HPX250: Sports format & frame rate suggestion

T

tirapell

Active member
I'm renting an HPX250 to record 2 days of amateur wrestling footage. Question is, what format and frame rate would you use (think MMA if you don't have experience with wrestling)?

Delivery is likely web and DVD so I was thinking AVC Intra 50 at 720p60. Any reason to use AVC Intra 100 and/or 1080i? Just trying to get ducks in a row before shooting. Thanks.
 
I just shot a tournament basketball playoff game, and used AVCINTRA 100 720/60p.

Fabulous footage, great for slow motion, and great color space.
 
Thanks David. Maybe I'll go AVC Intra 100 then. Just wasn't sure I'd need the extra info. I'm excited to see what the hpx250 can do!
 
2nd that AVCINTRA 100 720/60p... you will want the best quality you can get, makes for better compression later.
 
Got the camera yesterday and did some tests. Fantastic piece of equipment. Controls/settings are easy to use and USB Host is a god-send for off-loading P2 cards.

Event is this weekend. One last question: scene file recommendation? Either standard HD (#1) or Cine-V? It'll be indoors so dynamic range shouldn't be a problem and I'd like to get an image out of the camera that is close to the final, not extensive CC'ing after.
 
tirapell said:
I'd like to get an image out of the camera that is close to the final, not extensive CC'ing after.
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Too bad you dont have the 250 book. I didnt care for any of the defult scene files in the camera. Once I got Barrys book, I loaded the files and colors were great. I have sinced tweaked them and beatuful. If you look under the 130/160 fourm Heres the link he gives the scene setting he made for what he taped. It looks good, a few tweaks and it should be what you are looking for. Hope this helps, I have had my camera for awhile, and I am still learing how to make it look the way I want.
 
rzr219 said:
Too bad you dont have the 250 book. I didnt care for any of the defult scene files in the camera. Once I got Barrys book, I loaded the files and colors were great. I have sinced tweaked them and beatuful. If you look under the 130/160 fourm Heres the link he gives the scene setting he made for what he taped. It looks good, a few tweaks and it should be what you are looking for. Hope this helps, I have had my camera for awhile, and I am still learing how to make it look the way I want.
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Thanks for the link! 100x better than the standard Scene 1 file setting. I really didn't want to use Cine-V but I wasn't sure where to start. What do you use with a scene file like this on the Knee? Leave at Auto? I'm trying to get most of what I want right out of the camera. Thanks again!
 
tirapell said:
What do you use with a scene file like this on the Knee? Leave at Auto?
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Well this is something you will need to try for your conditions. However I might try low or auto. low I think gives you 80% compression from what I have read, your video might be a bit darker. So how bright is what you will be shooting will determin what to set it at. If all else fails, then auto is a good starting point if you dont have time to test. Or off but make sure you use your waveform monitor then, so you dont blow out your shots. :thumbup:
 
Never use Auto unless you like your picture to change as lighting conditions change, even if you're only panning -- that applies to manual exposure control as well. The HPX250 is less likely to overexpose than earlier Panasonic handhelds so I would use Mid or even High.
 
Great

Great

Mark Williams said:
If you have the time please let us know your experience shooting with the HPX250.
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Mark, sorry it took me so long. My experience with the HPX250 was fantastic! It's an amazing camera at a price point really unmatched to date for this type of work. There are lots of options for times when you have the luxury of doing it over, but for sports or documentary or anything needing to capture the moment the 1st time, this camera is perfect. If you were doing a lot of handheld and price was not a factor, the HPX370 might make for an easier day as all cams in this form factor get tiring to work with without some type of support. As you can see below, I used a monopod. Wish I had more time to work with the HPX250. It's truly a step up from the previous generation in this form factor.

I had put together a short promo video for the trip. It shows some of the shots I got with the camera over the course of the two days. I did try to dial in settings into the camera that would make it easy to use without color correction (which I didn't plan on doing), so it's pretty vibrant in the shots, but there's tons of flexibility with settings depending upon situation encountered. These aren't great by any means, but I was running and gunning pretty much for 2 days to capture what I could of the live action.

I mostly shot with it resting on the Manfrotto video monopod, which worked nicely considering it's a long day to shoot match after match, moving around the gym. Used a SmallHD DP6 for focus which was a godsend. Other than that, no 3rd party equipment.

Here's the promo:
 
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