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.

car battery charger for mx500(0)
 

Hi all

1.The AC adapter that was supplied with the cam is VSK0592 (model no).

2. you can see that in the front of it there is a socket written CAR
DC IN .

3. at the manual(NV-MX500EN) page 59(printed) or page 7(pdf)it is
written that car adapter is VW-KBD2E (it is another charger ).

4. there is a Cigaret lighter adapter VW-KA7E (try search it on the
net) that is suite for the mx300/350 charger .

my question is if the above item VW-KA7E fit and can be used with the
VSK0592 ?
and if not why panasonic bother put the (CAR DC IN) socket.

Thanks in advance
Eli

Can someon make a short movie with the MX500?
 

I'm dying to see just a small video recorded in the evening in an average living room with average lights.

I'm surprised how little examples there are! After searching the net for over 2 days I only found 8 photo's and no sample movie at all! Especially with camera's, image qualtiy is also a subjective matter. People like to see for themselves how good/bad the image quality is before they spend $2000 on a cam

DpReview for example has LOADS of photo's from almost all digital camera's on the market! Why is there no "DvReview" with short sample movies from all cam's on the market?

I *know* some of you have this cam... a 5 to 10 sec pan through the room will be enough...
As long as the movie is not larger than 10 mb, you can mail it to me at bram.corstjens@planet.nl

Many thanx for those that take the time!!!

The MX300 and its flipping side screen
 

My MX300 has this clever trick where you can reverse the image on the side screen so that if you're talking to camera you can have it set so that the screen image is what you see in a mirror. You enter the menu, go to "other functions" and toggle between normal and mirror.

For the most natural look you'd have it set to 'mirror' - that way if the light is striking the right side of your face the side screen shows you the same thing ~ that the light is coming from the right. This then looks 'correct' and is far more natural than the normal setting.

The only snag is that in this mirror mode you're only allowed to see the battery charge symbol - everything else is turned off. If you have the normal mode selected you can still check your w/bal, the aperture, shutter speed, see that you're in manual, have OIS turned on, have the time code visible, know that you're in a program mode and have the zebras turned on - all that stuff.

There's another quirk. Unless the side-screen is click-stopped into the forward facing position, all that information is written upside down. Oh, and Sony camcorders have never offered this image flipping trick - they only show you the 'mirror' view.

tom.

Another new Pana ad
 

PlasmaSMP has created another ad for Pana. Click here to view:

http://www.dvfreak.com/dv-comm1.gif

3 chip PAL way under a grand sterling
 

http://www.askdirect.co.uk/uview?cal...64&topcatid=10

with key spec

MX Forum's 400th thread!
 

Wow!

For those of you who are thinking of the GS100, or need those extra things which are only available in Japan, keep our good member Allan in mind. He is reliable and reasonable, and he would be happy to get you what you need.

Frank

Buying GS100 accessories in San Francisco
 

A friend of mine is going to SF for business next week and hopefully will have abotu a half day for sightseeing. As being avid photographer (like myself) he would visit some reliable shop over there to check for some accessories and also I wuold be aksing him to bing me a battery for my GS100 (larger then the default one, something like 2040 mAh ?) as well a set of Pana cassettes.

Would be grateful if someone familiar with that area would point me to the specific, reliable shop where the battery can be found in stock for reasonable price.

Exact address (and probably driving directions) is desirable to save him his valuable time.

Thanks in advance, Alex

A smile for the MX5
 

For almost a year, though he thought it had been much longer, Pokey had been collecting empties to save up for a new Pana 953. No, not the 24P, nor the Black Mamba. He could never afford them---and why would he need them when the 953 is such a steal? (Pokey knows the 953 is the poor man's DVX, and he also knows that black is just a trend.) So arduously and diligently, day after day and week after week, Pokey had pressed forth struggling with his rusty shopping cart, up and down Vancouver's richest alleyways, keeping his goal in mind. It's no job for a bum, you know. And by golly, he's now almost got the dough. He's just gotta collect enough wine bottles for the 14.5% PST and GST. This is Canada, where hard work pays off and dreams do come true. Another couple of weeks and Pokey's gonna be a film maker! :-))

http://www.dvfreak.com/mx5_go.htm
http://www.dvfreak.com/pana_mx5.htm

Disclaimer: not intended for the ironically challenged nor the satirically stunted. :-))

Manual WB on DV852?
 

I was playing with using yellow, red, green and blue cards to set white balance on my Panny. It's pretty neat. I was wondering if any other users have any tricks, ideas, or color references to elmulate filters using manual WB. Like, a suitable WB card to do day-for-night shooting, warming, cooling, etc.?

Thanks...

Looking for GS 100 owners - Orlando, Florida
 

Hi,

There is posibility I'll be videotaping seminar in Orlando and maybe will need help of second videographer (no experience necessary :) )

If you have GS 100 (preffered) or Sony VX 1000 You can contact me at
film@videographer.com

Thanks
Mike S. Cecotka

Battery info
 

Everything you wanted to now about your cam's battery:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

(It seems that my DVL batteries aren't going to last too much longer!)

