John Wee
09-01-2007, 08:46 AM
Recently I sold my entire HVX setup in order to go more pro. I am not in the rental business. Naturally, coming from Panasonic dvx100b & Hvx200 (I love the cine look of their cams), I seek out the upper echelon of the Panasonic 2/3 " ENG P2 offerings. So, there are 3 contenders, the HPX 500 , HPX 2000 and the HPX 3000. I called the nearest dealer and had an appointment to go demo the HPX 500 in person.
So the dealer had both cameras(hvx and hpx) hooked up to a giant wall plasma and we began to shoot and compare footage.
---Excerpt ---
me: Hmmm... yeah the 500 footage does look a little sharper on the plasma screen vs the hvx.
sales: Yeah, it does, doesn't it? plus its a big pro 2/3" cam just like the ones used by the pros.
me: Yeah, its not really dramatically sharper though. Whats the resolution of the censor in this guy ?
sales: Hmmm, lets see ... oh Panasonic doesnt provide that info ..... hmmm oh yeah, it says here it should have 20% - 30% more resolution vs the hvx 200. Yeah, but if you look hard, u will notice its bit sharper plus a bit more dynamic and latitude. If you want sharper image, the 2000 has more resolution BUT it doesn't have variable frame rates.
me: Oh really ? how much is the 2000 ?
sales: Around $27k without Lens. Around $40k, handsomely equipped. You can also buy the extra circuit board, for it to do the new Intra codec.
me: Wow, that is almost the price of the Varicam but yet it cant do variable frame rates at all. Cant afford that right now. Just curious, at that price does the 2000 do 1080p ?
sales: No, no 1080p, its still 1080i. Hah, there is also the 3000, now that baby rocks !! It has a full resolution sensor !! We talking about 10bit 1920x1080 here with variable framerate. I reckon this is the varicam p2 replacement. We still havent got the price yet, but its going to be expensive with all those features.
me: Ummm .. ok, well lets see how shallow the DOF we can get with the 500....... Hmmm ... doesnt seems like the DOF is any significant vs the HVX.
sales: Of course not, its only 2/3"you know, its not 35mm. But i tell you want, move back 8ft' - 10 ft' and you can get a sorta 16mm shallow DOF.
me: Yeah but sometimes in tight interior space, theres hardly any room to move at all. Hmmmm .. I think I maybe able to use a 35mm on this guy right ??
sales: Yeah I think so too but we don't sell 35mm adapter, check on the internet ... i think its called Redrock M2. They are out of Texas.
me: Yeah I have the m2 to use with my hvx, but l how would the m2 will attach to the 500? ... It's ok, i am sure i would find out the answer on the internet tonight. So are you guys are going to bring in the 2000 demo any time soon ?
sales: Ummm.. no, only certain dealer level would be able to sell the series 2000 and above cameras.
So, I thanked the nice sales guy and bid him goodbye. After my headache subsides a little bit from all the different configurations and options, I scoured the net and found a guy using the m2 35mm adapter with the 500. (caution: not for the faint of heart).
"To the owner of this cam, I am not knocking your cam, in fact i admired your persistency and creativity. But that setup scares me and I hope its a rental."
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1212/862646451_359a72497d_b.jpg
Then, I decided to do more research on the RED ONE. All I know at that time was, The owner of RED was the owner of OAKLEY and seems to have sold OAKLEY off. I can still remember those days back in the 80's working hard to save up for his revolutionary "Thermonuclear Protection" oakley Frogskin sunglasses.
So, what a huge transition from sunglasses to a digital camera, I said to myself, is this RED going to materialized ? After a quick wiki on "Jim Jannard" it seems like he is really into photography and owns one of world's Canon EF 1200 mm lens ( only 10 of this lens exists in the world today).
Immediately I know the man means business. So, after weighting everything (it was a rather really quick decision actually), the handicapped and crippled $22k HPX500 with canon eng lens or the RED ONE.
That same night, a deposit was secured for a RED ONE. An educated estimate points to shipping date of early in spring 2008.
So, Jim...
1) Thank you for not crippling the RED ONE. Majority of the big legacy guys in the industry are notorious for crippling their products in order to force consumers to pay more for functionality that is already possible on the product. From Canon DSLR to the Panasonic and Song 2/3" cams.
What? extra $500 just to enable PAL feature in a $9k XL H1 ?? What ? extra $13k to get extra Intra codec and additional resolution on the hpx 2000? What ? extra $30k to get full 1080p ?? What? letter boxing to get 16x9 ?? what ? pixel left, right shifting ?? $#@%#$#^@#@$#@$#
2) Thank you for not only making the RED ONE REVOLUTIONARY but also EVOLUTIONARY with constant updates and upgrades via software. NO more ebaying Dvx100, Dvx100a, Dvx100b ...... Dvx100z.
3)Thank You for selling us a camera that is worth 4-5 times its value at such an outstanding price.
4) Thank You for starting this REVOLUTION. I have absolutely no doubt the RED ONE and JIM JANNARD will go down in history as one of the greatest indie camera advancement ever. Just like how the Panasonic DVX100 did to the indie filmmaker community a few years ago.
