HPX-3700 deal

There were a few threads over in the Varicam area about this new offering, but couldn't find one here in HPX land. I thought I'd put myself out there for all the P2 clan to throw stones at!

This new deal is a telling move by Panasonic that these cameras are not selling. We have had the 2700 now for a few months and its also not working much.

when I heard of this deal first I thought "Wow, great deal..." as I ponder what camera to dump and where to pull 30k for a camera moments earlier I didn't want. Then 5 minutes later, I'm admitting they really got me going there for a few minutes.

But even at 30k (or about half the price of a new 3700) its still 30k sitting on the shelf. Very few clients in my part of the world want to use this expensive P2 varicam system. I'd much rather spend money on a pile of Ex-1's and Ex-3"s, because that's whats renting right now. Panasonic's stock is falling fast because of too much investment in P2. They moved away from tape too fast before the industry was ready, offered too many models to choose from, and at prices that were obviously way high given the expensive tape transport was now gone.

Tom (in the Varicam area) is right on the mark saying this feels like "transition time". This is one big reason why people don't want to plunk down 60k (or even 30k) into any of these systems, because these flash card camera/record systems are still relatively new and we can all clearly see how fast the technology is changing. The price drop on memory is an obvious huge elephant in the room waving a flag of "technology transition" caution. Most understand that the idea of paying 2k for a 32gb card these days will be looked at 2 years from now and laughed at. Clearly tape will be disappearing in the years to come, but there are a lot of tape systems (camera's and decks) still being depreciated on schedule "C's" in a tough economy. The next step up will be massive storage for very cheap and it wont be these little cards that cost a bundle that we can loose so easily. It will take a different form, and all these expensive P2 camcorders (and SxS) will be tossed, or sold off very cheap. The next advancement will also most likely solve the tranfer/archieve debacle in one fell swoop.

Panasonic has put too many eggs into the P2 basket, at a bad time in the economy and a transitionary period in the industry (and they are currently paying the price at the "bleeding edge").

We are buying only what there is actual demand for, and waiting this round out if possible. the 3700 is the flagship P2 camera that nobody wants, even at 30k "a dog is a dog" (I wouldn't buy it for 15k). Sorry Pany, love your tape products (and the HPX-170 is a petty good camera), but you have too many P2 models that are confusing your customer. It feels like the marketing department has taken over and there isn't enough raising of the "technology bar" like you used to do. I'm buying a lot of Sony gear these days because the demand is rising, and which camera to purchase is an easier choice. (Don't get me started on the "intra" codec)

Those new cheaper P2 cards are another odd move by this company (planned failure??) what a bizarre marketing ploy! Well I wouldn't load up on those slight cheaper cards because I predict that 3-5 years from now P2 is dying or possibly completely dead because of big advances in storage technology and this P2 card profile will look like child's play. But you have to toss a perfectly good camera at the same time....(hmmm).

Wait this one out, save your money. Use the gear that's already available to get your job done in this tough economy, things are changing fast in memory and storage. What SHOULD be coming is a way to modularize the camera from the recorder, or the storage (oh yea, Red has sorted this out), and we are already using outboard file based record systems on our older cameras.

Ding ding, ding, (bells ringing) HELLO Panasonic..... its already happening whether you design (and build) for this change or not.

When they design the system in a modular way we might be willing to spend 20-25k on a 2/3" (or larger sensor) camera, knowing that we wont have to throw the "camcorder" out in 2 years when the next record or storage advancement comes along. Equal opportunity slamming here... Sony's disc camera's are a step forward in some ways, but does anybody believe this will survive.... spinning disc's being burned in the field? No way, solid state must win in the end. The "End" is very far away, but the point is to be able to recognize the transition that we are in, and try to forecast how fast the next move forward will arrive. The big players probably already have the next record/storage solution in their RD department and its only a matter of when to draw a line in the sand and produce the next system (and not sell short the current model). Seeing the poor sales performance of the P2 (in 2/3") and the obvious flaw in Sony's disc's system makes we think the next advancement cant come fast enough for these 2 struggling companies.

Maybe Red's "Scarlet", and the huge interest in HD output DSLR's will wake these giants up to the new digital world we are in. The old juggernaut business model for Sony and Panasonic is dead and the little guys are picking up more market share every day. We will soon see if they can swing with the advances, or die a slow death not trying!



Erich Roland
www.dc-camera.com
HD camera rentals, Washington DC
(and Cameraman)