PX270 Firmware Update Jan. 2015

Excellent! So happy they didn't charge for the Intra-200 codec, that would have been a huge disappointment. Paid firmware upgrades are a thing of the past.

iPad app control looks neat!
 
They finally got this thing to the finish line! Only 9 months after it hit the market... I hope they are embarrassed and this does not become the norm in the industry.
 
Ver 16.30-
New features
  1. Added formats
  2. AVC-Intra200 Codec
  3. 1080/30PN,25PN,24PN
  4. 1080-23.98PsF mode
    Enhanced network functions
  5. [LAN] Simple Playlist editing (export, copy and save)
  6. [LAN, 4G/LTE] Streaming function (Fix rate /QoS)
  7. [LAN, 4G/LTE] REC During Upload function (Automatic transfer of recorded clips to FTP server while shooting.)
  8. Camera Control APP * for iPad
    *This will be supplied from Apple Store soon.
 
Here's a press release they just sent me with more info on what's changed:

NEWARK, NJ (January 22, 2015) – Panasonic has announced a free firmware upgrade for its popular AJ-PX270 P2 HD handheld that incorporates a new codec (AVC-Intra Class200), full HD streaming and automatic contents transfer, and new recording formats, all enhancing production and remote newsgathering.


These upgrades are available for downloading effective today at the Panasonic service support website, http://eww.pass.panasonic.co.jp/proav/support/content/download/EN/ep2main/soft/upgpx270_e.htm.


The addition of the high-quality AVC-Intra Class200 codec* (10bit, 4:2:2, bitrate approx 200Mbps) enables visually lossless recording at twice the bit rate of AVC-Intra Class100, delivering studio master quality for recording network-level programming and archiving. AVC-Intra Class200 is ideal for field capture of content for film-outs; the higher quality greatly enhances color correction processes, as well as green screen and compositing applications. With the additional AVC-Intra Class200 recording, the PX270 delivers the highest quality recording available in a handheld professional camcorder.


Network functionality is also bolstered with newly-added streaming facilitating full HD output (wired, wireless**, 4G/LTE network***) during recording.**** The implication for news gathering is that a breaking news event can be streamed to a broadcast station while acquisition is in progress in the field.


In addition, Panasonic has added the “Rec during Uploading” function to the PX270 to allow automatic transfer of recorded contents to an FTP server, which means that recording is possible even while video content are being uploaded. The firmware also supports a new P2 Remote Operation Panel (ROP) application, which enables wieless control of PX270 camera settings (picture quality, zoom, focus and rec/stop operation, for example) using an iPad. The P2 ROP App will be available free of charge at the Apple App Store.


The firmware upgrade supplements the PX270’s already extensive recording formats with the addition of 1080/30p, 25p, 24p and native 1080 24PsF HD-SDI output, expanding production uses such as external recording and monitoring, as well as 720/30p, 25p, 24p, improving web production efficiencies. The upgrade also activates proxy editing on a web browser.


About the AJ-HPX270
The AJ-PX270, Panasonic’s first P2 HD handheld camcorder with AVC-ULTRA recording, combines the high quality and incredible efficiency of low bit rate recording and the flexibility of 3G/4G/LTE wireless mobility. The five-pound PX270 provides all the key functionality of Panasonic’s high-end, shoulder-mount camcorder, and features high-sensitivity, low-noise 1/3” 3-MOS imagers to produce stunning pictures, even in low light conditions.


With its innovative AVC-ULTRA codec, the PX270 features a wide range of recording modes, now including the visually lossless AVC-Intra Class200 as well as high-quality 100Mbps AVC-Intra Class100. For applications where file size is critical, the camcorder incorporates a choice of AVC-LongG quality levels; for high-speed file exchange, the PX270’s high-resolution AVC-Proxy encodes in parallel with higher bandwidth production formats, enabling fast, efficient offline editing,


For more information about the AJ-PX270 and other Panasonic professional video products, visit [url]www.panasonic.com/broadcast[/URL] or contact Panasonic at 877-803-8492.


