Panasonic - All POWERED UP with no place to go...

 I found myself invited to the Panasonic roadshow for 2014 last night, it was effectively a product preview/launch of their upcoming ranges of items from white-ware to audio/visual and beyond. With the number of products on offer, I couldn't help but think they may be spreading themselves a little thin, because they really are manufacturing almost everything now (world domination). Sadly with the exception of the Lumix GH4 and  the upcoming 4K televisions there really wasn't too much of interest for me.

  One product that caught my eye, for all the wrong reasons, was the HX-A100

  It's an ill conceived attempt at breaking into the "action camera" market, that GoPro have successfully cornered, but the camera itself is an awkward bundle of cables and over-sized shapes. The lack of compactness makes for an uncomfortable looking and tremendously dorky apparatus. In fact I can liken it to Padwhorism* almost.

What you're meant to look like  

What you actually look like

  Don't get me wrong, I think the POV aspect is quite cool and there are accessories readily available including a dead-cat (or wind sock), which no one else have really thought through for their action cameras (with the exception of GoPro's casing).

  BUT most reviews for it are very mixed and the footage, although 1080, probably isn't of a high enough quality or standard for broadcast; although for a short film with POV aspects it may be passable with some serious post production. However the HX-A100 is one of those items which will require a few early adopters to fully flesh it out and confirm the true pros and cons. But for my money, they still haven't cracked it and it just looks too cumbersome.

 The Lumix GH4 speaks for itself, and as it is currently the only mirror-less 4K camera on the market (well the NZ market, not sure about abroad) that it may well steal a little of Canon's DSLR business in 2014. Although 4K is only new and will take sometime to be adopted and fully implemented into home setups (mainly because there is currently only one Blu-Ray available in 4K in NZ, and it's a terrible film! - Told you it was crap!). The technology is perfect for shooting in full 4K then down-scaling footage to 1080 for a potentially higher and better final output quality after editing. 

Click to view product page

  The versatility doesn't stop there either, but the product and product accessory pages can tell you all the gory details.

UPDATE: Here is a rather long, but informative review on the GH4 by Dave Dugdale

 Overall it was a good night with entertainment to break the monotony of dry facts about electronics and electrical products. There were questions and prizes, a fully catered meal (with Vegan food!), free drinks and a goodie bag to take home (Content: Product brochures, LED Key Ring and a Pair of Blue RP-HX250 Headphones - which sadly aren't great).

   If you find yourself invited to a roadshow event, take it up, there is a lot of interesting information, if not a little dry at times, but it's a cheap night out and you may come away with more than you expected. Heck I'm considering a Lumix over a Canon DSLR now.

* Padwhore (Padwhorism): A person who uses their iPad to take pictures or video at an event, attraction or sight/tourist trap and effectively obscures the view of other attendees; for sub-par quality pictures and or video no one wants to see.