DVX100 -- various topics
 

Today was the first time I was playing around with the focus switch. Switching it from auto to manual and the auto push button. However, my question is. When I switch it down to the infinity. The switch doesn't lock. It doesn't stay down in the infinity position. Is this normal? Is there a setting somewhere?

Thanks,
JR

Yes, it's normal. The infinity focus is locked but the switch position isn't.

Hoya Polariser - Magenta Cast
 

I just bought a PAL DVX100 and a Hoya Circular Polariser. I white balance with the polariser on and shots which exclude the sky are nicely contrasted and saturated. But include a portion of the sky and I get a very nasty magenta tint across both clouds and sky - particularly on the horizon and to such an extent that the shots are unusable. This happens both in the F3 Spark setting and the F6 25p Cine mode.

Now I have used Hoya polarisers on my Hassleblad and on my Sony digital stills camera and get perfect blue skies and white clouds - as one would expect. So is there something about the Panasonic that doesn't like polarisers? Or is there some tweak I should try in the scene files. I do remember some discussion about whether a circular polariser was necessary for the camera but even if a linear polariser is alright it surely should affect the colour balance?

Do I have a bum filter or has anyone else experienced anything like this?
Thanks

There was a "pink fringe" issue that was discussed when the camera first cam out that turned out to be overexposed highlights when using the cine-gamma mode. Cine-gamma, unlike most gamma curves in DV cams, has flat response, so if you blow out a highlight, even just a little, it's totally overexpose and the cine-gamma processing seems to create pink/magenta. More info on the issue in NTSC cams (I assume PAL cams would behave somewhat similarly) at www.adamwilt.com

Diagonal black/white lines on my LCD/viewfinder display?
 

When I'm looking through the viewfinder or at the LCD, sometimes on certain light it will display black and white diagonal display lines in certain light/shadows.. Has anybody seen this before? It doesn't come out on the taped footage, only see it on the LCD or the viewfinder.. Did I toggle something that makes it display like this? Anybody familiar with this, or have I lost my mind? =] Thanks in advance for any help.

- Brian

Yeah, i'm pretty sure you turned on the zebra patterns. What the zebra patterns do is help you judge the exposure, they show you the overexposed areas and stuff. Look it up on google.

Audio Problems w/the DVX-100 and other issues
 

Hey. This camera is at the top of my short list for now, but I had questions.

I heard there is an audio drift problem, where the audio isn't in sync with the video. It's off by 2 frames or so.

Is this true?

I currenlty own Final Cut Pro 3, is it easy to fix in post or a pain?

I heard FCP 4, has a built in fix for this problem? Does that make it so when you import footage, it fixes the audio drift? Thus fixing the problem?

Any other issues that this camera has that should be know before purchasing?

Do you feel another camera gets the audio in sync without any work?

Thanks for your time.

The DVX audio is 2 frames ahead of the picture in the progressive modes, and while it's a minor annoyance, it's easily fixable in FCP 3 (by manually slipping the sync of your clips) and even more easily in FCP 4, which includes a plug-in script to automatically sync adjust the DVX clips (not sure if it does it upon capture or not, but I know you don't have to adjust the clips one by one; you can do them all at once. I've got the FCP 4 upgrade but haven't installed yet, so I can't be more specific.)

Honestly, don't let the sync issue turn you away from this great camera, which offers the most options and best performance, IMHO, of any camera in its price range. For example, it's got the best focusing mechanism of any camera with a non-interchangeable lens (very easy to finesse, very easy to do repeatable focus pulls, doesn't take a lot of turning to change focus, unlike on the various Sony mini-dv cams), and it has a true manual zoom (switchable to servo zoom, like a pro lens), which allows for crash zooms when needed.

And of course, the 24p and 24PA modes, which alone are worth the price of purchase. I can't say enough good things about this camera. The few minor annoyances (e.g., no auto-focus or gain up in progressive modes) aren't a big deal, since no other camera save for Panasonic and Sony high-end SD and HD cams offer 24p shooting, and at 60i, the camera does everything it's counterparts from Sony and Canon do. So you're not really missing out on any feature, and you'll have the advantage of 24p and 30p when needed.


