PANASONIX SX900

Rich Steel · February 23, 2004

Hi Folks,

Was wondering if anyone has used the SX900 on any shoots lately? Interested in your thoughts etc....and Mitch, I know you like the camera but care to share any and all experiences setting up the unit? One last quip, I'm trying to hire some swanky Zeiss Digi Primes here in the UK but Arri Media quoted me over $2000 (US) per day to hire the full set of 8. Looks like I'm gonna have to run with the P+S Adapter and some arri primes instead, bugger.

Mitch Gross · February 23, 2004

I've used the SDX900 twice, both in fairly limited circumstances. I don't recall any details on settings other than I followed my gut with using similar settings to what I would use on the Varicam. CineGamma is a wonderful thing, and I like to play with the pedestal and coring a bit. Unlike most DPs, I find it okay to dive into the menus a little bit to adjust shot for shot. But be careful and only do it if you have a proper monitor and preferably a waveform as well. I found the camera to have 11 stops of dynamic range, and it looks great in 24p.

If you use the P+S Technik adapter you need to spend some real time testing it out. Different lens types behave differently and I find that the range of settings for the lens t-stop, the relay grounglass wiggle speed and the rear diaphram all very limited before odd artifacts begin to appear. For the feature I shot last summer on the Varicam, we were all set to use the adapter when we were offered a deal on the DigiPrimes that we couldn't refuse. I don't really think they are comparative technologies as they serve drastically different purposes and have very, very different looks. But I do think the DigiPrimes are a lot easier to work with and they certainly are a lot less light hungry.

Tim Tyler · February 24, 2004

Full review.

http://www.cinematography.com/articles/sdx900/

February 26, 2004

Panasonic will be introducing model #800 at NAB that will be similar to SDX900 but will record to SD cards and will cost $20K.

Gordon Highland · July 9, 2004

This has been my go-to camera for about six months now. All my videos end up either online as part of e-learning courses or delivered on DVD, and 24p has been a major improvement in both regards.

I use the "normal" settings described in the Goodman's Guide as my standard preset, and sometimes make tweaks from there. 24p needs more light in general, however, this thing looks fantastic for nighttime stuff, and it's got a great viewfinder. It's lightweight. I like how customizable the display/output information is. I personally don't like diffusion filters with this camera, but use a pola most of the time on an ENG lens. No technical problems once I learned to tell it how to manage my crappy NP batteries. Works well for greenscreen, and the DV50 codec plays real nice with Final Cut Pro (I can edit off an external firewire drive at full rez).