Panasonic AG-HPX500

Any more news on this camera? When can we expect to see some grabs or footage? I'm especially interested in the dynamic range of the cam. Any specs on those available?
 
I believe Barry got to get his hands on one in AK this past week. Maybe he will have some comments on it soon.

jason
 
Thanks, Jason.

Ashamed to ask, but what is "AK"? Arkansas?

And do you know any details of his time with the camera? Is this a working production model? Did he go there especially to test it?

Thanks for any additional info you (or anyone else) might have.
 
Unfortunately I'm not allowed to talk about it yet. Basically I was up there to train the Iditarod production crew on the HVX200 and the workflow. Jan surprised us by bringing along an HPX500, and let me shoot with it a couple of days. I asked if I could come on here and make a report, and was told "nope, not until further notice."

You can see a bit of footage from it in the Panasonic.com/iditarod videos, but ... well, I mean, they're web videos so it's not quite like seeing raw footage!
 
Thanks for the update, Barry.

Can you at least confirm that the camera you used is the final production camera? Is it still on target to ship in May?
 
I'd recommend you ask Jan that question; I don't know what I can or can't confirm so I'd defer to Jan who is the "final answer".
 
The price I saw on line is $14,000 U.S. currency. I'm assuming that the price is without a lens. Can anyone confirm if the $14,000 MSRP is with or without a lens?

BTW, I got the price from Indiefilmer.com in case anyone wants to know where I got it from.
 
All pricing info will be released at NAB. You can certainly assume that's without a lens; it's half the price of their other new 2/3" P2 camera, the $27,000 HPX2000 (which is also sold without a lens.)
 
Red Malone said:
The price I saw on line is $14,000 U.S. currency. I'm assuming that the price is without a lens. Can anyone confirm if the $14,000 MSRP is with or without a lens?

BTW, I got the price from Indiefilmer.com in case anyone wants to know where I got it from.
Click to expand...

The $14,000 list price is without a lens. Panasonic has multiple lens configurations and P2 cards put together as packages. We are working on getting pricing together on these packages so that we can start taking orders on this beast. It's a great camera!

Best regards,

Andrew Hoffman
 
So why is it half the price of the HPX2000? What is it missing? And where is a good place to shop for lenses?
 
jonnyh1968 said:
So why is it half the price of the HPX2000? What is it missing? And where is a good place to shop for lenses?
Click to expand...


The HPX500 has 620,000 pixel CCDs vs. 1.1 million pixel CCDs. The HPX2000 has an optional card that will allow it to go to the AVC-Intra codec this fall, the HPX500 cannot. The HPX2000 has 5 P2 Slots the HPX500 has 4. But the HPX500 can do variable frame rate recording and the HPX2000 cannot and will not.

On the lens question, I do recommed one of the Chroma Aberration Correction lenses if you cannot afford an expensive HD lens. The @$10,000 price race is at the level where the CAC is required to rid itself of the CA, because at that price and lower the money cannot be spent to resolve the registration errors that are inherent in the lens design. The more expensive the lens the more money can be spent on this and thus the less apprent the CA is on the $20,000.

So we did put some very nice packages out with the lens and P2 cards included, and I think they make really nice packages.

I believe the website is up. Brochure due any minute.

Best,

Jan
 
Hi Jan,

Just wondering when are you going to turn Barry loose to talk about his experiences with the HPX-500 during the Iditerod filming (or about any additional time he may get with the camera before NAB).

I've gone back and forth between this camera and the HVX-200, knowing that the latter is the one I can reasonably afford but that the former will likely have much better low light performance. I was very close to pulling the trigger on the 200 before the end of March because of the expiring P2 deal but held off after several 200 users warned about its low light limitations, which I can expect to encounter occasionally in the dance/theatre productions that form the bulk of my paying work.

I'm definitely going to need a new camera come early or mid summer and so am quite curious about how the 500 performs and the ultimate street prices we'll see for packages including an inexpensive HD lens and P2 cards.

Thanks in advance for any info.
 
Now the packages are out on the Panasonic homepage. Jan mentioned a package price for 22.000$, now it is at 27.000$ upwards. OK, they all ship with 4 16Giga P2s and tripode plate. But it's still a lot of money and all the packages to me seem very similar. Why not less packages that really mark a difference between each other in price and possibilities? I'm a bit confused and would like to know more about the lenses which seem to be the only difference...
 
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