Check out Adam Wilt's DVX page for more detailed info on the DVX and the DVX sync issue:

http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/index.html

And also see Apple's FCP 4 late-breaking news page (I've include the relevant info below):

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93157

Audio Sync Tool for the Panasonic DVX-100
To address the way the Panasonic DVX-100 handles audio/video sync, the DVX-100 Audio Sync Tool plug-in is available in the DV Camera Tuner Scripts folder on the Final Cut Pro 4 installation DVD. If you're working with clips captured from the Panasonic DVX-100, you should move this plug-in to the following location:
Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins

When the DVX-100 Audio Sync Tool plug-in is installed, a new menu item appears in the Tools menu, Offset Audio Sync.

To use the Offset Audio Sync tool:

1. In the Browser, select any clips you captured that were recorded with the DVX-100.
2. Choose Tools>Offset Audio Sync. The audio of all selected clips will be offset 2 frames later than the video to adjust their sync.
Note: Adjustments made to clips using the Offset Audio Sync command are only saved in the Final Cut Pro project file where the adjustment was made. The corresponding source media on disk is unaffected.

Century Optics Anamorphic Adaptor delayed
 

I just spoke to Century Optics on behalf of this forum about the situation with the anamorphic adaptor and asked for an offical statement.

Basically, the first adaptor (3 element design) has been pulled due to vingetting and barrel distortion issues. They have gone back to the drawing board and are working on a design.

The earliest any new information will emerge is 4 months and no model will be ready for sale in 6 months, so 2004 looks like a good bet.

Zotz Digital can get the Panasonic for $675 for DV Info members, so I think I will swallow the telephoto focus and barrel issues and get one.

Any word on a Century Optics matte box that can accomodate the Panasonic 16:9?

stephen van vuuren are you the same...
 

are you the same stephen van vuuren who was quoted in a DV magazine lighting video ad?

Century Optics cine-style manual focus
 

Hey,

Century Optics has a new repeatable follow focus attachment on their website. Part number is VS-MFSY-DVX. It's too new to be in stock anywhere.

Has anyone heard about this product?


-Craig

Printing to DV tape problem. Never seen this before!
 

While trying to print a rendered video with Premiere AND Vegas, I get the same thing happening.

I have a Panasonic DVX100. First time Printing to it! Before I used Hi8 and everything worked just fine. But this is strange and I'm wondering if it has to do with the 24p.

When print to the DVX100 the video recorded for about 7 seconds, then it goes to a blue screen for a few seconds, then back to the video again for a while and then repeat. Never had this problem before. Anyone know what's going on?

I'm about to Print to my TRV830 if this can't be resolved.

Yes, from about 4 years ago. John Jackman lives just a few minutes away from me and showed me an early copy of the video after I had lunch with him one day.

Are you recording 24p to the camera? I can imagine you must
get it back to 30p before going into the camera (the other way
around then the camera does itself)

zoom ring scratchy noise
 

this thread from the 2pop forum, anyone else having the same characteristics from their cam? I'm not sure if it's a problem or just a design flaw.


http://www.2-pop.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=PanasonicAGDVX100Camera&Number=613378&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart= 1

mine doesnt do it AS bad, but since there is pressure to be done to move the zoom ring manually, it does indeed make a resistance sound sorta like that.

my focus ring is making a grinding sliding noise aswell :(

Ok to play back 2 year old tapes on dvx100?
 

Hello everyone,
I just got the dvx100 and have been taking extremely good care of it. It has less than 3mins of head use:)

Anyways, I had some old SONY minidv tapes (Sony DVM60) that I had shot a while back on the Sony TRV900 camera and I was wondering if you all thought it would be okay to playback them on the dvx100? I ask this because they have been locked up in a rubbermaid case for over two years, including one which I left without its own plastic case. I'm concerned about getting the heads on the dvx100 dirty from these tapes...

Does anyone have any safety tips for playback? I know the camera's manual says I should always rewind old tapes to its start to prevent seeing tape slack. It says I even should FF and RW the entire tape before playing. Does anyone have any other tips?

What about the head cleaner? When should I use that? After I playback the Sony tapes?

Thanks for any tips!

It should be okay to play back 2-year-old tapes. If you've used a brand other than Sony in your Panasonic, run the cleaning tape first. After you've finished, clean your heads again---that is if you are using different tape brands/types.

How to setup optional lcd hood?
 

Hi,
Okay, today I just realized how dumb I am. I bought a Panasonic LCD hood for the dvx100 and now I can't figure out how to assemble it for use on the camera!!

Here's a link to what I am talking about: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh3/con...&Q=&sku=276813

Does anyone here have this product and can you tell me how to put that black plastic hood onto the other nylong square thingy?? Did yours come with instructions?

