By Ned Soltz

I first saw the Panasonic AG-HPX300 camera several weeks before NAB 2009. I immediately knew that Panasonic had a winner on its hands.

The HPX300 is a shoulder-mounted P2HD camera with three 1/3" CMOS imagers (Panasonic calls it 3MOS), full raster 1920x1080, interchangeable Fujinon lens, flip-out LCD screen, two P2 slots but most significantly the addition of the AVC-I codec. AVC-I was previously available only on the $48,000 (plus lens) HPX-3000 or as a $3,100 option for the HPX-2000. Panasonic delivers AVC-I and more for a list price of $10,700 including lens but excluding battery. Street price runs around $8,495.

I see this camera as the next step up from the HPX170 or HVX200 cameras. Like its two more compact siblings, the HPX300 shoots the full range of DVCPRO HD frame sizes and rates, DVCPRO 50 as well as DVCPRO 25. Switching from between 1080, 720 or 480 does require a reboot of the camera, by the way. It's a petty nuisance to me but one with which I'm prepared to live. AVC-I 100, though, is what sets this camera apart as totally unique in its price range.

The AVC-I 100 codec is an I-frame 10-bit 4:2:2 codec and is not to be confused with what Panasonic calls AVCHD, a more compressed long-GOP codec. Both are based around H.264. The AVCI-I codec captures tremendously more detail than DVCPRO HD while utilizing same storage requirements (about 1GB per minute on your P2 cards). It is computationally more intense, particularly when editing in Final Cut Pro which needs to transcode it to ProRes 422 or ProRes 422 HQ. Final Cut Pro running on my MacBook Pro 2.33 GHz machine, for example, cannot reliably play AVC-I 100 ProRes clips from a single drive; clips play fine from an external 2-drive RAID.

Unlike the HPX170 and HVX200, which employ pixel shifting to achieve 1920x1080, the HPX300 shoots a full-raster 1920x1080. This is made possible with the use of the CMOS imagers. It simply would be impossible to deliver a full raster camera at this price point using CCD imagers.

The use of CMOS over CCD presents a set of challenges that are faced not only by the HPX300 but by all the newer cameras using CMOS. While it allows for full raster, improves low light sensitivity and reduces blurring, CMOS cameras in this price range utilize a rolling shutter. The rolling shutter exposes each pixel sequentially, which renders the camera susceptible to flash-banding. To put it quite simply, the duration of the flash or strobe is less than the duration of the exposure of the full frame. That will result in a band across the image. While it is quite apparent in the frame below, it may or may not be acceptable in the moving shot. I have had shots ruined by flash banding and other shots seem less affected.

Panasonic is the first manufacturer to attempt to tackle this flash-banding issue through the release the end of June, 2009 of a Flash Band Compensation firmware patch for the camera (and, I add, unlike another vendor which requires cameras to be returned to depot for firmware updates, Panasonic freely distributes them on the Web and provides idiot-proof instructions). The FBC firmware creates frames to compensate for the flash banding and effectively "averages out" the frame. Look at the identical shot below after applying the FBC firmware updater. And it is quite apparent when actually viewing the video clip.

Less easy to solve is the skew endemic to all CMOS cameras as well as the potential for a "jello-vision" effect. These effects have been demonstrated but the simple reality here is that a professional isn't going to shoot bouncing a camera up and down or making a habit of whip-pans. Pan a CMOS camera slowly, preferably right to left. If in doubt, consult any film textbook which will assist you in calculating ratios based upon frame rate and exposure variables. To put it bluntly, shoot properly and you will not eliminate but certainly minimize these visual defects.

Many CMOS imagers, both video as well as still, seem prone to IR contamination, rendering blacks a muddy brown. Under certain circumstances, it can even happen with CCD chips. My tests as well as confirming reports I have read on various Web sites seem to indicate that the HPX300 is far less prone to IR contamination. While with other cameras, I recommend using an IR filter, I see no need for one with the HPX300.

The creation of FBC technology, though, is indicative of Panasonic listening to its customers needs and actively trying to solve problems. In fact, the HPX300 is about as close to requests of professional users as any camera could be.

Let me start with just the look and feel. It looks like the larger pro cameras many of us are accustomed to using and the controls are all in the same place. One of my objections to the entire range of small cameras from all manufacturers is that they just "didn't feel right." Likewise, the HPX300 can serve as excellent training for operators moving up from smaller to larger cameras. More about those controls shortly.

The camera sits comfortably on the shoulder and is properly balanced. It is far easier to get a steadier hand-held shot with a little weight to cause inertia than with so many of the smaller cameras that often require third party contraptions to stabilize them or create shoulder mounts. Good shooters know that you have to get the camera off the shoulder and the weight/balance ratio of the HPX300 facilitates those types of shots. Bottom line, it feels good.

Another professional feature which I suppose can be considered under form factor is the integrated wedge mount. Panasonic sells a wedge tripod adapter but the wedge also fits into the ubiquitous Sony VCT-U14 plate. Sounds to me like a few ENG shooters got Panasonic's ear on that one.

Now to an overview of some of my favorite controls and features of the camera.

Switches and dials are big and secure. No hunting for small buttons, and then pressing the wrong button. When needing to change camera settings through the menu, the menu button is a rubberized recessed button toward the front rear of the camera with a dial toggle on the front left edge of the camera. Both of these can be operated with the left hand while balancing the camera with the right hand. And there is no need even to remove your eye from the viewfinder. It might seem small, but for those of us shooting "other brands" where the menu button is small and grouped with other buttons in odd place, this is a major ergonomic victory.