Panasonic Solutions for Business
Panasonic delivers reliable business technology solutions that connect data with decision makers to drive better outcomes—for our customers and our customers’ customers. Panasonic engineers reliable products and solutions that help to create, capture and deliver data of all types, where, when and how it is needed. The complete suite of Panasonic professional solutions for government and commercial enterprises of all sizes addresses unified business communications, mobile computing, security and surveillance, retail point-of-sale, office productivity, visual communications (projectors, displays, digital signage) and HD video production. Panasonic solutions for business are delivered by Panasonic System Communications Company of North America, Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation.


All brand and company/product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies. All specifications are subject to change without notice. Information on Panasonic solutions for business can be obtained by calling 877-803-8492 or at us.panasonic.com/business-solutions.


About Panasonic Corporation of North America
Panasonic Corporation of North America provides a broad line of digital and other electronics products and solutions for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation and the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. In Interbrand’s 2014 annual “Best Global Green Brands” report, Panasonic ranked number five overall and the top electronics brand in the report. As part of continuing sustainability efforts, Panasonic Corporation of North America relocated its headquarters to a new facility, built to meet LEED certification standards, adjacent to Newark Penn Station in Newark, NJ. Learn more about Panasonic at www.panasonic.com.

# # #

*1080/59.94 recording only
** For wireless LAN connection, the AJ-WM30 Wireless Module is required
***4G module is required from a 3rd party
**** Can only transfer to one designated server


iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
 
I've already decided to sell my PX270. It is a good camera, but I waited til June, then October and then (apparently) January before I got features that were "supposed" to be on the delivery unit I received at the end of March (10 months ago). It's nice to see the Intra200 as a free upgrade, but I was never going to use it but on maybe 10% of my shots, so I wasn't exactly awaiting its arrival (though for the right price, I might have paid to get it as an add-on anyway).

I've moved on to the GH4 and found that the 4K and 200mbps modes on that camera satisfy my needs. Honestly, for the cost of the body, a couple of lenses and even adding the $2,000 Atomos Shogun, the same general functionality becomes available in terms of net recording quality for the same price or less than investing in the PX270. I much prefer the all-in-one approach of the PX270 for run-n-gun as opposed to the Frankenstein approach of the GH4 rigging, but I'm much happier with the lens performance (that being, that lens is a choice I can make, versus the integrated lens approach).

I'm recouping my investment on the PX270 and had many great shoots with it so I certainly didn't lose money on it, but I do hope that Panasonic continues to develop in this form factor but without the "deliver first, develop later" mentality that is much more of a Blackmagic and RED thing and used to not be Panasonic's M.O.

Again, this is a fantastic camera, I really like the unit (Panasonic even used my workflow in a press release last year), and while I've migrated to the GH4, it's clearly not the same camera. Having 4K and similar features at a lower cost made it a good choice for me, but for people who primarily shoot event or live coverage, the PX270 will probably be a standard bearer for this year and future years' camera development.
 
1/3" chip cameras are kind of their own animal just like DSLRs in a way. They have a certain look and usefulness. Your work is the ultimate decision maker. I also hope Panasonic will continue with the PX body and make a large sensor so an entire kit could be made with color/look matching. Best of luck with your sale and the GH4.
 
Hi, folks. My name is Todd, and I'm new to this forum, although I've been reading it for several years (especially when I've had some puzzling questions about my old HVX-200).

I bought a PX270 in December and registered it through Panasonic's web site. I never ever thought I would hear from them, but they contacted me and wanted to do a press release about how I use the camera. (I shoot stock footage at the Detroit and Chicago Auto Shows every year. I upload the edited footage to Getty Images.)

When I got back from Detroit in late January, I noticed the latest firmware update that Panasonic published the week that I was in Detroit. I downloaded it immediately and installed it.

