That good old CHINON seems to revive a fan of yesteryear. It is reported that CHINON’s brand. The camera  is on sale in mid-March this year, HD video can be taken and still images from the Bellami HD-1 HD video. They have adopted the M42 mount lens C, CS is supported with an adapter.

This was my trusty Chinon Super 8mm sound camera a name that was sold in Dixon’s before they went bust. I don’t know what to make of this video/cine camera, interesting to see if it makes its way over to the UK. This wee camera could turn out to be a whole lot of fun and priced at about £500.

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Tomorrow I will put the IceLight through its paces until then you can view this interesting demo video…

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

JVC are sending me the first GY-HM850 on Friday to review over this weekend. I knew this was happening but not so soon so a major bonus for all my readers to compare the HM850 and my very own HM650.

The major update to this camera is the full HD chipset giving 1080 50p and recording at 50Mbps (XHQ H.264).

This camcorder will be £6,240 incl vat (CVP) when it comes out at the end of March.

If you have any questions or want me to go over anything in particular send me an email before Friday to hdwarrior@me.com

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This handheld camcorder is rather special in the way it has been conceived, in the words of Panasonic,s Rob Tarrant “It has the DNA of a shoulder mount packaged into a handheld format”.

Lets start with a list of priorities for an all-round pro spec camcorder…

1. 50Mbps or better

2. Affordable media

3. Decent lens range better than 14x

4. XLR inputs

5. 10bit 422

6. Dual record ?

7. Broadcast quality

8. Wi-Fi

9. Decent LCD/viewfinder

Having the AVC-ULTRA codec surpasses the 50Mbps needed for broadcast work not only that you can record at 1080 50p Long GOP 25 which is equivalent to 50Mbps on a low cost SDHC card.

Here is the important point… NO other manufacturer using 10bit 422 allows you to record onto SDHC card at 50Mbps and that’s the clincher. Finally we are now able to use low cost media, very useful for archive, at broadcast quality.

Lens…I have had various interchangeable lens camcorders and can’t remember changing the lens in all but one, having a 28 to 616mm (22x) lens is as good as you need for most filming plus the ability to use the lens on full manual mode.

Dual record (DR)…is a must in every new professional camcorder in fact if it has not got DR it affects sales. The Panasonic goes one stage better some DR camcorders will not continue to record if any of the cards fail during recording thats not something I knew about which is rather alarming.

Even more alarming is I have just tested this on a dual record camcorder taking out card 2. Card one still stays in REC mode but when you stop the recording you get INVALID beside slot 1. On further investigation card 1 will no longer format or play back …it’s only when you re-format the card in a DSLR that the card becomes usable again.

The PX270 will have the ability to loose one of two cards and keep recording, that is coming in a future FREE firmware update and is known as BACKGROUND RECORD, this is indeed a game changer and very much welcomed by camera operators.

Rob Tarrant of Panasonic told me that to further insure no loss of information it is advisable to have at least one micro P2 card when using the dual record mode.

The PX270 is equipped with network functions and an optional wireless module will be available for tablet and smartphone linking. You can also record two individual codecs onto two cards, one for HD the other for proxy.

The menu system has come direct from the shoulder mounts making it a lot more slick and just as easy to use.

Price of the PX270 will be £5,573 incl vat and a 64G micro P2 card will cost £305 incl vat.

I will be getting a Panasonic PX270 at the end of March for review and I am looking forward to putting it through its paces.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

My Lumix 42.5mm f1.2 lens arrived on Saturday morning and what a cracking lens it is…this will make a fantastic portrait lens and a superb interview lens with the GH3/4. All pictures below are using the 42.5mm f1.2 Leica lens on a GH3.

This is my sisters one year old dog called Sonny…shot at f2 on the GH3

Charlotte was shot at f4 on the Panasonic GH3 with a LEDGO 160 Bi Colour camera top light with soft box.

Candy was shot at f1.2 allowing the cracking backlight diffused colours.

The plant was shot at f2 on a GH3

Flori is also at f1.2 on a GH3

Sophie was shot at f1.2 on the GH3

This pic was shot with the GM1 using the 12-35mm f2.8 “X” Lumix lens.

The Lumix Leica 42.5mm f1.2 lens is one of the sharpest f1.2 lenses on the market, certainly sharper at f1.2 than the Canon 50mm f1.2

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

Here is my report at BVE 2014…enjoy

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

ITN has purchased a significant amount of Panasonic ENG cameras and broadcast equipment as part of its High Definition upgrade project. ITN, which produces news content for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, has selected the new Panasonic AJ-PX5000 ENG P2 camera for its news gathering operations.

Keith Cass, ITN’s Director of Technology said, “The ability to capture full 10 bit HD 4:2:2 images using a 25Mbps codec was an extremely attractive proposition for us. We conducted a thorough evaluation of the camera’s operation, feature set and technical performance. With the addition of the camera’s wireless technology this camera was the most appropriate match to ITN’s future newsgathering strategy. The AJ-PX5000 really is a “cameraman’s camera.”

The AJ-PX5000 also offers ‘dual’ recording using P2, microP2 or class 10 SD cards, dramatically reducing media costs. The camera is global format in SD and HD and comes with a comprehensive range of Panasonic codecs including AVC Intra and the new AVC Long G (50/25/12/6Mbps) codec set.

