Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Both of my cameras finally arrived, and the chose of which one to keep was easy. See below for comparison still captures of the Panasonic x920 left, and Sony PJ710v right.

http://i41.tinypic.com/o9ic13.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2larlz4.jpg

My primary concern was low light, followed by easy to access/use manual controls, but after seeing the HORRIFIC chromatic aberration of the Sony's Leica lens, I had no choice but to pack it up and ship it back to B&H. I don't know if this is just the quality of the product, or if I got a defective unit, but there was no way I was choosing the Sony. The Sony also has a red/purple tint in the day, and an orange hue at night. As for low light ability, they are roughly even, with the Panasonic going blurry and smearing, and the Sony adding sharp blue sparkling noise. The Sony lens is noticeably wider though. The larger diameter iris of the Panasonic is evident by the added depth of field observable in the car antenna in the foreground. The Sony can do 1/8th sec shutter speed though, which I really wanted, but it's manual controls were a real PITA to access and use. The Panasonic is much more professionally oriented, with db rated gain display, razor thin zebra as opposed to huge thick diagonal stripes in the Sony, and lager easier to select menu buttons and physical controls. The Panasonic is as simple to use as a 57 Chevy. The Sony is like trying to manipulate a modified Nissan GT-R's ECM using a code scanner!

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Good info - and I'm sure very useful to those trying to decide between these two. Thanks for posting.

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Wanted to post an update to my x920. The manual control dial has become extremely stiff, requiring wrapping several fingers around it to turn it. I use this dial 99% of the time to adjust the gain for my night shooting, and with the force needed, I might as well be torquing a lug nut on the side of the camera, the whole thing wiggles. I used to be able to support the lower left side of the camera with my left hand, and simply turn the ring with my index finger, very smooth and easy.

Unfortunately, Panasonic only offers a 90 day warranty on labor, so I am stuck with this turd now........ugh. Other than the tight ring, I LOVE the camera still, it's video airs every morning on the news.

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

For anyone interested, I shot a two camera X920 vs my Panasonic HDC27H DVCPRO HD Varicam, just to see how they look side by side, or in this case, one on top of the other! The HDC27H had a standard definition Canon J11x4.5 lens attached, and was shooting in 720p60. The X920 was set to 1080p60. The X920 as well as the Varicam were both set to manual modes, and white balanced off of the same white paper. For the wide angle shots, the X920 was a full wide, and the Canon J11 was just under 8mm. For the telephoto stuff, I tried to match the X920 to the J11's maximum 50mm. Since YouTube and Vimeo don't do 60fps, I put all the footage into a 1080p60 timeline, and exported it as 1080p30 26Mbps AVC h264, which is what I uploaded to YouTube to produce the video below.

I have been so pleased with my little X920, that I am upgrading to a new Sony AX100, with a 1" 4K sensor, using a 50/60Mbps XAVC S h264 codec. The only thing I don't like about the little cameras is loosing real wide angle ability, as I cannot find any really descent wide angle converters that don't look like garbage, at any price!

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Anyone know if you can do clean HDMI out to a computer for use in live streaming? Would like to have something better than web cam, and less than a pro camera like the GH3 or 4. It appears from the specs it can do that.

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Yes, this camera has CLEAN HDMI output. In fact, I used this camera for LIVE on air television broadcasts feeding through a TVU backpack. :-)

The only thing to keep in mind is that the words RECORD and PAUSE will briefly appear on the HDMI signal after you press the record button.....not a major issue.

Paul;

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

My camcorder is HCX920P
I"m having a problem with the computer not reading my card. It is a PNY 64GB Elite performance, with 10 in a circle and a 1 in a U. it says 90MB/S 14.5 hours HD video I. I've taken video with the camera and played it back, but when I put it in the USB hold and place it in the USB port, the computer wont recognize it, and if I try to format it with the computer, it tells me that it is unrecognizable. The card was formated with the camcorder.

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Hello guys.

I have recently purchased Panasonic x920, encouraged by online tests and reviews, but it seems that I might have done a stupid thing...

The main thing for me is to record best low light clips possible.
Everywhere on the internet I could find opinions that x920 is the best in this price range.
In a daylight all the clips are sharp and no complains in this area but I get a horrible noise and grain in low light!


I'd like to present to you some of the samples, they are stored on my Google Drive, all original MTS, max 1min..

All shot in artificial low light, indoors, 1080/50p (Europe), always automatic settings except for one clip with manual focus, all shot on a tripod.
File names should be pretty self-explanatory, just one thing - in terms of light: 3 - strongest, 0 - weakest.
Please disregard audio - Kill Bill was in the background ;)
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...&usp=drive_web


Can you please tell me if anything can be done?
Can I adjust any settings in manual mode to get better low light picture quality?
If so, could you please advice which settings to use?



Also please find attached MediaInfo properties of the first clip:

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

That looks like pretty challenging lighting. If you were on full auto then the camera was probably doing the best it can. But I can think of two things you might try:

The camera has an iA button (for Intelligent Auto) that lets you choose shooting presets. It has a "Low Light" preset that might give better results.

If you don't need the 50p when shooting low light, then you might try switching the record mode to 50i, in the highest quality setting. (50p gives better results under most circumstances, so be sure to switch it back.) There should be an advanced manual on the CD that explains switching the record modes.

Good luck.

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Hello Kris.

Thanks for your reply.
I tried to set up x920 your way but unfortunatelly it didn't give any significant improvement.

I tried iA, iA with nigh mode, iA+ with some small adjustments, manual with some more adjustments and night mode. Nothing that would convince me to keep this camcorder...


So how about I tried some decent DSLR?
Do you think that I might get a better result, considering I would use a good lens?

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

PETER, I don't think the x920 can handle SD"XC" cards if that is what you have. I have the 64GB PNG SDXC in my CX900, reads like lightning!

DON: AVOID 18db at all costs! If you look carefully, or not so carefully, you will notice that the very last gain up db rendered the pictures contrast muddy and softens the picture substantially. Always go to maximum, then back down 1 click, and the blacks will return to normal. Also, when shooting in low light, it is imperative to lower the shutter to 1/25-1/30 sec. This will double your low light sensitivity assuming you are in 50p/60p mode, which sets a standard auto 1/50-1/60 sec shutter.

Paul

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

Hi Paul.
Thank you very much.

I tried your suggestions. I set shutter to 1/25, 15db and then I tried setting sharpness.
With sharpness set to 0 the picture grain is just terrible. A bit better with -2 and the best with -5.
I am only speaking about noise, not the quality of details. It's obvious that with sharpness set to low amount I'm gonna get lower details.

But if there is no other setting I could use maybe this is what I'm gonna go with - sharpness -4 or -5.
I believe it's better to have lower details then so strong noise because - and I'm not exaggerating - it looks like little warms on the picture...

Oh, and there is no good setting for the city at night.


Or maybe you know any fine trick I could use in the post processing stage?

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

I use a switcher when doing live broadcasts so this might be useful, in that I can have it off line while I start recording, and bring it in after the RECORD or PAUSE info is over.

Re: Panasonic HC-X920 review
 

this camcorder still has a great and sharp picture quality. "Much" sharper then my 2 semi-pro sony camcorders.

When doing multicam shots I see this.