Pro video blog…Produced by Philip Johnston DoP/Editor

240-steps

I decided to climb the Wallace monument in Stirling to show off the new Panasonic 4K HC-X1000 camcorder and it did not disappoint.

old-meets-new

Fortunately on the way up you have wee rooms to take a rest.

Up-240-steps

I had my trusty colleague Graham with me and we were truly puffed by the time we reached the top.

4K-cam

The view and the weather was to say the least stunning, perfect for 4K 50p footage and the 20x optical zoom did not disappoint.

From-the-top

Update : I am hoping to have the Panasonic HC-X1000 Video Review online by Friday 12th December, it’s a bit more in-depth but the stunning 4K 50p pictures are worth the wait.

At-the-top

This is a 4K to HD camera worth its weight in gold…filming in 4K 50p gives you stunning results on an HD timeline, I was quoted by a technician today that the 4K 150MB/s at 420, 8bit converts to 444, 10bit when compressed down to HD and it certainly looks like it.

An SDXC C10 S3 64G card will record an hour of 4K 50p footage in the X1000 enough time for most video work plus you also have the luxury of a second card slot giving you 2 hours of 4K footage ! The camera is FCPX ready so there are no drivers to download it transcodes straight into FCPX with no hesitation.

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.

4 thoughts on “Panasonic HC-X1000 “240 steps later” Video review due this Friday !

  1. the camera did suffer from a rushed release (with unfinished software) and got bad samples (really bad)around. So is the software/codec or whatever fixed now? that IS the question. The sensor is small and there is no active stabilization in 4K (because there is not enough sensor for that) but only standard. Anyway this is an important review, many are waiting (including myself) before buying.

    HDW : Hi Mark I was given a production sample, I was not aware of any software related problems.

  2. I’m extremely interested in your article regarding the new Panasonic 4K HC-X1000 camera and am looking forward to your full review on Friday. I have been advised that the camera is brilliant in daylight but extremely poor in low light. I would dearly like to hear your opinion on this before I venture out to buy one.
    Many thanks
    John Rose

    HDW : Hi John, as you will see I film in 2 venues that I consider to have less than suitable lighting and deliberately film at 10dBs to let you see the grain which almost disappears on an HD timeline. Noise is very subjective but remember with the HC-X1000 at 4K running at 10 dBs it all gets compressed down to HD and again gets compressed down to a DVD for final output so by the actions of 2 compressions you won’t see your 10dBs by the time it reaches a DVD.Plus remember the 8bit 420 becomes 10bit 444 on the HD timeline as long as you are editing at least in HQ mode (FCPX) where it will be 422 10 bit.

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