hpx300 in the dark vs hpx500

B

BigEye

Member
Panasonic came by today with the hpx300. We use the hpx500 on a very consistent basis. We didn't have time to try the rolling shutter tests but what I can say is that shooting with the HPX300 in low light blows the 500 away. Shooting into a large aqua display, the 500 even cranked to +12db didn't come close to the 300 on 0db. All settings were exactly the same. I'll try and get some screen shots...
 
Very curious about that; in my experience I'd rate the 300 at about 500 ISO and the 500 at 800 ISO; the 500 should have been noticeably more sensitive...
 
it surprised me as well. The Panasonic project manager was here as well and we both thought every setting was identical...something very well could have been amiss and I'll be checking all the settings again.
 
Okay, this is going to sound ridiculously obvious, but check the ND filter wheel too; I mean, for a 500 to not be more sensitive than a 300, I'd have to think that the ND wheel was set on "2" or something... :D
 
haha, no - that was the very first thing that I thought of when I noticed the difference but there was no ND filter on there.
 
after a thorough check through all the settings and ND filter, I was pretty confident nothing was amiss. Until I checked the lens and of course noticed the cause of trouble in low light. Yes, the 2X extender was on. (which of course is more silly than the ND filter set to 3)

Carry on...nothing to see here.
 
Hi Bigeye,

Where abouts are you located in Vancouver? Do you still have the 300? Who was the Panny rep you mentioned. I am in Langley and would love to get my hands on the 300 for a demo. I also have the jvc PL Mount adapter I would like to try on the camera but don't have any lenses on me right now, although I could probably hook up something.

thanks
 
Reminds me of the time earlier in my career when I over lit an interview because the lens doubler was on and eating up my light. Doh !
 
unfortunately, the camera went back to Toronto. Since we're at the Aquarium, they wanted to come by and get some original footage to take back. All that being said, the 300 is very good in low light conditions but sheds quite a bit more noise than the 500. Surprisingly enough it picked up bats in a near-dark display.
 
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