hands on hpx170 - build quality and feel

wgzn

wgzn

Veteran
just got my hpx in this afternoon - a BIG thank you to the good folks at spec comm!

i havent shot anything yet but here are my first impressions of build quality and ergonomics:

first the good. feels GREAT in your hand. well-balanced and lightweight.
the focus/iris ring feels great as well. it seems to have a bit more tension to it than the hvx did - and thats a VERY COOL thing!. the lcd seems sharper and clearer than the hvx. maybe it has to do with the backlight or maybe the screen material. but right out of the gate it looks WAY better than my hvx did at first glance!

now the not so good - from the preliminary pics id seen, i got the impression that the hpx didnt seem as solid or well assembled as the hvx. and that does appear to be the case. it feels kinda "plastic" and cobbled together. the latch on the lcd is very sleight and harder to manipulate than that of the hvx (but this may be simply me being used to the hvx). a few of the buttons feel kinda loose and rattley - especially the servo/manual switch and menu "joystick" the stick has way more play than id consider needed - but here again, im being nit-picky...

the p2 door feels very "fisher-price". the one on the hvx seemed heavier or somehow dampened. the one on the hpx is brittle feeling and is released by pushing it to the left and it just plops open. again, nit-picky? probably...

and sure enough, ALL the connection ports aside from mic and usb are under one cover. so if you are using one - ALL are exposed. i think this is pretty retarded. i see a drill in my near future ; )

and lastly i had a really hard time getting the battery/ac connector properly seated. it felt like it was but wouldnt power up. i ended up having to hold the release button in and kind tork it into place. it may just need to be "broken in" but considering how loosey-goosey so many other things feel. im not so sure.

i know a lot of this may sound whiney - but im a designer by eduation and a stickler for fit and finish. and maybe i just got so used to the "brick-SHi##er" solidity of the 200, i was kind hoping for similar from the 170.

but i didnt buy this baby to pet it. so i'll shut the heck up - im off to do some shooting. a review of which im sure will be much more positive!
 
Well, you are echoing some of my sentiments regarding the build quality; it does feel like you need to take extra care when handling it. Time will tell and it is somewhat comforting with the five year warranty if something breaks...

However, the images it is producing are outstanding. They have a very 'organic' and 'creamy' look and feel to them; very filmic IMHO. Can't wait to shoot my next short with it.
 
Haven't handled one yet, wgzn, but I got the same feeling by looking at the HPX. Form factor seems kind of "Frankenstein's monsterish" -- glued together. I'm fence sitting between buying the 200a and the HPX, but I'm afraid that once tape goes the way of the Dodo, Panasonic is going to forget about the HVX people. I'm wondering if the HVX will even go to a "B" model... Well, I sort of drifted off topic, but I have the same aesthetic/build concerns that you do, wgzn...
 
i so hated to say anything negative about the hpx. because im certain it will perform superbly - but i just hated to see my fears confirmed...

scorsese, what pushed me to the hpx over the 200a was the lighter weight. i occasionally use a steadicam merlin and the 200 size and weight just skirts the absolute max realm of the merlin and makes it a BIZATCH to balance.
 
I shot with my 170 today and I am actually going to refrain from making any comments about the camera for now.

I am curious if anyone can comment on what aspect of the outer shell of the camera are plastic and which are metal? I'm not exactly sure tapping on it.

I'm thinking the bottom of the camera & the handle are metal & the rest are plastic?
 
I am assuming the build quality feel of the shell relates to the lighter weight, but I could be wrong. Perhaps the internals are strong enough that the exterior doesn't need to be as solid.

I am getting my 170 on Friday!
 
That would be surprising because as far as I know the dvx and hvx have metal skeletons... I am a little worried about the weight/balance of the hvx, but what concerns me more is the future of "hv" cams. JVC predicts a three year life for tape based formats, so what does that mean for the hybrid cams like hvx? Maybe Jan or Barry can address this.
 
i thought it would be quicker to play back clips in different modes but you still have to go back to menu reset framerate to match , then go back to play mode . then play clip. the new joy stick is way better , but still the same.
 
