I'm gonna go ahead and post up some answers to questions before I do a full write-up:
1. LIVE HDMI = No. Doesn't Look like so, folks.
2. USB to Composite Video Cable Included = Thanks Panasonic!
3. Rolling Shutter = RED ONE spec. Quote me on it. I waved this sucker around at 140mm looking for rolling shutter and it's just so scant that I'm speechless. Panasonic's Video department needs to take a lesson from the stills department. PERIOD.
4. Image Quality = Sucker looks like EX-1 @ 1080. Straight out of the HDMI into a Production Monitor all I gotta say is "fin~"
5. Manual Control Extent = EVERYTHING. I do mean EVERYTHING.
6. Custom Color Profile = DId you even have to ask? YES. And just wait til you see this stuff with the NOISE REDUCTION off. Yeah, it comes standard ON with this camera. >=D
7. Shutter speeds: 1/40, 1/50, 1/60 on Up. Close enough to 1/48 for me. Although there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid those pesky Sodium Vapor lights or Fluorescents yet. Gonna have to dig further.
8. ISO - 100, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 600, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600 in Video Mode
9. Flip Out LCD - Seriously? Did Panasonic actually make this thing? The LCD is awesome. Stick it up to your eye and BOOP (sound effects there) you get the Viewfinder. Sick. UPDATE: You don't see what you're actually REALLY getting on the LCD until you hit record. So don't be fooled. It looks better than you think!
10. Overheating -- Camera's been on for an hour so far. No overheating. Awesome feature on this: it turns the LCD off until the lens picks up motion, then it snaps back on. Sweet.
11. KIT LENS -- F4 indeed. And I have no reservations with using it for as much as I can. If this is the limitation of an F4 then it's all up hill from here man. The Lens isn't really friendly for manual use, unless you wear it in. But this sucker is QUIET as hell.
12. Facial Recognition Focusing -- Facial Recognition Focus works. Programmed the lady into the camera and it finds her without me doing anything. If she's in the frame it goes to her.
And I got to program it in English. It's a little slow, but I think it's just menu settings.
13. COLOR PROFILES -- You can save custom versions of Panasonic's curves. There are SEVERAL, and versionso f Black and whites as well.
Example; Adjust the DYNAMIC preset curve and lower saturation, etc, then save it.
Totally stumbled onto this while nitpicking through things. Saved two color profiles that I'm quite happy with. This may allude to building custom curves in other software. Sweet.
14. STORAGE and TIME LIMITS -- Picked up a 4GB Sandisk Extreme III 30mb/s card today.
A blank card's time limit seems to be 31minutes and So-and-So Seconds.
So every 4Gb you get 30 minutes of 1080/24p 17mbps AVC-HD it looks like. Not bad for 50 bucks.
I don't know just yet if there's a recording time limit, I'll have to let it run for a while to see. Coming soon.
15. MJPEG -- Blocky as all get out. I wouldn't use it, your mileage may vary.
16. ALIASING -- Its there on Wides with the Kit Lens. I've yet to try another wide angle lens but it's certainly there and shooting in either mode, it exists. you can save buildings by rotating the camera until the aliasing vanishes but archways and curves will not be saved.
Reserving final thought on Aliasing as a whole until I get my Nikon and Contax adapters.
You will have to decide, personally, how Aliasing affects your shooting. I like my wides, so I hope that it's just this lens or something like that. =T
FOV (Field of View) -- It's nowhere near an issue that it's been made out to be. Please pick one up for yourself and judge.
1. LIVE HDMI = No. Doesn't Look like so, folks.
2. USB to Composite Video Cable Included = Thanks Panasonic!
3. Rolling Shutter = RED ONE spec. Quote me on it. I waved this sucker around at 140mm looking for rolling shutter and it's just so scant that I'm speechless. Panasonic's Video department needs to take a lesson from the stills department. PERIOD.
4. Image Quality = Sucker looks like EX-1 @ 1080. Straight out of the HDMI into a Production Monitor all I gotta say is "fin~"
5. Manual Control Extent = EVERYTHING. I do mean EVERYTHING.
6. Custom Color Profile = DId you even have to ask? YES. And just wait til you see this stuff with the NOISE REDUCTION off. Yeah, it comes standard ON with this camera. >=D
7. Shutter speeds: 1/40, 1/50, 1/60 on Up. Close enough to 1/48 for me. Although there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid those pesky Sodium Vapor lights or Fluorescents yet. Gonna have to dig further.
8. ISO - 100, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 600, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600 in Video Mode
9. Flip Out LCD - Seriously? Did Panasonic actually make this thing? The LCD is awesome. Stick it up to your eye and BOOP (sound effects there) you get the Viewfinder. Sick. UPDATE: You don't see what you're actually REALLY getting on the LCD until you hit record. So don't be fooled. It looks better than you think!
10. Overheating -- Camera's been on for an hour so far. No overheating. Awesome feature on this: it turns the LCD off until the lens picks up motion, then it snaps back on. Sweet.
11. KIT LENS -- F4 indeed. And I have no reservations with using it for as much as I can. If this is the limitation of an F4 then it's all up hill from here man. The Lens isn't really friendly for manual use, unless you wear it in. But this sucker is QUIET as hell.
12. Facial Recognition Focusing -- Facial Recognition Focus works. Programmed the lady into the camera and it finds her without me doing anything. If she's in the frame it goes to her.
And I got to program it in English. It's a little slow, but I think it's just menu settings.
13. COLOR PROFILES -- You can save custom versions of Panasonic's curves. There are SEVERAL, and versionso f Black and whites as well.
Example; Adjust the DYNAMIC preset curve and lower saturation, etc, then save it.
Totally stumbled onto this while nitpicking through things. Saved two color profiles that I'm quite happy with. This may allude to building custom curves in other software. Sweet.
14. STORAGE and TIME LIMITS -- Picked up a 4GB Sandisk Extreme III 30mb/s card today.
A blank card's time limit seems to be 31minutes and So-and-So Seconds.
So every 4Gb you get 30 minutes of 1080/24p 17mbps AVC-HD it looks like. Not bad for 50 bucks.
I don't know just yet if there's a recording time limit, I'll have to let it run for a while to see. Coming soon.
15. MJPEG -- Blocky as all get out. I wouldn't use it, your mileage may vary.
16. ALIASING -- Its there on Wides with the Kit Lens. I've yet to try another wide angle lens but it's certainly there and shooting in either mode, it exists. you can save buildings by rotating the camera until the aliasing vanishes but archways and curves will not be saved.
Reserving final thought on Aliasing as a whole until I get my Nikon and Contax adapters.
You will have to decide, personally, how Aliasing affects your shooting. I like my wides, so I hope that it's just this lens or something like that. =T
FOV (Field of View) -- It's nowhere near an issue that it's been made out to be. Please pick one up for yourself and judge.
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