HPX250: Focusing compared to Ex1r

I'm not much of an AF user, so I didn't spend much time with it until folks started complaining; it seemed to work to me. After some testing, I can report that what I'm finding is that in low light/low contrast situations, the HPX250 (and AC160 and AC130) do hunt more than my HMC150 does. The HMC150 locks on, in scenarios where the 250 continues to hunt. In bright light/high contrast situations the autofocus seems excellent and easily a match for the 150. So it's really only in low light situations where it's an issue, but hey, if the 150 can do it, I would want the 250 to be able to do it as well.

I am encouraged that Jan said they're looking into it, and look forward to what they report.
 
I don't use auto focus either, but as I said above, I found a discrepancy between the readout in the finder when setting to infinity and the actual distance the lens is focused on. This obviously concerns me because, without a scale on the lens, I often rely on the finder scale to set focus quickly. Is anyone else noticing a problem or is it just my camera?
 
It's good that folks are continuing to post "user experience" here. I think new products are sometimes rushed into production and the engineers do not have the benefit of "real world" use under a variety of conditions. I am confident that Panasonic will look into these issues and try to fix them. As I said before the HPX250 has the potential to move from a very good to a great video camera.
 
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Some are saying its hunts in "low light"..... but what is low light? From what I tested... "low light" is not that low.....in fact I wouldn't even call it low light. Just basic store indoor lights. If you have been to B&H, i wouldn't classify the light as low. Not bright by any sense.... but don't want to give the impression that we are talking "dark".... because I am not.

It would be great if Panasonic could come out with HPX250B - maybe they will ....but that will take sometime.... like a year or more
.... I would be willing to pay an extra $1000 if they totally revamp that lens...and put something robust in there.... currently it has a very plastic, toy feeling.

I think Panasonic missed an opportunity to make a huge mark on the industry with this camera. My wish list:

• Improve lens with solid AF
• improve peaking with option to select colors (god - the peaking is awful on 250)
• dial in white balance
• get rid of the quick infinity focus

This camera competitor is the Ex1r. They have all the above options I need. I would have loved to stay with Panny.... but looks like I'm jumping ship to Sony.
 
JamesVibe said:
It would be great if Panasonic could come out with HPX250B - maybe they will ....but that will take sometime.... like a year or more
.... I would be willing to pay an extra $1000 if they totally revamp that lens...and put something robust in there.... currently it has a very plastic, toy feeling.
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The possibility of something like a HPX250B is the only thing keeping my from getting the 250. Even though I rarely use AF for my current work, I'm hesitant to invest in my first camera if an AF fix is around the corner. I'm looking forward to hearing Jan's report once the Panasonic factory has looked into the issue.

I just like the image and the codec of the 250 so much more than the EX1. I'm also not a fan of the EX1's ergonomics (hand holding it destroys my wrist). But I do like the EX1's build quality and truly manual lens.

No camera is perfect, but it is frustrating to hear that the 250's AF is less functional that the 150/170. I'm just hoping that there is a firmware fix that could ameliorate some of the focus issues.
 
JamesVibe said:
but what is low light?
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If you're reaching for the gain switch, it's low light. If the lens is wide open, it's low light. Whether you consider the scene adequately illuminated or not, it's what the camera has to deal with -- and if it's wide open and even using gain, then the light is too low for it to perform at its best.
 
Well I find the peaking in the 250 to be fine. I can easily find focus with it cranked up to 7. And you have to comsider the price point of this camera. When it came out it was a thousand dollars cheaper than the EX1R and a 32Gb SXS is almost a thousand dollars as well. Now Panasonic may have priced the 250 too low. I too would have paid more money for a fully mechanical lens like the XF300 -- that didn't ramp all the way down to 3.4. Panasonic may have misjudged the the 250s market place. I think it should be considered more towards broadcast and less towards events. Although I use it for both.
 
$5000 is ALOT of money..... $6000 even more! But how long will you have the camera? 5 years? Hopefully. Believe it or not I got 7 solid years out of my DVX100a!!! (which I love!) It paid for itself 10 times over. So, a thousand dollars more - in the long run - is totally worth it for an solid lens, solid performer like the EX1r. IMO, the peaking on EX1/3 is amazing...thats peaking!.... HPX250 can't hold a candle to that.

Don't get me wrong... the image with the Panasonic 250...(when its stable) is fantastic! I mean, its looks stellar! I love it. I really dig it. Like Mark said - it has sooo much potential!!!! A good camera that could be a great camera. BUT...... performance wise, it has issues. It could be better. (alot better in fact)
 
JamesVibe said:
• Improve lens with solid AF
• improve peaking with option to select colors (god - the peaking is awful on 250)
• dial in white balance
• get rid of the quick infinity focus

This camera competitor is the Ex1r. They have all the above options I need. I would have loved to stay with Panny.... but looks like I'm jumping ship to Sony.
Click to expand...

You might be well served if you take a look at the Canon XF300. IMHO - better peaking, AF, mech lens, and you can dial in settings to your hearts content - from white balance to ped, to too many to list... also better codec than the Sony and cheaper media - think $85 for 82 minutes.
 
JamesVibe said:
$5000 is ALOT of money..... $6000 even more! But how long will you have the camera? 5 years? Hopefully. Believe it or not I got 7 solid years out of my DVX100a!!! (which I love!) It paid for itself 10 times over. So, a thousand dollars more - in the long run - is totally worth it for an solid lens, solid performer like the EX1r. IMO, the peaking on EX1/3 is amazing...thats peaking!.... HPX250 can't hold a candle to that.

Don't get me wrong... the image with the Panasonic 250...(when its stable) is fantastic! I mean, its looks stellar! I love it. I really dig it. Like Mark said - it has sooo much potential!!!! A good camera that could be a great camera. BUT...... performance wise, it has issues. It could be better. (alot better in fact)
Click to expand...

James, I think we are agreeing. The 250 has a great picture. And the few compromises that Panasonic made to keep a lower price point should maybe have not been done. The people who love this camera and want to use it would have paid more for more professional features: mechanical lens with greater light sensitivity through the zoom. I think the AF issue is something they missed and probably will be corrected later. It was a brand new lens design for Panasonic and I think they will get it right in the end.
 
Just picked up a 250 as a replacement for an insurance loss of my 170 and overall I am very pleased. I don't use Auto Focus much but do use the momentary Auto focus button. Auto focus hunting is usually a problem when shooting with a longer lens so I try and avoid using it with a camera like this. Haven't figured out if the Auto Focus target is adjustable. Too many menus to learn. As far as not being able to set color balance by Kelvin I don't mind too much. I use the AW shift to warm and cool the camera pics and that has usually gotten me good results.
 
Has anyone heard any news yet concerning the fix on the AF for the 250? Wondering if that is why they are now offering the rebate??? Please help us Jan!
 
Bump.

We too are very interested to learn if there will be a fix coming.
AF not working is a deal-breaker for us.
 
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