Panasonic's new AG-CX350 camcorder

As someone who has used these types of cameras for years, I get tired of the 'trying to justify its existence' to more cinema minded people. Most of the interview and some of the questions the interviewer asked are in this vein. Sorry, but I did not enjoy it very much. I own one and the image is nice but the LANC port or not-so-LANC port has left a sour taste for me. Kind of like it was an afterthought because all of the documentary shooters will handholding all the time anyway... I should not be so bitter on a public forum but the endless feature dance from these camera companies is taking tis toll on me.

Carry on.
 
Bassman2003 said:
As someone who has used these types of cameras for years, I get tired of the 'trying to justify its existence' to more cinema minded people. Most of the interview and some of the questions the interviewer asked are in this vein. Sorry, but I did not enjoy it very much. I own one and the image is nice but the LANC port or not-so-LANC port has left a sour taste for me. Kind of like it was an afterthought because all of the documentary shooters will handholding all the time anyway... I should not be so bitter on a public forum but the endless feature dance from these camera companies is taking tis toll on me.

Carry on.
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Sorry you feel this way. We are in contact with some third party companies to make accessory items for the camera. I can’t promise if and when they will bring a product to market, but we hope to give everyone the performance and functionality they want.
 
david_p said:
looking interesting spec wise with all flavors of ProRez and a few other things until i saw the LCD screen resolution...800 x 480 (384,000 Dots)
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I never focus with a camcorders built-in LCD (I use the EVF or an external monitor), so this would not bother me. As long as I can still frame my shot, 800 x 480 is still usable.
 
Thank you for your reply Mitch and I am glad some attention is being paid to the issue. I just can't understand at this point in time why Panasonic felt the need to go ahead with a "third" standard for remote controls? This is a well defined space. Why couldn't they design the camera remote to work with existing products we have been using for years?

Mistakenly I purchased this camera on some trust that Panasonic would not do something like this and I feel a little chopped off at the knees.
 
Bassman2003 said:
Thank you for your reply Mitch and I am glad some attention is being paid to the issue. I just can't understand at this point in time why Panasonic felt the need to go ahead with a "third" standard for remote controls? This is a well defined space. Why couldn't they design the camera remote to work with existing products we have been using for years?

When I upgraded from a 170 to the 270, one of the motivators was that my existing remote controllers, batteries, and memory (P2) were all compatable. Not having to upgrade any of those items was worth well north of a grand to me. Maybe not a deal breaker, but not having additional cost to get the new cam up and running was nice. My bigger concern is the meager choices of available controllers don't work particularly well such as the Vari-Zoom models. Are external controllers a product that Panny could make that would work better? This whole topic probably deserves a new thread.

Grant
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The VariZoom VZ-Rock LANC version (https://www.varizoom.com/product/vzrock/) seems to control zoom and focus on the CX350, although the autofocus on/off (A button) doesn't appear to do anything. You have to enable manual focus via the switch on the camera for the focus buttons on the remote to be able to adjust the focus.

The F+ and F- buttons on the remote (which I believe are supposed to be for iris control) also don't appear to do anything.

Overall, I liked the physical knobs for controlling focus and iris on the old VariZoom Panasonic remotes (two connector version) much better than the push button focus control on the LANC version.
 
These sort of accessories are the type of items that Panasonic has long worked with third party companies to implement. Without going into the business details of why, I’ll just say that’s where we have landed. Likewise there are reasons that the CX350 uses SDXC cards instead of P2, All-I, HEVC & LongGOP instead of AVC, and these types of controllers rather than what was used for previous models. Agree or not, these decisions were not lightly made and came in consultation with others. I’m the messenger here, as I wasn’t part of these discussions, but I do understand the process. As I said, we are working with 3rd party companies for various support gear to the CX350.
 
Mitch..
Im missing some of this bouncing but..

Can you clarify if there is, or is not, a device that will remotely control FIZand start stop remotely.. my application would be on the end of a jib.
 
