O Brother, who art thou?

I feel Shakespearian today. People are questioning me. Who am I? Well, I’ve wondered that myself since my creation. Have I come up with the answer? Well, sort of…

In search of a more interesting flow of information for my fellow tech-savvy video nuts, I came to be. And my blog was born. Now, seems like my blog is getting some attention. Or maybe it’s called controversy. Either way, it’s dialogue and that’s what I’m about.

All the info you’ll read here about the HVX-200 is real. You probably won’t find this kind of info anywhere else. I have direct, (wink, wink) contact with Panasonic. They’re the behind-the-scenes backbone of my being.

Hey, I’m pro Panasonic, right up front. I won’t slam the competitors, but I’ll tell you the truth about what I know about the HVX200 and all things Panasonic.

If you'd rather read a data sheet, there you go. If you want a little more character –you came to the right place. So, skip the brochure, and be part of this blog.

Write back to me, I want to know what you think.

Tosh

Comments

[Tosh]

Received a few inquiries about my blog, please go check out my latest entry and it should clear it up for you.

[Mark Schubin]

So, what can you tell us about the imagers? How many columns and how many rows? CCD, CMOS, or something else? Still 1/3-inch? What aperture prism?

Inquiring minds want to know.

TTFN,
Mark

[Häakon]

So... where's the data sheet? :-P

[Jon Bickford, Trepany Films]

Variable frame rates

when will word be available about what frame rates will be available?

Here's what i'd like, assuming that the slowest speed is 4fps and the fastest possible is 60fps.

4,8,12,18,24,30,36*,48,60,

*36 frames per second may be the most important speed for my tastes, it's a beautiful frame rate that is subtle enough that the audience doesn't necessarily know it's slow-mo. There is nothing like shooting the pretty girl walking into a room at 36fps, she doesn't bounce she glides, her hair has just a slow enough bounce to accent it and her eyes move smoothly as opposed to darting around. I use this frame rate all of the time on film cameras and that speed alone would be worth the price of admission for me.

-Jon

[Tosh]

Hi Mark,

They are 1/3” CCDs. Panasonic is not releasing the pixel count at this point in time.

Tosh

[Tosh]

Häakon,

Which Data Sheet?

Tosh

[Tosh]

Hi Jon,

So far your wish list is pretty good except for the slowest ones, the engineers are having difficulty with the noise floor on those. In the US camera, they are 60, 48, 36, 32, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 12.

I agree with your musing on the 36 frame rate, and I also like the use of 22, for an almost opposite reason, seems to make things more
commanding, determined and imposing.

Thanks for reading,

Tosh

[Snog]

The P2 connection is an interesting thing, is there any advantange to hacking into that vs the Firewire for recording externaly?

Snog

[Snog]

How can there be no answers to any technical questions regarding this camera? If the camera is going to be sold in December, it is being boxed at the assembly plant with in a week or so. What could be up in the air other than the font that is printed on the outside of the box?

I look forward to all the details, and particularly the camera itself, but come on...

Snog

[Tosh]

Hi Snog,

there's actually a ton of info on the camera out there. Panasonic's own web site has it, plus the other forums I link to.
I don't know what part of the country you are, but DV Expo is coming up in December in Los Angeles and the camera will be there.
And the camera is being shown at several regional events through the Panasonic dealers. Maybe you can stop by...
Thanks for the interest.

-Tosh

[Tosh]

Hi Snog,

not sure I know what you mean using a P2 connection versus FireWire? P2 is not a transport mechanism like FireWire is.
Please ellaborate.

-Tosh

[Herschel Krustofski]

Hi Tosh!

Is it true that PAL users will have to live with 10 frames per second less than NTSC users with 60p do?

Mhmmmmmm - that's almost 20% less for the max-fps!

But probably 50 will not be the highest framerate for the PAL version - will it? (Now don't disappoint us!)

Yours - Herschel K.

[Tosh]

Hi Herschel,

The HD standard in PAL happens to be 720P/50 or in 1080/50i. The HVX200 respects the standards as to do otherwise basically sets the product up as unsupportable in NLEs.

Hope that aids in your understanding,

Tosh

[Bill Macerfey]

What's the resolution of the CCD's?

[Tosh]

Hi Bill,

Panasonic has not released the actual numbers yet. What I heard is that the resolution will match the competitive cameras. Since all CCDs are analog devices, I'm not too worried about it since there is no pixel for pixel match up to the recorded resolution. There are three considerations: low light capability, dynamic range and resolution. Panasonic is going for the best on all three fronts.

Later,

Tosh