Just arrived and impressions after several hours of use

[lonewolf2koc@hotmail.com]

UPS just shipped to my facility and immediately begin prepping the cam for this weekend shoot.

Here are my observations:

1) Able to stack a Hoya 72mm HD clear filter, 72 mm -> 77mm filter adaptor ring -> 77mm Hoya HD Circular polarizer. No corner vignetting issue. This is very good news as
it makes it so much easier to take off for indoor and put it on for very bright sunny ext.
2) This cam weighs pretty the same as the AB Hytron 140 battery. It fits and balance right or left hand very nicely.
3) Wide angle is not bad at all. Much better than any other previous HVX series. But not as wide as w/ a Canon 4.3mm lens on 2/3" cam for example.
It's roughly the same focal length as a 22x 2/3" lens (22x7.8 or 7.3).
4) Metadata files on SD cards are interchangeable on this and other Panasonic 2/3" cams. Very flexible. This means only a single SD card and I can have meta data, scenes files, lens file, CAC, hi-res proxy (secondary location, primary location is on P2), flare, etc.. shared between this and the 2/3" cam. The directory structure is identical.

5a) General picture quality is pretty good for sunny ext scene. But have yet to shoot more scenarios to really see its pro & cons w/ CMOS sensor.
5b) It's just bit muddy and not pristine as on a 2/3" cam. I will investigate the scene file further. But so far after couple of HD norm & high, it appears
that the limit has been set. It just doesn't have that color punch as found on 2/3" cam and premium grade lenses. What I specifically mean is that with a good lens & high quality DSP,
you can literally see the clarity & color of the subject just pop out. It is almost like looking through a very high grade diamond glass. This cam is flat and averages out. It will take
a while for me to adjust and workaround the cam's limitation.

5c) Having been through w/ the DVX100, HVX200, HPX170, HPX250, SDX900, HDX900, HPX2000, HPX2700, HPX3700, HPX3100, I see that there is a distinct class differences. Comparing
them is futile because up to today, Panasonic 2/3" cam & high quality broadcast lens still remains the king in quality. There are countless examples of this. Call it a spade a spade. Granted, the HPX250 is the 1st cam that has all of the pro features to make it work w/ broadcast camera easier. SMPTE TC, manual iris, true ND filter wheel... But to replace it completely, not anytime soon.

6) Real ND filter wheel found on 1/2 & 2/3" cameras at last. Huge feature.
7) Pretty good zoom/in and out on one hand operation. The manual iris is another huge feature that is essential for slowly ramp it to control the exposure.
Previous 1/3" models are fixed electronic iris that has fixed f/stop.
8) The auto feature is a big plus when giving this camera to someone w/ less experience shooting. This allows greater angle of coverage while
keeping labor costs down.
9) True SMPTE TC in/out at last. No more clunky hand clapping, smart slate, etc. I can deploy numerous B-roll HPX250s for the price of a single 2/3" cam & broadcast lens.

Here are concerns, disappointments:

1) It appears that I'm not able to activate focus assist while recording. Plan for tight tracking shots is pretty much will be scrapped.
Wil have to use 2/3" cam for critical focus and ultra fine control (wild life, fast pace sports). Although the view finder is pretty sharp,
it is still not as fine in critical focus detail found on on Panasonic 2/3" VF21 viewfinder, for example.
2) When mounting the optional mic holder, it appears that I'll be loosing slot for the hot shoe light or mic holder.
But there are extra mounting holes to compensate for this.
3) Too bad that when flipping the small monitor on, the VF is turned black. Don't have issue on 2/3" cam. I can have both on the same time.
Perhaps a menu setting that will let me see both.
4) Limited sweet spot shooting on the lens. Looks like f/5.6-8 (+- 1 stop) is it. The rest just doesn't look as good.

This cam costs almost the same as a high quality B&W 2" viewfinder on their 2/3" cam. I can't complain much on the HPX250 considering that there are NO -6 dB gain, Film Rec gamma,
and other fine matrix & color correction controls. Overall it's best bang for the buck and a must have for any shooter who needs all the tools as his disposal for the job.