“It’s a major coup to be supplying ITN and follows hot on the heels of the decision by Sunset+Vine to implement Panasonic Professional Broadcast Cameras in their sports production for BT Sport,” said Nigel Wilkes, Broadcast Group Manager at Panasonic. “Panasonic is growing market share by supplying the latest in professional, HD enabled camera solutions for sports and news broadcasting in the UK.”

HDW : “This is a great deal for Panasonic as most of the UK broadcast outlets have gone for the Sony PMW-500/400. Having seen the 25Mbps codec for myself I can see why ITN have plumbed for this camcorder.

The PX270 has the same codec and the pictures are cracking I recorded some footage with the PX270 but FCPX does not recognise the codec yet but I can see the 12MB file and looks very good indeed. The 60MB file which has 5x more information will be nothing short of amazing once I get a software key from Panasonic in order to view it.

Panasonic have been a bit slow on the uptake but as I have always said “Fit for purpose” the PX270 ticks a lot of boxes, especially the fact you can use SDHC cards up to 50Mbps full HD 10bit 422.”

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The VariCam 35’s superb image handling in multiple formats including 4K, UHD, 2K and HD make it an unparalleled tool for high-end filmmaking and commercials and episodic production as well as live 4K events. With an expanse of formats ranging from flawless 4K RAW output to more practical 4K, UHD, 2K and HD capture, the VariCam 35 represents a matchless option for premier digital capture.

The VariCam 35 utilizes a new Panasonic super 35mm MOS sensor for 4096 x 2160 (17:9) 4K image capture; this imager when combined with the AVC-ULTRA codecs for 4K enables very manageable and practical 4K production file sizes. The new imager boasts an impressive 14+ stops of latitude, and faithfully captures high-contrast, wide dynamic range imagery without compromise.

The VariCam HS utilizes three newly-developed, 1920 x 1080p MOS imagers with an extraordinary 14 stops of dynamic range, providing full control over wide range lighting conditions for unparalleled 1080p native recording/operation. Among the camcorder’s key features are real-time high frame rate and off-speed recording to 240fps in 1080p (using AVC-Intra Class100), plus the ability to ramp / change frame rates during record.

The VariCam HS will feature a range of high-quality recording formats including AVC-Intra Class100 (recording as 1080/24p, 30p or 60p format with VFR (up to 240p), AVC-Intra Class200 (up to 30p/60i) and AVC-Intra Class4:4:4 (up to 30p). Both AVC-Intra Class200 and AVC-Intra Class4:4:4 deliver spectacular performance in applications where image quality is the utmost consideration.

The 4K and 2/3″ VariCam will both use Panasonic’s new expressP2 card for high frame rate recording; each camera is equipped with four total card slots, for two expressP2 cards and two microP2 cards. Both VariCam models will launch fall 2014, with pricing to be announced.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Company Ltd

Excel as a venue is far better in my opinion, it was heaving with people, great for parking and a dedicated train station, even hotels are on site but be warned we were  in a Travelodge 3 miles away and it was half the price of the same lodge onsite.

This GoPro picture was taken about 10.30am and not representative of the crowds of people that turned up around lunchtime.

CVP had a shooting gallery allowing you to try many of the latest camcorders including the Sony NX3.

The boys from Kine Lenses were very happy with attendances, they recondition Zeiss SLR lenses for use in cinematography.

Finally the stand of the show went to Panasonic but strangely not for broadcast reasons, the GH4 was on show and it was the camera of the show, everyone wanted hands on, lots of questions as well to the Lumix reps, in fact I can exclusively reveal that without a card in the camera you can take the camera’s HDMI output into an external recorder giving you 10bit 422…I like many others thought that was only possible via the SDI adapter.

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Rick Young and myself

There are two new camcorders this year at BVE, the PX270 from Panasonic and the HM850 from JVC.

Starting with the PX270…10bit, 4:2:2, micro P2 and a new pro menu system, Panasonic have worked hard to produce a fantastic hand held camcorder that meets all the same specifications as a full blown shoulder mount.

The pictures are clean and crisp with a very useful 22x zoom (28mm-616mm)

I recorded some 1080 50i footage onto a SDHC card at both AVC-Long G50 and AVC-Long G25 with no discernible difference in picture quality, this is due to the efficiency of the ULTRA codec.

The long awaited shoulder mount JVC KY-HM850 was on show now delivering 1080 50p at 50Mbps. This would make a good partner for the HM650. We spoke about reviewing the camera during March so I can give you a better idea on the picture quality when I get one to film with.

As you can see I have produced a show video which includes Richard Payne of Holdan, Production Gear, Panasonic, Sony and JVC.

When you phone Holdan’s the bright and breezy voice at the other end is the lovely Jamie.

The Holdan stand was interesting especially the fantastic easy to setup and light green screen. This uses two polls of LED lights which give an overall even brightness. It works a treat and although the cloth plays a part in the magic this is by far the best green screen I have seen in a long time.

Simon and Steven at Production Gear were showing off the B Steady stabilisation system alongside the 4K Blackmagic cinema camera.

I had the Blackmagic cinema camera on my B Steady how it compares to a MOVI I don’t know as I never got to play with one though the B Steady is about half the price of a MOVI.

Another two readers of HD Warrior.

Just in time for the “say no” campaign Rycote have just brought out this UK wind jammer…not one to use with Alex Salmond.

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