Hc-x1000 ?

F

flinty

Veteran
Yes i have one on order but am worried after reading some comments on this test https://vimeo.com/114209075
Philip only seems concerned with recording 4k 50P and outputting to 1920x108050P,i may use 4k 50p but with my current FZ1000 i record in 3840x2160 25P and most of the time edit and render my films out at 3840x216025P,there is no mention in the test of 3840x2160 mode only HD and 4K 2160 50P 150MB/s modes,but here http://shop.panasonic.com/cameras-and-camcorders/camcorders/HC-X1000.html many recordin options are shown including 3840x2160 25P,low light does not worry me as i plan to use it in daylight mainly for wildlife filming.Any help will be appretiated.
 
I've had mine for a brief time and it does great in daylight. Good zoom range, should be good for wildlife filming.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b4AMo252j8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNuPFi5L16c
Well i have done a bit of of wildlife filming with the Cam now,impression so far,the PQ is ok for my needs not quite up to my FZ1000s though also even this little camera looks better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zIVPKAIOmQ,it lacks that bit of punch.Filmig video is better with it than the camera as i wanted,the focus being parafocal etc,very glad i have found i can use my 1.5x extender http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/618341-REG/Canon_3573B001_TL_H58_Tele_Converter_Lens.html with a stepuo ring and the quality is fine.A bit of a downer for me is wind still moves the video on long zoom even using my miller air,i can now crop in post to a certain degree which is good .Still early days yet.
 
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So sorry for your loss of Sammy - looked like a great little friend.

Are you happy with this footage? Think you should be...I thought it looked pretty fine with lots of good detail. Huge improvement over the first footage you posted comparing it with your FZ1000, in my opinion.

Only suggestion I might have is to consider underexposing white birds just a bit so you don't blow out the highlights — then you'll be left with some detail in those bright areas and the rest of your scene can be brightened to your liking in post. In fact, in those scenes I think you would have been just fine exposing for the white birds.

Man, you sure have some interesting and beautiful birds to shoot where you live. And it goes without saying the otters are awesome as usual. Really enjoyed this footage.
 
tflak said:
So sorry for your loss of Sammy - looked like a great little friend.

Are you happy with this footage? Think you should be...I thought it looked pretty fine with lots of good detail. Huge improvement over the first footage you posted comparing it with your FZ1000, in my opinion.

Only suggestion I might have is to consider underexposing white birds just a bit so you don't blow out the highlights — then you'll be left with some detail in those bright areas and the rest of your scene can be brightened to your liking in post. In fact, in those scenes I think you would have been just fine exposing for the white birds.

Man, you sure have some interesting and beautiful birds to shoot where you live. And it goes without saying the otters are awesome as usual. Really enjoyed this footage.
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Thank you,your about right white birds, cams like this tend to burn out whites,reducing the exposure is the answer as long as the main subject is not in shadows,my sofware is not up to choosing different subjects exposure it just reduces or increasess the whole clip,more Otter footage,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnBCRogvFFc still far from perfect but with the reasonable zoom length and being able to use my 1.5x extender and crop in 1.5x as well i am happy with the quality of the close ups.
 
Disaster,today just over 6 weeks since i have had the Camcorder something has gone wrong with the viewfinder,the easiest way to describe it is that with a lens cap on instead of the pictture being black it is blue,without a lens cap there is color but it is horrible palid looking, hard to describe,the lcd color and recorded color is fine,i always use the viewfinder for recording,the only viefinder adjustments are for brightnes and for setting it for color or black, am i missing something or has the cam developed a fault.
 
Hope you can get that viewfinder problem taken care of. Doesn't sound like a settings problem, unfortunately.

Those last two links you posted contain some really nice looking footage and some great shots. Glad I didn't bail on the vole clip (those little buggers are fast!) and so got a chance to see the deer and fox at the very end. And the two shot CU of the otters moving in sync on the bank was awesome. As were a lot of the other shots. Well done!

