Advice on GS400
 

Hi all from down under ( Australia ). First post for me although I feel I know quite a few of you already from reading your threads last year when I was researching Panasonic camcorders. Ended up being helped out greatly by Yow Cheong Hoe ( YowCH ). He managed to get a MX8 for me which I've been using for over a year. Well now YowCH is helping me again to upgrade to a 3 chip. I am filming mainly surfing shots and need to work between 10 and 20X zoom most of the time. I also shoot some lifestyle and scenery shots. I am leaning towards a GS400 with an Olympus 1.7X teleconverter. However when I recently revisited this site I discovered the posts about the tape delivery noise problem. I am also tempted by the more expensive GL2 or VX2100. The plan is to use the footage for a commercial Bodyboarding movie ( surfing on the stomach ). I would appreciate some advice on the suitability of the camera for my purpose and any news of the noise problem. ie: is it still an issue for GS400 users and buyers.

I have not suffered any problem with tape noise on my GS400 - an early released model in the UK.

Note that optical zoom only goes up to 12x. To go beyond that you will need to use digital zoom. There are two stages selectable, up to 24x or up to 600x. I have always stayed away from digital zoom so I cannot comment on picture quality.

I bought NV-GS400 around last Sep from www.pricejapan.com and lucky enough not suffered any problem with tape noise on my GS400.

Regards
Leigh

Thanks David and Leigh. That news gives me some reassurance about the tape noise. I have tried using digital zoom on the MX8 and the loss of clarity in the footage was very apparent even on a small increase in zoom. I was assuming that by using a teleconverter like the Olympus 1.7X, I would maintain good resolution at maximum zoom. ie: 12 X 1.7= 20.4 . Has anyone used a GS400 in this way before?

You shouldn't have any tape transport noise problems at this point.

The image stabalization may not be much help at 10-12x, or even at 4x for that matter. Well, it helps, but the image is still shaky somewhat. I'm not sure there is any camera that can look rock solid at 10x.

I always use a tripod Joshua and up to this point have had no image stabilisation issues with the MX8 at full zoom. My main concern was footage clarity of the GS400 at full zoom with the added teleconverter and whether a camera such as the GL2 or VX2100 would be noticably superior in the same situation given that most of my filming is done outside during daylight hours. I don't need to look pro but I need quality footage so if the GS400 will compare with the more expensive cameras in this situation I will save around $1000 AUD.
Hey Leigh, I noticed that you are from NZ. Have you dealt with this NZ company before. A friend gave me the site address claiming that they were the cheapest in the world. Maybe for Australian buyers? http://www.globalmediapro.com . I must say that the prices I compared were cheaper than ebay gear.

I was looking at GS400 for a second cam, but then I discovered DVC30 for about the same price. The DVC30 has some very sweet features. Check it out.

Not so lucky for me Bob. GS400 $1640 vs. DVC30 $2490 AUD. Looks and sounds like a good cam though. BTW, GL2 is $2880 and VX2100 is $3060. All cheapest available prices from the link in my previous post.

Yikes!!! Is that because its PAL or is Panasonic just goofy about their pricing in different countries?

I believe they were quoting AUS dollar amounts, Bob.

Get your hands on a camera XL1s or XL2 and you won't believe how rock solid it looks at 10x.

Ian, the GS400 footage will look very nice. I have the predecessor 953 model and it makes gorgeous pictures in adequate light.

-gb-

Yeah Bob. In $US the GS400 is $1280 and the DVC30 is $1900 - both PAL. Still a big difference in price.

Ian

Hi Ian,

I saw lots of ads from globalmediapro in NZ and world wide. I have not checked their price at the time I bought my camera. I believe that USA and japan has high volume of transaction and will offer much better deal than I buy camera in NZ. I bought my gs400 from www.pricejapan.com for around US$1,000 including shipping price to NZ. It took a week to arrive here. That price was around last Sep. www.pricejapan.com was recommended by my collegue who bought a projector from them. I did two transactions with pricejapan. I bought a jvc gy-dv5000 package from http://www.alartvideo.com/ by lots of people recommend from http://fastforwardclub.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/index.php

It is quite risk to buy expensive camera overseas as I have no protection from NZ consumer law. Anyway, it is always a balance between price quality time. Usually camera or expensive stuff sold in NZ is around double price than usa or japan except second hand car. I believe Australia is similar to NZ, maybe little better than NZ.

Regards
Leigh

Thanks Leigh,

I checked out the Japanese site and they have no PAL GS400 but the prices definitely are cheaper than anywhere else I've seen. I guess the menus are in Japanese? I will do some more research and might email you if you don't mind?

Ian

Hi Ian

Everything is in Japanese of GS400 sold from pricejapan and only NTSC. Don't worry about japanese menu, as you can get a free copy of english menu from this forum top link.

You need to pay duty to Australia custom. I got my duty back as I am doing video as business.

You also need to buy a UV filter to protect your lense.

You are welcome to ask me questions related to gs400. But best to post here as can benefit others too.

Here is some photo I shot using GS400.

click here

Regards
Leigh

I looked at buying an FX1 from NZ - bear in mind to get the camera into Australia you'll need to pay duty and GST.

Check out http://www.entique.com.au/ as well for cameras in Australia (Tas.) - haven't heard anyones experiences though. GS400 for A$1919 +shipping

Cheers.