Actually! They changed that feature. You can play back clips at any framerate now by selecting the clip you want to playback and holding down the stop button until it changes from red. then they should play.
 
Hello wgzn,

my colleague and me got our 171-ties also last weekend and we really detected the same good and bad things as you. It's a pitty, but the manufacturer quality got more worse.
That makes it clear, that the big manifacturer are calculating with every single cent.
The "new lcd" didn't seems to be improved in our eyes. But maybe you have to compare it side by side with the old one.
Less noise - also significant in high lightened record situations - are a great new value of this camera. And the new Dynamic range enlargement also works in the progressive mode, not only in the interlaced; that's great!

Shall we make a centralised buy for a drill order (earphone hole) to get a good price? ;-)
 
It's a shame to read some of these comments considering mine is coming in tomorrow.
The one thing I've loved about the 200 is how much of a little tank it really is.

I'm hoping I can feel the same way about the 170.
I guess I'll find out soon enough.
 
LOL, ya I agree too, I bet there are a few of us who have orders coming in this week and are being turned off by some of the criticism. I've seen it in person / held it and I didn't seem to notice a cheap feel to it.

We all might miss the solid tank feel we got with the HVX, but think about all the new features we have to enjoy! I am looking forward to a slimmed down light camera.
 
CW-35 said:
I am curious if anyone can comment on what aspect of the outer shell of the camera are plastic and which are metal? I'm not exactly sure tapping on it.

I'm thinking the bottom of the camera & the handle are metal & the rest are plastic?
Click to expand...
.

The outer shell is a diecast magnesium and aluminum alloy, no plastic. I mean I go to pick up a DVX and it feels not as beefy as the HVX, but few things do. It is a very ruggedly built little cmaer, the HPX170 and as somebody said it does have a 5 year warranty.

Best,

Jan
 
I don't think they'd offer a five year warranty if they felt the camera would be falling apart all the time.

I haven't had an opportunity to shoot anything with mine yet, but I'm still feeling it was the right choice to move up from the HVX200.

If you remember those old Samsonite commercials with the gorilla and the suitcase, that would be me with the 170. If anyone is going to break one, it'll be me.

My biggest issue so far is that I was so used to the placement of the controls for menu, playback etc on the HVX, I keep finding myself automatically going back to that spot when I try to change a scene file setting etc. :)

I've got all my HVX scene files converted over to the 170 now so I'm anxious to see how it compares to my old HVX footage.
 
Maybe the light weight just makes it seem less solid. I see it still retains the familiar "clunk" when you tilt it, like my dvx. But being my first p2 camera, I'm stoked at being able to get quick reviews of clips. My only concern about the p2 workflow is having to archive on hard drives. I guess you have to archive on 2 drives so a valuable production will not be at the mercy of one drive. They take up a lot more shelf space than that little dv tape backup. If you're using the HVX200a you can certainly get more years of handy tape use for SD productions.
 
It is a bummer if it has an overall "Chinsey" feel to it. I also hate buttons and doors that don't have that positive click to it.
I guess we will find out real quick. I know a couple of rental places getting 170's

frisco
 
I've upgraded from DVX100 to HVX201 in july and I was very disappointed for weight and ergonomy. Now I've switched to HPX171 without any doubt, I've just handhelde the cam for 20 seconds to take my decision. Furthermore the cam it is much easier to operate and it is easier to take good pictures.
The only real downgrades, in my opinion, are the component camera plug, the component cable (very very poor, in the worst 'consumer style') and the lens hood, that it is not lockable. In addition the first element of the lens is too much closer to the thread

All the other features in aspect, ergonomy, weight are great improvements respect my previous 201 that seems only more solid

Regards

Gary
 
cameralover said:
Okay, I've seen it and I don't believe it... It really is the same old low res LCD as on the HVX200.
Click to expand...
But have you looked at them side by side? The 170's LCD looks a hundred times better than the HVX200's. Put the EVF DTL on, and try focusing with each camera, the 170 is incredibly improved in that aspect.
 
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