Damn, I knew I should've taken some engineering classes.....

It's not too hard... the nylon square thingy is actually a complete product in and of its own right: a Petrol lens hood. The plastic thing is there primarily to display the Panasonic logo, but also I guess helps shield a bit more light.

The hood goes together on its own, using the snap-buckles to make a square. Then the plastic hood slides in, you'll see that there's velcro on the inside edges of it. It goes on the top, of course, and the two flaps fold over onto the sides.

25p for DVD
 

I don't have a progressive scan DVD player, or TV, but my 25p DVD definitely looks better on my TV screen than a 50i version. (The 25p was using the standard F5 settings, 50i using F1). Is it just the cine gamma, or am I getting a pseudo progressive display, i.e. less artefacts because each 2 successive 50i fields are from an identical image? So should I always use 25p for DVD, if I can? What would be the advantage of actually having a progressive scan DVD and TV display?

Flicker Shooting Monitors With DVX100?
 

Does anybody have any experience shooting TV or computer screens with the DVX100? I notice that the Canon XL1s has a "Clear Scan" feature adjustment that allows you to fine tune the camera to eliminate flicker when shooting a monitor. Thanks for your responses.

So does the DVX100. You can set the shutter speed in minute increments so you dial out the flicker completely.

You are probably noticing a motion signature change in your
footage. I prefer 25p, but that is a personal thing.

If you want to buy a dvx100, consider this.
 

I'm tossing these thoughts on this forum for the benefit of anybody who's on the fence regarding this cam.

After 5 days of vigilant testing and shooting I'm very happy with this cam... actually the more I use it the better I think it is on value. If you read the letters section in the August edition of DV Adam Wilt responds to a letter from a man who feels the DVX is overpriced and not much better then a pd150 or gl2. Adam offers a compelling reason why the DVX is so desireable/beneficial vs. the other cams. What Adam says basically mimics what I said in another thread.

That's why I started this thread. This is a great camera but if you're considering one you need to realize something in advance, because if you ignore this point you will be dissappointed with the DVX.

I'd said, "To get a DVX and not immediately delve into the manual settings would be rediculous."

This point is VERY important regarding this cam. The capabilities of the DVX are superior to other cams as long as you use the manual settings. If you don't use the manual settings AND pay attention to lighting then this cam just isn't worth it.

It's a catch 22. I used to shoot photography with a manual SLR and I always had people that wanted to take pictures with my camera because it looked very pro... autowinder, long lenses, ETL flashes, etc. and I was the kind of guy who would let family or friends borrow my SLR. (I'm not very materialistic.) Anyway, NOBODY was EVER happy with the pictures they got from it! Sometimes they couldn't get the focus right at the right moment, sometimes they had the aperature wrong, and most of the time they had no consideration for the actual shooting conditions... and filters? Forget about it.

These same people have framed enlargements of photos I took with that same SLR.

The crucial difference between me and them is that I took the camera and the job of shooting seriously. I realized that to get the best pics out of the cam that I needed to set it up right and according to the situation.

The DVX is JUST like that. If you learn the camera, set it up properly, and light your shoots properly (which may be as easy as a reflector) then the DVX can blow you away. If you take any of that for granted you will most likely NOT be very impressed.

So just as an FYI if you want this camera because of what you've heard about it you'd better be ready to take your shooting seriously. The up side to this is the same thing that's great about our competition and that is this: No matter how good cameras are now or how good they become, most people will not produce impressive video because they won't bother with the things that professionals know they MUST do to get the best from their equipment.

absolutely agree 1000% with EVERYTHING here....

you know sometimes i read afew posts ahere and there and coming form a strong online background re: music production the story holds true with MANY people...
that story being that people want the camera to do the work for them.

in teh case of the DVX, its the other way around. Sure it can do easy run and gun shots without any problems, but the MAGIC of this beast comes thru when u switch it over to Prgressive mode...
At first it feels like yoru driving without hanging onto the steering wheel. After a while thou, you will KNOW exactly what needs to be done to get the right effect.

With clever usage, and aot of practive, this cam is literally 6 cameras in 1.
Those scene files are a force to be reckoned with, and the fact that THEY DO INDEED change the whole flavour of the image. I mean ive seen some people try to match footage taken from other cams with the DVX, and its almost impossible. and yes even if you CAN get teh cams to match image, to do that you have to DEGRADE the DVX footage and that defeats the purpose of this cam...

i remember when i first heard abotu the DVX, people were complaining about no memory card slot and how it didnt have effects or couldnt take a still image.
ITS A DVCinema camera.
Thats what it was designed for. Thats what it does.
It doesnt pretend to do something it cant, and whatit can do is bloody incredible.

