A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shoot with the Panasonic DVX200 for a couple of days. I did post my initial impressions here, you can read them in case you haven’t done so already. All my footage so far has been shot in V-Log L as this is the profile which gives the highest dynamic range from this camera – 12 stops according to Panasonic. Now, I haven’t shot charts or performed lab tests with controlled lighting, so I cannot attest to the truthfulness of this statement, however, so far from the limited time I spent with the camera, I like the images out of it. See for yourselves below and let me know what you think in the comment section.
October – Panasonic DVX200 4K Test Footage V-Log L: Part 2 from 4K Shooters on Vimeo.
And here is the YouTube 4K version. Make sure you select 2160p from the wrench in the quality option.
Shot on the Panasonic AG-DVX200 4K Camcorder in V-Log L at 4K (4096 x 2160) in 24p. Make sure to select 2160p from the Quality Settings above.
You can buy the Panasonic DVX200 from B&H: bhpho.to/20lPz94
or from Visual Impact if you’re in the UK here: visuals.co.uk/panasonic-ag-dvx200-4k-camcorder.htmlQuick grade in Premiere Pro CC 2015:
1. De-Log with Varicam LOG to Rec.709 LUT
2. Secondary LUT – Fuji ETERNA 250D Kodak 2395 by Adobe (built in Premiere
3. Faded Film at 30%
4. Contrast at 16%
5. WB: 6500 – 7000
6. Minor adjustments to exposure – 0.1 to +/- 0.2 here and there.Music: Tyler Twombly freemusicarchive.org/music/Tyler_Twombly/
Thanks to VI Rental in Teddington for supplying the camera – virental.co.uk/
Panasonic DVX200 Highlights
- 4/3 MOS Sensor with 12 Stops DR
- V-Log L gamma
- DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) recording at 24P
- UHD (3840 x 2160) up to 50/60p
- Variable Frame Rate Up to 120 fps in 1080p
- MP4/MOV Recording in 4K
- AVCHD format
- Integrated Leica 13x f/2.8 – f/4.5 Zoom Lens
- 3 x Individual Lens Control Rings
- Waveform, Zebra, Focus Assist dedicated buttons
- 2 x XLR audio inputs
- 2 x SD Cards Slots (U3 Compatible)
- 4.3-inch fold-out LCD touchscreen
- HDMI 2.0 (supports 4K out)
- 3G-SDI Output
October – Panasonic DVX200 4K Test Footage V-Log L: Part 1 from 4K Shooters on Vimeo.
Youtube 4K version:
While, I’ve shot only in V-Log with the DVX200, I am still yet to explore the Scene profiles, which offer a more baked-in look for faster turnaround times in post. This has been a frequently requested test from folks who’ve contacted me via email, comments, or over at the dedicated DVX200 thread over at DVXuser.com. I will do my best to test Scene files the next time I get a chance to shoot with the camera again. Hopefully this will be soon.
A few more notes and observations from the footage above.
- No Exposure +/- meter in the LCD screen/Viewfinder (this has been confirmed by Barry Green here) – at first I though I had to enable it in the menu, but couldn’t find it anywhere
- V-Log is difficult to expose for especially for overcast sky/white hair (duh!) – highlight patterns in clouds especially may appear washed out or blown while using some more aggressive LUT’s that lift the highs too much – you have to carefully monitor the Waveform monitor in Premiere or your NLE/grading suite in post. Best to keep them in legal values below 235 or 79 IRE. Most of this footage was backlight and filmed in the late afternoon.
- Knee doesn’t work in V-Log; only in Scene files – Knee gives you more control over the top end of the highlights.
- The waveform in the LCD touchscreen can be repositioned, but all other markers and monitor info disappears
- You can’t use Focus Assist (peaking) and Waveform at the same time! – that’s one of my major gripes so far
- 4K 8bit 420 is gradable, but don’t push it too far – you can see some banding in the skies
- The Autofocus works well – it’s not super fast, neither slow. Just works
- Bokeh (when at the long end of the lens or wide open at standard focal lengths) is alright – not so pleasing and creamy as I’d like it to be, but definitely not ugly. You can see some blurred background shots in the footage above. Those chasing a more cinematic look with this camera shouldn’t be too worried – the 13x zoom lens combo (even though it’s not a constant f2.8) combined with the 4/3 CMOS chip make for a decent quasi-cinematic look.
