My first cam is on it's way!
 

They are here. Promax called me tonight and said it will be here in NC on Friday.

Any LA user already have one?

Can't wait to hear what you have to say about it, Stephen!

Okay, it's here and given it a quick test. Long review will have to wait until battery charges and I have more time with it but camera arrived in perfect shape (thank you ProMax). Overall impression of camera is pretty solid, build quality seems Canon/Sony high-prosumer or better on stuff I've tried so far.

(1) Picture quality is fantastic, certainly better than my XL1 with manual lens.

(2) Focus controls on lens are to my liking. Focus is light but extremely accurate. Not "loose" as some reported. As good, if not better, than the focus ring on my previous Canon 14X manual. Sure, there are no foot/meter markings, but the 1-100 scale range viewable on LCD is much more usable I quickly found.

I did a couple of tests, zoomed in, set focus, noted LCD number, zoomed out. Zoomed back in, both actual focus and LED stayed exact. Pull and rack focus moves will be easy for me to execute.

(3) Zoom, manual and motor, work well. I don't often do zooms in shots, but seemed to work as well as old XL1.

(4) LCD monitor sharpness exceeded my expectations. I see no need for lugging my 14" Sony to check focus. Color is LCD, not broadcast tube, but still seemed accurate to my eye.

(5) 1/24 and 1/48 shutter speeds available in 24p mode. Nice. Film motion blur, here we come :)

I've stopped my test and battery is charging. Have go to a clients, so full detailed report will have to wait, probably until Sunday pm. But hope to make some detailed clips available.

Let me know any specific questions and I will try to answer.

I agree! The picture quality is fantastic!! The camera so far lives up to its hype! Goobye XL1-S! =)

I can't wait. I really want to hear about this cam.
-Vinson

Does the camera have the exposure metering system that was mentioned in another post? There it said that an early prototype had an exposure metering system which did not appear in later prototypes. Thanks.

It is in. It's called "Marker" and is found the Display Setup menu.

Is the wide angle noticeably wider than others? That is one of the things that attracted me to this camera - a 3 chip that has a built in wide angle. How soes it look, Stephen?

Yep, it is noticably wider. I used to have a XL1 with 3X wide and I always was reaching for the 3X lens as the other lenses never gave enough space.

I don't feel that with this cam. Very useful so far in tight space. It's not quite as wide as Canon 3X but plenty wide for most uses. And so far, I have not missed the telephoto as much, but I've only shot about 15 minutes or so.

Stephen,

How's the low light performance of the Panny? How does it compare with the VX2000 or the GL-2?

Dan

It's better than the GL-1, XL-1 and VX1000 that I have more experience with. I have not shot with GL-2 or VX-2000. Will shoot some candlelight scenes in the next few days.

If it's as good as the VX2000, I may be sold. I tape a lot of performances in high school auditoriums so the wide angle and low light are two things that I want. My XL1 is lousy in low light. So, I'm anxious to hear about the low light capabilities, too.

(low light performance)

It's as good as theVX2000/PD150 and actually slighltly better!

Anyone know what the price (more or less) for this camera is?

Stephen,
Are you missing the availability of being able to switch lenses as on your XL1s?
I have a GL@ and need another camera and was considering the XL1s. Thoughts on whether I should buy the AG-DVX100?