Last of the MX8's, why is it discontinued?
 

After much searching, i think i found the last MX8 across the land.
I have it on a no obligation order.
Please reassure me, that I'm buying a Current, Robust and Modern camera.
The choice came after much much deliberation. My factors were:
- Low light performance
- Affordability
- Size

I found only two other low light cams, both of which i had to rule out: VX2000 (pricey) JVC DV3000 (poor autofocus)

Any comments welcome: Cheers: Bolly

I think that the MX8 is the best 1 chip cam out there. I'd grab it. Now having said this, the new TRV70 has great specs, but I have not seen one yet.

Re: Last of the MX8's, why is it discontinued?
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Bolly Hrutscho :
Please reassure me, that I'm buying a Current, Robust and Modern camera.
The choice came after much much deliberation. My factors were:
- Low light performance
- Affordability
- Size
-->>>

Current? Not exactly, I bought mine in Jan 2002 and sold mine in December 2002. The cam was probably issued in June 2001 or thereabout. The cam probably stopped production sometime in August 2002. ;-)

That said,
Robust? Yup, very robust, I ran over 300 hours of video, editing and playback on the can. I did not test robustness by throwing against a wall, though! hahaha

Modern? As good as it can get, MiniDV is still the most popular consumer and prosumer format, considering the availability of MicroMV and DVD.

Your choice factors:
Low light performance: I'll say, GREAT!

Affordability: A tad expensive, but since it is a rather old model, I'm sure that the price has dropped. I paid the same price for the MX8 as the current price for the MX500 (that's 1CCD to 3CCD!)

Size: It is not a small cam, and rather long. But it is not as big as some other consumer and low-end MiniDV cams. You'll find the size and the weight very well suited for shooting.

All the best, and enjoy your cam. The MX8 is really cool!

Just a point to make, which is not to scare you, but to keep you informed, my ex-MX8 is now in the factory undergoing repairs. Probably due to heavy usage and the new owner suspected that his friend dropped it. I went in to Panasonic (the warranty is under my name) and they say that the problem, flickering faded image, is a common problem for cameras which are heavily used. Should be done in a few more days!

I've used an MX8 and liked it a lot. It's a single chipper in the MX350's three chip body and it really does perform well. Nice big side screen and the quality of the film in good light was excellent. I'd have no trouble recommending it, but do bear in mind YCH's point about production dates. Panasonic have model changes like I do undies, so it could well have stopped production at least 6 months ago - maybe more. This should be reflected in the price you pay. Get an extended warrenty to take it to 5 years and you'll feel a lot happier about using it hard.

tom.

extended warranty?
 

sorry to butt in on this thread....

do you guys generally recommend purchasing the extended warranty offered by retailers for cams? i have always turned down extended warranty offers for other products i have bought.

i just got a dv852 at fry's for a decent price (i think) and can still go back to purchase an extended warranty.

thanks,
neal

Thanks for all of the positive feedback from everyone, it should not take long now. I must ask though:
Why on earth has Panasonic stopped production of this cam?

- Uneconomical? (why not release it later at a higher price looking a bit different under another model No.)
- Make way for more economical "newer" products (350, 500) already heavily in the pipeline?
- Poor consumer response / sales? (doubt it)

How large would the production series be of the MX8?
(1K, 10K, 100K?)

>Why on earth has Panasonic stopped production of this cam?<

Cams first come out in Japan. The MX1000 (MX8 / PV-DV852) was a poor seller because it was a BIG cam. The Japanese like SMALL. Allan lives in Japan, and that's the word from there.

As far as I now, there's nothing new to replace it. Note that Pana has come out with a TINY 3 chip cam. Yup. That's what many people want. Small.

Looks over quality, that's a strange mentality. I like my cameras BIG! That is pro-looking. Maybe it's not looks but weight. It looks like a Japanese tourist would be carrying a colour film cam, a B/W film cam, a slide film cam, all SLR, a compact film cam, a digital film cam and of course, a video cam.

I took an additional 2-year warranty from Panasonic itself. That gives me three years of overall coverage. The cost of the Panasonic coverage is about 5% of the cam cost for the MX-8.

>I like my cameras BIG!<

You mean, pokerish.

I usually buy an extended warranty because I know that if something major happens to my cam, I probably won't have the cash on hand to fix it!

Got it
 

I got the cam today, but i went for second hand from a shop.
It was an ex display model, never used, remote missing, with 3 years warranty for £510 ($800).
After comparing it with my broken (head damaged) PC1, the
difference is astonishing. The bright colours, the OIS, low light
performance, the speed of the autofocus .... awsome.
And the size? Its not big at all, just perfect for your palm.
Thanks for all of the help from the contributors, will be
reporting back in a few weeks after I ran it in.
Bolly