I don’t think it will come as any surprise to anyone who follows this blog to discover that I have finally decided to keep my Panasonic PX270 in favour of my JVC KY HM650.
The pictures from the PX270 are the best I have seen in a long time only matched by the Sony PXW-Z100 also a 10bit 422 camcorder but with 2 major differences.
The Px270 records very good low light footage at 0dB and records 10bit 422 onto SDHC cards, while the Sony Z100 is very poor in low light and only records 10bit 422 footage onto expensive XQD cards.
The EVF is a joy to use and the fact it switches on when you put your eye to it is fantastic, remembering the LCD stays on all the time.
I did a wee test tonight after my 64G Transend SDXC class 10 U3 card arrived today waiting for my GH4 to arrive I decided to try it out in the PX270.
I find it strange that this card is not recognised at all in the PX270 and won’t even format…the Panasonic GH3 had no such problems and formatted it with no issues !
I can only think that the PX270 needs a FW upgrade in order to use this speed of card yet it uses a very similar micro P2 card, my friend is a bit more cynical and reckons Panasonic is deliberatly excluding this card as technically its as good if not better than the micro P2 card, but 8 times less expensive !
Hello Phil, between the PMW 200 and the PX270 what is the best choice, and what function SD card SDHC or SDXC? thanks greetings.
HDW : Cameras are a personal choice, some people are Sony some are Panasonic, JVC or Canon. Its what best suits your needs at that time. The PX270 gives me 10bit 422 which I need for green screen work onto SDHC cards.
SDXC cards were dearer till recently but there is no doubt they do tend to be faster and larger capacity than SDHC cards.
Hi Phil, have you had a chance to try the film-rec setting? Panasonic are saying you can get 12+ stops of dynamic range out of the sensor. Any thoughts on DR from your experience?
HDW : Are you talking about the GH4 or PX270 ?
Are you finding most of your work is better suited to using small sensor cameras? I noticed you sold your C300 and don’t seem to have replaced it with an equivalent camera. It seems despite the move toward large sensor cameras, a lot (most?) work is still better suited to small sensors.
HDW : I have never favoured the shoulder mount camcorder for one reason…weight. It’s a sure fire way to get yourself a back injury sooner or later in life.
The Panasonic PX270 is a cracking camcorder for the money suited to most of my corporate work especially work that won’t allow lighting like factory work.
The Canon C300 has had its day I am onto two GH4s which under normal lighting conditions will produce pictures equal to if not better than a C300 plus you get 2 cameras and a YAGH for a third of the price I paid for my C300.
Don’t get me wrong the C300 will produce better noiseless pictures in low light but in controlled conditions with 200ISO you can’t tell the difference.
The Panasonic GH4 is the future…don’t be left behind. (Ps The C300 gives you 720 50p, 1080 25p or 1080 50i versus GH4 4K 25p, 1080 50p need I say more)
Hello Phil,
My job is mostly news and documentaries and I am very torn between Panasonic PX270 and Sony PMW 200.
I ask you this question because you have used two cameras:
For you, what is the absolute best between the two? which one to buy? 1/2 sensor makes the difference?
HDW : My choice is based on value for money the Panasonic PX270 can record 10bit 422 @ 50Mbps onto SDHC class 10 cards, Sony can’t do this, they refuse to open the XDCAM cameras to anything beyond 35Mbps onto SDHC cards and thats in a FW upgrade later this year. Sony are missing the point to the detriment of sales.
We have 4 production companies in Glasgow alone totally moved over to Panasonic in the last 6 months all of them moving away from Sony !
The PMW-200 is a fine camera and 1/2″ chips do let more light into the camera at 0dB than the PX270 but if you are happy with expensive SxS cards and more importantly you need to find out what your local news outlet uses and accepts, Panasonic’s AVC LongG may not be acceptable.
You made me buy one 🙂 Just did 🙂 As I will have to use the PX270 for the first day on monday, could you recommend some changes of settings I should definitely make to get the cam ready to shoot? Based on your recommendadtion I would shoot on LongG50.
Hi Phil,
I am glad to hear you are getting good results with the 270 recording onto SDHC. Can you tell me if the 270 can record simultaneously on P2 and SDHC?
Hi Phil,
Can you tell me if the 270 can record simultaneously on P2 and SDHC?
Hi David
you can record P2 and simultaneously proxy files on an SD card. Or you you can record SOME codecs on the P2 card in slot 1 and parallel a copy of it on a SDHC card in slot 2. The AVC Intra codecs you can only record on P2.
HI Phil, Thanks for all you do.
I was wondering if you figured out which SD cards this baby will accept. I tried an SDXC UHS-I, Class 10 card that was not recognized, and an older SDHC (class 10) that works fine.
Thanks!
HDW : I will assume you are talking about the Panasonic PX270…it takes standard SDHC cards class 10, nothing fancy.
We just installed the 7/2 firmware update after getting our camera (didn’t install previous updates). Prior to the update, only standard SDHC cards would format/read in a P2 slot – 2 brand new 64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-II/U3 weren’t recognized and failed format attempts. AFTER the firmware update, those same SDCX cards formatted and recorded without issue in the P2 slots. Still testing all the different formats they are capable of recording, but there are certainly more than before the update.
Owning the PX270 for a while but actually not really using it a lot, I am very unsatisfied with this camera. Maybe someone can help me because Panasonic does not reply to any of my mails …
– The picture quality: havent found any setting offering a clean, ready to use picture profile for news business. Everything looks pale or greenish or weird and needs colour correction later. Is anyone willing to share settings?
– The LCD: Seriously, if you mount anything on the cold shoe, like a led light or a wireless receiver, you cannot open the LCD. Seriously, Panasonic??? How do you guys deal with this problem?
– Power consumption: The PX270 EATS batteries. I never had this phenomenon with any other Panasonic cam before. I am every nervious if my 4 batteries get me through a shooting day.
HEEEEELP!
HDW : Dont get the picture problem you are having this camera produced great footage out the box, have you messed about with picture profiles by any chance ?