Yea the viewfinder is small, however i didnt mind it all that much once i was using it. Its great that panasonic have finally gone to full 16x9 viewfinders/LCD in their HD cameras below the 2000. The new LCD technology is interesting and i did notice a few issues with it, some strange LCD flickering.. was probably a preproduction issue but i'd be interested in what Jan has to say on that issue.

It was also interesting to note that they didnt redesign the thumbnail menu and have just pillerboxed it the 16x9 frames. This was always an issue Jan brought up when people spoke about putting higher res/widescreen LCDs on the hand hand cameras, the fact that the menu was designed around a 4x3 frame.. Im so glad this camera has a widescreen LCD.

Its funny reading on 'the other forum' everyone saying "can we get this LCD on our 200 or 170?.. noone seems to have realised its a 16x9 screen.

Just curious, where in Norway?

I'll guess HPX300 vs EX1 would be about the same in runtime on batteries, hpx more juice and larger bricks...EX1/3 less juice, smaller batteries.

It borders Sweden, Finland and Russia.
norway map - Google Maps

It’s one of those places that I have to visit one day.

Why there are no sensitivity specs for this camera?
All i see is minimum illumination ratings. (Sony provides both numbers for EX*).

Here’s a video of the camera on Vimeo if you haven’t seen it already:
Introducing the Panasonic HPX300 on Vimeo

It also looks like the HPX-300 actually records 10-bit color, which it seems like the EX1/3 does not do.

http://www.videoscope.com/pdf_files/...mats_Guide.pdf

Sony's own documentation states that the EX1/3 quantitizes color to 8 bits upon leaving the sensor.

This would help to explain the higher power requirements of the 300.


P.S. The Panny also has TC in/out and gen lock, which the EX1 [edited] doesn't have.

In the interest of accuracy, the Sony EX3 features both genlock and TC i/o.

Dan

The 300 does indeed record 10-bit color (when using AVC-Intra) , and the EX1/3 do not; the XDCAM-EX recording format is 8-bit.

All of them have 10-bit SDI output.

There is a raging debate in the EX forum over if the EX1/3 supply 10 bits of meaningful color info out of their HD-SDI ports or if they just supply 8 bits of color info padded with two zeros. There seems to be no definitive answer, as of yet.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdca...ml#post1018214

My understanding is that EX outputs 10-bit live. When playing back SxS recorded material, it is 8-bit padded.

The 1/3" does a pretty rmarkable job and the lenses for the 1/3" are already out there and less expensive.


It isn't the speed of the memory that's holding the 1080P/60 back it is the codec not doing it at this time. We could record more data on the P2s no problem up to 800Mbps on the 64GB card, the codec board can't produce it at this time for writing.

Best,

Jan

I think the reservations about 1/3" chips are more to do with optics, photography, and the laws of physics than technical quality, in particular depth of field issues and diffraction effects. The latter mean that for HD work a 1/2" lens shouldn't be used stopped down any more than roughly f5.6-8, for a 1/3" lens, you should really stay more open than around f4. Especially for such as news work (where this camera would seem to be targeted) that effective lack of iris range could prove very limiting. Resolution and other factors equal, 1/2" chips will also be inherently more sensitive.

The 300 has a lot of good points, handheld ergonomics being top of the list. But the EX wins in other areas, namely 1/2" chips, and the ability to use SDHC cards via an adaptor. Hardly surprisingly, people are wanting the best of both worlds - basically an HPX300, but with 1/2" chips and SxS. Throw in the 50Mbs XDCAM-HD422 codec and you've got a package with full broadcast approval, but which should still be able to use cheap SDHC cards.

Here's hoping the boys at Sony do something right with the EX5 or EX7?

This camera looks nice but yet again a 1/3" chipper. I wonder if Sony have something around the corner in a 1/2" shouldermount to fit between the EX3 and the F350 camera price range. I hope so as I have a large investment in the SXS cards.

Simon

Rolling Shutter
 

Not sure if anyone posted this yet:

HPX300 EX3 Rolling Shutter Shootout on Vimeo