GS400 still under wraps at DVinfo.net

Frank Granovski · May 20th, 2004, 11:43 PM

News from the horse's mouth (no, not me). Even at the Pana Japan factory, the GS400 is something that is not talked about. It's almost like it's a secret weapon or something has gone terribly wrong. :-))

Patricia Kim · May 21st, 2004, 12:15 AM

Maybe it's talked about as something else because 4 is unlucky in Japan?

Frank Granovski · May 21st, 2004, 01:36 AM

These Japanese techs can't be that superstisious. :-))

Patricia Kim · May 21st, 2004, 02:20 AM

Well, if something has gone terribly wrong, then they may be justified... So let's hope what's really going on is that it's all too marvelous for words. (Although I have to say that with Sony putting out their 950 replacement, you'd think Panasonic would want some leaks to get folks interested.) Either that or they're finding that "smoothing" (color night view?) is not working well with that 12x zoom.

Frank Granovski · May 21st, 2004, 02:45 AM

Quote:

they're finding that "smoothing" (color night view?) is not working well with that 12x zoom.

Why would you say that? The lens is a Leica after all---unless it's a plastic edition.

Patricia Kim · May 21st, 2004, 03:04 AM

Well, heck, Frank, you know I don't know anything technical. But since there's supposed to be a "crystal engine" responsible for all the marvels the gs100 is capable of, maybe there's a calibration issue or something with different sized ccds and a longer zoom range. See, it's possible to speculate about anything...

Ursula Badertscher · May 21st, 2004, 03:51 AM

The GS400 can't be too far away. The newest european Panasonic catalogs have already two pics of the new model, but unfortunately only a few specs mentioned. The MX500 doesn't show up anymore. The Canon Optura 30 and 40 have also been announced at very short notice. Announcement was around april 20th and they are already available. Seems to be a new policy to get rid of the old stock first.

Justin Boyle · May 21st, 2004, 03:53 AM

you don't think that pana found out that sony was puting out a new cam as a replacement so they went scared and went back to the drawing boards for a couple of months to up the ante a little bit and makes some performance gains. say even the 4 channel audio idea is rediculous in theory but paramount as marketing is concerned. It wouldn't take much to change the hardware in the camera to do this and at the same time they could be writing software to do as tom says and extract vocals etc and make the sound 5.1.

Justin

Frank Granovski · May 21st, 2004, 04:00 AM

Quote:

...you don't think that pana found out that sony was puting out a new cam as a replacement so they went scared and went back to the drawing boards for a couple of months to up the ante a little bit and makes some performance gains....

You might have just hit the nail on the head. It does sound like the most plausible reason for the delay.

Patricia Kim · May 21st, 2004, 05:19 AM

Well, from what Allan said about the Sony, it's kind of a cam designed for a niche within a niche - 5.1 is supposed to work with the Sony Vaio only. A good way for Sony to pick up profit in two areas of market if it can get its new cam to really sell. (On the other hand, there's the old BetaMax history there.) Panasonic, on the other hand, is coming out with 1GB and larger SD cards - meaning you should be able to shoot mpeg4 clips for longer than just 2 minutes. Enabling "smoothing" or color night view so that it functions well in mpeg4 could really give Panasonic's share in two markets a kick if it were to work. I can't even edit the mpeg4 clips I have been able to take on the gs100, but I won't trash them because a couple are really good (no thanks to me) and I would be shooting more of them if I could take longer clips and use "smoothing". They are perfect for e-mail, especially given how good the audio is on the gs100. So there's a lot that could be going on - which means a lot more that could go wrong.

Guy Bruner · May 21st, 2004, 08:08 AM

I'd rather see them put 30P on it instead of frame mode. Combined with Pro-cinema and HQ widescreen, it would be even better.

Tommy Haupfear · May 21st, 2004, 08:27 AM

Quote:

I'd rather see them put 30P on it instead of frame mode.

Same here. Progressive scan was all over the place a few years back (even single CCDs).

