how to setup the camera for best result

T

tamirt

New member
Hi

I want to buy this camera so i have taken it from a rental company in order to make a test and i have test it in HD and DVCpro50 and in both i have get a very bag image as it has a bit of glow and the colors look bad so that my old DVC-200 in dv look a lot better then this camera.
as i have understand from reading all the review on the net there are a lot of parameter that you need to setup in order to get a good image, how i have the same bad result with the new Hpx-174 so it can all be that i don't know how to setup the camera in the right way and for that i need your help,
as every time i rent a camera it always for one day as i also need to shut with it and so i don't have any time to learn how to config it in the right way also in the pdf of the camera there is no info as how to setup all the menu to get a best result and as you have understand as this camera is from a rental company all the setting are a mess as a lot of user have play with it.
so if any of you can send me how to setup the camera in a step by step in the menus it will help me a lot
i need to config it to:

PAL
DVCpro50
interlace
i work after that with Avid MC 3
so all the work are in SD

Tamir
 
You are asking for something that is in the realm of the subjective.

Recommend downloading some scene files from Panasonic's pro site. They are just text files for SD cards. Also, know that what looks good in HD may not when downconverted to SD.

The cool thing about digital cameras with scene files memories and color matrices, in addition to gains, gammas, blacks, detail and knees, is that you can make the camera look the way you want, but having MacBeth charts, Chroma Du Monde, and flesh charts and waveform/vectorscopes(and the knowledge to use the above) is helpful.

If you don't have the technical knowledge, the Panasonic scene files are a good way to go. I find the HPX500 to be limiting compared to other 2/3" cameras for setup options, but there are already lots of settings that can get you in trouble.

Good luck.
 
as a scene files may be a good idea but will this also restore all the other options that you can define in the camera back to normal ? or is there a setting that this will not overwrite ?
and is there a way to reset the camera back to factory default as maybe this will also help me to start from a normal setting
 
I'm not sure what "normal" means, as the camera comes with various matrix, gamma and scene file settings. There should be a factory reset in the menus, so this could be a starting point, but you still have to define resolution, frame rate, scene file, gamma, matrix.

The first couple of scene files are not defined and may be a good starting point to customize your own look. If you don't know what each menu setting does, you would be better served to download some scene files from Panasonic that look close to what you are after and customize from there.
 
Im using these scene files regularly. I dont often use them as is, I need to tweak to get the specific look I want for the job at hand. But they are a great start point.

Digineg comes in handy as a start point for a lot of promo stuff I shoot as they often do heavy color grading in post.

And for a narrative - my questfest short for example where I know the look I want in post, I will be using eyeball as a basis, so when I do the grade theres much less for me to do.


PAL
DVCpro50
interlace
i work after that with Avid MC 3
so all the work are in SD
Click to expand...

1/PAL
MENU>camera menu>selection12 (other functions) > scroll down to last option and change to 50Hz. If camera was in 60Hz you will need to turn off and restart for the change to occur.

2/ DVCpro50 and interlace (these are done together
MENU>camera menu>selection 4 (recording set up)> rec format (first on list)> change to 576i/50i > Then go to next menu item (576i REC MODE) and change to DVCPro50 if its not already set - the default when you change to 576i/50i is DVCPro50, so it should be set to that.

Then for a the closest setting to to SMPTE color space - load scene file digineg. A good start point when you are looking at general performance, though I suggest knowing how each of the settings under scene file effect your image and what their purpose is.
 
Hi Tamir,

Before getting into scene settings, it sounds like you might need to glance over the initial set up of the camera. If you're coming from a smaller prosumer camera, you might be interested in watching this video on the basics of the HPX500. http://vimeo.com/2639819 At about 7:45 into the clip you can see how to change the format. I've shot some really nice stuff in SD with the 500. DVCPRO looks amazing if you have a good lens and you backfocus.
 
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