The New Panasonic HPX-300...

Joe Lawry · February 20th, 2009, 03:24 AM

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.

Christian Magnussen · February 22nd, 2009, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

I just got back from a shoot in Norway. It was always below -20c and on several days it was -30c. My EX BPU-60 batteries still gave me 2 hours of operation, which is around 50% of normal.

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.

Paulo Teixeira · February 22nd, 2009, 05:32 PM

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

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

Chris Basmas · February 22nd, 2009, 10:21 PM

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

Paulo Teixeira · February 25th, 2009, 01:28 AM

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

Peter Moretti · February 25th, 2009, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo Teixeira

It’s obvious that Panasonic wanted to price the HPX-300 close to Sony’s EX3 and I think 1/3” chips were the only way to achieve that goal. If they used bigger chips, they would have gotten some complaints that it cost to much more than the EX3. You cant please everybody and they took a gamble to keep the price low.

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.

Dan Brockett · February 25th, 2009, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Moretti

P.S. The Panny also has TC in/out and gen lock, which the EX1/3 don't have.

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

Dan

Barry Green · February 25th, 2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Moretti

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

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.

Peter Moretti · February 25th, 2009, 12:54 PM

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

Ned Soltz · February 25th, 2009, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Moretti

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.

Jan Crittenden Livingston · February 25th, 2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elijah Lynn

Why would they take such a lovely camera and put such a small chip in it? Seems a bit late in the game for more 1/3" chip cameras with the current state of things. Lovely codec and all that jazz though.

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elijah Lynn

If a Sandisk Extreme III SDHC card can handle 30 MBps, that's 30 MegaBYTES per second then it could easily handle 100 Mbps, thats 35 MegaBITS per second or 240 Mbps..

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

David Heath · February 26th, 2009, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jan Crittenden Livingston

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

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.

Gary Nattrass · February 26th, 2009, 04:41 AM

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

Simon Denny · February 26th, 2009, 05:51 AM

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

Carlos Corral · February 26th, 2009, 10:42 AM

Not sure if anyone posted this yet:

HPX300 EX3 Rolling Shutter Shootout on Vimeo

February 22nd, 2009, 05:32 PM	#63
Paulo Teixeira Trustee Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,773	It borders Sweden, Finland and Russia. norway map - Google Maps It’s one of those places that I have to visit one day. __________________ https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoVi...esEtc/featured https://www.pond5.com/artist/paulot

February 25th, 2009, 01:28 AM	#65
Paulo Teixeira Trustee Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,773	Here’s a video of the camera on Vimeo if you haven’t seen it already: Introducing the Panasonic HPX300 on Vimeo __________________ https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoVi...esEtc/featured https://www.pond5.com/artist/paulot

February 26th, 2009, 04:41 AM	#73
Gary Nattrass Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Cornsay Durham UK Posts: 1,992	Here's hoping the boys at Sony do something right with the EX5 or EX7? __________________ Over 15 minutes in Broadcast Film and TV production: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1044352/

February 26th, 2009, 10:42 AM	#75
Carlos Corral New Boot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 22	Rolling Shutter Not sure if anyone posted this yet: HPX300 EX3 Rolling Shutter Shootout on Vimeo

February 20th, 2009, 03:24 AM	#61
Joe Lawry Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Auckland, New Zealand Posts: 418	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.

February 22nd, 2009, 10:21 PM	#64
Chris Basmas Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 45	Why there are no sensitivity specs for this camera? All i see is minimum illumination ratings. (Sony provides both numbers for EX*).

February 25th, 2009, 12:54 PM	#69
Peter Moretti Trustee Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sherman Oaks, CA Posts: 1,259	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

February 26th, 2009, 05:51 AM	#74
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	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