Panasonic HPX170/171 (And HVX200/HVX200A) Resolution Comparison

[suckmadeck]

So Sk8rat Shane suggested possibly shooting in 480i/576i DV on the HPX to closer match a VX1000 when doing the whole 4x3 shabangabang.





I thought it'd be a good idea to do a comparison of the different resolutions and variations of DV you can shoot on the HPX and HVX. I know it's not overly scientific but you should get the gist of it. For me personally, I'm gonna stick to the 720p 50p. If I want interlaced fields/frames I'll go with 1080i 50i. For me the internal 480i/576i is just way too soft  even with a high detail scene file (it is well known these camera don't produce a great SD image internally).

I actually had to send off some footage I had shot of a guy for his sponsor that I had shot on my HPX171 in 720p 50p. It's a VX project so it required my HD files be down res'd to 576i 50i to match the rest of the footage and honestly it looks a thousand times better than what the HPX can do internally. If you really want that low-res 576i/480i just do what I did, edit your full project together (maybe without intros, logos stuff like that) then export it in 480i/576i then bring it back into a HD timeline and picture lock your edit. If you'd like to see this footage please feel free to direct message me, I'd happily email it over for you lot to take a look.




Hopefully this is helpful for you lot to make your minds up!

(also if you do end up shooting in 480i/576i please shoot 60i/50i! That way you'll be able to actually to slow down the clips and the footage will properly match up with DV cameras!)

[donkey]

wow, great work my dude. i haven’t even switched over to this setup yet but i know for sure that when i do this thread is gonna be super valuable info. appreciate it

[lydius]

I've always been interested in a test of what produces the best 1080/30p: the basic 1080/30p recording mode, 1080/60i that's exported as 30p, or 720/60p that's uprezzed and exported as 30p

same thing with colors and grading: is there any benefit to say, shooting a very flat Cine D with master ped bumped up and chroma turned down, vs. just getting as close to the picture you want in-camera? I've seen some footage where the shadows were clearly pulled up in post and there's a very unnatural glow around the moving skater (Boys of summer has clips like this).

[CHONGO]

always fantastic work homie

[suckmadeck]

I've always been interested in a test of what produces the best 1080/30p: the basic 1080/30p recording mode, 1080/60i that's exported as 30p, or 720/60p that's uprezzed and exported as 30p

same thing with colors and grading: is there any benefit to say, shooting a very flat Cine D with master ped bumped up and chroma turned down, vs. just getting as close to the picture you want in-camera? I've seen some footage where the shadows were clearly pulled up in post and there's a very unnatural glow around the moving skater (Boys of summer has clips like this).

I think the whole 1080i vs 720p relating to the HVX/HPX is really down to taste. It's such a minor improvement in resolution that it's probably better to just stick to the 720p like everyone else. I would be interested in making an entire edit in 1080i 50i to see if anyone can notice the difference, considering all DV cameras do 50i/60i (except the XL2 and DVX with their 2:3:3:2 pull down thing.)

And regarding colour and CineLike D and shit, if you're shooting on a HPX/HVX you already have a bunch of colour information saved to the card, that's one of the benefits of shooting DVCProHD over AVCHD like the HMC. I personally prefer having as much information stored so that I can add contrast and do some light colour grading if I want to, rather than having a baked in image or working with a 8bit 4:2:0 file. For me I want the most control and the most dynamic range so I have my Master Ped turned up and I've got CineLike D on and I keep my Chroma in the middle. It has enough saturation that I can no worry about adding more to it, but it isn't blown out and distracting.

Maybe if there is a tight deadline and you know you won't have time to go in and grade it properly but even then most people put deadlines on themselves (for independent filmers that is) so I don't see why there isn't extra time to go through it all and make the image pretty.