HPX250: HPX250 vs AC160 + Atomos Samurai?

It seems clear that a 250 and 160 aren't going to match easily. The 250 really is a different front end from a processing standpoint. The highlight handling of the 250 is just on another level compared to other Panasonic palmcorders. AVC-Iintra 50 is a great way to do long form projects. 64Gb P2 card is $600, P2 reader is $350. So, 250 price difference over a 160 is around $1500.

The $1500 buys P2 workflow, master quality codec, a front end that looks more like Panasonic's full size cameras DSP wise. This camera is a green screen machine!
 
If the cost of P2 cards are a concern then consider buying used. I have purchased several 16GB cards with no issues. They were under $200 each. I prefer the R-series cards due to their robust nature.
 
Thanks Dino and Mark Williams for the replies. I hadn't thought about used P2 cards.
Well, I wish I could buy 3 HPX 250s, but there is no way. Sounds like the 250 and 130/160 won't match close enough to use on multicamera shoots. Since it looks like longer recordings can be performed using intra50 on the HPX, will it still look better than the AVCHD 24 on the 130/160?
If using an external recorder on the AC160 to bypass the codec and manage 4:2:2 color space, it would seem it would then be able to chroma key pretty well (granted not as well as the HPX250). Maybe that would be good enough. I just don't see how I can buy the 250 since a lot of my work requires multicam and longer recordings and it not matching the AC 130/160 for muticam shoots.
 
I'm guessing the 160 doesn't have 10-bit HD-SDI output, so ProRes external recorders will only receive 8-bits, but AVCCAM is full raster, AVC-Intra 50 is 3/4 sub-sampled, horizontally and is also just 4:2:0, although 10-bit. AVCCAM should be sharper. If doing green screen, Intra 100 is definitely superior to Intra 50 or AVCCAM.

It sounds like 130/160 would work okay for you, especially with an external recording option when needed.
 
Hi Guys!I Have a question, Im a good bit behind you guys tech wise, Heres my Problem: I mainly do multicamera events, the company Im involved with has just bought a shed load of hmc 151's, I use their gear most of the time or hire camera (z5's,hmc151s,canon 5d's) I shamlessly only own a sony vx2100e with a blown firewire port and a Nikon D7000 HDSLR.. Now, Im about to get a new camera, and my thoughts are with the AC160 which for the work im doing mostly at the min will be absolutley great... However, I also sell bits and pieces of footage to tv news, and broadcast is really where I want to start heading, currently ive been shooting the news stuff on dslr and then transcoding into DVC Pro and winging it (so far so good), So, Ive now been considering for my future carreer (hopefully) in TV, Is the AC160 really the best choice or should I wait up the budget and go with HPX 250. At the min I personally own a d7000 and a broken VX2100e...... any opinions? Thanks in advance - I know a bit of a general question..
 
If shooting news on a short turnaround, having a camera that records in DVCPRO HD would seem to make some sense. We know that no TV station or cable network would have an issue with footage shot on DVCPRO HD or AVC-Intra 100.
 
Hi guys. The Samuri atomos looks pretty neat but what other external recorders would you guys recommend. I also plan to buy a POV hd camera for use on vehicles and a Pole cam so perhaps I could use the recorder with that for those needs and whenever I need to do a chroma key spot I could use it with the ac160, therefore better justifying the expense. Buying 2 or 3 hpx250s plus enough p2 cards for multicam long events is just more than I could afford. But if the 160 can pull good keys with the recorder when I need it, then I can use 130s as B and C cams for multicam events and all the cameras will match unlike sticking a 250 with the 130 and trying to get them to match it post. Sound correct?
 
FYI, my first HPX250 shoot was a multicam live music event with a HMC40 and HMC150. I color balanced each camera to a gray card on stage before the event. In post with Avid, I only matched gain settings... I was surprised that no color correction was necessary, (unlike when shooting with XHA1 or Z5U cams).
 
Terry_Martin said:
FYI, my first HPX250 shoot was a multicam live music event with a HMC40 and HMC150. I color balanced each camera to a gray card on stage before the event. In post with Avid, I only matched gain settings... I was surprised that no color correction was necessary, (unlike when shooting with XHA1 or Z5U cams).
Click to expand...
That's interesting. I wonder then if a pair of ac130s would work with an hpx250 in a 3 camera shoot, either white card balancing or preset balancing before the shoot and the expecting a little color matching might be needed in post. I just don't want it to stick out where customers can tell it's a different camera when angles change. Right now I've been using agdvc60s with a dvx100b and though the DVX is considerd "superior" , they match extremely well outside (I can't even tell the difference usually) and they also match well indoors, the only strength of the bigger chips of the DVX showing when the lighting is really extreme in theater with loads of red color and black and then the DVX (which is usually on the front row while the others far away) produces better color and looks a little better. But so far I've usually not had to do too much post matching so long as we matched them before the shoot.
So I'm "hoping" that maybe something similar with the hpx250 paired with cheaper ac130s could work. I need multi cameras but I also nee
d one camera for greenscreen and compositing but cannot afford 2 or 3 hpx250s. Im not too excited about using an external recorder with a 160 as a substitute for a 250 either, but I am considering it.
 
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