Just bought a dv852!

Frank Granovski · March 17th, 2004, 10:25 PM

I wonder if the cam's firmware needs to be replaced. Remember the MX300's firmware glitch? Pana came out with a new update, and then another new one to update that. Oh, Vey. :-((

Adam VanScoyoc · March 18th, 2004, 11:09 AM

Firmware? I'm not familiar with that. Is this driver related or something? Can I download it, or do I have to contact Panasonic?

Frank Granovski · March 18th, 2004, 04:06 PM

You have to contact Panasonic and get them to do it.

Adam VanScoyoc · March 20th, 2004, 10:45 PM

Thought some of you might like to take a look at my no-budget red neck case for my dv852.

It is from my Montgomery ward full size vhs camcorder I bought in 1991.

I figured the hard plastic would protect it a little better than a cloth bag, plus I had it laying around.

A little foam and tada!

http://www.geocities.com/freakyfamil...ts/shorts.html

Frank Granovski · March 20th, 2004, 10:54 PM

Thanks, Adam!

I've got a Lowepro Vidcam 2, with extra foam inside which I use when I just want to carry around my camcorder or SLR---works great. If the bag drops, it just bounces! I'm not kidding. The trick is with the 1" packaging foam inside. For all other times, when I have to work (oops, there's that 4-letter word again), I use my handy Lowepro Nova 5 bag---she's a beaut! :-))

Tommy Haupfear · March 21st, 2004, 07:38 AM

Now thats a zero budget case!

If you can move your budget up to $20 then head to your local hardware meagstore (Home Depot, Lowes, etc..) and pick up this aluminum hard case with customizeable interior.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-12/74415/Case1.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-12/74415/Case3.jpg

Here is what my case looked like when I customized it for my old cams (MX1000 and Sony F717).

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-...Cam%20Case.jpg

These days I'm using the Lowepro Micro Trekker 200 backpack (from B&H of course) which is enough room for my D-SLR, Black Mamba, and all the gear for each (including a full size flash).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=199518&is=REG

Adam VanScoyoc · March 24th, 2004, 09:59 PM

Tommy, thanks for the links. I really like the looks of the aluminum cases, and they're very inexpensive to boot!

I wanted to let everyone know that I solved the problem I've been having. I installed my capture card in my parents computer and captured some video and it looked perfect. So at least I know that my Panasonic is innocent! Now I just need to figure out what to do to my computer to straighten things out.

I did stumble across a web site linked off of the home built stabilizer page, that mentioned a problem someone had with a 1GHZ AMD Athlon with via133 chipset. Which just happens to be exactly what I have. There were some remedies to try, so I will look into that next.

Thomas Kendrick · May 5th, 2004, 10:39 PM

Thanks to all the info gleaned from this forum, I decided to try to find an 852 to purchase. It's my first digital video cam ( I shoot digital stills with a Fuji 602Z) and I got one off Ebay for $499. Looks like it was a Frys returned unit, but so far it checks out aok...with what limited checking I could do this evening. Of course I was caught without a tape and since I declined to pay $25 for a 3 pack at CC, I'll pick up some tapes tomorrow at Pro-Tape (I believe they are a sponsor)... for a more reasonable price I trust.

First project will be some oral family history work with my 87 year old mom. I'm still not sure what mic setup to get for that and my head is spinning from all the info in these forums.

Thanks again to all who post here for such a great resource!

Tommy G. Kendrick
Round Rock, Texas

Yow Cheong Hoe · May 6th, 2004, 01:20 AM

The mic on board the 852 should be good enough to give you clear sounds of your grandma talking if she speaks clearly and within 1 meter of the camera.

Use a tripod or place the cam on a table to make sure that you don't get shaky footage of the interview.

For long interviews, plug in the AV.

Lastly, I am also a S602 user! I owned the MX8 (PAL of the 852) before changing to the MX350.

Happy shooting.

R. Scott Hanson · May 12th, 2004, 09:33 PM

Hi Folks -

I was curious if anyone who owns (or has owned) a DV852 has used it with Final Cut Express (the more affordable version of Final Cut Pro). The list of approved devices on Apple's website does not include the DV852 (nor the DV953 for that matter).

http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/qualification.html

Is their list just not up to date? Will my PowerBook recognize the DV852 and will the program work when I hook it up via firewire? Thanks for any tips, stories, etc.

R. Scott Hanson · May 12th, 2004, 10:14 PM

I assume it will, as my DV852 does work with iMovie and the list of devices for that is the same as Final Cut Express...

