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Finally! The specs for the Panasonic HVX200 have been sent to a couple of review sites. If you’re in a video production company or (even better) an aspiring filmmaker, you should start taking notes.

Update: You can already get REAL footage from the HVX200, even footage at 60p (frame rates supported by HVX200). The camera should be available in stores, so you might also want to get my recommendations for accessories for HVX200.

Here’s a summary of the important features introduced with the new Panasonic HVX200. I’ll prioritize them for you.

Variable frame rates
Panasonic HVX200 supports a variety of frame rates just like Panasonic’s Varicam (AJ-HDC27). In 720p, the HVX200 records not only in the most popular 24p, 30p, and 60p, but almost any rate between 4 and 60 as well. One limitation is that his flexibility is reserved for 720p.

When we jump up to 1080p, the camera still delivers TRUE 24p – which is amazing considering none of the HDV cams in the same price range support it. Click here for more on HVX200 frame rates.

Robust format
Panasonic HVX200’s HD format is called DVCPRO-HD. The difference between DVCPRO-HD and HDV is about 4 to 1 in terms of data throughput. DVCPRO-HD supports data rates of up to 100Mbps. This allows the camera to record video without applying as much compression as the HDV cameras do. Another advantage in terms of format is the support of 4:2:2 color space - again linked to the 100Mbps allowance. The DVCPRO-HD has been around for several years and has been used in the Varicam.

In addition to the HD format, Panasonic HVX200 also supports standard DV, as well as DVCPRO50 (Panasonic’s more professional DV format with a much lower compression ratio).

Tapeless recording (P2)
The argument tape vs, memory is still raging on. On the negative side, memory is very expensive compared to tape. An 8GB P2 chip that can hold about 10 minutes of HD (depending on frame rate) is going to cost you $1,700. On the positive, it’s quick, durable, and best of all – bound to become cheaper. SONY has pioneered a disc system – XDCAM – which is similar but naturally, cheaper because it uses Blu-Ray discs (27GB).

Panasonic HVX200 takes advantage of its data recording medium in several ways. First, you start recording immediately after you hit the button. In fact, it’s better than that. P2 allows you to start recording BEFORE you hit the button. The memory will buffer 3-7 seconds of video, so even if you don’t have split-second reactions, you’ll be able to capture action flawlessly.

Another advantage is the ability to transfer files directly to your computer (or you could back them up to Firewire drives). During shooting you can also mark takes which you like so that you can start editing in seconds.

Lens and controls
HVX200’s lens is a 13x Leica which compares favourably to SONY FX1. The zoom ring is full manual which is another big plus. Both JVC GY-HD100U and the upcoming Canon XL H1 have interchangeable lenses although the availability and variety of quality lenses is still in question.

Audio
Panasonic HVX200’s more robust format (DVCPRO-HD) allows four uncompressed channels of 16-bit 48Khz quality audio (or two stereo pairs). This is a BIG change from the HDV format.

Final verdict (based on specs)
Panasonic has created a worthy successor to the DVX100. HVX200 excels in all areas and it could be hard for a HDV camera to compete, especially, when you consider the price. At $5,995, it’s only marginally more expensive than SONY Z1 (50 bucks more) but offers a lot more. It’s much cheaper than the interchangeable lens cameras - Canon XL H1 and JVC GY-HD100U.

That’s until you consider the cost for the media. At $1,700 per a pop, 8GB P2’s are going to be a TOUGH sell. In a year’s time, it’ll probably be 2-4 times cheaper, so don’t start stocking on P2s just now. If $6,000 is too much for you, you could get Sony HC1 for less than $1,500 - it’s a more affordable, entry-level HDV camcorder. The bigger and better Sony FX1 is midway (at $3,000 it’s perfect for wedding videography) between the Hc1 and HVX200.

Update: Check out this USB 1.1 vs USB 2.0 speed comparison.

There’s a report at Cinema Minima that while guys from Apple and Panasonic were setting up an Apple G5 / HVX200 combo. The point of the exercise is obviously to showcase how well HVX200 integrates with Apple’s new mac.

If you’re attending SXSW, you might want to check out some of the movie premieres as well. They boast “115 features, 50 of which are World Premieres.” Not exactly equal to Sundance’s selection but nonetheless impressive. Here’s the schedule.

I recently reviewed two minicams that could be used for “trick” photography: Ikegami HDL-20, a native HDV cam with a five-digit price tag, and Sony DXC-C33, an affordable SD cam.

The key concern when using an SD cam in an hi-def video production is to provide a seamless integration of the SD footage with MINIMUM resolution loss. If your budget allows it, go for Ikegami HDL-20 but as it often happens, you can probably spend those $15,000 somewhere else.

Sony’s PAL version minicam- the DXC-C33P, offers increased resolution (PAL’s resolution is 768×576). Let’s assume that the rest of the video production is shot with Panasonic HVX200 for its range of 720p frame rates.

PAL’s 442,368 pixels should be matched to the 921,600 pixels for 720p. If you look at the pixel counts, a 2:1 ratio is not that bad. Until you take into account that PAL is 4:3 and HD is 16:9. Shooting in PAL and then converting to 16:9 means you lose vertical resolution. How much? Pulling out my calculator… your vertical resolution will be just 432 lines (that’s 768×9/16). You lose a whopping 25 percent. So what do you do?

Ta-da. Enter the 16:9 widescreen anamorphic adapter (or an anamorphic lens if the camcorder support interchangeable lenses). The way the anamorphic adapter works is to squeeze the widescreen image onto the 4:3 CCDs. The 768 pixels of the PAL format will correspond to 1024 pixels once you un-squeeze it in post. So instead of doing a blow up from 768×432 lines to 1280×720, you’ll be doing a blow up from 1024×576.

