BobDiaz
The Professor
Bob Diaz Is Back From NAB.....
Bob Diaz Is Back From NAB.....
It's been 2 world wind days at NAB and I'm going on very little sleep right now. So, forgive me if I don't cover all the and questions I know everyone has tonight. I have interviews with Barry Green and Jan about the new cameras, Thursday (later in the day) I'll post Barry's interview and Friday (later in the day) I'll post Jan's interview. Other things about NAB will follow.
First the good stuff:
The HMC150 camera I saw was working; I assume it is still a per-production model, BUT at least I could see how it functions. It's hard to fully judge the image at a trade show, because I can't do the kinds of tests I want to do. However, form the simple tests I could perform, the image looked great. Keep in mind that the lighting in the section of the Panasonic booth were they were showing the HVX150 sucked...
Then again, the limited lighting showed to me that the camera is able to handle the poor lighting conditions we end up in. As for playing with gain, it's all a matter of how high do you want to go before you find the noise in the image too strong. Some will see the +6dD gain and say that's it. However, while there was some noise at +9dB gain, it really wasn't too strong and you had to be looking for it. At +12dB it was easy to spot, even then, there seemed to be a softness to the noise, it didn't seem as strong at most image noise I've seen.
The new improved CCD is better at lower light levels, but until we can do a side by side test we can't say for sure what the increase in low light levels really is. Barry's guess is 1/2 a stop, but this is only a guess.
The best part of the camera is how it feels in the hand. This is one of those parameters that's impossible to express in a specification sheet. OK, it's lighter and thiner than the HVX-200, but it's more than the light weight, it's the feeling of balance. For example, the EX-1 is a great camera, but the weight of the camera tends to tip it to the side. Now if you hand hold an EX-1 for long periods of time, your hand will tire. In the case of the HMC150 and the 170, both feel right and it takes almost no effort to keep the camera upright.
The camera should come out in October.
Now some bad news: (Please don't shoot the messenger!)
I came within 12 inches of getting the card in the camera, BUT the Manager from Japan said, "NO!" His reason was, "Format not ready, not stable." So, sorry everyone, I don't have that, but I have lots of photos and a short video taken from my camera of the HMC150.
Time Lapse; sorry but right now it appears that we won't see that feature on the HMC150. Right now it appears that the odds of this being a feature are small, but not impossible... we will see.
Overall Impression:
My final judgment of any video camera has to wait until real world tests can be performed. (Which requires that the unit be in production.) Right now the camera is still undergoing the final development steps. HOWEVER, I do like what I see.
So far, it's still looking very interesting; the feel and operation seem just right. The "big brother" to this camera is the 170. The 170 uses P2 and has more features. You can expect the price to be close to the HVX-200a price.
Both the HMC150 and the 170 use the same CCD and same lens. IF we ignore the CODEC differences, the 2 cameras should produce the same image. The HVX-200a uses the same CCD, but the glass is different. Still, the image should be about the same. So, could the HMC150 be used as a second "B" camera? It seems reasonable to say yes, because the CCDs match.
Without question, if you spend more money, you get additional features on the 170. Still, the 2 cameras are for 2 very different markets. I get more into that at a later time...
There is so much more I'd like to say right now, but I'm really tired out and I will spell it out tomorrow, after my brain does a re-boot................ ZZZZZZZZZZZ
Bob Diaz
Bob Diaz Is Back From NAB.....
It's been 2 world wind days at NAB and I'm going on very little sleep right now. So, forgive me if I don't cover all the and questions I know everyone has tonight. I have interviews with Barry Green and Jan about the new cameras, Thursday (later in the day) I'll post Barry's interview and Friday (later in the day) I'll post Jan's interview. Other things about NAB will follow.
First the good stuff:
The HMC150 camera I saw was working; I assume it is still a per-production model, BUT at least I could see how it functions. It's hard to fully judge the image at a trade show, because I can't do the kinds of tests I want to do. However, form the simple tests I could perform, the image looked great. Keep in mind that the lighting in the section of the Panasonic booth were they were showing the HVX150 sucked...
Then again, the limited lighting showed to me that the camera is able to handle the poor lighting conditions we end up in. As for playing with gain, it's all a matter of how high do you want to go before you find the noise in the image too strong. Some will see the +6dD gain and say that's it. However, while there was some noise at +9dB gain, it really wasn't too strong and you had to be looking for it. At +12dB it was easy to spot, even then, there seemed to be a softness to the noise, it didn't seem as strong at most image noise I've seen.
The new improved CCD is better at lower light levels, but until we can do a side by side test we can't say for sure what the increase in low light levels really is. Barry's guess is 1/2 a stop, but this is only a guess.
The best part of the camera is how it feels in the hand. This is one of those parameters that's impossible to express in a specification sheet. OK, it's lighter and thiner than the HVX-200, but it's more than the light weight, it's the feeling of balance. For example, the EX-1 is a great camera, but the weight of the camera tends to tip it to the side. Now if you hand hold an EX-1 for long periods of time, your hand will tire. In the case of the HMC150 and the 170, both feel right and it takes almost no effort to keep the camera upright.
The camera should come out in October.
Now some bad news: (Please don't shoot the messenger!)
I came within 12 inches of getting the card in the camera, BUT the Manager from Japan said, "NO!" His reason was, "Format not ready, not stable." So, sorry everyone, I don't have that, but I have lots of photos and a short video taken from my camera of the HMC150.
Time Lapse; sorry but right now it appears that we won't see that feature on the HMC150. Right now it appears that the odds of this being a feature are small, but not impossible... we will see.
Overall Impression:
My final judgment of any video camera has to wait until real world tests can be performed. (Which requires that the unit be in production.) Right now the camera is still undergoing the final development steps. HOWEVER, I do like what I see.
So far, it's still looking very interesting; the feel and operation seem just right. The "big brother" to this camera is the 170. The 170 uses P2 and has more features. You can expect the price to be close to the HVX-200a price.
Both the HMC150 and the 170 use the same CCD and same lens. IF we ignore the CODEC differences, the 2 cameras should produce the same image. The HVX-200a uses the same CCD, but the glass is different. Still, the image should be about the same. So, could the HMC150 be used as a second "B" camera? It seems reasonable to say yes, because the CCDs match.
Without question, if you spend more money, you get additional features on the 170. Still, the 2 cameras are for 2 very different markets. I get more into that at a later time...
There is so much more I'd like to say right now, but I'm really tired out and I will spell it out tomorrow, after my brain does a re-boot................ ZZZZZZZZZZZ
Bob Diaz
He was surprized a little. So I do not know if some of what he said is true. It could be that as the Sony cams, the new Panasonic cams will start rejecting older or knock off batteries.