Hope this has been somewhat helpful. More footage and a full review coming up soon. You can order the camera from the official dealers below depending on your preference/location. Many thanks to Visual Impact for providing me with the camera for two days to shoot with.
B&H Link: Panasonic AG-DVX200 4K Camera – $4,195
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate partner and participant in B&H and Adorama Affiliate programmes, we earn a small comission from each purchase made through the affiliate links listed above at no additional cost to you.
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Hi
I wonder if you used a pre-production camera or the “real thing”?
Nice work. I consider buying this camera, but are a bit scarred about the noise issues and detail level I have seen in some clips where GH4 and DVX200 was compared and zoomed 600 %. It looked like the GH4 was significantly more clean and with greater detail level? But maybe Panasonic will get theses issues solved in the final camera?
I still have my good old Panasonic HMC151 and has been following the DSLR path for a few years, but wan´t to go back to the videocam path again. It is much easier to work with, instead of fidling around with ND-filters, and external soundrrecorders, wires, heavy rigs and stuff…Wonder if Panasonic will make as many new firmware updates, that continues to giove this camera new features and make it even better, as much as they did with the GH4?
🙂
Thank you. I used a production model for this shoot, not a pre-production camera. I don’t know specifics, but I am sure there will be some sort of firmware updates – whether they are solely bug fixes or add additional features, I can’t know. I found the noise levels between the GH4 (used to own one) and the DVX200 to be comparable. The DVX200 uses a newer sensor from the GX8 for what its worth.
As in = I used the “real thing” – as you put it. The DVX200 is a fine camera if you can live with some annoyances that I have posted about in my findings in the article. You can certainly get decent images from it if used properly.
Thx…take a look at this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nyfE_XLzXgU
Looks like the dvx has a serious noise issue?
I’ve seen it, but I wouldn’t call it a serious issue. LOG is inherently noisy not just in the DVX200 or Gh4. In Sony cameras and Canon cameras – Slog2 and 3 especially – that’s because of the linear nature of the curve. Plus everything is squashed into a much smaller region that’s why you need to overexpose in Log. If you keep it below ISO 1600 you should be fine. In my footage, I didn’t see issues with noise and I shot at ISO 500, 800 and a couple of shots at 1600.
Ok thank you. Nice to know…I really like a lot about this camera, so I will dig more into it, and try it out and then consider pulling the trigger 😉 Sure looks nice in many ways! 🙂
Also, at 600% zoom, most cameras in LOG would be noisy. Gh4 and DVX200 especially and also in other profiles.
Hi again
I just realized, that there will be a new firmware update (1.2 – Look: http://4krumors.com/2015/11/13/new-panasonic-ag-dvx200-firmware-coming/ ) that should make color better and a few other things. It will be released 16. november. I hope you will take your time to make a post – maybe even with some tests – after updating to the new firmware? I did try the DVX-200 for short today, and it really seems to be a great camera. Unfortunately I did not have a card that was fast enough, so I only managed to get e few seconds shot in 1080 – and it did not look good…I got the impression, that this camera really needs a lot of tweaking and that one spend a lot of time getting used to it ,-)
Hi Morten, yes I read what Barry said at DVXuser.com about the new firmware update. I;ll be more than happy to test the new firmware when I get my hands on the camera again, as I don’t own it. Will report back once I do.
I got this camera production version 2 weeks back. I had real hard time getting it to have a right white balance even with white card….i see a deep yellow/redish tint using scene 1 and scene 4-5….I am not sure whats wrong with….It seems, camera is not capable of handling different light sources. and this is a serious problem in post production spending hours and hours color correcting….I am not sure to keep it or return this camera..
The yellowness should be taken care of in the firmware update…among other things like noise in the black etc.
I will update firmware and try. thank you Morten
I’m still frustrated with this camera and maybe it’s me, but when I record it looks like video rather than film even though I film in 24p. Maybe I’m using the wrong scene. When I see the footage on this page I’m like that’s what I want to see in my footage, but I’m not. Upgraded to the latest firmware and I’m very dissapointed. Maybe I need a crash course on this camera or I have a bad unit.