My UX180 Review

Mike Warren

Mike Warren

Well-known member
I’m currently making a wildlife documentary and recently purchased a Panasonic AG-UX180 to use as the primary camera. I also have a small Panasonic HC-VX985M to use in situations where the UX180 is not practical due to its size. Here is a link to an article about my complete kit for this documentary.

Two features that were non-negotiable in choosing a camera was a long zoom of at least 20 x and 50p/60p in UHD. It also had to be able to produce good quality video in the less than ideal light that’s often found when shooting nature. The UX180 scrapes in on all of those.

After having the AG-UX180 for a few weeks and shooting some footage on the raising of a pair of Brown Honeyeaters I thought I’d publish my thoughts on the camera to help others considering this model.

I come from a history of using professional 16mm and video cameras and lenses back in the 1980s. These systems were mega-expensive, sometimes costing as much as a house. But in recent years I’ve been exclusively using consumer cameras.

My day job is electronics engineering and programming so I can usually make a pretty accurate educated guess as to why a manufacturer has made some seemingly weird design decisions.

See the full review here: http://www.mike-warren.net/panasonic-ag-ux180-review/

https://youtu.be/etHOHXoGSqk

https://youtu.be/mn9MOHZCsok
 
Nice review. I read the whole thing. Thank you. I almost bought one of those but decided to make do with my other cams.

I didn't see anything about the LCD lag. Is that not a problem for you?
 
Mike Warren said:
Thank you.



I mention it in passing in the paragraph just before "Audio". It's not a major problem for me. I see similar lag on other modern cameras.
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Thank you. I missed that somehow but went back and saw it.
That review should be helpful for anyone considering a camera like this.
Glad the lag isn't an issue for you. It was a concern of mine when I first learned of it, but I never was able to actually use the camera myself
 
My biggest gripe is the non-mechanical zoom. Basically a deal-breaker for me, can't wait to replace this camera with something more professional. I can make due with it for now, but coming from DVX, HVX and PX line, it's a pretty drastic change and I was shocked when I got the camera to see it like that.
 
Jarek Zabczynski said:
My biggest gripe is the non-mechanical zoom. Basically a deal-breaker for me, can't wait to replace this camera with something more professional. I can make due with it for now, but coming from DVX, HVX and PX line, it's a pretty drastic change and I was shocked when I got the camera to see it like that.
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I'd be surprised if full-time servo zooming is not here to stay, at least in fixed lens cameras. The cost of manufacturing a wide range (20x or more) par-focal mechanically controlled zoom, especially for larger than 1/3" sensors is going to keep them in the high end pro area. The more critical focus requirements of UHD makes it even harder for manufacturers. Panasonic tried keeping mechanical zoom with software corrected focus in the HPX250 and they couldn't get the focus correction to keep up with fast zooms. There was always a lag before focus caught up.

I've turned on fast zoom on my UX180 and have mostly come to terms with it.
 
Do you know if the servo only zoom is similar to that of the AG DVC60 or AG AC90?
With those cams I didn't miss mechanical zoom at all. Feather in and out, slow, fast or anywhere in-between you want.
 
firehawk said:
Do you know if the servo only zoom is similar to that of the AG DVC60 or AG AC90?
With those cams I didn't miss mechanical zoom at all. Feather in and out, slow, fast or anywhere in-between you want.
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I've never used either of those, but I expect the UX180 is similar or better. I can certainly feather zooms without any problem with the ring or rocker. For me, apart from the weird feeling the only times I'd really want mechanical zoom is for crash zooms, which I don't recall ever needing, and for quickly setting a focal length before shooting. The last one I'd like, but with "Fast Zoom" switched on changing focal length quickly is not too bad.
 
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