The HPX170 and HVX200 had four channels of audio, but you really could not access all four. The HPX300 has one front mike input with level control plus two rear XLR inputs with mike, mike+phantom power or line level options and a wireless slot-in which can host the Azden, the Sennheiser or the dual channel Lectrosonics. You can select between front or rear inputs or assign channel 1+2 or 3+4 to either front or rear or wireless inputs. Thus it is possible for the first time for a camera in this price range to utilize all four channels of audio.

 
The camera is powered by Anton/Bauer batteries (optional v-mount adapter if you have this type of battery) with integrated power tap. There is also 4-pin XLR external power input. Outputs include two SDI, audio (RCA connectors), USB and FireWire. Note that you cannot stream AVC-I out of FireWire. All other codes can stream via FireWire. As any professional camera should have, it has t/c in/out, and genlock in. So this camera would perform admirably in a multi-cam shoot.

Construction is a die-cast magnesium/aluminum alloy around a metal chassis. It feels solid. The only less-than-solid feel that is apparent to me is the plastic viewfinder adjustment knob which releases the left-right movement of the viewfinder. It just does not feel secure.

There are other features that one would not expect on a camera in this price range. Panasonic has built in Chroma Aberration Compensation, which can be disabled but not sure why you would. It essentially utilizes an internal algorithm to minimize CA as it converses with those lenses that have CAC LUTs in them. I really like the option of displaying a waveform monitor in the viewfinder or LCD screen. While I personally find zebras much more useful for setting exposure on the fly, nonetheless the WFM can be of tremendous help. And yes the camera does have zebras, two of them to be exact, and they can be se independently.

White balance can be set using a three position toggle with preset (set in menu system), channel A and channel B. Channel B defaults to ATW, but that can be changed in the menu structure or ATW can even be toggled to by assigning it to one of the three user buttons.

The Fujinon 17:1 lens focuses easily and can toggle between servo/manual zoom as well as manual to auto exposure, with a button to force auto. Any user of a pro lens knows this. Those of us "moving up" are hit with a wonderful surprise. Any 1/3" HD lens should work. One thing that I will say the HPX170 offers over the 300 is a bit wider focal length. A 1/3" wide angle lens would run around $6,000 or almost the cost of the camera. Still those who have purchased 2/3" lenses know this is a bargain by comparison. Focus assist is enabled from another of those big rubberized buttons and expands the image adequately.

The HPX300 has four ND settings: clear, 1/4, 1/16, 1/64. That additional ND setting is thoughtful of the Panny engineers.

Like all of the P2HD cameras, scene files can be created, saved to SD cards, exchanged, loaded and re-loaded. Panasonic has provided a number of scene files on the Web site and I would strongly encourage users to take a look. Those two red Porsches pictured above were shot using the Cine-G profile from the Web?a little added saturation and stretched dynamic range.

Again as is the case with all P2HD cameras, under and overcranking is set in the Scene file menu. That is a bit cumbersome and I wish that Panasonic would enable frame rate control via an on-camera dial.  Although you could set the same file to each of the Scene file position and have the difference be the different frame rates.

P2 has achieved a wide fan club ranging from ENG videographers to indie filmmakers. It is sturdy, dependable and fast. Panasonic has reduced prices on P2 and introduced the new E-series at roughly half the price of the original cards. P2 will always be a more expensive medium than cameras that can shoot to SD cards or CF adapters, but at the moment no SDHC card will sustain the data rate necessary to achieve DVCPRO HD or AVC-I footage.

When I first read the specs of the camera, I immediately questioned the use of 1/3" sensors over the 1/2" sensors found in the Sony EX. It would stand to reason that the larger sensor could produce a more shallow depth of field and be more light-sensitive. Panasonic maintained that there is virtually no difference between 1/2" and 1/3". I test using real-world scenarios, relying less upon charts and more upon actual shooting. I have to concur that shooting the EX and the HPX300 side by side I see little net effect of differing sensor sizes. The HPX300 can achieve a lovely shallow depth of field. I continue to raise it as a concern but it is perhaps more theoretical than practical.

Who is the target HPX300 user? This is an ideal ENG and event camera. It is lightweight. It moves between tripod and handheld with ease. It is easy to shoot and the learning curve is not in how to use the camera but in how to control the picture profile settings to achieve the best possible look for your scenario. You can make it look like video; you can benefit from Panasonic's natural cinema looks. It can intercut perfectly with other P2HD cameras making it an ideal B camera for VariCam or HPX2000/3000 shoots.

The key to the HPX300 is the phrase I seem to have used quite a few times in describing it: "for the money." You might want larger imagers, a wider lens, more P2 slots, 2x lens, and a host of other features. But remember that you can buy this camera for around $8,495. So, "for the money", my assessment is there is no camera like it on the market. Thanks, Panasonic, for listening to us and delivering what so many of us need.

Panasonic AG-HPX300 Camcorder

SCORE: 

PROS: Form factor. Ergonomics. AVC-I codec. Controls. Lens. Audio. Four levels of ND. Wireless microphone slot.

CONS: 1/3" chips. CMOS imagers can skew. No controls easily located on viewfinder for brightness/contrast.

BOTTOM LINE: An excellent camera for the money.

MSRP: List price of $10,700; street of about $8,495

CONTACT: Panasonic