Those complaining about it need to do some more research. Even PAL mode running 25p is TRUE progressive, non of this frame mode. It runs a 2:2 drop down with absolutely no "stutter" (unless your flicking the cam which in turn would happen to ANY cam)

Gain features, well...
run it standard and you can light a room with candles. I dont know about anyone else, but i do know that the PAL models low light is the Best L/L i have seen on any cam of this calibur.
There were comments about the XL1s and PD150 having better low light. I havenot seen that claim proved on a PAL model.

Either way, if you have this cam be happy. If you have any of the others, BE HAPPY TOO. There is no need to groan about the cam when you have chosen a different brand for your own needs.
I dont see the point in tryin to put people off a brilliant piece of equipment.

The fact that you have a camera at all should be enough for ANYONE to be pleased with their own accomplishments, let alone bitching about a camera which, when used appropriately and effectively (which comes with time and practice) is probably the best camera in its range...
Save the energy and do something contructive.
Hell, if it can light up a room lit only by fairy lights 30ft up and make an indoor venue look like a star filled skyscape, it's doing its job, and thats al that matters.

hell, the next cam up from this with similar features is $15k US... think about it...

Either way, be happy with whatever cam you have as your the lucky few who actually have one.

Which shock mount and wind screen for DVX and ME66?
 

Not sure whether to post this here or in the audio forum, since my question concerns use of the ME66 with my DVX.

Anyway, I'm looking for a shock mount and windscreen for my ME66, which I use with the DVX-100. Currently, I have the mike in the supplied camera mount, with the Sennheiser MZW foam windscreen, and am finding that the windscreen is fine in mild to no wind exterior situations, but any wind stronger screws up the sound. Also, the camera mount transmits every last little bit of camera handling noise to the mike, thus my need for a decent shock mount to minimize camera noise for handheld shooting.

Problem is, there's such a wide variety of shock mounts and windscreens, I'm not sure which to use. Potential mounts include the Sennheiser MZS-CAM and the AT-8415, and the Rycote softie as a windscreen. One thing that's not clear to me from the Rycote website is whether the softie has a built-in shock mount, or if I could use the Rycote in conjunction with the Sennheiser mount.

Lightwave is also a possibility, though again, perusing their site still leaves me unsure which of their products would suit me best. Thanks!

Obviously, I'd want a mount and windscreen combo that wouldn't creep into my wide angle frame (using the DVX's lens, no wide-angle adaptor).

Any suggestions for which shock mount and windscreen I should get would be appreciated, along with mention of the types of shock mounts and wind screens fellow DVX shooters are using.

Hello Stas,

Personally, I'm a big fan of LightWave Systems in the Los Angeles area. Check out their Universal Mini Mount -- it'll work perfectly with the DVX100. See also their excellent Equalizer mic screen. The Mini Mount has a swing arm which will let you position the mic so that the mic nose won't get into your shot. As far as which products to order, I'd give them a call. They're an honest outfit and they'll sell you only what you need, not the whole store. Hope this helps,

Making the jump to a new Camera...
 

I've been doing corporate type video (training, promo) for about 5 years as a side business. I'm now seriously considering trying to go full time. My current equipment is the XL-1 and the TRV-900, along with the DVStorm 2 and After Effects PB (plus Premiere for "assembly" - God, that software needs work!!!). I get nice results with this setup, but I think I could do better...

I'm not comfortable yet on selecting a good camera rig to go to the next level. I've looked at the "higher end" options of of the JVC 500 or 5000, but am also considering the DVX 100 for its versatility in the field. The type of work I'm going to be doing includes 15-20 minute corporate spots for promotion of their product line. This will ultimately be distributed on DVD and VHS (yuk!).

I know there's no "right" answer to this question, but I'm looking for advice from experienced users. Is the DVX-100 a viable option for corporate work? Does 24p make sense as well for corporate work? Will it help eliminate that "Live at 5" look of standard mini DV? Do people routinely do corporate work at 24p, or is it really for film makers?

Thanks for any input you can give.

Stuart

My corporate clients weren't really interested in the look when I ran some footage by them around the first of the year. However, I have a few clients I edit for that are doing event work, weddings etc. and the look sets them apart. My shooting clients are more interested in HD when it becomes affordable. The new JVC cameras would fit the bill, but can't be edited on a Mac. Presently my XL1s is satisfying all my corporate clients. I'm saving my pennies for the XL2 (or whatever Canon, Sony or Panasonic come up with).