[THoff]

Here are concerns, disappointments:

1) It appears that I'm not able to activate focus assist while recording. Plan for tight tracking shots is pretty much will be scrapped.
Wil have to use 2/3" cam for critical focus and ultra fine control (wild life, fast pace sports). Although the view finder is pretty sharp,
it is still not as fine in critical focus detail found on on Panasonic 2/3" VF21 viewfinder, for example.
2) When mounting the optional mic holder, it appears that I'll be loosing slot for the hot shoe light or mic holder.
But there are extra mounting holes to compensate for this.
3) Too bad that when flipping the small monitor on, the VF is turned black. Don't have issue on 2/3" cam. I can have both on the same time.
Perhaps a menu setting that will let me see both.

You can't use the magnified Focus Assist while recording, but you can have the Focus In Red while recording. You'll have to update the camera's firmware to get Focus In Red.

I use the microphone holder for a XLR-powered stereo shotgun mic and the hot shoe is still usable.

You can have both the EVF and LCD active if you disable HD-SDI out. The camera can only support two concurrent outputs, and HD-SDI output is enabled by default so the EVF turns off when the LCD is opened.

[lonewolf2koc@hotmail.com]

Ah yes, I also have to go and set the EVF from AUTO to ON and both works. The hot shoe is useable for limited devices. If I have a Lite Panel Micro Pro, it may not fit due to its rectangular form. Will have to try it and see if it can squeeze it. Looks like a slim, vertical device will fit nicely. Thanks for the tip. Will upgrade firmware soon to see how much does the focus in red will assist in more accurate focusing.

Another weird thing I still can't figure out is the audio on ch1-2, ch3-4. I turned off the int mic, all ch1-4 has no audio based on the dB meter read out. Is there any limitation to visual meter audio monitoring on ch3-4 with the int mic? Does the cam always record ch3-4 via the int stereo mic but user can't really monitor it?

The cam format is set to 1080i/30pN AVC-I 100. I need to use this mode to match with other cams fr. Panasonic. Sadly, DRS will not at 1080/30pN. After fiddling w/ various menu, it won't work until 720p is set. Their HPX 3K series has no problem w/ DRS at 1080. Perhaps they disable so that it will not interfere w/ the sales & value of the 2/3" cam market.

[zjrt02]

Here's what the manual says about DRS:

"When using 1080i, the DRS function is not available if shooting with 24P, 30P, 25P or VFR."

I don't know what that means ...

I know you can change the VF audio meters to ch 3-4, just don't remember at the moment how to do it - try looking in the AUDIO SETUP / AUDIO OUT menu.

[Barry_Green]

Simple: DRS is ONLY available in 1080/60i and 720/60p. Not available in 24p, 30p, or when shooting variable frame rates.

If using in 50hz mode, DRS is only available in 1080/50i and 720/50p.

[KINOKS]

Simple: DRS is ONLY available in 1080/60i and 720/60p. Not available in 24p, 30p, or when shooting variable frame rates.

If using in 50hz mode, DRS is only available in 1080/50i and 720/50p.

Something very similar on my HPX171... Why is that? I hoped that the 250 would have DRS in all modes.

[lonewolf2koc@hotmail.com]

I use DRS quite often. Love it, especially high contrast scenes. On something less obvious, an example is a typical regular lower-budget stage concert benefits greatly fr DRS. It makes everything look smooth naturally.

[Barry_Green]

Something very similar on my HPX171... Why is that? I hoped that the 250 would have DRS in all modes.

Asking why is tough to answer, I mean, only the engineers can really tell us. DRS is available in different frame rates on different cameras, the HMC40 and HMC80 can have DRS in 24p, but the HPX250 can't. I don't know specifically why. Originally I thought it was because the type of shooting where one might need DRS (uncontrolled live events/news) are also the types of shooting where you're more likely to be using 60i/60p (or 50i/50p). In narrative/drama, you're more likely to have lights, and if you can control the contrast through lighting instead of through an on-camera function, well, your footage will look vastly superior.

But that's just a guess as to the engineers' thought processes, and is total speculation. There might be some restriction based on the notion that it's an automatic function and performs best at the highest frame rates (like autofocus and autoiris, they're both more effective at the fastest frame rates). But I don't know.

[Jim Simon]

DRS is Not available in 24p.

Hmmm. Disappointing.

[lonewolf2koc@hotmail.com]

It is indeed a very odd way to activate ch3-4 for on-cam mic L&R and CH1-2 via input 1-2: The hard three-position up/down has to be set to input 1-2 and it worked. This is just weird logic. Maybe it is too expensive or the lack of space to add ch3-4 input hard switch.