XF300's new competitor
 

It looks like Panasonic is releasing a real competitor to the XF300/305.

http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/sales.../ag-hpx250.pdf

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

Sadly, it seems they're still using proprietary P2 cards. And it's "scheduled for release in Autumn 2011".

Otherwise, it looks interesting.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

I've worked with P2 and it's a very good, very reliable media system. Pricey, but the costs have come down a lot lately.

the costs have come down a lot lately.
 

They have, but they are still overpriced for what they are IMO. The other issue is that many will want to record to AVC Intra at 100 mbs so even though the cards are getting cheaper, they still work out expensive per minute.

I like CF cards myself. Robust, decent size etc. I don't like those tiny/fiddly SDHC things.

No doubt the new Panny will be excellent if you've already invested in the P2 media, otherwise its still an expensive system compared with the competition. The AVCHD version will be a good buy for those who can live without the superior codec.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

Don't like P2, the AC160 looks like it is an AVCCAM version of the HPX250 recording to more standard media. The AC130 gives up audio quality, HDSDI outputs, and interchangeability between NTSC and European standards.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

I had an HPX500 before I got my XF305, and I still have the P2 cards. This camera is interesting to me because of the AVC-i codec. I don't know what the quality of the lens will be, but it had better be really, really good to match the XF's.
I still like the form factor of the XF better. The 4" monitor's ability to switch to either side is a great feature, one that's come in handy more than once.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

The quality of XF300 is the sum of its 2 parts - the codec and the lens. It will be interesting to see if Panny can match the quality of the Canon lens (in the photos it even has 'canon-esque' red stripe. Is it going to be a Leica lens?

Glen just said the same thing while I was writing this...

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

It will be interesting to see the XF300 vs the HPX-250 as they both have a good codec option and identical chipset specs. If the HPX-250 has better light sensitivity then Panasonic will have an edge.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

Panasonic claims it will be very good in low light. I guess this is based on the HPX370. I wonder if it's the exact same chipset?

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

"Combined with the high-sensitivity, low-noise, 1/3-type 2.2-megapixel U.L.T. (Ultra Luminance Technology) MOS image sensor ..." (excerpted from the Panasonic pdf for the HPX-250) NOTE: it says SENSOR, not sensors.

Unless the Panasonic blurb contains a typo, or represents poor comprehension on the part of the copywriter, the HPX-250 appears to be a single sensor, 1/3" camera.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

It's a 3-chipset. Her's a more detailed link:

For Journalists

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

I think I read it is the same chipset as the HPX-370. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending upon who you talk to!

Light sensitivity is large on my list. After watching the "Coal" series, it seems like the operators had to resort to gain pretty often to get a proper exposure (not just in the mine). Just seems like the XF300s were struggling a bit in that role.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

Over 2 years of use I have found P2 to be pretty bullet proof. Works well with my NLE (Edius), What I find really interesting in the HPX250 is the lens (21x), higher resolution and the variety of codecs you can use all the way back to DV. Now if they can just give us a slow-crawl servo zoom control. I shoot with a HPX170 and the slow zoom speed is not slow enough.

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

I was disappointed to see they're still using P2 media. Yes the prices have come down but they're still too damned expensive.

One solution might be this: Blackmagic Design: HyperDeck Shuttle

Re: XF300's new competitor
 

P2 media is certainly expensive but AVC-Intra is a great codec and 10-bit. It's all great on the high-end Pana series. However 10-bit, intra-frame compression at high bit rates aren't too much to get excited about if the camera head is putting out noisy and/or poorly processed signals. The 300 and 370 suffer from some major flaws in this area - and the 370 in particular. Let's hope Pana have sorted this out but - after the signal processing issues on the 300/371 and AF100, I won't be holding my breath and I doubt this new camera is a serious threat to the XF!