I am truly privillaged to be "the children of the Revolution".
p/s: You can be assured that I will not missed the first batch 'preorder-es' of that new "RED Pocket Cam".
So the dealer had both cameras(hvx and hpx) hooked up to a giant wall plasma and we began to shoot and compare footage.
---Excerpt ---
me: Hmmm... yeah the 500 footage does look a little sharper on the plasma screen vs the hvx.
sales: Yeah, it does, doesn't it? plus its a big pro 2/3" cam just like the ones used by the pros.
me: Yeah, its not really dramatically sharper though. Whats the resolution of the censor in this guy ?
sales: Hmmm, lets see ... oh Panasonic doesnt provide that info ..... hmmm oh yeah, it says here it should have 20% - 30% more resolution vs the hvx 200. Yeah, but if you look hard, u will notice its bit sharper plus a bit more dynamic and latitude. If you want sharper image, the 2000 has more resolution BUT it doesn't have variable frame rates.
me: Oh really ? how much is the 2000 ?
sales: Around $27k without Lens. Around $40k, handsomely equipped. You can also buy the extra circuit board, for it to do the new Intra codec.
me: Wow, that is almost the price of the Varicam but yet it cant do variable frame rates at all. Cant afford that right now. Just curious, at that price does the 2000 do 1080p ?
sales: No, no 1080p, its still 1080i. Hah, there is also the 3000, now that baby rocks !! It has a full resolution sensor !! We talking about 10bit 1920x1080 here with variable framerate. I reckon this is the varicam p2 replacement. We still havent got the price yet, but its going to be expensive with all those features.
me: Ummm .. ok, well lets see how shallow the DOF we can get with the 500....... Hmmm ... doesnt seems like the DOF is any significant vs the HVX.
sales: Of course not, its only 2/3"you know, its not 35mm. But i tell you want, move back 8ft' - 10 ft' and you can get a sorta 16mm shallow DOF.
me: Yeah but sometimes in tight interior space, theres hardly any room to move at all. Hmmmm .. I think I maybe able to use a 35mm on this guy right ??
sales: Yeah I think so too but we don't sell 35mm adapter, check on the internet ... i think its called Redrock M2. They are out of Texas.
me: Yeah I have the m2 to use with my hvx, but l how would the m2 will attach to the 500? ... It's ok, i am sure i would find out the answer on the internet tonight. So are you guys are going to bring in the 2000 demo any time soon ?
sales: Ummm.. no, only certain dealer level would be able to sell the series 2000 and above cameras.
So, I thanked the nice sales guy and bid him goodbye. After my headache subsides a little bit from all the different configurations and options, I scoured the net and found a guy using the m2 35mm adapter with the 500. (caution: not for the faint of heart).
"To the owner of this cam, I am not knocking your cam, in fact i admired your persistency and creativity. But that setup scares me and I hope its a rental."
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1212/862646451_359a72497d_b.jpg
Then, I decided to do more research on the RED ONE. All I know at that time was, The owner of RED was the owner of OAKLEY and seems to have sold OAKLEY off. I can still remember those days back in the 80's working hard to save up for his revolutionary "Thermonuclear Protection" oakley Frogskin sunglasses.
So, what a huge transition from sunglasses to a digital camera, I said to myself, is this RED going to materialized ? After a quick wiki on "Jim Jannard" it seems like he is really into photography and owns one of world's Canon EF 1200 mm lens ( only 10 of this lens exists in the world today).
Immediately I know the man means business. So, after weighting everything (it was a rather really quick decision actually), the handicapped and crippled $22k HPX500 with canon eng lens or the RED ONE.
That same night, a deposit was secured for a RED ONE. An educated estimate points to shipping date of early in spring 2008.
So, Jim...
1) Thank you for not crippling the RED ONE. Majority of the big legacy guys in the industry are notorious for crippling their products in order to force consumers to pay more for functionality that is already possible on the product. From Canon DSLR to the Panasonic and Song 2/3" cams.
What? extra $500 just to enable PAL feature in a $9k XL H1 ?? What ? extra $13k to get extra Intra codec and additional resolution on the hpx 2000? What ? extra $30k to get full 1080p ?? What? letter boxing to get 16x9 ?? what ? pixel left, right shifting ?? $#@%#$#^@#@$#@$#
2) Thank you for not only making the RED ONE REVOLUTIONARY but also EVOLUTIONARY with constant updates and upgrades via software. NO more ebaying Dvx100, Dvx100a, Dvx100b ...... Dvx100z.
3)Thank You for selling us a camera that is worth 4-5 times its value at such an outstanding price.
4) Thank You for starting this REVOLUTION. I have absolutely no doubt the RED ONE and JIM JANNARD will go down in history as one of the greatest indie camera advancement ever. Just like how the Panasonic DVX100 did to the indie filmmaker community a few years ago.
I am truly privillaged to be "the children of the Revolution".
p/s: You can be assured that I will not missed the first batch 'preorder-es' of that new "RED Pocket Cam".