Kamal Tailor · May 21st, 2004, 10:19 AM

Couldn't they use 2.5" laptop HDD's in special housing that slots into a cam?? seeing as how laptop HDD's are becoming so cheap these days and they are putting them in pretty much any device you can think of

ie. Ipods, portable hdd's, etc etc

and i think you can get to up 80GB disks these days

a couple of those and your set. =)

will be expensive at the start cos it's not a disposable media
but then again when has DV tapes ever been that??

May 20th, 2004, 11:43 PM	#1
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	GS400 still under wraps News from the horse's mouth (no, not me). Even at the Pana Japan factory, the GS400 is something that is not talked about. It's almost like it's a secret weapon or something has gone terribly wrong. :-))

May 21st, 2004, 03:53 AM	#8
Justin Boyle Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 207	you don't think that pana found out that sony was puting out a new cam as a replacement so they went scared and went back to the drawing boards for a couple of months to up the ante a little bit and makes some performance gains. say even the 4 channel audio idea is rediculous in theory but paramount as marketing is concerned. It wouldn't take much to change the hardware in the camera to do this and at the same time they could be writing software to do as tom says and extract vocals etc and make the sound 5.1. Justin __________________ jlboyle

May 21st, 2004, 10:19 AM	#13
Kamal Tailor Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Australia, Victoria, Melbourne Posts: 65	2.5" HDD's?? Couldn't they use 2.5" laptop HDD's in special housing that slots into a cam?? seeing as how laptop HDD's are becoming so cheap these days and they are putting them in pretty much any device you can think of ie. Ipods, portable hdd's, etc etc and i think you can get to up 80GB disks these days a couple of those and your set. =) will be expensive at the start cos it's not a disposable media but then again when has DV tapes ever been that??

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May 21st, 2004, 12:15 AM	#2
Patricia Kim Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Posts: 453	Maybe it's talked about as something else because 4 is unlucky in Japan?

May 21st, 2004, 01:36 AM	#3
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	These Japanese techs can't be that superstisious. :-))

May 21st, 2004, 02:20 AM	#4
Patricia Kim Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Posts: 453	Well, if something has gone terribly wrong, then they may be justified... So let's hope what's really going on is that it's all too marvelous for words. (Although I have to say that with Sony putting out their 950 replacement, you'd think Panasonic would want some leaks to get folks interested.) Either that or they're finding that "smoothing" (color night view?) is not working well with that 12x zoom.

May 21st, 2004, 03:04 AM	#6
Patricia Kim Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Posts: 453	Well, heck, Frank, you know I don't know anything technical. But since there's supposed to be a "crystal engine" responsible for all the marvels the gs100 is capable of, maybe there's a calibration issue or something with different sized ccds and a longer zoom range. See, it's possible to speculate about anything...

May 21st, 2004, 03:51 AM	#7
Ursula Badertscher New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Switzerland Posts: 19	The GS400 can't be too far away. The newest european Panasonic catalogs have already two pics of the new model, but unfortunately only a few specs mentioned. The MX500 doesn't show up anymore. The Canon Optura 30 and 40 have also been announced at very short notice. Announcement was around april 20th and they are already available. Seems to be a new policy to get rid of the old stock first.

May 21st, 2004, 05:19 AM	#10
Patricia Kim Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Posts: 453	Well, from what Allan said about the Sony, it's kind of a cam designed for a niche within a niche - 5.1 is supposed to work with the Sony Vaio only. A good way for Sony to pick up profit in two areas of market if it can get its new cam to really sell. (On the other hand, there's the old BetaMax history there.) Panasonic, on the other hand, is coming out with 1GB and larger SD cards - meaning you should be able to shoot mpeg4 clips for longer than just 2 minutes. Enabling "smoothing" or color night view so that it functions well in mpeg4 could really give Panasonic's share in two markets a kick if it were to work. I can't even edit the mpeg4 clips I have been able to take on the gs100, but I won't trash them because a couple are really good (no thanks to me) and I would be shooting more of them if I could take longer clips and use "smoothing". They are perfect for e-mail, especially given how good the audio is on the gs100. So there's a lot that could be going on - which means a lot more that could go wrong.

May 21st, 2004, 08:08 AM	#11
Guy Bruner Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ashford, AL Posts: 937	I'd rather see them put 30P on it instead of frame mode. Combined with Pro-cinema and HQ widescreen, it would be even better.