Various posts & questions about Panasonic DV / GS / MX camcorders
 

MX500 Power Point slides download at:

www.dvfreak.com/pana_mx5.htm

NTSC playback on PAL MX300
 

The PAL NV-MX300 does not play back NTSC footage as the Sonys, TRV900/PD100 and VX2000/PD150 do. I just thought I'd mention this since this question has popped up occasionally.

MX5000 Price Drop!
 

There's been a couple of MX5000 price drops lately, in Japan. So Tim has also droped his price by $100 US. The new price is $1650 US. This price includes the cam, the kit and insured, trackable shipping.

For further info about this great cam, go to:

http://www.dvfreak.com/pana_mx5.htm

Just a little cam...
 

What has the precision and polished metal of a fine Swiss watch? A wide German Leica lens? Resolution, wide screen and frame mode that astounds even broadcast people? What cam is this powerful yet very small? Give up?

For a NV-MX300/0 pic click here:
http://www.dvfreak.com/en000914.jpg

For a NV-MX350 pick (PAL) click here:
http://www.dvfreak.com/mx35.gif

For a NV-MX500/0 pick (PAL and NTSC) click here:
http://www.dvfreak.com/mx5000.jpg

A great source for a NTSC version (plus more links):
http://www.dvfreak.com/pana_mx5.htm

A great source for an English PAL version:
http://www.cameraaction.com.au

The Great MX300, MX350 "Shoot-out"
 

A while back Terrence posted Steven Khong's great comparison between the MX300 and the newer MX350. He did a great job! And so did Terrence with posting this! For those of you who haven't read it, click here:

http://www.mycen.com.my/inbox/mx2.html

"SHAPE
MX300 is very sexy!...," (for starters. It only gets better from here on in. So click the link and read on.)

Hopefully, Steven will come up with a MX300 / MX500 comparison. Steven? Hmmm, I guess he's too busy shooting with his MX300!

New pictures of the MX500A
 

I have a bunch of new pictures of the PAL NV-MX500A. If anyone wants them, e-mail me and I'll attach them to an e-mail reply. Thanks

This MX5000 needs a nice home
 

John just bought a MX5000 from Tim, but John has decided to sell it. I posted the info on the Private Classifieds Forum. John's e-mail is:

spongeyum@yahoo.com

PV-DV953 specs
 

If anyone here comes across the specs for this cam, post the link here. I want to compare its specs with the MX500/0. Thanks!

Know what these numbers mean? (audio)
 

Here are some mic input specs for comparison. I'm not sure if this for the built-in mic, or for the external mic plug. Maybe it's the same?

Panasonic NV-MX300A
-70dBV, 5.6 kohms or more unbalanced
Panasonic NV-MX350A
-50dBV, 5.6 kohms or more unbalanced
JVC GR-DVL9500U
-68 dBs, high impedance unbalanced with Ø3.5mm (stereo) - 1 chip cam

Does anyone care to take a stab with what these numbers mean? What's better: -70dBV or -50 dBV? What's dBs? (As you can gather, I'm no audio specialist.)

broken on/off dial on MX300?
 

I have heard from 3 people now with a broken on/off dial on their MX300. This is starting to worry me because from what I can tell, this dial seems flimsy and awkward to use; and I can see that it can be broken quite easily if one's not careful. So..., should we worry? Has anyone here broke this dial?

Panasonic invented frame mode?
 

My question, and answer from Phil
 

My question:

Phil, are you saying you like the MX300 much more than the MX500? Do you like the TRV950 more than the MX300? What are your reasons? I'm simply asking because I'm curious. Thanks!

Answer (from Phil Dale from somewhere in the UK):

I am saying I like the 300 ver the 500 and Im not the only one, here in PAL Land (UK) the 500 has'nt had the over the top praise showered on it that it has in NTSC Land. I personaly feel it has allot to do with its low light performance. Living in a rather murky Country weather wise, I found the 500's images even on a overcast day were to noisy due to the 1/6" CCDs and I just simply dont like the picture it produces a kind of forced sharpness. Add to that its too small for my hands, I dont like the zoom switch, the viewfinders terrible (I prefer using the viefinder to LCD) and it looks like a childs toy. Panasonic should have put more effort into improving the 300 instead of bringing out a cam that doesnt know if its a stills cam or video cam. Overall as you can tell I much prefered the 300, picture quality and handling, and just think its a far superior machine thats sadly now no more. Overall I prefer the 950 to both of them put together, chunky build, superb handling, a real zoom rocker switch, sharp picture quality allmost free of noise even in lower lighting and the best stabilizer Ive ever come across. I was once I die hard Panasonic fan but personally feel they are loosing the plot fast, whats with all these poor performing 1/6" CCDS there stuffing into the latest efforts?

---from the TRV950/PDX10 forum

Here's that other MX Source
 

Sweet Spots
 

I own a number of lenses for my still cam. And every one of these lenses have their sweet spots. For example, my Nikon 100mm's sweet spot is F5.6 and up, my 35mm is F5.6 and F8 only, my 50mm is sweet at every stop except F1.8. So I just wonder, what are the sweet stops for the MX300? Mind you, it would be difficult getting there, because light is never the same, unless you control it, and you'd have to carry a set of ND filters around with you. Then there is the matter of which zoom setting gives you the best results. Oh vey, the pain, the pain of it all!

Great MX1000 deal
 

Tom is selling his Japanese version of the PV-DV852. It's called the MX1000. It has a larger LCD - 3.5" verses the PV-DV852's 2.5" LCD. I'm posting this because he's selling it at a great price, and I don't think that Panasonic's 2003 line-up will include such a great 1 CCD cam. As you may or may not know, this cam is great in lower light, and is built almost like a pro cam. The horizontal line playback resolution is 530 lines. If I only had the extra cash....

I posted Tom's post from dv.com here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=8128

PS: Tom's a nice guy who is a regular on the camera forum of dv.com. We have exchanged lots of info over the years via e-mail. Tom lives in South Carolina.