May 5th, 2004, 10:39 PM	#38
Thomas Kendrick Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 37	New dv852 owner Thanks to all the info gleaned from this forum, I decided to try to find an 852 to purchase. It's my first digital video cam ( I shoot digital stills with a Fuji 602Z) and I got one off Ebay for $499. Looks like it was a Frys returned unit, but so far it checks out aok...with what limited checking I could do this evening. Of course I was caught without a tape and since I declined to pay $25 for a 3 pack at CC, I'll pick up some tapes tomorrow at Pro-Tape (I believe they are a sponsor)... for a more reasonable price I trust. First project will be some oral family history work with my 87 year old mom. I'm still not sure what mic setup to get for that and my head is spinning from all the info in these forums. Thanks again to all who post here for such a great resource! Tommy G. Kendrick Round Rock, Texas

May 6th, 2004, 01:20 AM	#39
Yow Cheong Hoe Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Singapore, Passport: Malaysia Posts: 407	The mic on board the 852 should be good enough to give you clear sounds of your grandma talking if she speaks clearly and within 1 meter of the camera. Use a tripod or place the cam on a table to make sure that you don't get shaky footage of the interview. For long interviews, plug in the AV. Lastly, I am also a S602 user! I owned the MX8 (PAL of the 852) before changing to the MX350. Happy shooting. __________________ Cam: Panasonic MX350EN, SOLD my MX8EN Mac: G3 400MHz PowerBook, 256 MB, OS 9 PC: Pentium 4 2800MHz, 512 MB, WindowsXP SW: iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Ulead Video Studio, various little utilities

May 12th, 2004, 09:33 PM	#40
R. Scott Hanson New Boot Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 14	DV852 and Final Cut Express? Hi Folks - I was curious if anyone who owns (or has owned) a DV852 has used it with Final Cut Express (the more affordable version of Final Cut Pro). The list of approved devices on Apple's website does not include the DV852 (nor the DV953 for that matter). http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/qualification.html Is their list just not up to date? Will my PowerBook recognize the DV852 and will the program work when I hook it up via firewire? Thanks for any tips, stories, etc.

March 17th, 2004, 10:25 PM	#31
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	I wonder if the cam's firmware needs to be replaced. Remember the MX300's firmware glitch? Pana came out with a new update, and then another new one to update that. Oh, Vey. :-((

March 18th, 2004, 11:09 AM	#32
Adam VanScoyoc Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Oxford, PA Posts: 44	Firmware? I'm not familiar with that. Is this driver related or something? Can I download it, or do I have to contact Panasonic?

March 18th, 2004, 04:06 PM	#33
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	You have to contact Panasonic and get them to do it.

March 20th, 2004, 10:45 PM	#34
Adam VanScoyoc Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Oxford, PA Posts: 44	Thought some of you might like to take a look at my no-budget red neck case for my dv852. It is from my Montgomery ward full size vhs camcorder I bought in 1991. I figured the hard plastic would protect it a little better than a cloth bag, plus I had it laying around. A little foam and tada! http://www.geocities.com/freakyfamil...ts/shorts.html

March 20th, 2004, 10:54 PM	#35
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	Thanks, Adam! I've got a Lowepro Vidcam 2, with extra foam inside which I use when I just want to carry around my camcorder or SLR---works great. If the bag drops, it just bounces! I'm not kidding. The trick is with the 1" packaging foam inside. For all other times, when I have to work (oops, there's that 4-letter word again), I use my handy Lowepro Nova 5 bag---she's a beaut! :-))

March 21st, 2004, 07:38 AM	#36
Tommy Haupfear Wrangler Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 1,415	Now thats a zero budget case! If you can move your budget up to $20 then head to your local hardware meagstore (Home Depot, Lowes, etc..) and pick up this aluminum hard case with customizeable interior. http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-12/74415/Case1.jpg http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-12/74415/Case3.jpg Here is what my case looked like when I customized it for my old cams (MX1000 and Sony F717). http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-...Cam%20Case.jpg These days I'm using the Lowepro Micro Trekker 200 backpack (from B&H of course) which is enough room for my D-SLR, Black Mamba, and all the gear for each (including a full size flash). http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=199518&is=REG

March 24th, 2004, 09:59 PM	#37
Adam VanScoyoc Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Oxford, PA Posts: 44	Tommy, thanks for the links. I really like the looks of the aluminum cases, and they're very inexpensive to boot! I wanted to let everyone know that I solved the problem I've been having. I installed my capture card in my parents computer and captured some video and it looked perfect. So at least I know that my Panasonic is innocent! Now I just need to figure out what to do to my computer to straighten things out. I did stumble across a web site linked off of the home built stabilizer page, that mentioned a problem someone had with a 1GHZ AMD Athlon with via133 chipset. Which just happens to be exactly what I have. There were some remedies to try, so I will look into that next.

May 12th, 2004, 10:14 PM	#41
R. Scott Hanson New Boot Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 14	I assume it will, as my DV852 does work with iMovie and the list of devices for that is the same as Final Cut Express...