shoot 24p to miniDV tape comes in super handy. That day will come…

But if you really need a new camera or you need to do modern work, then yes I’d say you should look to get something new (while still holding onto the DVX if you can). If you like the feel of the Panasonic, the form factor of the DVX, and you want to stay with the company, then I’d look to the HPX250 or the AVCCAM version, the AC160, for less money. Same everything, but different recording codec. Cost/Benefit, what’s important to you? For more narrative driven work, check out the AF100 which you can get at a great price now. Someone even just posted a huge AF100 kit that he’s trying to sell a few threads above. But the camera itself is running at about $3,500 now after rebates. If you want a great value camera, and don’t mind spending on Canon glass, or if you already have Canon glass, look to pre-ordering the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. That looks like a very cool piece of kit. And with an unbeatable software bundle.

There are a lot of options out there. Find what works for you. But keep the DVX.

Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

I did contact technical support regarding the image stuttering but it didn’t really go anywhere. I know that seemed to be very atypical of AJA. I was thinking at this point just waiting to see if it was a firmware bug to be fixed with CS6. But especially considering what you’ve said about the fan noise, I think that I will be contacting technical support today. Thanks for your help!

Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

Excellent find! As someone who was looking into an AF100 and even a hacked GH2, this makes me feel great about the BMCC! At least compared to the m43 offerings, the sensor difference really is negligible. And if it worked for THE RAID, it can work for me.

Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

What is the upgrade path that people here are taking?

I’m not sure if I should go with Creative Cloud or a regular Production Premium CS6 upgrade. What are the real differences? What will I gain/lose with either one? I know that Story has different options now in particular. Any difference between the upgrade and the cloud?

Possibly a question for Dennis…

Thanks All!!

Panasonic HPX170 P
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

Hey Zack,

Congratulations on the AF! A great camera indeed. The Olympus 45 is a very nice lens but remember, on a micro4/3 camera this will look like a 90mm! That is because of the crop factor that the sensor size is subject to. If this is going to be your one lens, I would get something that will put you in a more normal range. For 4/3, I would look instead to the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 or the Panasonic/Leica 25mm F1.4. These will put you in a more useable, everyday focal length. A 45 on micro 4/3 is just too long of a lens. That would basically be a portrait or close up lens. As a rule of thumb, multiply the focal length of the lens by two and that will give you thr effective focl length on a micro 4/3 camera.

As for image stabilization, you won’t find this in micro4/3 lenses as the standard puts it directly in the camera bodies themselves allowing lenses to be smaller and automatically stabilizing any lens you put on the camera. And for video, you wouldn’t really want it anyway as the IS is a correction device. Imagine making a nice slow pan on a tripod and then the lens or camera corrects for motion and it jitters trying to counteract your intentional movement. It can mess you up, and has messed me up. The software stabilizers are good. Use those together with good shooting practices and you will be fine.

Use it in good health!
Matt

Panasonic HPX170 P
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

I could not agree more with both of you. Quite frankly, the 4K Varicam is too little too late at this point and will probably be too expensive as well. It’s nice that someday it will exist, but it needed to be ready, and shipping by August. That, or a real update to the AF100.

I was planning on making the jump to an AF100 successor. I was waiting for a long time. Now it looks like I will be pre-ordering the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. I know how to shoot with Super16 (and even that is a HUGE step up from my 1/3 HPX170) so I see very little downside to that camera. I expect that there will be several people like me doing the same thing.

I’m very disappointed as I wanted to stay with Panasonic. I like the look and feel that I get with their cameras. I like them as a company, certainly more than Sony. And I feel like when they do release a product it’s well thought out and not rushed. And sure, the 4K Varicam will probably be great when it eventually hits, but by then people will have moved on. The FS700 makes up for the faults of the rushed-to-market FS100, and adds 4K capability. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera fills the gap in the lower price points and brings features and quality beating cameras four times its price.

Panasonic needed a home run this year and after letting the AF100 and what could have been a great AF series just fizzle out, it looks like little more than a pop fly.

Panasonic HPX170 P
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

[Matthew Abourezk] “What I am really hoping for is that someone can tell me that the HVX 200, when recording to an external device, gives a quality level that has never been seen before in the video world. No camera at any price can match… is that too much to ask? :-)”

Unfortunately, no one will tell you this. As the HVX200 only as FireWire 400 out or Component out, so there will be no quality increases over DVCProHD to P2 cards.

I saw in another post of yours above that you are looking for benefit from the component out. Unfortunately, you really won’t find one. The recorders that will offer you advantages in the recording scheme will really require minimum HDMI out which can be a pain. To really take advantage of an external recording you ideally want HD-SDI out.

DVCProHD is good. 4:2:2 gives you the chroma resolution to do what you need in post for the grading so you’re set there. The problem with the HVX200 is the sensor and luma resolution. Two things that can never be changed regardless of your recording scheme.

Just curious, why would buying and learning new equipment be okay but renting and learning is not?

I too am a huge Panasonic guy but agree that the Sony F3 would be great for this. The low light is CLEAN. The F3 and the AJA KiPro mini is a killer rig. Set that up to record ProRess 422 or DNxHD if you’re on Avid and you will have what you need.

Panasonic HPX170 P
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

That’s definitely what I’m hoping for too. Looks like they’ve done something in that direction. Hopefully something major.

Panasonic HPX170 P
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary

[Matthew Sonnenfeld]

This may be of some interest to you… Conan’s editors tried CS6 and made a video about it. Doesn’t show THAT much but they seem to be pretty confident.

https://www.photographybay.com/2012/03/15/adobe-premiere-pro-cs6-teased-via-conans-editors/

Panasonic HPX170 P
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 8GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5, Final Cut Pro Studio 3, Avid Media Composer 3.5.4
The College of William and Mary