HPX250: Noise and soft, Camera problem or me, expecting too much?

I own the PMW200, which is similar to the EX1 & 3. Subjectively, the PMW200 is not dramatically better at all to the HPX-250 even w/ the Fujinon 14x OEM lens. Yes, it's a bit cleaner in low light and other minor areas but overall not a huge leap between 1/3" and 1/2" cam. I see strong similarity w/ the upcoming PX-270 to the PMW200. That may be a closer comparison.
 
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male_man said:
Lonewolf…….Would a sun shade or matte box solve some of those harsh sunlight issues?
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This is you get what you pay for. I've come to realize that no camera mfg would in the right mind put all of the best in their $5.5K 1/3" camera.
Even with the upcoming PX-270, I still not convinced that model is drastically better than the HPX-250. To me it's an incremental improvement.

If quality is the utmost importance, then a $5.5K camera will not going to deliver it no matter now hard you try. Spending extras on matte box and
sun shade wouldn't really help much. Maybe cut a few light flares here and there. But it still doesn't address the problem of C grade optics.
The matte box is quite cumbersome and defeat the purpose of the compact and lightweight 1/3" form factor.
The only real advantage of having a matte box is the easy to remove external 4x4 or 4x4.5" ND & ND grad filters and extra sun shading.
The HPX-250's built-in ND@1/64 is still not enough to cut the bright sunny
daylight to within f/4. But even that will not make a C grade stock HPX-250 lens all of the sudden become a $35K Canon/Fujinon EFP 2/3" A grade lens.
Personally I use the screw-on round ND filters fr Hoya and BW and it'll give you similar results to that of the matte box.
You can't do ND grad, but overall less bulky to carry it around.
 
I passed on the HPX-250 series in favor of the XF300. The Canon just had better stuff - lens, servo motors, auto focus, color controls and full raster 4:2:2 codec that is only 50mbps. This time around I am rooting for Panasonic to wake up and make a better camera. I would like to upgrade but will not if they continue to sleepwalk like the last series. Just because these cameras are not top of their line does not mean they need to be soft. The PX has a great list of codecs. If they follow through with better servo motors and a better lens it will be a winner.

News flash for Panasonic - people are not buying the big cameras like they used to. The market has changed and pros have to use the little cameras because budgets have gone in the tank. Make a weak camera and somebody else will make a better one and take your sale. Under $10,000 is the new $20,000
 
The XF300 ramps from f1.6 to f2.8 I have really enjoyed this camera outside of its light sensitivity. It is not poor in low light, but it is not great either. The gain is quite clean though, but I hate using gain. Light sensitivity is only reason I am looking for the next generation.
 
I own the HPX250 and find it to be a sharp camera and decent in lowlight. I'm however with you, looking at something like the c100, or 300.
 
I still need a video camera with servo motors, but would like a clean 0 gain F11 @2000 lux (through the zoon range) camera like the big ones. 4:2:2 50mbps is important to me with 1080p60 (and 720p120 if possible). Canon has nice colors and will be considering an XF350 if they release one, but have always liked Panasonic cameras. The GH4/possible AF-200 is a plus for the Panasonic camp if their color science is similar to the PX-270. As a one man band, I always have two cameras going. So I have to think in pairs. Color matching saves a lot of time in post. Looking forward to (hopefully) being pleasantly surprised around NAB time.
 
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