How do you adjust Black Stretch and Knee?
 

After reading many articles in various publications about the adjustability of shadow detail, black stretch, and knee I was surprised to find no adjustments within the dvx that use that wording. As best I can tell Master Ped is the primary "black adjuster". Black Balance is set with white balance and in the manual it says that the black balance really only needs to be set once... not exactly, but in another words it's not a frequent need.

So I KNOW what black stretch and knee is/are but aside from Master Ped how do you do it?

Tips for anybody else who JUST got a dvx.
 

I'm just under two weeks into the dvx... Every time I use it I like it more and more. In fact I love this cam... I married it last week when I got it a B+W stepping ring... Okay on to the point of this post.

I'm guessing everybody knows this already, but I for one used to take white balance for granted. On my old digicams I could set it once through the day and forget it. At best I'd click between indoor and outdoor, but on my Sony it looked like outdoor gave the best picture all the time anyway (5600k)... it warmed up outdoor shots and indoor shots... and with the lesser cam the output seemed better for it.

Well I've noticed that proper white balance is CRUCIAL with the dvx. With ALL those settings of chroma phase, color temp, and gamma, you can tweak the picture to perfection in just a minute or less BUT that is a near impossible job if you DON'T FIRST SET THE WHITE BALANCE... I forgot to do that a couple times in some weird lighting conditions yesterday and I kept thinking I could get the colors true with tweaking... after several minutes I realized what the problem was and set the white balance with my white card... then the colors were near perfect without tweaking anything. Eeee-Hawww... felt like a jackass.

Also as I put my cam in and out of my bag through the day I never glanced at the volume controls on the side of the cam. With the exact fit of the bag as well as letting friends use my cam the settings were inadvertantly changed... so my audio track from yesterday is f-ed. Panasonic made it SO easy to check levels that you should always take an occassional glance at the knobs to make sure the white triangles are pointing where you set them! Eeee-Hawww again.

Also I kept my cam on cine-gamma and cine-matrix the whole first week... you will notice that highlights blow out big time if you just leave it on that. It seems that using those two setting is meant for shooting under controlled conditions... so experiment before you go to something important.

So to sum it up, I am once again AMAZED at this cam. I freakin' love it. I still can't believe that HD can be that much better and if it is NOBODY will want to see themselves on camera unless they are very good looking.

P.S. Get a circular polarizer... these cams love filters and the colors pop out of everything under a sunny sky... not to mention clouds... that pushed the dvx to mind-blowing when I got home to check the results.

Howdy from Texas,

That counts me out. Thanks for the excellent tips, Matt!

Matt:

I've a added links to Adam Wilt's articles on the DVX100 to the top of the forum. He addresses the knee issue (no fully adjustable knee, but gamma modes change it). No black stretch but you can adjust it with a combo of other controls to some degree.

Sennheiser K6 incompatibility
 

I tried using my trusty ME66K6 on a shoot with my new DVX100, and found I was getting hum unless an assistant held their hand on the K6's connection with the mic cable. (Tried this with two cables, so I know it isn't simply a matter of a bad cable.)

I initially figured my K6 must have gone bad, but I saw a "consumer comment" on one of the price-search boards, saying that the K6 would not work with his DVX100. Supposedly, he said, the K6 was too high-output, and would pick up hum even with a pad.

Has anyone here experienced this problem with their DVX and the Sennheiser K6 power module? If so, did the "low output" version of the K6 work OK? I could go with a borrowed AT-815b, but I'd hate to have to change mic brands in the middle of a feature shoot...

Not sure if your mic is having this problem.When the music gets loud the mic is terrible,it distorts.I sent mine to the factory for whats called a "Red dot repair". The factory tech tells me its common and they have to remove a capacator that should solve the problem. I use mine on a Sony trv-950 without any other problems. Hope this helps you

New DVX100 Clip from Wedding #2
 

I posted a new clip. This is the Bride & Groom Preperation. I will be posting more as I get them completed.

Clip
tracy&josh_Part1.mov
http://markthomasvideo.com/clips/


The Document shots at the begining are 24p. The rest is 60i.

Nice clip! Can you send me an e-mail? I have a favor/question to ask (remove the SPAMs from addy)

spamjonathan@spamaviewofyou.tv