Why the silence on Pal camera development?

SPZ

Veteran
With the HVX200's beginning to ship regularly in the US, it starts to feel more and more frustrating , as a Pal user, to see the complete lack of information concerning our version. No release date, no final specs, no updates whatsoever. Distributors don't know, even Panasonic Broadcast doesn't know a definitive date. For a camera that has been released for more than 3 months in the NTSC market, rampant speculation is starting to appear in the internet, including claims of ccd's not being able to give a good Pal sd picture because of underengineering 540 lines ccd's vs 576 of Pal. This is very troubling and raises much concern for Pal users who are expecting a good follow up for their DVX's. The 1440x1080 50hz DVCprohd specification implementation is a concern for Pal users (but i don't consider this vital, with Ntsc users stating the HVX doing very well on FIlm blowups and on Plasma screens- their resolution is 1280 v 1080, which seems enough), as well as some significant workflow issues.

In a cynical note, maybe Panasonic is expecting to release the Pal HVX with the cineporter, stated for the 3rd Quarter of 2006 :(
 
There's no news because there's nothing to say.

I was told by H Prestons and a Panasonic rep at Videoforum they will receive the HVX200 at the end of March, so we only have about 4 -5 weeks to wait.
 
Steve Shovlar said:
There's no news because there's nothing to say.

I was told by H Prestons and a Panasonic rep at Videoforum they will receive the HVX200 at the end of March, so we only have about 4 -5 weeks to wait.

Yeah, Steve. Nothing to say about a product that is coming in about 4 to 5 weeks, but was delayed for a Looong time.
 
SPZ said:
...claims of ccd's not being able to give a good Pal sd picture because of underengineering 540 lines ccd's vs 576 of Pal...

This would seem relatively unlikely. If the camera is capable of producing a good image in 720p or 1080i then it should have no problems with 576i.

Panasonic just don't seem to have as much flourish when it comes to the pagentry surrounding PAL releases.

The 17th March is the (current) official release date (in Europe), with orders shipping out to dealers from that point on.
 
Alex, its good to know there's a official release date. However, it's a bit sad to know that, 21 days to launch (have I counted right?), there's no official confirmation of the capabilities of the PAL camera. Everything is still "preliminary". And nothing has been said about 720p50 editing in NLE's like FCP. Maybe I really have to go Kona Lh for editing...

And how do you convert the mxf file to a Kona lh 720p50 timeline, anywway?
 
I just think Panasonic are truly dreadful with their European marketing.

If it was Sony releasing the HVX200, they would have had a huge presence at the recently held Videoforum in London, and have stands at all the tradeshows around Europe. Instead, we had to go find a NTSC version, which was not even a proper working model, on a shop stand. Farcial and how NOT to do it.

The HVX200 is being launched in Europe with a whimper, not a bang.
 
Yes indeed. The only good side I see in this is fewer people knowing about the camera, thus making for no product shortage issues like in the US, as well as better market prices for jobs and content shot with it. (Hey, its dvcprohd, not hdv type of talk.)

But seriously, they should at least update their website with the final specs...

EDIT- Jvc is not a lot better in this matter, too. SOny is indeed, the better marketer and overall more responsive of the camera manufacturers in Europe... Shame they produce the z1, not the hvx...
 
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Maybe they are implimenting viewfinder 180 roll for the G35 adaptor and making the camera really really really extra great?
 
A few weeks to go and will still don't know what bundles are going to be available and not even the official price has been published. Grumble grumble...
 
as fare as i know there wount be any boundle prices in europe..so probably ripped off as a buyer in europe(compared to japan or the states) once again...lets hope that the release for the end of march will happen..!
 
I wasn't offered any bundle price when I ordered my. However, I thought they had set bundles... although Panasonic Europe didn't seem to be aware ;-) that there are now 8GB cards. They only seemed to be offering 4GB to dealers.
 
I asked my dealer to add an 8gb card to my HVX order. He said that there aren't any available and pricing is not available right now! He advised me to wait till mid-march when my cam will be close to shipping, the prices and the cards will be there for me to decide...

Looks like Europe is again behind...:(
 
Delivery mid april in the Netherlands (they say...)
AG-HVX200E € 5.995,00 ex VAT
4GB P2 € 575,00 ex VAT
 
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