Panasonic AG-HVX200

• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 8 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 9 stars

  Fantastic new technolgy at a breakthrough price!

  by izoneguy on March 13, 2006

  Pros: Affordable, Easy to Use, P2 Technology, DV tape back-up, 24pN allowing variable frame rates, Focus Assist, DVCPRO HD codec, Excellent Video Quality

  Cons: Menu Buttons on top of camera, LCD is a little small, On board Mic picks up zoom noise, Supplied Component Cable is a little short, Don't expect superior low-light capabilities

  Summary: I give the AG-HVX200 a 9! Having been in the video business for over 20 years I am very jealous of this new technology that the kids just starting out ...

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  Summary: I give the AG-HVX200 a 9! Having been in the video business for over 20 years I am very jealous of this new technology that the kids just starting out in the business have access to. I finally got a hold of this hot piece of metal, plastic and glass and have been blowing my old videos away! P2 is the greatest thing to happen to video and it's long overdue. The price of P2 will hopefully keep falling so that it won't be necessary to get a second mortgage on your home to afford them! But really, once you slide a P2 card into your Powerbook and import the videos faster than realtime...well digitizing from tape seems like the old horse & buggy days. You can get 10 minutes record time with a 4 GB card shooting in the 720p 24pN mode. N stands for native, meaning you are shooting 24 or really 23.976 frames per second. Less frames to record means more shooting time. Using Apple FCP Studio is a complete solution to get from the shoot to DVD or a High Def file. I don't work for Panasonic or Apple and just recently I have made the conversion from PC video editing to MAC editing. I should have done it sooner! At least now is the right time to give this combo a look. There are almost too many set-ups that you can do with the HVX200! I remember my old BetaCam had an on/off switch and a white balance button. Do a Google on the HVX-200 to find out more. My only gripe is that FCP does not handle the 1080p 24p or 24pA modes very well. I have tested the 1080p 30p mode and that looks very good. But most editng is going to 24p so I will concentrate on that for the tme being. Before you buy any camera in this price range - give the HVX200 a long, hard serious look!

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  12 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  Outstanding camera, but will become better as P2 technology improves

  by golfben862 on March 17, 2006

  Pros: Image quality, supports 720p and 1080i HD resolutions, quick transfers by P2 PCMCIA cards, Good Leica wide lens

  Cons: P2 cards remain pricey and relatively small, fixed lens, does not support 1080p HD resolution

  Summary: I recently used this camera for a weekend shoot. It supports most HD formats and has outstanding image quality. The P2 system still has its quirks, but Panasonic has been ...

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  Summary: I recently used this camera for a weekend shoot. It supports most HD formats and has outstanding image quality. The P2 system still has its quirks, but Panasonic has been doing a good job smoothing those out. Unfortunately the camera only accepts two P2 cards and they are fairly expensive and do not store 'enough' HD footage. The most youll be able to shoot at any given time in 1080i mode is about 25 min which won't suffice for many professionals. Many people think this camera is too expensive, however, compared to comparable HD cameras, the HVX is an absolute bargain. This camera does not and should not be compared to anything which uses HDV. The DVCPro HD footage is a truer HD image and preserves the color information better (i.e. green screen footage is outstanding). The P2 technology is relatively new and as it becomes better, the prices should drop and the card sizes should increase.

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  7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  Great new technology and at a reasonable price.

  by fulcrumsf on March 18, 2006

  Pros: P2 cards mean no digitizing and you can litterally start editing in minutes. Great color range and easy to use.

  Cons: P2 card are expensive and do not store that much footage. Did experience some corrupt pixel blocks in footage. Manual focusing could use improvements.

  Summary: For a prosumer camera this is a great bang for your buck camera. Considering if you have the P2 cards you can start editing in minutes. I used this camera ...

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  Summary: For a prosumer camera this is a great bang for your buck camera. Considering if you have the P2 cards you can start editing in minutes. I used this camera for a 20 min short and had great experiences. Importing video into Final Cut Pro was quick and easy. I do hope that Panasonic fixes some of the pixel block issues it has when capturing to the P2 cards. I think this has something to do with the capture control card on the camera itself, and not the transfer via computer. I recomend using a DV tape in conjunction with using the P2 cards when filming important footage. If you want the latest new technology advanced camera but don't have 10,000+ to spend, then this is a good one to get. However if you can wait until the technology gets cheaper, and they work out the bugs, then I would wait until the next revision.

