Hpx 3000

Joe_Digital

Well-known member
So this is the new high end Panasonic camera. True 1920 x 1080 progressive AND ultimately D5 data rate capability? Wow.

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/video/7736.html

here's a cribsheet on what to expect from the HPX3000.

2 million pixel progressive image block
Using the AVC-Intra codec, get a 10-bit image at full 1920x1080 resolution, not 1440x1080
Camera will be less than $50,000
32 GB P2 cards will be "about $1000" at year's end
Because NLE support won't be ready at the camera's launch, Panasonic will provide tools that will decode 1920x1080 content and send it out via HD-SDI
"By this time next year, there will be codec support in the edit packages ... and we're going to put that D-5 quality across FireWire."
 
Did anyone notice they said a 32gig card will cost 1000$............ ?????

The editors were pretty comfortable with the Tape work flow. lol. I guess its hard to break with what you know. they had a few valid points, but its just a matter of gettting used to the "digital" source. they are talking like the technology of today is gonna reamain forever. in the near future large, reliable strage will be available for quite cheap. The panasonic Rep himself said 32gig cards will cost as much as 8gig cards do today.....
 
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Has anyone heard anything more about this camera? IMHO it's the new high end cine unit from Panasonic and should kick the s*** out of Sony's 50 Mbit XDcam. And by s*** I mean snot of course.
 
No official word has been released at all. Jan hinted months ago that there would be a 3rd cam unveiled at NAB; it seems likely that this HPX3000 is it, but any announcement is likely going to wait until April 17th.
 
I'm even more excited about the lump next to the camera. Is that the new P2Store? How about 120 or more GB?

e
 
overlandfilms said:
I'm even more excited about the lump next to the camera. Is that the new P2Store? How about 120 or more GB?
No, that's not a P2 Store type of device; they previewed that at DV Expo. It's like a miniature P2 deck, basically an HVX without the lens. You can record on its internal cards (two slots) and play back clips on it (including to HD-SDI), and it has the ability to copy clips out to a hard disk, but there's no internal storage in it. It's not like a P2 Store.
 
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What's with this line from the link?!?! "While many have been raving about the HVX200 and are eagerly awaiting the HVX2000 due to ship in May". Is this the HVX part 2? What's going on there? Have I used too many question marks???

Ian
 
32gig cards for under 1000$ people!!!!!!!!! HVX just got alt sicker! Now I know what I'm going to capture all my audio on when hydra comes out since the HVX records uncompressed audio on any recording mode regardless of image size that gives me 320 min of uncompressed audio to work with!!!!!!!!! WITHOUT CHANGING ONE P2 card!!!! Am I using too many exclamation points?
 
At this point it probably comes down to availability. The first 1,500 Red units won't be out until October so if this camera can get to market soon, it would be an interesting option for those who need the quality and capability of this unit. Panny will have to price aggressively because we know what a loaded Red will cost, and we know what an F900 costs, and this is likely being put in the middle of those.

While I have a Red reservation, I see it more for cine/dramatic work than anything, and this unit would be more suited for us as an EFP type camera -very high quality. And there are hundreds of broadcasters and their operators around the world who are comfortable with a camera that looks and feels like an EFP camera. It might also find a home for the MOW world too.
 
tmnt said:
and are eagerly awaiting the HVX2000 due to ship in May". Is this the HVX part 2? What's going on there? Have I used too many question marks???
Some confusion, certainly.

There's an HPX2000 that's already shipping, which is a 2/3" camera, but is not in any way an "HVX part 2".

Then there's the HPX500, which is shipping in May, and which is also a 2/3" camera, and which is most definitely the HVX Part 2. It's got every feature the HVX does and more (and costs half what the HPX2000 does).

The whole "HVX vs. HPX" naming thing is confusing but I think that the 200 is probably the only camera that will ever bear the "HVX" name, just like the DVX100 was the only camera to ever bear the DVX name. I believe the "V" stands for videotape, the "P" stands for P2 cards. The HVX is a hybrid, having both tape and P2; no other P2 camera in their lineup has tape, and all P2 cameras have been named HPX or SPX or, in the case of the 700, SPC.

Near as I can tell:
H = high def, S = standard def, D=DV.
V = DV tape, D = DVCPRO tape, P = P2
X = 24p, C = 60i

So HPX2000 = 24p, p2, high-def.
DVC80 = standard-def, DV tape, and 60i-only.
SDX900 = standard-def, DVCPRO tape, 24p.

Also, Panasonic folk don't really refer to the cameras by the prefix, but by the number. Go to a trade show and listen to them, they'll talk about "the 2000" or "the 200", but they never say "the HVX" or "the HPX".

Both the HPX500 and the HPX2000 are listed on Panasonic's website. No indication whatsoever about an HPX3000; my bet is that's the "mystery camera" Jan alluded to a few months ago, so it probably won't be mentioned until NAB itself.
 
Haakon said:
Except that it doesn't do variable framerates. :undecided

So, you shoot 720 60p and use Frame Rate convertor... You have to do this with VariCam as well. You just cannot see the immediate playback of slo-motion. The 3000 really takes on the HDCAM. I don't think it is a replacement to the VariCam.
 
HVXguy said:
So, you shoot 720 60p and use Frame Rate convertor... You have to do this with VariCam as well. You just cannot see the immediate playback of slo-motion. The 3000 really takes on the HDCAM. I don't think it is a replacement to the VariCam.
Unfortunately this is incorrect. The Varicam has a variable framerate mode (hence Varicam), but since it must lay down 60p to tape, it records duplicate frames to "fill in" the empty spaces. For instance, say you are shooting a 24p project and you want to shoot a scene at 48fps for exactly half speed motion. Every second, the camera records those 48 frames (and flags these active frames) and also records 12 additional "dummy" frames in between to fill up the 60 frames needed to maintain compliance with the tape drive spec. Then when you import your content into Final Cut, the frame rate converter you mentioned will pull out only the flagged (active) frames from the stream. You're left with 48 frames, which when placed in a 24p timeline, gives you slow motion. But the frame rate converter is useless if you don't have the flagged frames in the first place.

This behavior is exactly how the HVX works in "over 60" mode (it's called that because it always lays down 60 frames to the cards - just like the Varicam). This is different from "native" mode, which ONLY lays down the active frames to the cards - with no "dummy" frames - saving you space and increasing your recording time. I exclusively shoot in native mode for this reason, though there are some people that need to shoot in "over 60" mode in order to send the stream out via firewire to a DVCPROHD tape deck. You can't do that with native material, as again, the tape drive spec requires a 60p stream.

The new HPX2000 and HPX3000 cameras do not offer any kind of variable framerate recording, which means they can't flag frames and there's nothing for the frame rate converter to pull out in post. It's unfortunate indeed, because this means that there is STILL no 2/3" 1080 camera in the P2 line that does variable framerate recording except for the HPX500, which uses pixelshift and spacial offsetting to get its HD picture. You would think their top-of-the-line camera would include it (it's more expensive than the Varicam now!), but sadly it does not.
 
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