I know you really enjoy viewing the 4K footage. And I can certainly understand why. Just curious if you ever considered shooting 4K and framing a bit wide, and then dropping it into a 1080 timeline so you have the leeway to zoom and reframe in post? Kind of nice to have that flexibility when shooting subjects that move fast and tend to pop in and out of view. Also, 60p footage conformed in a 24p timeline yields some very smooth, and sharp looking 40% slo-mo.
 
tflak said:
Hope you can get that viewfinder problem taken care of. Doesn't sound like a settings problem, unfortunately.

Those last two links you posted contain some really nice looking footage and some great shots. Glad I didn't bail on the vole clip (those little buggers are fast!) and so got a chance to see the deer and fox at the very end. And the two shot CU of the otters moving in sync on the bank was awesome. As were a lot of the other shots. Well done!

I know you really enjoy viewing the 4K footage. And I can certainly understand why. Just curious if you ever considered shooting 4K and framing a bit wide, and then dropping it into a 1080 timeline so you have the leeway to zoom and reframe in post? Kind of nice to have that flexibility when shooting subjects that move fast and tend to pop in and out of view. Also, 60p footage conformed in a 24p timeline yields some very smooth, and sharp looking 40% slo-mo.
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Thank you for the comments,the Cam has gone off now i hope it wont take too long,some interesting points in your last paragraph,i dont think my software will do those things,it will crop in though.
 
flinty said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Htvaf5AaA
seeing footage from the latest cheap bridge camera convinces me something is wrong with my AX1000,like my FZ1000 the footage is far better than i get from my AX1000 which is not back from repair,surely HC-AX1000 should be as good as the cheap bridge camera.
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My advice would be to write it off as an unfortunate purchase and quickly sell your HC-X1000 (AX1000?) before it loses much value (which I think it will rapidly do), and stick with the cheaper cameras that deliver images more to your liking.
 
Yes i put an A in silly,the thing is i like everything about it as far as recording use goes,focusing and pans are much better,on cam control, the sound is better,i just dont understand why a very cheap bridge camera like the FZ300 delivers more detailed footage,if the 4K recording quality of my HC-X1000 is up to standard its shame on Panasonic,for the type of work i want it for there is no other camcorder alternative and i wanted a camcorder not a bridge camera.
The HC-X1000 cameraman speaking near the end of this review found detail lacking as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K7v3IyuMnE
 
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flinty said:
Yes i put an A in silly,the thing is i like everything about it as far as recording use goes,focusing and pans are much better,on cam control, the sound is better,i just dont understand why a very cheap bridge camera like the FZ300 delivers more detailed footage,if the 4K recording quality of my HC-X1000 is up to standard its shame on Panasonic,for the type of work i want it for there is no other camcorder alternative and i wanted a camcorder not a bridge camera.
The HC-X1000 cameraman speaking near the end of this review found detail lacking as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K7v3IyuMnE
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There was an interesting follow-up to those comments posted here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGW...7v3IyuMnE&annotation_id=annotation_1391702335

Haven't seen any reviews on the HC-X1000 (production model) that knocked it for lack of detail. Low light capability, yes. However, I've never personally found that to be a problem - even shooting during magic hour. And I'm totally satisfied with the amount of detail I get with mine. Then again, it's the camera I own and use the most right now and it suits my current needs, so I'm not busy looking around to see if other cameras might be better in some way.

My GH4 sits on the shelf and it's been almost 6 months since I've shot anything with it. Only reason I haven't sold it is I have a lot of top-notch glass for it and keep telling myself I'm going to get into shooting stills. Have to admit I've never shot the same scene with both cameras and compared them. Why? Because it's not worth my time when I know what a pain-in-the-ass it is to shoot wildlife with the GH4 compared to the HC-X1000. Had lots of experience with that prior to getting the HC-X1000. Now, if I'd noticed a huge difference in image quality once I started shooting with it - that would be a different story. But I'm perfectly happy with the image I get with the HC-X1000, since learning how to use it.

Buyer's remorse can be a pesky thing.
 
