Canon focusing on HDV.. unfrotunately the XL-H1S price range is close to the EX1. Hard to win.. Ex3 is HD ver of XL-H1+EX1.. Melvin, dun be sad la.. the Ex3 secret has pissed worldwide EX1 users! But the cam price alone will be almost SGD18k I expect! So u still win.. Panasonic also launched their 1/3 CCDx3 ver of the P2 only HPX-170, Priced like HVX200.. no news of HVX200A which is to combo tape+P2..
Ya I fully agree ha ha.. its so front heavy man! But I guess that can be solved by adding a shoulder mount of some sort. IT will not costSGD3k for those differences.. the Gen lock and Time Code r the impt features but if we dun do multicam that would be rather redundant. Anyway the pricing is still speculative.. will have to wait till expandore shows the pricing in 4Q this year.
I'd love to go for the EX3, except for that price. The detachable lens option is great, and I think that's a foldable shoulder brace under the cam (similar to XL1s). nice HDD recording too. If my guess is right, HD-SDI is disabled when HDD or FireWire is in use (as stated in EX1 manual).
No word yet from Panasonic if HPX-170 is a tape+card cam.
Saw an interview from NAB that HPX 170 is P2 only. No tape. That would be the HVX200 upgrade ver liao. Tink Panny working hard on a 1/2" CCD soln now. At the moment, EX1/3 will be the hot sellers. Oche but pretty expensive for hobbist. Tan jiat ppl should have no issues with SGD13k cam.