AC130: Panasonic ag ac130

WOOOHOOOOOOO Liking that 160 a lot! Also the 130 would be a perfect B cam for a 160 since you normally dont need the advanced features it offeres in a B or C cam....

FCP Plugin for AVCHD? Panasonic FTW!
 
Jim Simon said:
I'm having a hard time believing that, Barry. According to my reading, CMOS are far more complex than CCD, as they require the image processing electronics for each pixel to be on the same chip. Whereas CCD sends the raw pixel data off chip for all processing. Given that you actually get more light capturing area on a CCD because of this, it seems entirely possible to fit the full 1920 x 1080 pixels on a 1/3" CCD. Especially since it is now possible to do so on even a 1/6" CMOS.
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CCD also adds more weight, draws a lot more power, and costs a lot more to fabricate than CMOS. You're basically asking for a camera in a form factor that is not possible (the only 1/2 and 2/3 CCD cameras I can think of are all ENG cams), at a price that is unreasonable (sub-$5k for a $10k+ camera). Oh and it still has to be full res, even though millions of hours of professional broadcast programming has been done on pixel-shifted sensors.
 
I agree with Barry. The days of 1/3" CCD are over, get used to it. There were always compromises with 1/3" CCD. Split screen (JVC), Pixel shifting (Panasonic) interlaced only (Canon). If you want CCD then you will have to use a 2/3" camera and be prepared to pay big bucks for it.

What I am curious to know is how sensitive these new cameras will be. The HMC-40 after all is also full raster and 1/4" 1/3" is not that much bigger and 1/3" on the HMC150 also had lower res pixel shifting to really help the sensitivity. I would expect these to be much better then the HMC40 at low light but not as good as the HMC150. Of course I could be wrong and I really hope that I am. I would really love for Panasonic to pull a physics miracle and make these 1/3" full raster sensors equal older 1/2" sensors.

I'm really considering selling my HMC40 to get the 130. The tighter lens and dramatic boost to sensitivity alone would be worth it.
 
Mike Harvey said:
In another thread there is a video saying all three of the "triplets" (HPX250/AC160/AC130) are using the chips from the HPX370.

Barry's review of the HPX370's chips is here http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/article.php/28

Footage from Philip Bloom's initial review of the HPX370/371 is here


Now granted it's a different lens and that can have an effect, but I would think lowlight and image quality is going to generally be in the same ballpark as the HPX370.

Also, I don't know anywhere where it says the AC130 will do 1080p60. The AC160 will in VFR, but all the specs for the AC130 I've seen don't mention anything about 1080p60 or VFR.
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You are correct - I think one of the speakers made a mistake when talking about the cameras. The specs don't list it.
 
8string said:
We 150 users have been asking for dual slots, so this is excellent, and I would either sell my 150 or buy this as a 'A' camera and use the 150 as a B camera. Have to wonder how the image quality stacks up to the 150. Hopefully the low light ability would be better than the 150. For many, you really would want to have image quality that matches. But on it's surface it seems like a great camera. Makes the decision around $4 to 5k very difficult, as an AF100 is also a great camera, albeit that it is without lens (however, many of us have lens that would work already). I would have also have liked to see this as a shoulder mount. Or am I missing a different model that is?
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I think the low light will be better than the 150, considering they've taken the chips from the HPX370 using the ULT technology. Barry's test shows the HPX370 to rival and even best the Sony EX3 in sensitivity. No this camera won't be an HPX370, but I do believe the sensitivity will be awesome.

I also think the price could be a bit below $4000 for the 130 since all Panny has said is that it's under $4000 but not by how much.
 
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pulpfiction007 said:
I think the low light will be better than the 150, considering they've taken the chips from the HPX370 using the ULT technology. Barry's test shows the HPX370 to rival and even best the Sony EX3 in sensitivity. No this camera won't be an HPX370, but I do believe the sensitivity will be awesome.
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The one caveat is the lens. The HPX370 comes with a nice stock Fujinon ENG lens. We know nothing about the HPX250/AC160/AC130 lens. If it's slower, that could be a factor... but I have a hard time believing their going to release an HMC150 successor and have it be worse in low light.

I also think the price could be a bit below $4000 for the 130 since all Panny has said is that it's under $4000 but not by how much.
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If I remember right, the MSRP on the HMC150 when it was released was something like $3,995, and the street price was right around $3,200.
 
AVCCam/AVCHD is 8bit 4:2:0. The HMC150, HPX170, and AF100 output 4:2:2 from their HDMI and HD-SDI outs, so I don't see why the would be any different on the new cameras

However, given that the HPX250 is 10bit AVC-Intra, then I don't see a reason why the HD-SDI (AC160) or maybe even the HDMI (AC160/AC130) wouldn't be capable 10bit out. However, that's just speculation since no one has said anything one way or the other about what the outputs of the HD-SDI or HDMI will actually be.
 
Barry_Green said:
The ex1/ex3 lens is not a constant f/1.9. It ramps to about 2.8 at the telephoto end. It just doesn't report that it is doing it, but it is.
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How does it keep a even exposure when zooming, does it raise the iso or slow down the shutter speed? And what are the lens f stop numbers for the ag ac130/160?
 
If you can crank the gain on the 130/160 all the way up to 12dB, and still get a pretty clean image like you can with the HMC40 (which still amazes me), these cameras could be low-light beasts in their class - hopefully, effectively an f-stop or so better than the NX5, which certainly isn't bad at all when the lights are dimmed down, but anything over about 6dB gain with the NX5 does start looking a bit radio-active for my taste.
 
Gladiator said:
How does it keep a even exposure when zooming, does it raise the iso or slow down the shutter speed? And what are the lens f stop numbers for the ag ac130/160?
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If it's anything like the 151 then unless stopped down the exposure changes during zooming.
 
Predicted future threads:

Ag-ac130\60 vs HMC150
Ag-ac130 or 160?
Is the Ag-ac130\60 NTSC \ PAL switchable?
Will the HMC batteries work in the Ag-ac130\60?
Is it possible to upgrade my ac130 firmware and make it a 160?
Which is the best follow focus for the Ag-ac130\60?
Which is the best SDXC card?
Relay or backup recording?
When is Barry Green's Ag-ac130\60 book coming out?
 
Burners said:
Predicted future threads:

Ag-ac130\60 vs HMC150
Ag-ac130 or 160?
Is the Ag-ac130\60 NTSC \ PAL switchable?
Will the HMC batteries work in the Ag-ac130\60?
Is it possible to upgrade my ac130 firmware and make it a 160?
Which is the best follow focus for the Ag-ac130\60?
Which is the best SDXC card?
Relay or backup recording?
When is Barry Green's Ag-ac130\60 book coming out?
Click to expand...

Ahahaha most defenitly.
 
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