As I mentioned in my Sony DXC-C33 review, there are no anamorphic adapters available (at least from Sony). However, Toshiba has pioneered an anamorphic adapter - the Toshiba VT-169 - that fits two of their minicams: Toshiba TU-63 and TU-48.

When shopping around, in addition to Toshiba’s anamorphic adapter, you should also check with Century Optics. They have several types of 16:9 adapters, some of the 37mm ones could work with a minicam with some tweaking.

Barry Green (from DVXuser) has been teasing us for some time now about a four-camera shootout. The four cameras in the shootout are:

• Panasonic HVX200
• Canon XL H1
• Sony Z1/FX1
• JVC GY-HD100U

I expect that by the end of the week, Barry will be done. Disclosure: Barry is one of the people behind DVXuser so he faced some “suspicions” from some of the posters there. They expected his report will be skewed in favor of the HVX200. That’s why he has some “witnesses” to verify his findings.

Update: There’s been a major forum war on the finding of the four-camera shootout. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no winner-loser. If you want the raw 40 pages of posts, I have two links: DVX forum and Dvinfo forum.

I’ve been reviewing HVX200 accessories like tripods, monitors, storage, etc. Once I got to matte boxes and filters for HVX200, I knew I have to include lens adapters.

Panasonic HVX200 is dubbed as the low-budget filmmakers HD camera. Although it has an impressive lens (Leica, 13x zoom lens), the lens is by no means a be-all, end-all lens.


If you’re into extreme sports videos, you probably need a wide-angle lens. If you do skateboards, you need a fish-eye. It has become a standard shot although a bit cliche.

The Super Fisheye from Century Optics produces an “extraordinary degree of barrel distortion with a magnification factor of approximately .55x. Adding the Super Fisheye to HVX200’s 13x Zoom Lens, results in a 92° horizontal angle of view.” The fish-eye works wonders whether you’re shooting from below (someone jumping over you), or above (top of half-pipe).

Wide-angle lenses have an incredible depth of field so you might want to go wide for action shots or tracking shots. If the auto-focus is not 100% spot on, you’ll save your shot by going wide. Robert Rodriguez shot some of the action scenes in El Mariachi with a 5.7 Kinoptic wide-angle lens. He didn’t even need to focus, he just pointed the camera in the direction of the action.

Extreme close-ups: if you need those, there are “achromatic diopter” lenses that you attach to the zoom lens. You’ll probably only need them for a few shots, so you could just rent or borrow these. Apart from shooting flowers and bugs, you can find usage for these by shooting dilating pupils (e.g. Requem for a Dream).

Tele lenses are always popular with amateur filmmakers although not always for the right reasons. The “zoom” factor on a lens has become a marketing gimmick. Get this 400x digital zoom now. Using digital zoom however ruins the quality of the footage. There could be a few exceptions where you might need that extra push but you’ll be better off with a tele converter. There are plenty to choose from but not all are created equal. I think a 1.6x tele converter is about the highest you want to go. The ones that come from eBay are 2x and go for 50 bucks should go to the trash.

Talking of adapters and converters, there’s one important distinction to make. Converters will allow you to use the whole zoom range (i.e. go from wide to tele). Adapters usually only extend your range. For example, a .6 wide-angle adapter will give you a 40% wider angle of view. You can usually zoom a bit before you experience vignetting on an adapter.

Some manufacturers also offer (or plan to do so) 35mm lens adapters for HVX200. The discussion about these is still raging on but maybe I could do a review once the dust settles somewhat. Combining film depth of field with HVX200’s frame rates will make this camera a totally different beast. I mean that in the nicest sort of way.

The DVXuser site has been a source for all things HVX200. Jarred Land has posted some more HVX footage, this time he shot cheerleaders (wow!) at 60 FPS.

Remember that HVX200 specs stated that the camera will support a variety of frame rates at 720p: 12, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 36, 48, and 60 FPS.

The main advantage of shooting at speeds above 30 FPS is that when you play the video at 30 FPS (or 24 for that matter), it will have a slow motion effect similar to what you have when you shoot film at higher speeds.

Without further ado, here’s the forum link to the footage. All in all, I think Panasonic has done an incredible job with the HVX200. I would love to see them follow up with a bit higher-end model that offers what Canon XL H1 does, i.e. interchangeable lenses.

If you’ve into HD video production and have been hanging at DVX forums, you’re probably sick of all the speculation about Panasonic new HD cam, the HVX200. Btw, I finally got the specs - check out this review of Panasonic HVX200.

Back to the forum wars… Panasonic got sick too (I guess) as there are even formal protest issued from posters about the lack of information about the new camera. So they launched a new blog site: defperception.com.

A bit of background: the camera sports a new standard, DVCPRO HD, which is NOT compatible with HDV. So you’ll need not only a camera but also a deck and most probably an add-on for your favorite editing program (Avid, right!). Unlike HDV, DVCPRO HD is frame independent (i.e. no interframe compression) and it also supports a 4:2:2 color space. HDV is 25Mbps while DVCPRO HD’s stream is 100Mbps.

The camera records its signal to tiny P2 cards which only hold about 4-10 minutes of video (4GB and 8GB versions will be available). The plan is to add support for Firewire drives but Panasonic insists P2 cards are superior. If one shoots 10-second takes and money is no object, I guess they are right.

The small capacity of the P2 cards undermines one of the advantages of utilizing a video production’s flow: almost limitless running time. If you have to change something every 10 minutes, you’re straight back to a conventional film production. Someone always ends up carrying the reels around.

There’s probably a lot more info coming along so you might want to subscribe to the feed. I did.