One thing became clear immediately. Based on how I had configured my camera, I could NOT choose the AVC-I200 codec to shoot with. I was completely stumped. I reformatted my Micro P2 card. I reinstalled the the update. Nothing changed the fact that AVC-I200 was grayed out for me. Not even a remote possibility.

So I asked the Panasonic PR person who wanted to write about me if she could help me. She forwarded my problem to the Panasonic engineers. We went back and forth a few times. None of their suggestions worked for me.

Finally an engineer suggested that I do a Menu Initialize (MENU > OTHER FUNCTIONS > MENU INITIALIZE). That worked. I was now able to choose the AVC-I200 codec to shoot with. But why?

I began digging into the solution and discovered one very important fact: I had used the MODE MENU button on the left side of the camera to help me adjust variable frame rates when I was shooting on the fly. When the Panasonic engineer suggested that I initialize my menu, it erased all of those MODE MENU settings that I had established for the auto show.

When those settings were gone/erased, I was then able to choose the AVC-I200 codec.

Bottom line: you can shoot variable frame rates and use other MODE MENU functions in the AVC-I100 codec, but you can't use any of that stuff when you shoot AVC-I200.

I don't know why, but I wish Panasonic's engineers would have communicated that fact in their release notes. I also hope they'll explain why it isn't possible now and whether or not they'll correct it.

----Todd Ruel
 
Yikes. This AVC-I 200 is there but full of compromises. But who would need such high bit rate to begin with on a 1/3" sensor with a stock lens?

I'm very curious to see side by side comparison of AVC-I 100 & 200 on the 1/3" cam. Maybe helpful for green screen, but all other usages may go to waste when the optical section can't resolve the full range.

And nobody here seems to be able to have a good honest evaluation of preset 5600K wb performance. The HPX-250 was mediocre and practically useless when it comes to preset 5600K wb. Still reluctant to upgrade from the HPX-250 the PX-270. There are hidden traps here that I have to be discovered before upgrading. One of the obvious dead end traps is the P2 & Micro P2 slots on the PX-270. I spent thousands on full-sized P2 cards and only to find out that I have to spend thousands more for micro P2 cards in order to get spanning feature. However, the PX-5000 has dual card slots for P2 & Micro P2. But the recent PX-800 uses dual P2 slots and single SD. Arrgh. Why can't they just add another slot for full P2 on the PX-270? Perhaps more money. I'll have to pay ~5x to get dual slots of P2&MicroP2 media found on the PX-5000 and/or spend thousands more on Micro P2. Then it goes on to the WLAN options. It's not unified and multiple OS versions must be used.......

Clever or deceptive method for Panasonic to push Micro P2 media with this camera to fully functional. I can't tell how useful it's to be able record continuously on long events.


RuelTheWorld said:
Hi, folks. My name is Todd, and I'm new to this forum, although I've been reading it for several years (especially when I've had some puzzling questions about my old HVX-200).

Bottom line: you can shoot variable frame rates and use other MODE MENU functions in the AVC-I100 codec, but you can't use any of that stuff when you shoot AVC-I200.

I don't know why, but I wish Panasonic's engineers would have communicated that fact in their release notes. I also hope they'll explain why it isn't possible now and whether or not they'll correct it.

----Todd Ruel
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lonewolf2koc@hotmail.com said:
And nobody here seems to be able to have a good honest evaluation of preset 5600K wb performance. The HPX-250 was mediocre and practically useless when it comes to preset 5600K wb. Still reluctant to upgrade from the HPX-250 the PX-270. There are hidden traps here that I have to be discovered before upgrading. One of the obvious dead end traps is the P2 & Micro P2 slots on the PX-270. I spent thousands on full-sized P2 cards and only to find out that I have to spend thousands more for micro P2 cards in order to get spanning feature.
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I sold my PX270 already, but as far as "preset" WB goes, it never gave me any trouble. That being said, I usually dialed in the white balance directly, which is incredibly easy, very useful, and obviously more accurate than any preset could ever be. I mean, assuming you're shooting outdoors, the color temp changes all day long and is usually not exactly 5600K. Even shooting under daylight balanced lights, 5600K has limited use, and almost none when you have the ability to say dial in 5350K or 4890K, etc. But yeah, the presets work fine.

