First Impressions with the HPX500

[filmie]

Received the HPX500 yesterday. I called B&H last week to check on the status of the order and was told it was being held because they were waiting for the tripod plate. I asked that it be shipped anyway, got it yesterday and clicked it in to our old tripod plate.

The camera body is very light, but when you attach the lens and battery it weighs about 16 lbs. If you're transitioning to this camera from the HVX the added weight and size of the camera can be overwhelming.

The camera's menu system is the same as the HVX. The only difference is there are a lot more settings, features and menus to choose from. If you are an HVX owner you will be able to use the camera right away without looking at the manual.

The LCD screen seems to be of very little use. The color seems to be off on it and it is very hard to focus with - for obvious reasons.
I used the Viewfinder a lot more than the LCD. It is very easy to focus with the b&w viewfinder. The LCD is only good whenyou are looking at clip thumbnails in MCR mode or going through the menu, otherwise it got in the way of normal shooting.

The focus assist feature is not the same focus assist feature on the HVX with the magnified portion of the screen. it is a focus graph in the upper right corner of the screen.

The lens that I ordered is the XA17x7.6BRM-M58B. It is hard to access the quality of the lens because I can't compare it with others.

The image quality on the camera is much more cleaner than the HVX. That was noticeable right away. It is a very professional camera that will produce really nice images. However, with the exception of the noise in the signal, the HVX200 isn't that far behind in quality.

Hopefully I will get some images to post for everyone.

[for_mlove]

Thanks for sharing your impressions. Can you share more about the focus assist? How does the focus graph work??

[filmie]

The focus graph is similiar in appearence to a levels graph. It gives you a visual readout of what is in focus. An in focus image moves a white peak to the right of the graph and an out of foucs shot is all the way to the left. It's helpful . But with the b&w viewfinder and peaking turned on a little I don't think you would use it that much.

[dpsfilm]

I picked up my HPX500 last week and ran out and shot a Rally over the weekend. The camera seems to be performing beautifully. The image is very sharp, I did spring for the "ex" lens and am glad I did. I have run into three anomalies however and am wondering if anyone else has noticed this in their cameras.

1. When interval recording (stop motion) the camera start stop buttons become disabled and in order to stop recording I have to cut the power. The shot is recorded but one must then reset when the power is turned back on. The Stop/Start button should stop the recording without cutting the camera power.

2. In One-Shot Recording mode (the camera records one shot at each time unit set) the menu button becomes in operative. Again you must cut the camera power (reboot) to continue.

3. In PC mode "1394 Host" the camera is unable to find connected hard drives and the selections associated with this function on the menu are grayed out. I have been warned (by an experienced tech) not to use this mode for dumping off files as there is no way to absolutely confirm that the transfer has taken place without subsequent connection of the drive to a PC but the feature is there and ought to work.

Anyone else experienced these problems?

I spoke to Panasonic and they were very interested to hear about this. I guess the software in the camera is still in beta testing.

[FutureDVXUser]

I spoke to Panasonic and they were very interested to hear about this. I guess the software in the camera is still in beta testing.

Do you think they will do a recall to fix that problem?

Also, just wondering if you guys will be posting any of the HPX footage.

Thanks

[Barry_Green]

1) try using the VCR "stop" button. That's how you can stop interval recording on an HVX, should work on the 500 too.

3) try a different firewire cable? That functionality should work, and don't worry about not using that mode or whatever the experienced tech told you. Firewire offloading includes a verification feature where the camera will go back and read in the data off the hard disk and compare it bit-for-bit to the data on the P2 cards. Can't get much safer than that!

[dpsfilm]

That's great! Yes, I just tried the stop button on the "vcr" pannel and it does indead stop the recording. I'm not sure the logic and this is contrary to what is in the operators instructions. Funny that the guy from Panasonic didn't mention this. I did try two different fire wire cables so I'm pretty sure that that is not the problem with the PC Host mode. The tech (the manager of service in New Jersey) at Panasonic told me he expects there will be some sort of "patch" but couldn't say when and ventured this info only when I asked him. Also, I might add that much earlier in the week I sent an e-mail to the online support and haven't gotten even an acknowledgement that they recieved it. One more reason to buy your equipment from a reputable dealer. they were the one's that got me in touch directly with Panasonic.

[THoff]

Do you think they will do a recall to fix that problem?If there are issues, I'm sure Panasonic will address them promptly in a firmware upgrade. They won't have to do a recall, the cameras are user-upgradeable like the HVX200.

[Jan_Crittenden]

If there are issues, I'm sure Panasonic will address them promptly in a firmware upgrade. They won't have to do a recall, the cameras are user-upgradeable like the HVX200.

Hi,

Sorry for my guys not knowing the answer but it does say this is what you are supposed to do in the Ops Manual, see page 40. I will grant that it may slide right past your notice as the paragraph starts with the Start/Stop button and it refers next to the Stop button, which is different, but you may not read it that way. It was designed this way because they didn't want someone to inadvertantly stop the recording just by mindlessly hitting the Start/Stop. It is exactly like the very same feature on the SDX900, and our HVX200. Don't panic, there will not be a recall, it is not a problem, it works the way it is supposed to work.

Thanks,

Jan

[dpsfilm]

Hi,

I will grant that it may slide right past your notice as the paragraph starts with the Start/Stop button and it refers next to the Stop button, which is different, but you may not read it that way.
Jan

Thanks, That also solves the One-Shot recording issue.

I have posted footage shot with the camera on my website but don't look at it in any way for quality as it's compressed for the web. I shot fast from and the hip, Edited with Adobe PP and Raylight, Compressed to a 15 fps Flash and put it up with Dreamweaver.

The camera is good but the work flow is astounding. It took longer to do the Flash compression than to drag the files from the camera and finish the edit. I shall never digitize dailies again. Also the ability to delete in the field has solved one of my ongoing beefs with some editors. "Why did you use that shot the second take was better?" He answers something lame like, "We were in a rush and didn't have time to look at everything."

[FutureDVXUser]

So the viewfinder is black&white, but can you change it to color if you wanted?

But it must be rather difficult trying to do a DOF with the viewfinder right?

[Barry_Green]

The HPX500 viewfinder is a black & white CRT. No option for color. You can use the flip-out LCD for color.