Panasonic unveils AG-HPX250 AVCIntra plus P2

Can anyone sum up the Pro's and Con's of the HPX250 and AF100/101

I've got and been using a very early HVX 200 (very low 300 Serial #) and am now thinking that I could justify the cost of upgrading but am pretty stumped by these two Panny offerings. I'd love the AF101/100 if only so I could leave the SGPro at home but.....
 
About 68 minutes.
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To be precise, for 1080p on my 370 it shows the figures as:
71min - 25p
72min - 30p
89min - 24p

Can anyone sum up the Pro's and Con's of the HPX250 and AF100/101

I've got and been using a very early HVX 200 (very low 300 Serial #) and am now thinking that I could justify the cost of upgrading but am pretty stumped by these two Panny offerings. I'd love the AF101/100 if only so I could leave the SGPro at home but.....
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Well, that depends on what you want/need more than anything, the AF series are closer to film-like cameras and use manual lenses, while the HPX series are camcorders, and are suitable for on-the-go shooting, especially since they have servo; different shooting styles.

Does anyone know the price for this camera?
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The press release said "less than" $6,500 (list), though some speculate that the street price may be as low as $5,500 or so. I'm guessing it's squarely aimed at the XF300 price range.
 
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Kolor-Pikker said:
The press release said "less than" $6,500 (list), though some speculate that the street price may be as low as $5,500 or so. I'm guessing it's squarely aimed at the XF300 price range.
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The HPX250 has the features of the XF305 - HD/SDI, time code, gen lock - which retails for $7,499. So the 250 could really undercut the 305 in price.
 
vanvideo said:
The HPX250 has the features of the XF305 - HD/SDI, time code, gen lock - which retails for $7,499. So the 250 could really undercut the 305 in price.
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It remains to be seen how it actually performs, however, with similar features it's probably going to come down to image quality, and P2 prices as the A vs. B factors. Don't forget that the XF uses cheaper CF cards, whereas you have to pay extra for P2 cards & readers, Panasonic probably priced it lower to compensate.
 
indigo said:
Can anyone sum up the Pro's and Con's of the HPX250 and AF100/101

I've got and been using a very early HVX 200 (very low 300 Serial #) and am now thinking that I could justify the cost of upgrading but am pretty stumped by these two Panny offerings. I'd love the AF101/100 if only so I could leave the SGPro at home but.....
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HPX250 will be a little sharper, records in 10-bit, and would be an excellent choice for ENG and event production. Con is that it has 1/3" deep DOF, so it wouldn't be as desirable for cinema-style shooting (at least, not without an adapter).

AF100's raison d'etre is shallow DOF and a cinema look. I wouldn't want to use an AF100 for ENG or event coverage, I think trying to use it to cover sports would be way more difficult than necessary, that's a job that the 21x servo-zoom deep-focus HPX250 would just eat up perfectly. But when it comes to interviews and cinema-style shooting the AF100 would be the far more preferable camera. If you don't need shallow DOF or the ability to interchange lenses, I'd say the HPX250 is probably the better more flexible camera overall. (of course, I say that without having used one or seen images, but just basing it on my familiarity with the HPX170 and the HPX370 and imagining a merging of the two).
 
vanvideo said:
The HPX250 has the features of the XF305 - HD/SDI, time code, gen lock - which retails for $7,499. So the 250 could really undercut the 305 in price.
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Between the Canon and the Panny, the feature sets seem pretty similar and will butt heads in the market. I suspect the Intra codec will slap the "Canon AVCHD on steroids codec", and that may be the key factor between the two.

It is great to see Panny finally offer a long fixed lens. That has always been a shortcoming the the HVX-HPX170 cams as Panny really had no options unless you went to a shoulder cam with interchangeable lenses.

Grant
 
"Canon AVCHD on steroids codec",
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Well, to be fair, that's not what the Canon is. It's the "Canon XDCAM on steroids codec". The Canon is based on MPEG-2, not MPEG-4 like AVCHD.

In all actuality it's the Canon implementation of the XDCAM-MPEG422 codec.
 
Comparing -- the Canon to the Panasonic? I don't have any experience with the Canon so I wouldn't be able to do a fair comparison without renting one and trying it. Offhand it looks to me like the Panasonic will have the better codec (10-bit AVC-Intra vs. 8-bit MPEG-2) and the better recording media (I hate compactflash cards, I think they're the worst solid-state media), and it should be notably less expensive... the Canon XF305 has a street price of $7500, and the HPX250 was announced at "under $6500". That's a $1000 advantage, but we don't know how far under it will be. The last time they announced an "under" price, it was the AF100, at "under $6,000" -- and it came in at $4995. So if the HPX250 clocks in at the same ratio, that would put it at $5495 MSRP -- and maybe a street price of $5,000. If that turns out to be the case, then I don't know how the Canon could compare to it, I mean, even if the Canon had some pixie dust that made magically better pictures (which I would doubt, I mean, they're comparable levels of technology), even so, there'd be a bare minimum of $1,000 savings and maybe as much as $2,500, so ... it seems to me like it'll compete pretty strongly. And if its images are as good as the Canon's or better, then it should be a very strong competitor. But that's all speculation based off of a spec sheet for the XF305 and a press release for an unreleased HPX250, so take it for what it's worth!
 
I have the XF305, and I've had no problems with my CF cards. There are some CF cards that are better than others, and Canon has a list of recommended cards. So far, no loss of video, nothing.
I think the AVC-intra is a better codec, but in practical, everyday use, I don't think there will be an appreciable difference, IMHO.
I also had a P2 camera, and I still have my P2 cards. I was hoping Panasonic might release something like this.
Price wise, I think the 250 will undercut the XF305, but when you factor in the price of P2 cards, it might be a bit closer.
Both cameras are really exciting. If the 250 can match the 305 in picture quality, then it will be a fantastic camera.
 
That's what I'm counting on the HPX-250 being...the quality of the 370 in the form factor of the 170ish (I realize it'll probably be a bit bigger in size).
 
+1 to dcloud. No comparison between the two, AVC-Intra is far superior. That said, it does take up 2x the bandwidth, and both are acceptable by most (if not all) major broadcasters.
 
barry-

the "only" difference between the newly announced 250 and 160 is avc-intra versus avc-cam codecs?

thanks in advance

be well

rob
smalltalk productions
 
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