Hey flinty - just thought about something that could be resulting in soft images. Are you familiar with diffraction? It's a softness that occurs as you stop a lens down (higher f-stops). With this camera you really shouldn't be stopping down to any higher than f/5.2 to get the sharpest images. I try to keep it at 4.8 or lower. To compensate, I'll use the ND filters and then bump up the gain, if needed. And I've found the image to be pretty much noise free up to about 9dB with the settings I use.

This lower f stop limit was hard for me to get used to because I'd previously had a self-imposed limit of f/11 when using my GH cams or AF-100s. And I did have some soft looking early footage with this cam prior to reading comments about the recommended f-stop settings.

Hope that maybe helps.
 
tflak said:
Hey flinty - just thought about something that could be resulting in soft images. Are you familiar with diffraction? It's a softness that occurs as you stop a lens down (higher f-stops). With this camera you really shouldn't be stopping down to any higher than f/5.2 to get the sharpest images. I try to keep it at 4.8 or lower. To compensate, I'll use the ND filters and then bump up the gain, if needed. And I've found the image to be pretty much noise free up to about 9dB with the settings I use.

This lower f stop limit was hard for me to get used to because I'd previously had a self-imposed limit of f/11 when using my GH cams or AF-100s. And I did have some soft looking early footage with this cam prior to reading comments about the recommended f-stop settings.

Hope that maybe helps.
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Anything that can help is appreciated,but i think i will just have to accept that this model does not record as much detail as other 4k cams/cameras
the difference here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z1gVPQVhW0 played on my large screen tv is a lot even the consumer 970M has more detail,so i dont think its just mine that lacks detail,i am surprised you never find a need for your GH4 now,filming shots that dont need panning ETC i would have thought the GH4 with a long lens with its 2x crop would produce good results.
 
flinty said:
Anything that can help is appreciated,but i think i will just have to accept that this model does not record as much detail as other 4k cams/cameras
the difference here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z1gVPQVhW0 played on my large screen tv is a lot even the consumer 970M has more detail,so i dont think its just mine that lacks detail,i am surprised you never find a need for your GH4 now,filming shots that dont need panning ETC i would have thought the GH4 with a long lens with its 2x crop would produce good results.
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Sure was some soft looking HC-X1000 footage contained in that link. Which would have been obvious even without the comparison footage. Those shots were not keepers, imo.

As far as the GH4 is concerned...last time I asked a big buck to hold still while I slapped on an ND filter - it didn't work out so well. Same thing when I was shooting a macro of a spider about an inch from the lens and spied a fox at about 50 yards...damn critter just wouldn't stay put while I changed lenses. The HC-X1000, on the other hand, is perfectly capable and comparatively seamless in either of those scenarios. I now get lots and lots of shots I used to miss when using my GH4 for wildlife. And I also have some pretty nice zoom capabilities with the HC-X1000. Which I actually don't use all that much since I can do that in post by shooting 4K and delivering in 1080. But it's there, when I choose to use it - along with the parfocal performance. The GH4 has nothing comparable that even comes anywhere close to the reach of the HC-X1000. And I have the Lumix 100-300mm (which I consider soft) and used to use the ETC feature on my GHs to extend the reach even more, but that's not available when shooting 4K on the GH4 and I think scaling 4K looks better anyway. I do have a killer Tokina AT-X AF 300mm 2.8 prime which is insanely sharp lens and looks great when used on my GH4, but it weighs 5 pounds and is definitely restrictive when trying to frame and shoot anything other than far telephoto.

If I just wanted to walk around grabbing some scenery shots, or people shots, or needed very shallow DoF, or wanted to go stealth - I'd grab my GH4. But not for wildlife, thank you. And I actually used the HC-X1000 instead of my GH4 to do a 2 hour sit-down interview last week. That decision was mainly due to the HC-X1000's audio capabilities. However, I'm totally pleased with the image quality of that shoot, and didn't need to have the guy's eyes in focus while his ears were out of focus. :)
 
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