AG-DVX200 4K Large-Sensor Handheld Camcorder

More power to you if you can keep the focus nailed on a subject while moving through a crowd or walking down a street at f/1.4 with out a focus puller.
 
Do people understand that "pulling focus" means keeping subject CONSTANTLY in focus, not letting it go soft for a sec as subject gets closer/farther away from cam, then adjusting 'til sharp again? Not so easy on the fly.

Also, what do people think a good run n' gun stop WOULD be for this cam? 5.6? 8? Do we think the required ISO boost to stay at those stops in darker environments will still be clean enough to use?
 
More power to you if you can keep the focus nailed on a subject while moving through a crowd or walking down a street at f/1.4 with out a focus puller.

Do people understand that "pulling focus" means keeping subject CONSTANTLY in focus, not letting it go soft for a sec as subject gets closer/farther away from cam, then adjusting 'til sharp again? Not so easy on the fly.

this is the problem I had with the C100 and A7s. About 25% of my shots were ruined by subjects moving out of focus. I first worked as a still news photographer in the days of manual focus so I can react quickly. However, that is not enough when you are framing as you focus. Too much going on. In a doc you never know what shot will be the essential one. Missed too many of them. Need a doc cam with sensor in sweet spot between large DOF and good low light. Preferably with subject tracking. Big hopes for DVX200. Would not use f2.0 even if it were there, except for static tripod work.
 
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It's is definitely a nice run and gun camera, my problem with it though is the f/2.0 to f/4.5 lens, I wish they kept it a fixed f/2.0 or maybe f/2.0 to f2.8. Internal 4:2:2 though is critical to keep it on my list.

You do realize lenses are harder to make the larger the sensor is? This is why it is much easier to build a fast zoom lens for a 1/3" sensor. This camera has a 4/3" size sensor and making a super zoom at a constant aperture speed would be extremely difficult due to the laws of physics.

Besides most traditional video cameras didn't even have a constant aperture lens. A lot of even high end cameras would have a range of f1.8 to f2.8 across the zoom range. Thats 1 and 1/3 of a stop difference. The DVX200 lens isn't really any different. It starts at f2.8 and goes to f4.5 which also happens to be 1 and 1/3 of a stop. While on the wide end f2.8 isn't as bright as f1.8 on some traditional video cameras you also have to factor in how much larger the sensor is on the DVX200.
 
I would like to see Panasonic allow assigning ISO to the third wheel on this camera. So you could pick an f-stop and adjust ISO for exposure. A very video-centric use of ISO for this dedicated video camera.
 
Just like shooting womp rats in my T16 back home :)
That's impossible, even for a computer!

Do people understand that "pulling focus" means keeping subject CONSTANTLY in focus, not letting it go soft for a sec as subject gets closer/farther away from cam, then adjusting 'til sharp again? Not so easy on the fly.

It's definitely not easy, and if the subject is walking towards the camera it's almost impossible with a shallow DoF. When I'm doing unscripted, unpredictable work (concerts, documentaries, etc.) I try to position myself to avoid as much subject movement as possible. Then clever editing covers up any bad focus.
 
You do realize lenses are harder to make the larger the sensor is? This is why it is much easier to build a fast zoom lens for a 1/3" sensor. This camera has a 4/3" size sensor and making a super zoom at a constant aperture speed would be extremely difficult due to the laws of physics...
Semi-off topic but IMO, this is where the enthusiast/low end pro camcorders will settle -~ 1" and MFT, a reasonable compromise between the price and the performance. The ILC's will settle on the APS-C size and only the high end pro will go to FF and MF, in both video and stills.
 
Semi-off topic but IMO, this is where the enthusiast/low end pro camcorders will settle -~ 1" and MFT, a reasonable compromise between the price and the performance. The ILC's will settle on the APS-C size and only the high end pro will go to FF and MF, in both video and stills.

I wonder if the big sensor will effect performance of auto focus and stabilization. I imagine rolling shutter will be similar to the GH4.
 
I wonder if the big sensor will effect performance of auto focus and stabilization. I imagine rolling shutter will be similar to the GH4.
The high end/pro camera, obviously, don't have auto-focus but Canon is using their Dual Pixel technology on C300 MK II (s35) and I don't see why it couldn't be used on the FF sensors. Panasonic is using their Depth From Defocus (really, the worst name ever) tech on GH4, G7 and so on and, as I understand it, DFD needs more processing power than on GH4 to nail it more accurately in 4K. A7s has AF on a FF sensor but it's not stellar. On the other hand, A6000 has it on the APS-C in 1080p and Sony claims that it's the world's fastest. All these various approaches are theoretically only marginally dependent on a sensor size.

The on-sensor stabilization works on the shifting-pixel concept. The same idea also provides image resolution greater than its nominal. As an example, Olympus EM5 MK II has a 40 MPX resolution off a 16 MPX sensor. Currently, the processing power of the low end cameras is not sufficient to give a multiple pixel image in real time, making it impossible to capture moving images, but it should be on the next generation of cameras.
 
I wonder if the big sensor will effect performance of auto focus and stabilization.
It might affect autofocus... don't know whether it would affect stabilization.

I imagine rolling shutter will be similar to the GH4.
It might be better than on the GH4; faster frame rates lead to less rolling shutter. The DVX200 is designed to support 4k/60p, so it's possible that it might be running at 48fps internally when shooting 24p, to get the faster frame rate and reduce the rolling shutter effect. We won't know for sure until we see one in action.
 
preliminary report after three days with preproduction DVX200.

http://www.holdan.co.uk/news/DVX200%2C+the+first+72+hours



A lot of it comes down to the lens – it’s very bright, very sharp and gives you the image control and depth of field DSLR-users are used to... but with the welcome addition of

Built-in ND filters
5 axis image stabilisation
Variable speed servo zoom.

As for the V-Log Lite gamma with its Varicam pedigree – I haven’t felt this way about a camera since the AF101 arrived. More thoughts will follow - we’ve been shooting an early impressions video today which we’ll upload soon. Watch this space.
 
Noel Evans just posted in the AF100 section that he has a pre-production version and is working on a video right now...

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...w-what&p=1986560028&viewfull=1#post1986560028

Ive just had a prerelease engineering version of the DVX200 for a couple of days. May be well worth a look for those still with AF100's or GH4's looking at something with a new sensor and everything built right in. I have a first impressions vid coming.

View attachment 103094

View attachment 103095
 
http://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/2735-first-impressions-of-the-panasonic-dvx200

Shooting V-Log at sunset, the camera easily coped with skin tones in full sun with the rest of the garden in full shade. The pictures even revealed detail in my black dog, Watson, as he casually strolled past in the shadows.

when I found the high sensitivity mode I realised this was really much cleaner in low light than my beloved GH4.

. I focused manually and then zoomed in a little more than the close focus could cope with then very slowly, using one of the most subtle servo zooms I have ever used, I pulled back until the watch face came into sharp focus which was held throughout the zoom range. No problem with back focus then!

The lens is a peach. The camera is a gem and I am smitten.
 
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