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  4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Excellent prosumer camera

  by KichigaiMentat on November 15, 2008

  Pros: * Does timecode controls
  * Has two XLR inputs
  * Phantom Power
  * Functional shutter controls (takes a little getting used to)
  * Recording to P2 is exceptional
  * Delivers amazing crisp video that pops

  Cons: * Low-light performance isn't super awesome (just slightly below that of the AJ-D410AP)
  * Menu buttons located a little inconveniently

  Summary: I'm at a student TV station, and I've worked with the HVX, in addition to the AJ-D410AP, and a little experience with the DVX-100, and I have to ...

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  Summary: I'm at a student TV station, and I've worked with the HVX, in addition to the AJ-D410AP, and a little experience with the DVX-100, and I have to say that the HVX really is marvelous. Outside of some slightly inconveniently located buttons, the lack of BNC, and (apparently) not-so-great low-light performance (I can barely see it, and it's acceptable by my standards), I've found it to be great. We use the HVX in a professional environment, and we haven't had any problem a simple, cheap adapter couldn't fix. I can't say I see myself shooting with it for hours and hours, mostly because it's hand-held, but a good shoulder brace can mitigate that problem (As well as allowing the use of higher capacity batteries, like Anton Bauer Gold Mount batteries). Still, a fine camera that would knock the socks off of any consumer camera and has enough oomph to hang with the professional machines (just don't call it professional, or the real professionals will laugh at you).

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  Somewhat professional quality thats inexpensive.

  by repo33 on September 10, 2008

  Pros: Portable, semi-HD quality

  Cons: heavy for alot of hand held shots.

  Summary: There is a movie starring Alexandra Holden called "A Dead Calling" that was shot entirely with this unit. You can get the movie from NetFlix. I don't own this ...

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  Summary: There is a movie starring Alexandra Holden called "A Dead Calling" that was shot entirely with this unit. You can get the movie from NetFlix. I don't own this camera but did watch that movie (kinda cheesy) and didn't realize it wasn't Panavision (the industry standard camera outfitters). I was re-watching with audio commentary (I'm into the tech side of movies) and the director said the movie wasn't shot on film or video but on P2 cards with a Panavision HVX200. Impressive...

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  1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  I am very jealous of this new technology

  by oremining on April 11, 2012

  Pros: I am very jealous of this new technology that the kids just starting out in the business have access to. I finally got a hold of this hot piece of metal

  Cons: I am very jealous of this new technology that the kids just starting out in the business have access to. I finally got a hold of this hot piece of metal

  Summary: I am very jealous of this new technology that the kids just starting out in the business have access to. I finally got a hold of this hot piece of ...

  Read more

  Summary: I am very jealous of this new technology that the kids just starting out in the business have access to. I finally got a hold of this hot piece of metal
  <a href="http://www.minemachines.com/product/beneficiation/spiral-classifier.html
  ">chrome processing plant</a>

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• 7 stars

  just like KichigaiMentat said

  by Jwyanze88 on June 15, 2010

  Pros: white balances pretty easy without problem even with minimal or no light.
  shoots very clean as should be expected from an HD cam
  irs control is smooth and gradual unlike the sony cams
  Has two XLR inputs

  Cons: the low light performance is terrible. its the last camera i would pickup for night shotting even with camera lights.
  heavy and bulky.
  hard to focus.

  Summary: I shoot camera for a Caribbean media company namely Tobago Channel 5 and i have used this camera on many occasions and i find it particularly hard to focus this ...

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  Summary: I shoot camera for a Caribbean media company namely Tobago Channel 5 and i have used this camera on many occasions and i find it particularly hard to focus this camera with the LCD or even the viewfinder as they both have low resolution. This camera works good in control environments and any event at day. Never take it out at night tho its low light performance will have you explaining why you brought back black shots. the low light works to an extent and the gain goes up to 16db (i think) with barely visible grain. with the irs and gain right up it still does not deliver a bright enough picture as compared to the much older SD Sony vx2000

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• 9 stars

  Truly an exquisite camera from Panasonic..

  by Audiotherapy_ on August 28, 2006

  Pros: P2 compatibility with this pro camera, great price, amazing HD lens, build quality, design, pro configurations and controls, real film-like gamma curves and colours..

  Cons: A bit heavy but not really a problem.

  Summary: This is an amazing little machine. Highest video quality I have seen so far. It offers the same performance of much more expensive cameras. True progressive shooting in 1080, 720 ...

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  Summary: This is an amazing little machine. Highest video quality I have seen so far. It offers the same performance of much more expensive cameras. True progressive shooting in 1080, 720 and 576. Very extensive menus. It looks beautiful on a tripod. Wide angle Leica Dicomar 13x HD lens which produces mesmerising images. Professional audio. If you love film and film-making then there is no other camera for you. Get it while you can and enjoy..

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