Free Thinking Dreamer

The HPX500 has once again been designed to allow a smooth upgrade path for those who wish to obtain low-cost production HD.

Because there are no mechanical devices to record the weight is incredibly low. Overall, the construction of the body seems to be very good. The viewfinder adjustment was smooth and strong, and the buttons and switches are just where you would expect on a device of this type. Interestingly user-assignable buttons are hidden behind the sliding door. An interesting touch, although I am not sure what the benefits as all other checks of the bar shutter switch are exposed. These can of course be left in the open position if you need to go to those sites regularly.

General audio controls and switches are behind the large LCD on the back of the camera. Panasonic has wisely made sure that the levels of control for the main stereos are above the screen and can be accessed when the LCD screen is flush against the body of the camera. They also placed the time code selection (F-run, Set, R-Run) below the LCD screen so that they are accessible when the screen is folded away.

Below the LCD is a flap that opens to reveal the thumbnail reading and navigation buttons. Playing a clip is launched by pressing the "mode". This takes the camera from its default "Cam" mode "MCR." From there, you can browse the clip thumbnails, delete clips, add metadata, and performing other clip the overall organization and maintenance. My personal preference would be to be able to make reading a clip instantly, hence the need to go into a different mode does make the process more difficult, a certain degree. I could not find an easy way to remove the last clip recorded without going into miniature mode. This is a function that I use a lot on other tapeless cameras and I think that 'he would be welcome in a future firmware update.

One thing that can not be said about the HPX500 is that lack of recording formats! The camera can record 1080i/p/50/60/25/30/24fps 720p/25/30/60/24fps and the recording standard definition interlaced and progressive scan imaging based in both NTSC and PAL modes . The 500 can also record for variable framerates undercranking and overcraking capacity. These framerates are infinitely adjustable, but were set at the most commonly used parameters based on the experience of operators Varicam. Interval registration timelapse sequence is also available.

There is also a type of selection that allows the user to choose between film and video Cam Cam modes. Film Cam mode's main difference is that it displays the shutter as an angle rather than in fractions of a second. It helps when setting up the shutter to match the variable parameters framerate crisp motion.

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