Pro video blog…Produced by Philip Johnston DoP/Editor

4k-cam

Why can’t people understand a simple process…I have never advocated this as a great 4K camera, the fact it films 4K 50p is fantastic but at 150MB/s and a smaller chipset will not allow this camera to produce stunning 4K master quality pictures.

If you want stunning 4K 50p pictures Panasonic produce the VariCam HS.

VaricamHS-web

What the HC-X1000 will do is produce stunning HD pictures if you master your footage in 4K 50p and edit the 4K footage on an constrained HD timeline (compressing 4K to HD) giving you effectively 10bit 444 quality HD pictures.

Stop telling me its a crap 4K camera if your soul intention is to produce master quality 4K 50p footage… it’s obvious from its price point that its not going to produce master quality 4K footage.

If other reviewers have marked this camera on its 4K abilities thats fine but my review only takes into account its ability to compress average 4K footage into stunning HD footage.

You are not forced to buy any camera, a review done by me is my own personal findings which I pass onto yourselves. This rant came from a Vimeo reply by someone who did not listen to my review properly.

Can we download the original 4k ? (No it was not edited in 4K)

I don’t think Vimeo is doing a very good job on this video or maybe it’s just not that good. (I am not in charge of Vimeo’s quality nor your internet speed or equipment you are watching it on)

I want 50p/60p 4k and this camera seems to fit the bill of “too good to be true” (VariCam HS)

I have seen terrible reviews of this camera and on this Vimeo footage is looks poor but your words say its great so maybe we are just not seeing what you are, hence the request to put the download option on for us to see the original 4k footage. (HD footage !!!)

I have a 4k TV so I am keen to see something which can deliver the goods. (Not 4K 50p at this price point)

I have a Sony A7s which is great for HD but I am not sure I want a third party add on to record 4k in only 30p i.e. the Shogun Thanks in advance (Stick to your A7s/Shogun…You won’t get 4K 50p master quality footage below £5000 till we move onto 8K)

Since I am a nice chap I have just uploaded some 4K footage from the Panasonic HC-X1000 for anyone who cares to view it in 4K but remember Vimeo converts all footage to 25p

author

Having been working in the video business since 1988 I have amassed a great amount of knowledge of both the kit and production values over the last 30 years.

9 thoughts on “Panasonic HC X1000 as a 4K camera plus my first 4K Vimeo footage

  1. They forget the price of this camera.I’m going to take a little inspiration from you and make a review of my own for the camera, focused more on editing the footage on a HD timeline.

  2. Hi Philip. First many thanks for all your written thoughts on cameras over the years. You mention the high HD image quality from this camera’s 4K recordings. Do you see any of the artifacts we see from downconverting HD to SD? If not, do you think 4K to HD is easier than HD to SD? If not, do you think downconverting without an Alchemist has improved over the years? Thanks.

    HDW : I have not used SD for well over 7 years but the closest I can compare is an SD DVD. For years I edited HD 720p and it looked brilliant on a DVD, I now edit 1080p does it look any better on a DVD…subjective. 4K to HD looks fantastic even with the Panasonic HC-X1000 remembering the HD result is essentially 444 10bit. As we have known for years in video starting with the best master quality gives your end result a better polish so starting with 4K editing down to HD on a 10bit timeline looks impressive when it gets to an SD DVD it will be as good as you can ever expect from an SD DVD where you do score is BluRay.

  3. I am impressed with this footage. It has the kind of detail that you expect. The footage that you showed of the dance show in the review was not impressive at all. Did something go wrong here? Can we download these files to have a closer look. I typically shoot live theatre, concerts and dance shows. I’m looking at upgrading my cameras so this would be very valuable to me. Thanks for all your hard work. We all appreciate it. Gerry in Calgary.

    HDW : Hi Gerald the low light footage is grainy as you would expect its only useful if you are using the 4K footage for an HD edit that you get an acceptable result.

  4. Hi Philip
    After seeing ur review , i have order this camera , still waiting delivery, do u have any accessories recommendation for this camera spicily a case. Thanks

  5. HI Philip. first thanks for your work. I’m shooting with the hc x1000 in uhd and may ask you a question ? Editing it on by example sony vegas or other NLE, which is the best way to pass it to full hd ?. Import it with Porperties slected as original aUHD and final render as FHD, or better downsample it before editing, so be edited in
    in 422 ?
    many thanks ; Fab

    HDW : Film it in UHD 50p then bring it into your NLE as UHD and edit onto a 1920 x 1080, 422 10bit timeline.

  6. Hi to everyone
    Are there any other HC X1000 users having auto-focus problems. Mine goes out of focus as soon as anything enters the frame and goes into “macro mode”
    Desperate for any help on the forum
    Thanks
    John Parker

  7. Hello, I have to film a video using an HC-x1000 and a Canon 60D DSLR, I use Premiere Pro (CC and CS6) and I am worried about what kind of sequence to create as I want to shoot 4k/50p but the Canon shoots HD at 25p. What presets do I have to choose to get a 1920 x 1080, 422 10bit timeline? Thank you

    HDW : Sorry I don’t use Premiere but your main problem will be trying to match 50p footage with 25p, it actually would be better filming both at 25p especially if its for the internet.

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