As for the slots, the single P2 is more of a backward compatibility option, whereas the MicroP2 slots are current tech. I had 2x 64GB microP2 cards and never had a problem on long events. Shot 8+ hours on 2 cards swapping out and offloading, and offloading was super fast on the cards. Should also be noted that if you have no interest investing in the new cards, you can use UHS-I or higher rated SDHC cards in the microP2 slots. So there's always that.

I find it interesting that you're comparing the PX270 to cameras that cost much much more - and asking why the relatively cheap PX270 doesn't have the same features. I mean, the microP2 cards are cheap enough, you could buy a dozen of them for the cost savings.

As for AVC-I 200, yeah, you're not going to need it for run-n-gun ENG coverage (usually), but for documentary, green screen, etc...more bits is more better. At the end of the day, it's a free choice for the user as to whether or not they want to use any given format the camera offers.

Seems like you're trying really hard to pooh-pooh the PX270, but for all that this camera can do, at such a cheap price, there's really no other option out there that even comes close in this segment.
 
Lone Wolf, sorry you had to buy into the large P2 cards. I always and still do view them as a horrible investment. A Panasonic trap that would never hold their value unless you keep older cameras in use for years.

As far as preset 5600k, what would you like to see tested? I carry a Whibal card and custom WB until I like how it looks in the viewfinder which is pretty accurate. If I have some time I will test for you but it will be with my color matrix settings. Will this help?
 
For the preset 5600K on the PX270, I would like to see how accurate it is from 10:00 - 18:00 hrs sunlight time range. I do lots of reality scenarios and majority of the times I can't manual WB each camera due to time constraint. As petty as it sounds, time is of the essence in on-the-go situations. And when the sun is setting, it's impossible to manual wb. I'm used to the no-excuses, accurate HPX-3100 & PX5000's 4300, 5600, 6300K presets performances throughout the day even after sunset and hope that it's similar since Panasonic designated the PX-270 as an AJ and not AG camera class.

I don't mind using Micro P2 cards. It will be a must have for the new Varicam series sub recorder. But my field offloads have been completely laptopless and I have several of their legacy AG-MSU10 devices. They served me very well in numerous scenarios and I've come to depend on it. Literally turn it on and press start - all for less than 14 min/64 Gb. If there's a duplicate it will warn you. No need to worry about loose USB cables, specify copy location, did I already copy the P2 card yet(?), or clumsy mouse clicks. Practically bullet proof in the offloading world. This was and still is a very efficient workflow back in the 2012 Olympic days where there can be dozen of cameras and hundred of P2 media. They all have to be offloaded in a fast and error-free manner. Unfortunately MSU-10 will not work with the Micro P2 to P2 adaptor. Panasonic has no plans to upgrade their aging MSU series for Micro P2 or even the new Express P2 256 Gb for the new Varicams. Perhaps too much costs in R&D and not a lot of buyers. So this means more equipment to bring and more complexity to the field offloading process w/ Micro P2 or simply buy a dozen micro P2 cards and don't worry about any field offloadings to reuse up the Micro P2s.

At the staggering cost of $2K for the 256 P2 Express card, the updated MSU model will be needed. I don't think many shooters can afford $20-30K worth of P2 Express media in the field. So Panasonic if you are reading this, please update the MSU to be able to read Micro P2 & 256 Gb Express P2.

Bassman2003 said:
Lone Wolf, sorry you had to buy into the large P2 cards. I always and still do view them as a horrible investment. A Panasonic trap that would never hold their value unless you keep older cameras in use for years.

