Low Light Capability of the 300

Have a look at this shot, it was done at night with a single 800w redhead about twenty five feet from the front of the building and +6db gain:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx83DtvlBhY
The lights inside the house are std 60 watt domestic lamps, it is pretty clean with good blacks and not a lot of noise. I coudn't have done this with my Z7 or S270.

It is good in low light but like all video cameras don't expect it to shoot in no light with +12db of gain and not to be noisy!
 
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Gary, thanks for the post. I currently have an HVX200 so I completely understand about low light noise. You always need to light but I would love to not have to light as much as I do with the HVX. Sometimes i just get annoyed trying to get a good simple shot and I have to freaking light the house up if you know what I mean. Looking for something that makes it a little easier on myself although I still understand Ill have to light some.
 
I don't care for it in low light, the 370 is suppose to be more sensitive so you might as well buy that.
 
I shoot a fair amount in lower light in a lecture hall setting and the 300 does a good job in AVCIntra when my HPX170 under the same situation cannot match the same performance. This camera is solid for my work.
 
I agree with Jason the codec is king here and AVC Intra 100 is broadcast standard. Ok the front end matters but the stock fuji lens is superb as long as you keep it wide aperture for the 1/3" chipset.

The 370 is claimed to be more sensitive but it seems that it has been done in software and that has caused a lot of other problems so they released a firmware update which basically gives you an HPX300 again.

Its all swings and roundabouts but I love my HPX301's and they are really good camera's if used carefully.

I have done a feature film last year and there was a fair amount of grading done on some shots but I shot well underexposed and the 4.2.2 codec allowed a lot of lattitude.

Here is another example with one HMI pag light as source and -3db gain in place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcf5gXnUaQA

I know this is low quality i-fone level but you have to just look at the blacks and shadows to see the lack of noise.
 
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GaryNattrass said:
The 370 is claimed to be more sensitive but it seems that it has been done in software and that has caused a lot of other problems so they released a firmware update which basically gives you an HPX300 again.
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That's news to me. Can you elaborate at all?
The claims were that it was the 370's new U.LT. imager.
 
The claims were that the U.L.T imager was two stops better than the 301, but it all seems to be done with firmware filtering that has caused other problems with the images. The new firmware fixes this but it seems that it then takes the camera back to pretty much what the 300/301 was capable of.

If you haven't seen it read this thread:http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?215664-AG-HPX371E-jello-issue....

I have never found noise to be an issue on my two 301's but I am on PAL and shoot to broadcast standards so therefore don't expect it to shoot in the near darkness!
 
I have both cameras, 300 & 370,with the latest firmware updates and I say the sensitivity of the 370 is still better than the 300 by 3/4 stop. Both are wayyyy better than the 200 in terms of sensitivity .
 
I have read what Gary has brought up about the 370 being more senstive due to firmware and I have seen a fair amount of comparison footage (online) and I would have to say that what Gary says makes a lot of sense and I don't really see that much of a difference. Now I have not seen them side by side in a real world setting (which would be handy) but so far the 300 has become one of my better purchases. I have not experienced a situation that was too dark and honestly more often than not, when there are other cameras in the room shooting the same thing, 9 times out of 10 the other guys are complaining about light when I still have a stop left. There are other times I have enough light to step up the ND filter 1 or 2 times to achieve a better DOF. I don't have any complaints with this camera.... well maybe if Panny threw in a nice Wide Angle lens ;-)
 
GaryNattrass said:
the stock fuji lens is superb as long as you keep it wide aperture for the 1/3" chipset.
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this isn't exactly how i would describe the stock lens at all. it's perfectly adequate, but not much more than that. it breathes HORRIBLY, the grip is also merely adequate and is not particularly wide OR long and has no extender. "Adequate" is the word i guess i would choose. But - at least it's cheap.
 
FlacaProductions said:
this isn't exactly how i would describe the stock lens at all. it's perfectly adequate, but not much more than that. it breathes HORRIBLY, the grip is also merely adequate and is not particularly wide OR long and has no extender. "Adequate" is the word i guess i would choose. But - at least it's cheap.
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I suppose I have to agree in some ways but it is way better than the lenses I had on the Z7 and S270, in no way is it a top end Fuji lens but for the cost of the camera it is very good.
 
mb72378 said:
Gary, thanks for the post. I currently have an HVX200 so I completely understand about low light noise. You always need to light but I would love to not have to light as much as I do with the HVX. Sometimes i just get annoyed trying to get a good simple shot and I have to freaking light the house up if you know what I mean. Looking for something that makes it a little easier on myself although I still understand Ill have to light some.
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If you're looking for something which will perform better when you can't control the light level (such as events), then that's one thing. But if you're looking for something to keep you from having to do the work of lighting, that's not your best bet.
 
David, as I mentioned above: I am always going to have to light. I am a professional and this is what I love to do for a living but....I am wanting to invest in a more expenxive piece of equipment that will make things a little easier for me than my HVX. I love it but sometimes I feel like I have to do too much to get good picture out of it. Some of the more expensive shoulder mounts cams I have worked with yield a lot better results with more natural lighting than the HVX. But I can't afford a $75k camera. Im looking for a happy medium.
 
I think you would be very happy with a 370 compared to a HVX200. We did a side by side comparison of a hpx300 and hvx200when my church was buying. The 300 outperformed the HVX200 hands down in what most would consider very low light conditions.
With the 370 being slightly better than the 300, you won't go wrong.
We never went above 6fb gain (on the 300), with no natural light coming into the main worship area. We went down to one leico throwing a spot on the stage. The HVX200 was noise city. The hvx300 barely any at all.
On the other hand, if you ever have to ramp up the gain beyond 6db, the image starts to deteriorate rapidly.
If you can rent one to see for yourself, that would be best.
Plus the hpx370 has more pro broadcast features than the HVX200 if that is important to you.
 
Thanks Zeke. I'll have to see if there is somewhere in the charlotte/hickory/asheville NC area that has one I can test out for a cpl hours. I mainly do corporate stuff like videos for hospitals or some non-profits. Nothing to artsy just stuff that I want to look clean and crisp if you know what I mean.

I do some short film stuff n my free time but anything serious that might be meant for festivals and what not I would prefer to rent a red or varicam etc
 
then the only real issue is the lens. It's good for what you get, but isn't very wide compared to an EX1R. But, there is Chormatic Aberation Compensation, (CAC) built in for the stock lens that helps with the footage. Almost no problem with IR contamination either.
Plus it supports several different codecs, so if your clients need good old DV 25, you can deliver it.
We shoot 720x60p and get excellent results. 1080x60i is also very good.
 
I agree with Zeke this is a very good camera for the money and very flexible, the UK model also does NTSC frame rates. I have used mine for nearly 18 months now and it is a very pro like camera.
 
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