Looking to upgrade to either an HPX250 or an HPX370, how do the lenses compare?

J

jpmulligan

Active member
Now that the HPX250 has been out for a bit, has anyone had experience with it as well as the HPX370 to determine how the lens on the 250 compares with the stock Fujinon on the HPX370. I am referring to sharpness rather than the zoom differential, which I understand is probably weighted to the 250's advantage, as it is both wider and longer. I am upgrading from an HMC150, and with the current rebate on the HPX370, the price is pretty reasonable compared to the now discounted street price on the HPX250. If I go with the HPX250, then I will also be investing in a decent shoulder rig which further narrows the gap between the two cameras. Not to mention that a shoulder rig is really just a poor cousin's wanna-be solution for the 250, rather than an actual shoulder mount design of the HPX370.
It seems that more than a few comments have been made about the Fujinon not being so great, and the lens on the HPX250 actually being pretty good. So I am torn regarding which upgrade path to embark upon. Going with the HPX370 would absolutely be a stretch for me, so any prospect of buying a better lens for it would be pretty much impossible, at least anytime soon. Any feedback will be much appreciated.
 
The lens on the 370 is actually quite sharp if properly back focussed (it was improved from the 300's), the 250 lens is also sharp. The main advantage of the 370 lens is that it has a constant max aperture F1.6 from full wide to full zoom, whereas the 250 lens goes from F1.6- F3.2.

If you need to film in lowlight settings the 370 lens is better as there is no ramping, also the zoom speeds are very smooth from very slow to fast. obviously there is no autofocus at all on the 370 so if that is important to you then the 250 would be better.

Image wise both should be virtually identical as the 250 is basically a handheld 370.
I also have the Fujinon 13x wideangle lens, lovely and wide & sharp above F2 but very soft wide open at F1.4.

edit: Also forgot to say, the 370 will also require additional battery and charger and mic which will add to the cost. The 250 is ready to go out of the box.
 
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Not sure about the 370 but the 250 blows away the 300 sharpness wise with less noise and no crawling black dots in the mids.
Sensitivity is about he same -3db on the 300 = 0db on the 250. The 300 lens has a longer throw than the 250 but the 250 is wider.
As Garion said, ramping on the lens is will defiantly be a issue in low light. All in all I was very impressed with the 250.


Martin


Martin
 
Agree, the only thing I would like different on the 250 is less ramping at the telephoto end. The lens is so wide that you have to zoom in at events and if there is not sufficient light, then you have to use gain. The good news is that the 250 can take a lot of gain and the codec can be pushed pretty hard in post. So it's pluses and minuses. Great camera at a great price, but you may have to futz around with it more in post in certain situations. As far as audio both the 370 and the 250 have great audio with great limiters. If your shooting bands or orchestras, you can plug in the board line, throw on the limiters and leave it in auto. Never distorts. I haven't always had that luck with Sony cameras.
 
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