Simon Wyndham
Forum Replies Created
-
Nice 🙂 Just downloading the update now.
-
I borrowed one for a weekend a couple of weeks ago. Uses the same body base as the SD cameras, so it feels a bit more solid than the 1/2″ cameras and balances nicely. Virtually no noise at all on the picture.
It drinks power, but that is to be expected with those chips. The pre-production camera I used was rated at 40w. There a colour temp button can store five white balance presets that you can cycle between by pressing it. There was a 30sec cache, which is enough time to be able to swap out to another disc if you are doing a press conference etc.
The camera I tried had an early firmware and could only do 50i. 24p is likely to be via an option board just like it was on the SD cameras. No variable framerate (and for the record, non of the current tapeless Panasonic cameras above the 500 can do VFR either, and nor can the GV Infinity). However if you don’t want odd framerates like 32fps etc, you can always record footage in 720p/60 and do a frame for frame conversion in post for smooth slow mo.
SDI in is an option, but it does have two SDI outs on the back. I have a run down of what I liked and disliked on my website. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I get hold of a production model.
-
I don’t have a Windows network.
-
Sounds like the problem I had. Did the screen just go black?
When I first installed Boot Camp I had to reboot in Safe Mode first and set the screen resolution then reboot again.
-
That’s a real shame that they aren’t on top of this. This issue and the way it won’t display aspect corrected SD 16:9 footage, or display SD progressive scan properly is quite annoying, and they NEED to sort it out pronto.
They just need a kick. Perhaps if more people post about it over at the official Matrox support forums.
-
I own a Petroff 4×5.
It gets the job done, but it is very clunky compared to the Chrosziel and Vocas models. The Petroff is made of plastic. The filter trays rotate, but unlike the Vocas and Chrosziels they are not smooth in operation. Certainly the Petroff is very tough, but it feels very cheap compared to the others.
-
For the record I thought the 500 was a nice camera. Just those niggles that I mentioned in my other posts put me off it.
At this price range there will always be compromises. At this level (the 500 and 350) there isn’t really a ‘better’ camera. Just differences.
My main issues with the 500 are the way that it needs to go into a different mode for clip manipulation. Jan, you should consider adding a quick clip delete function and a way of skipping through the clips without having to go into this different mode. I’d also implore you to add a colour matrix adjustment. There are cameras costing much less that have this function, and on this type of camera I know I’m not the only one that thinks it is essential.
Shoulder pad adjustment is also something that needs to be added. It might even need a bit more than is usual because of the light weight of the body.
The P2 thing I could care less about, mainly because anything that can be said about the differences between the workflow systems has already been said.
-
I don’t currently own a 350 (I currently own a 510), so I can’t send you any files (although the Sony US site has downloadable files, calibrated to the DSC Labs ChromaDuMonde chart)
https://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10014/xdcamSceneFiles.shtml -
“with f350 you will lose resolution”
Only above the base framerate. For framerates under the base rate (undrecranking) it is at full resolution. To be honest you’d be hard pressed to spot the loss of resolution in overcranking framerates.
“F330 comes with 1.5′ vf”
The original poster of this topic wants a 350, which comes with the 2″ viewfinder.
“I do like Panasonic colour more then Sony,especially skin tones.”
Panasonic colours are very nice yes. But the 350 can be tweaked to whatever you want it to be.
“One big plus with 1/2 Sony cameras is: HD lenses are cheaper”
They are around the same in reality. Look at the price of the wide angle top end 1/2″ lenses.
-
DVCpro isn’t actually 100Mbps. The datarate at most framerates is far, far less. Panasonic also include the audio in that datarate too. Something that I don’t think Sony do with the 35Mbps specification. I’ll have to do some checking on this.
I used a 500 recently, and I agree fully with Nate. It feels like a big HVX200. The menu adjustments bare this out. If you want to match the 500 to another camera forget it. It doesn’t have any colour matrix adjustment at all, and the vast majority of its menu settings such as detail, gamma etc only go from -7 to +7, much like a prosumer camera like the HVX200. Knee can only be configured as low, medium, and high.
Basically the 350 is 1000 times more adjustable, and that’s without going into the service menus which bring about even more adjustments.
Variable framerate is good on both cameras. Although the 350 is adjustable in single frame increments while the 500 only has set framerates.
The 350 has a 64frame accumulation mode which is great for extreme low light timelapse shots etc.
Low light on the 350 is not as good as the 500. This is an area in which the 500 excels. When I first tested the 350 I didn’t like the noise characteristics. But I have one here now and have found it not to be anywhere near as bad as I remembered it. I shoved it up to +9db, and while there is noise, it isn’t terrible
The 1.5″ viewfinder on the 500 sucks. But on the plus side the 500 has a great focus assist graph function that shows you the edge frequencies. Panasonic came up trumps with that feature.
On the minus side, while the 500 does come with the 1.5″ viewfinder, it doesn’t come with a microphone.
Clip playback on the 500 is fiddly. With XDCAM I am used to be able to instantly playback clips, and if I am shoulder mounting I can quickly delete a clip if it was a flub. You can’t do this on the 500. You have to open a flap and put the camera into a separate playback mode in order to perform operations on the clips.
Both are great cameras. But to be honest I do not believe that they are comparable. They exist in different price brackets for a reason. The XDCAM is simply far more user friendly in operation and far less limiting in setup abilities. The 500 doesn’t even have an adjustable shoulder pad. And because the body on the 500 is so light due to the P2 recording, it becomes very front heavy. You need some heavy batteries to offset it, and the lack of shoulder adjustment compounds this.