I'm wondering if anyone has heard when the AG-CX350 will again be in stock. I would really like to have the camera for use mid/late next week.

Consistent with Murphy's Law, as soon as I decided on it, it sold out on the major sites. B&H is perpetually saying 7-10 days, Adorama just says it is on backorder. I found one site saying it was expected May 5.
 
Mitch Gross said:
These sort of accessories are the type of items that Panasonic has long worked with third party companies to implement. Without going into the business details of why, I’ll just say that’s where we have landed. Likewise there are reasons that the CX350 uses SDXC cards instead of P2, All-I, HEVC & LongGOP instead of AVC, and these types of controllers rather than what was used for previous models. Agree or not, these decisions were not lightly made and came in consultation with others. I’m the messenger here, as I wasn’t part of these discussions, but I do understand the process. As I said, we are working with 3rd party companies for various support gear to the CX350.
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Thank you Mitch. We do not want to attack any messengers and I am sure Panasonic has its reasons for its actions. No worries there. What I will still cast some shade over is the release of this type of camera with a gray area around the remote control features. Holding up the VZ-ROCK and saying all is good is pretty disingenuous imho. I do not feel comfortable buying anything until official word becomes more defined. Basically this camera will not be used by me on tripod until this gets sorted out. Making this a beta release camera in my eyes.

Not cool and a hit to Panasonic's reputation of supporting professionals.

Hopefully we can continue on the forum with dialogue going forward.
 
David Saraceno said:
I contacted a reputable supplier in the midwest and was told a July/August delivery window.
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Well that would be a complete drag. I was planning on buying one in May.

I know this isn't Mitch's department (and I don't think it's even a camera he's responsible for, right?). But would to hear some sort of availability word from someone at Panasonic, if they know, that is. It's a big world and the camera is clearly appealing to a growning number of people...
 
morgan_moore said:
Can you clarify if there is, or is not, a device that will remotely control FIZand start stop remotely.. my application would be on the end of a jib.
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There seem to be 3 recommended LANC remotes mentioned on page 3 of the CX350 brochure from Panasonic:
https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/sales_o/broch_pdf/ag-cx350.pdf

Libec ZFC-L
Manfrotto MVR901ECLA
VariZoom VZ-Stealth

The VariZoom VZ-Stealth and VZ-Rock LANC controllers can control focus, zoom, and start/stop recording. There is no iris control (the F+/F- buttons that might be used for this don't do anything). The Libec ZFC-L and Manfrotto MVR901ECLA do not even have any iris control buttons on them, but will likely work for focus, zoom, and start/stop recording (though I haven't tested these two remotes myself).

I'm not sure that there are any LANC remotes that support remote iris control of the camera yet. The impression I get is that Panasonic may have implemented their own commands for remote iris control over LANC and so none of the current LANC controllers support this. I believe Canon did something similar with the C100/C300 and so VariZoom had to release special controllers to enable focus and iris control on these cameras.

It's possible that the only option for remote iris control for the time being is to use wi-fi control via the CX-ROP app (on Android or iOS). The app does allow for remote control of zoom, focus, iris, start/stop recording, gain, white balance, etc.
 
David Saraceno said:
It was Full Compass in Madison who I purchased three Panasonic p2 cams from.
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Understood. B&H no longer giving an expected date. I hope this all isn’t true as I’d have to re-evaluate camera / manufacturer ... again... start all over after looking for years now.
 
Varizoom VZ-Rock & VZSTEALTHLX Works with Panasonic AG-CX350

Varizoom VZ-Rock & VZSTEALTHLX Works with Panasonic AG-CX350

Varizoom confirmed this morning that the Varizoom VZ-Rock $199 and VZSTEALTH-LX $129 work with the Panasonic AG-CX350.

VZROCK-2.jpg
VZSTEALTHLX-2.jpg
 
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