Lessons on how to get the best from your HPX500?

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David See

Active member
Hi all,

I would love to know if there is a website/ some documentation / dvd's on how to use your 500 to its maximum potential, explaining all the features in detail.

I have had my 502 for a month now (and love it) but would love to learn about all the things I just don't know about (or understand, for that matter) what it can do.

I use it for basic newsgathering, but I would also love to use it for nature documentaries and I gather it has some amazing settings to get these kinds of pics looking great.

Cheers!

DS
 
Are you understand to say unable to diagnose fine manual comes camera with?

Perhaps Panasonic CMS software you help make picuture beautiful. Read CMS manual back and front you get big brain.

I think I see an opportunity here.... maybe Panasonic can start with a call to Rosetta Stone?

Congratulations on getting the camera. I've had mine since late June and I have since used my HVX200 twice and only to make comparisons to the HPX.

I understand how you feel about wanting to get more out of the camera. I usually end up just making a bunch of changes on the fly while shooting and then go back and watch to get a feel for what those changes do. One tip, make sure to put a microphone on so you can say "this is with X scene file or changes to Ped, etc..." I also try all the different frame rates, shutter speeds, recording settings and such.

Lately I've been using "Hunter's Scene File" found here on DVXuser and had great success for most shooting that I do. Seems to offer a good dynamic range and adjustablity in post and at the same time is great just left alone. One thing I have discovered on a recent series of shoots for a botanical garden is that the camera oversaturates reds so I turn down the color when shooting roses and other deep red flowers. Another tip is to carry a white balance card with you and manually w/b all the time.

If you had the smaller HVX before this one, you probably played with the frame rates and shutter speeds. If not, go at it with this camera because there are some very interesting results that you can get. One thing I've discovered through reading and experimentation is that slow motion (over cranking) looks best at just above your recording frame rate. For example, I shoot most projects for DVD at 24p, so when I want a really smooth slo-mo effect I'll use 26 fps. Its just enough that it slows the action but isn't overly noticeable to the viewer. When I started using the HVX when it came out, I would just set it to 60 fps and everything would be just really sloooooowwww. Looks cool for a gun fight, but for more usable and typical shots it just looked kind of overkill and obvious. Another fun one is the fast shutter speeds at 1K to get the "Saving Private Ryan" battle scene effect. Combine it with some post color correction to emulate skipped bleach film processing and you're ready to shoot your next war epic.

As an eng shooter, I doubt you use a mattebox. That was the one thing that I think really improved the deep contrasty look to my images. I have a Red Rock Micro MB with their three filter kit, and a Zacuto Zephyr rails setup for mounting on the Shan-TM700. Looking to add a few more filters down the road, but the basic polarizer and ND's get you started and offer a lot of image control. I also found that shooting with a monitor is a huge help. I have a Carrion 8.5 monitor that I hook up to the component out. That and the mattbox I think are the two biggest influences on my shooting as it gives me some sense of light control and what the final image will be, not to mention actually being able to focus. Using the stock LCD for color and focus is a joke unless you are just trying to grab a quick shot. Same goes for the EVF. I've tried shooting live with the eyepiece and had mixed results trying to keep focus on people moving about. The set-up above is not for backpacking, but I can carry the whole thing cradled in my arms for quite a distance (such as walking around the previously mentioned botanical garden!).

As for understanding the settings such as Pedastal, Chroma, and such I found that by reading a good book on color correction helped more than anything. I have "The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction" and find that has filled in a lot of the gaps in my picture knowledge as well as helping my color correction in post. Amazon has it and a huge selection of comparable books.

I think the reason that you don't see a lot of material on cameras such as this is that it is assumed that you are a camera professional by the time you spend this much money and that you have probably come through the broadcast ranks and have somehow absorbed what you need to know. The reality these days is that there are a whole lot of men and women shooting with higly sophisticated cameras that never worked for a TV station and probably never will. So I guess we're on our own until Barry Green comes out with the HPX book and DVD...
 
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