As far as preset 5600k, what would you like to see tested? I carry a Whibal card and custom WB until I like how it looks in the viewfinder which is pretty accurate. If I have some time I will test for you but it will be with my color matrix settings. Will this help?
Click to expand...
 
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Yes. What I noticed w/ the older HPX250 is that there is only a sweet spot at around noonish. Anything before or after that tends to be yellowish or out of wack. This was just on the non-human, scenic shot. I'm very curious to know if the PX-270 can remain accurate. Now I can't compare feature for feature the PX270 w/ the cam that costs 5-7x more, but at least I'm very curious to know since it's now AJ series. W/ the AJ 3100 & 5000, they're incredibly dead on accurate. So much so that I'm 100% confident to shoot all preset on sunny exteriors (~ 2 hrs after sunrise and 30 min after sunset) even with human faces or scenics. I did some tests and that the manual WB & preset were literally identical on sunny exteriors and even overcast with cloud.

Bassman2003 said:
So would you want me to shoot a little bit every hour keeping the 5600k preset on a sunny day?
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Sure, I will shoot out my front door on a sunny day. My front yard in in shadow a lot due to the sun being south this time of year. The houses across the street will be sun though.
 
lonewolf2koc@hotmail.com said:
What I noticed w/ the older HPX250 is that there is only a sweet spot at around noonish. Anything before or after that tends to be yellowish or out of wack.
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You do realize that "white balance" of natural sunlight varies as a function of time of day, location on the planet's surface, position of the planet in its orbit, local atmospheric conditions, etc., yes? What you are describing sounds like correct behavior for a camera set at a fixed 5600K. It's not yellowish or out of whack. The camera is showing you what's actually there, relative to the preset you manually dialed in. If you want the camera's white balance to track with the natural changes in color temperature of sunlight that you get over time and as clouds come and go, use auto white balance on the camera. That's what it's actually there for.
 
Bruce Watson said:
You do realize that "white balance" of natural sunlight varies as a function of time of day, location on the planet's surface, position of the planet in its orbit, local atmospheric conditions, etc., yes? What you are describing sounds like correct behavior for a camera set at a fixed 5600K. It's not yellowish or out of whack. The camera is showing you what's actually there, relative to the preset you manually dialed in. If you want the camera's white balance to track with the natural changes in color temperature of sunlight that you get over time and as clouds come and go, use auto white balance on the camera. That's what it's actually there for.
Click to expand...

To clarify - yes, the correct behavior at 5600K preset. Somehow the 2/3" cams are very good at it whereas 1/3" HPX250 just is not looking right. I don't know the exact science behind it but all I know is that when I set to preset 5600K, the big cam pretty much always look correct vs the HPX-250 just doesn't look right by having a greenish (early AM hours) or yellowish cast (~after 14:00 hrs) to the recorded clip. No idea what Panasonic did to the big model but it works like it should be. Perhaps the low cost and the small form factor? I tried the auto wb and it's pretty bad on both 1/3 & 2/3". Somehow it just not smart enough to adjust it to look right. But preset surprisingly looks fantastic on big cam and I can always count on it.

In run-run multicam scenarios, accurate preset WB performance on all the cams is indispensable. My logic is that if the PX-270 has the 12-position matrix adj capability, then at least preset manual wb should be up to par with the big cam. But again I may be wrong because I saw that there are so much circuit boards on the big cams vs 1/3". Something has to be compromised to fit in w/ out overheating on the PX-270.
 
Bassman2003 said:
Lonewolf, I am busy this week but will do your test soon if you tell me you want it.
Click to expand...

Yes. Please do the test at your leisure. If you happen to be on an actual shoot, just switch over to preset 5600K during breaks to see if there are any differences.

Would like to know if the preset 5600K wb is a drastic improvement over the HPX-250. I'm particularly looking for abnormality such as greenish cast during overcast sky and yellowish cast that shouldn't be there.
 
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