HPX170 First Look

The Security cable attachment sounds great for us producers who travel a lot. I've been slingin' a motorcycle wheel-lock through the HVX200's top handle. It feels sturdy, but the lock is heavy and clunky. I'm looking forward to using a smaller laptop cable instead.

-andrew burke

Barry_Green said:
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22. Security Cable Attachment Hole. Probably not a big deal, but if you need to lock down the camera so it doesn't get stolen, there's now a dedicated mounting point for a security cable.
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Barry, are you sure that the 170 as the 200A is a half stop faster than the 200 since the glass of the 170 is smaller (72 mm vs 82 mm of the 200A) ???
 
I'm somewhat confused about that Focus Assist Graph function. It doesn't seem to tell you the area of the image that is in focus, but the image as a whole? For example, if you're using a 35mm adapter and you would prefer that the background is in focus rather than the foreground, then how would the graph interprets this and vice versa?
 
I think the only two ways I could be disappointed about this cam would be A ) Late release date and B ) High price.

I hope it comes in at a solid 5k or 5.5k.
 
This is the camera I have been waiting for. The only minus is the short tel lens but this can probably be overcome by a good tele-extender. I have one question though. How would one go about using a n onboard waveform monitor for scene setup. I have always used zebras and white balance. Anyone care to explain the process or refer me in the right direction.
 
This means uncompressed HD at 10-bit and 4:2:2.
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Did you hear that from Panasonic?
Just wondering if that's confirmed info, or if you're assuming it will be the full signal.
I guess it wouldn't make any sense to give us teh HD-SDI after the compression...but just checking.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
Did you hear that from Panasonic?
Just wondering if that's confirmed info, or if you're assuming it will be the full signal.
I guess it wouldn't make any sense to give us teh HD-SDI after the compression...but just checking.
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Good point. I didn't EVEN think about that. Makes for some yummy options for recording tethered.
 
9. HD-SDI output through a proper locking professional BNC connector (and, yes, the HD-SDI has embedded time code and audio). This means uncompressed HD at 10-bit and 4:2:2.
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Can someone talk about this a little more? Does this mean we could be getting that (theoretical) "Hydra" performance? Or am I not understanding the feature...?
 
Well, I'm sure diggin' this upcoming HPX170. :) Unless something else trumps this at the same approx price point, this will be my next cam. Scarlet, yeah yeah, I know . . . that's a ways off and might still not be the right camera for me anyway.
 
I saw a video on of Jan from panasonic talking about the 170 and she said it will be the same price as the HVX200a MSRP is $5999.00 but street retail will be around $5299.00.

Basically if you want a tape drive you miss out on all the sweet 170's features. So stoked on this new camera, I hope the low light/noise reduction is good!

oh here is that video about the 170 very informative -
http://www.freshdv.com/podpress_trac...nic_hpx170.mov
 
Barry_Green said:
15. Built-in WAVEFORM MONITOR. This is so fantastic. It's almost like having DV Rack built-in to the camera now! The waveform monitor is the ultimate tool to use for judging exposure; it basically replaces the zebras and the light meter. It lets you know exactly how the camera's exposing. Very, very cool. Also, the waveform monitor is sooo much nicer than even the one on my $3400 BT-LH80W monitor. It's a lot higher resolution. This is sweet.

16. Built-in Vectorscope! My $3400 monitor doesn't even have this. A vectorscope lets you mathematically analyze how the colors are being rendered. Nice.

17. Focus Assist stays on. The HPX170 includes the same magnified focus assist as the HVX200, but on the HVX it "times out" after 10 seconds. Now with the 170, you turn it on or turn it off with the press of a button. Minor upgrade but a nice usability upgrade.

17. New Focus Assist Graph. The big 2/3" HPX500 doesn't have the magnified focus, it uses a "histogram" to mathematically display focus (by graphing the high-frequency detail). It works very well on the HPX500. The HPX170 now includes this feature.

18. New Focus Assist Bar. This one is kind of a no-brainer focus assist -- a small little bar, a few pixels high, shows up in the lower 1/3 of the LCD. As you turn the focus ring, that bar grows longer or shrinks smaller. The more in-focus you are, the longer the bar is. So the goal is simple: turn the focus ring unti lthe bar is maximized.

19. Multiple Focus Assists. All these focus assists can be used simultaneously or individually. With all three on, your display gets quite cluttered, but if you can't get razor-sharp focus using all three of these, you need a trip to the optometrist. :thumbsup:
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So Barry, this all is great news but since you say that razor-sharp focus is now possible with the 170, does that greatly lessen the need for an external monitor such as the BT-LH80W? How much value-add is there from the focus-in-red and pixel-for-pixel over and above the HPX-170's new focusing aids? Also, when you quote the $3400 for the Panny, I'm assuming that includes all the accessories and power options, correct? The reason I'm asking is because I've seen it for under $2100 from some board sponsors and am very close to getting one for the focusing aids it provides.

Lastly, did you happen to notice any options for external focus/zoom/iris control? I'm guessing that they haven't changed anything. And although you've stated a number of times in various posts that the EX1 is in a different class, overall what's your guess on how the 170 stacks up against it in terms of low light sensitivity, sharpness and noise?

BTW, thanks for your great coverage; I'm getting pretty dang fired up about this cam as I'm sure a heck of a lot of other people are!

Cheers,
 
Noooo 5999.99? It's worth it, I was hoping it'd come in at an MSRP less than that so the street price might hit 5400 or so.

We'll see though!
 
Kholi said:
Noooo 5999.99? It's worth it, I was hoping it'd come in at an MSRP less than that so the street price might hit 5400 or so.

We'll see though!
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MSRP on the HVX200 is (and has been) $5995, and I got mine brand new from Spec Comm about a year ago for around $5300

So I think there's a good chance you'll be able to get below that $5400 pricetag.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
MSRP on the HVX200 is (and has been) $5995, and I got mine brand new from Spec Comm about a year ago for around $5300

So I think there's a good chance you'll be able to get below that $5400 pricetag.
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That'd be the sweetness. Here's to hurrying up to wait.
 
Jeez, I don't know about anyone else but I've been holding out on upgrading to a new cam since Sept '07 which will make it one LONG year of waiting if the HPX-170 is released on schedule... My options at that time were the current HVX-200, the Canon XH-A1 or the soon-to-be-released EX1.

I don't usually like being on the bleeding edge nor the trailing edge of things so I was in sort of a pickle. On top of that, with NAB looming in the near distance, it made a lot of sense to just wait it out since I didn't really need to buy a new cam right away. As we've seen, the EX1 has had it's share of 'teething' problems. And, as many of us suspected, an overdue update to the HVX-200 has been announced, albeit short of some people's expectations, which only served to confirm my decision to wait it out.

In any case, barring any serious shortcomings uncovered in the coming months, I will definitely buy an HPX-170 without further ado based on what I've heard so far. As much as I, and many others, are intrigued by the RED Scarlet, it unfortunately seems many, many months away before we see stable, commercially available units.
 
Barry,

Thanks again for doing a great job of keeping us informed. Just a few questions for you:

Waveform monitor: Is it possible to view the waveform monitor (or some type of histogram) while viewing the picture at the same time? This would be helpful if the light changes.

Focus assist: Do you know if the 170 will have something like the focus in red feature? The focus assist graph and bar are okay, but they don't really tell you which part of the picture is in focus. (The other option would be for Panny to upgrade the LCD, but we know that didn't happen).
 
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