About to make the HPX300 leap... HELP!
by Chris Smith
on
Oct 21, 2009 at 9:42:04 pm
Hey all,
I own a small video production business in northern California, and for years I've been getting buy on my DVX100Bs. I'm making the plunge into HD with the HPX300.
I have a few questions for those with more expertise than I can muster. For while on projects I've been using a HVX200 with a lens adapter and Nikon lenses. I'm happy with the images, but the light loss is significant.
I've talked to some people said buying the HPX300, removing the stock lens and using a $75 lens mount to put on Nikons is a workable way to get good, inexpensive depth of field. The drawback is no zoom. The advantage is not the loss of light. The savings is $2000 or so in a lens adapter and all that comes with that, which also sounds good to me.
My question is... does this sound right? Do I have my facts in order? Does this sound like a workable solution to get a good depth of field at a reasonable price on this camera (with the understanding I'll need to move the camera via dolly whenever I want to 'zoom' in).
As some context, I'll be buying a Chrosziel R20-HPX300K2 Panasonic HPX-300 with Kit 2 (AC-CMB-R20-HPXK2) for use when the Nikon lenses are affixed.
Finally, can anyone recommend a good lens mount for the HPX300 to affix the Nikon lenses? An associate already has Nikon lenses, so...
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Re: About to make the HPX300 leap... HELP! by Dan Brockett on Oct 22, 2009 at 1:09:55 am
Do you have a link to these supposed adapters? I have never seen a 1/3" B4 mount to Nikon F mount adapter. There are Letus B4 adapters that work with the HPX300 but they cost a few thousand dollars.
Assuming that the adapter you are describing does exist, it would not change your depth of field capabilities as the image would still be focused on a 1/3" CMOS imager set.
If you have a link to this supposed adapter, we would love to see it. JVC makes an adapter that will allow 16mm PL mount lenses to be affixed directly to their camera but it isn't cheap either and really does nothing for FOV or DOF as is it does not have a 35mm imaging plane.
Dan
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Re: About to make the HPX300 leap... HELP! by Chris Smith on Oct 22, 2009 at 2:02:47 am
Hey Dan,
Thanks for the response. I don't have a link, but I'll make some calls to find out. I talked directly with someone who saw it at the DVExpo in Pasadena a few weeks back. I assumed this was a widely known usage I was just hearing about (as I haven't used the HPX300 yet).
When I find something, I'll link back to it.
C
Re: About to make the HPX300 leap... HELP! by Michael Shugrue on Oct 22, 2009 at 1:12:00 am
I currently have and rent the HPX-300,I also have a HPX-500. I wanted to be able to use both lenses on the 300. Fujinon make a mount to take on 2/3 (B4 mount) glass. Yes you lose a little on the wide, but this simplifies everything. You can use one matte box ring,one zoom control.
I wanted to be able to buy as few pieces and have more options for the clients. The 300 comes with the 18x 4.3 long and wide. For certain projects this works and certain budgets. I have a 500 that I have a 22x lens. I can use this as a very long lens on the 300, or as a standard lens on the 500. Same zoom control, same follow focus pitch gear,etc.
I have a few HPX-3700's as well. If you would like more info please just send a email.
Re: About to make the HPX300 leap... HELP! by Chris Smith on Oct 22, 2009 at 2:13:50 am
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the response. As I understand your post, you have an adapter to put the 500 lenses on the 300.
As I understood what my associate related to me (as explained in the response to Dan above) the inexpensive adapter allows someone to put Nikon primes on the 300 and get a shallow depth of field.
That's not what you're talking about, correct?
Re: About to make the HPX300 leap... HELP! by Dan Brockett on Oct 22, 2009 at 1:02:40 pm
Uh, yeah, you need to read the fine print. This adapter will give you a crop factor of 7x, meaning that your 50mm Nikon 1.4 will become a 350mm on the HPX300. You will definitely have shallow depth of field but you will need to be about 100 feet away from your subject! This would only be useful for wildlife shooters who are shooting animals from a huge distance or possibly sports shooters but for "normal" production, I think that this would be quite useless.
It is interesting for certain uses but for general production, not the most handy choice.
Dan
Providing value added material to all of your favorite DVDs
