Will the HPX370 get replaced/updated next month at NAB 2011?

[Roberto Tafuro]

Or a 600 with a 4/3" chip and P2 AVCIntra?

Yes! I forget 4/3...but...sounds like a new AF101!
I will change the 301 only if the next product will resolve the issues that you may have with this model. I have to say that in Italy a lot of users are changing their units with the new 101. But...some problems are coming out! The iris is not stepless,there is no FBC, there is a bit of noise in the picture ( i still prefer my 5D... ) and the color balance is not so good ( cyan in highlights and yellow as dominant with sunlight ). I've seen a lot of footage and i have to say that the picture is not so bad! But i'll never change the 301 or the 5D for that camera.
That's my thought...

Roberto

[vanvideo]

I doubt Panasonic will get rid of the 370. It seems to be a good seller. A local TV station just bought a bunch of them.

If Panasonic really is going to cater to the TV news stations who want a smaller, lighter ENG cam, then Panny will have to put out a brand new shoulder-mount design. If so, I expect the same chip-set from the 370, AVC-intra and 2 P2 card slots. Basically a smaller 370, maybe the size of the HM750. Just speculation, of course. Or, it could be small, hand-held cams replacing the HPX170, but with the 370 chips and AVC-intra codec.
Panasonic doesn't have 2/3" CMOS cameras, so that's also a possibility - a cheaper version of the 3100.

[Mark Smith]

has to be something better than intra: intra is only good for 30 fps at 1080. We need more frames /sec, 10 bits and 4:2:2

[Kolor-Pikker]

Panasonic did announce AVCultra which will allow 4:4:4 recording, hopefully straight to P2 cards, so it could be that the next model will have support for that; E-series P2 cards are certainly fast enough to allow that.
Here's a bit from wiki:

• AVC-Ultra:
  
  • announced in 2009 [6]
  • adding support for 3D
  • new HD formats supported:
    
    • 1920x1080 (50p / 59.94p) 4:2:2 10bit
    • 1920x1080 (24p) and 2K (24p) 4:4:4 12bit
  • higher bitrate - up to 200 Mbit/s

Also, I doubt Panny's going to toss an entire industry of 2/3" lenses out the window and make an ENG camera with a larger sensor, especially since a smaller sensor camera is sometimes a good thing... It's hard enough as it is keeping stuff in focus when you have to run & gun in a darkish room with the iris wide open.

[ccastro]

Anything is possible, especially when you consider that this scenario looks a lot like last year.
I own a 300 and its a great camera for the price, but if your on the fence or looking for a flawless camera the 300 or 370 is definitely not it.

Just my 2 cents.

[Mark Smith]

I have had a 300 and own a 370. The 370 is huge bang for the buck. No camera is perfect but for many situations the 370 is a tremendous value

[Roberto Tafuro]

Anything is possible, especially when you consider that this scenario looks a lot like last year.
I own a 300 and its a great camera for the price, but if your on the fence or looking for a flawless camera the 300 or 370 is definitely not it.

Just my 2 cents.

Totally agree with you! AVCUltra is the next step for Panasonic. But i still consider the price range for the new products... If they want to replace the 5xx and the 3xx they have to remain in the same price range ( about 12.000 € - it was the first price for the 371 in Italy, and for the same price you can have a 500 with a decent HD lens ). So this rumors about the new 500 and AVCUltra make me curious!
I consider that the 500's price in Italy is never changed from its release. 10.000€ for the body...

[Ben Digedig]

There is rarely a good time to buy as there is always always something around the corner! The decision to buy has to be practically led by production needs versus the hire cost if you cant fulfil that need with current owned kit.

The 301 ticks so many boxes and has given us similar to what clients perceive as Digibeta quality for most jobs but at a fraction of the Digibeta price. It also does HD and those bizarre fractions of frame rates for jobs we've done for our cousins across the ocean!

Its earning its living nicely.

BD

[Mark Smith]

There is rarely a good time to buy as there is always always something around the corner! The decision to buy has to be practically led by production needs versus the hire cost if you cant fulfil that need with current owned kit.

The 301 ticks so many boxes and has given us similar to what clients perceive as Digibeta quality for most jobs but at a fraction of the Digibeta price. It also does HD and those bizarre fractions of frame rates for jobs we've done for our cousins across the ocean!

Its earning its living nicely.

BD

Digibeta Quality ? Huh? Digibeta is standard def. 370 is far better than that

[Ben Digedig]

There's a little more to it than just counting the pixels mate! BD