NTSC/PAL info
 

NTSC/PAL conversion info, or why you should not buy a NTSC cam if you live in PALsville, or why you shouldn't buy the black mamba if you live Down-Under. :-))

http://videoexpert.home.att.net/artic2/197stand.htm
http://videoexpert.home.att.net/artic2/198stand.htm

Please, Tom...
 

I can't take it any more. Reassemble your MX300. I'm having nightmares about it being in pieces and collecting dust in your kitchen cupboard. Do you want me to try and get you a MX300 service manual?

By the way, in how many pieces is it? :-))

"Bright" lens?
 

The JVC GR-DV900U has a bright lens. How "bright" the Black Mamba's lens?

the good and the bad
 

One thing that puzzled me in the early days was miniDV's resolution. I was amazed at the sharp rich footage, even though these cams were the first kids on the block. The resolution was a far cry from DV's capable 540 line playback resolution but they required little light---perhaps due to the bigger CCDs and less pixels. Today most cams are even sharper and they are all closer to the 540 line playback, but a number of other things have changed, one for the better one for the worse. The better is better priced. D_mn! cams are cheap now. The worse, of course, is the LUX. These sharper cams require more light. However, in the end we learn to live with the good and the bad, keeping in mind that our cams are tied in with our broadcast systems; and that doesn't require a lot of lines but does require a little light.

So, tell us about the ugly, or what's your ugly regarding miniDV? (The tape? A horror story?) Please do tell.

:-))

Sharp specs - VL-Z800U links & review
 

The Sharp specs are now up here:

http://members.tripod.com/vincent_ysc/index.html

or here:

http://www.grandeye.com.hk/etx/900/index.html

And Allan has written his first impressions here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...5&pagenumber=2

Vidcam2 still my favourite
 

Note: perfect for small MX/GS cams

My Lowepro Vidcam 2 soft bag is still my favourite. Whether I take my video cam or my still cam around and about, this little bag sure is handy. For extra protection I lined the bag with 1" packaging foam so if I do drop it everything will be A-Okay. It just bounces when dropped (only did that once).

No HD for the kiddies?
 

Back to the poor's man's 24P because it's got widescreen and frame mode and it's a great cam. SOLID, well-built, a side-loader---certainly a wise choice for even today. The slightly older MX3000 was also great cam but the PV-DV953 has a whooping 40 more lines of resolution with reduced flaring, ghosting and barrelling, contributing to a beautiful image quality. The lens is Leica of course, German quality all the way. Furthermore, the MX5000 (DV953) is easier to hold than the MX300/0. It has a bigger LCD monitor, crisp and clear. Smaller, and built more solid, unlike the puffed stuff---Hey, Ma! I see no plastic! It's a machine to be reckoned with, a pro machine, with good audio and all manual buttons and dials if you don't like being an auto man. Definitely another great hand-held. With the PMX50 accessory kit, UV filter, and VBD-5 hip battery, you are all set! And if you want total protection, consider getting the all-weather housing from Allan, but only if you have the MX5000 Japanese version, and not the American PV-DV953. Oops! Only the MX5000 works with the all-weather housing. That's why I'd rather have a MX5000 today than spend a year's salary on something that'll be obsolete tomorrow. Info here: http://www.dvfreak.com/mx5_go.htm and here: http://www.dvfreak.com/pana_mx5.htm

wanna know about lenses?
 

Look here:

http://videoexpert.home.att.net/artic1/245lens.htm

And note the part about plastic lenses on consumer cams. Ohhh, nooo!

I wonder WHICH cams have these plastic lenses. Anyone? (If Panasonic has them I'm gonna kill myself.)

Hot shot?
 

Hot shot? There's always the MX5000 all-weather housing. Just pop in one of those cold packs and you are all set. Frigid shooting? There's always the MX5000 all weather housing. Just pop in one of those hand warmers and you are all set. Buy your MX5000 today. Questions?

Optex batteries
 

Optex and Velbon plastic tripods for bamboo like steadiness, but did you know that Optex makes batteries? I didn't, or I forgot---they any good? Expensive or inexpensive---or are they taboo?

cam queen of the USA
 

PV-DV953. Pokey's cam choice. :-))

New PC World digital video camera article but nothing about the GS100 or GS400. See here:

http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/76241/8695726/238747/0/

(GS100 is the king but has been saki'd by Matsushita guards for almost a year.)

Create your own titles with DV953
 

Hi! -This is a great place to learn from!! -Mabye you guys could
help me with a problem -How do i create new titles for my DV953? -I have a 640x480 jpg that
i want to use as a title -how do i convert that jpg to the title
(TTL) format? I have tried Sd viewer 1.2 that came with the
camcorder but in that version i cant convert to the title format.
Creating title in the camcorder with the photo function will not
work for me.

Thanx a lot!

The big secret
 

The GS400 is still a big secret. Carlos, Tom and I can't wait. :-))

Anyone else?

GS400: Germany price is 1.711 euro
 

http://www.lagu-fotodiscount.com/index.htm?_artnr=31656

Delivery time approx.. 4-6 weeks.

It's not for me. I still wait for the fairer price from my local dealer...