VX2100 is here! But...
 

I just got my VX2100 from B&H (DV Info sponsor) and I got the MACK warranty, camera bag, long life battery, wide angle lens package.

First of all, this camera is beautiful! I pointed it under my desk at work and it was like I had a flashlight on!

Now here is the But... The shipping box it came in had air-bubble packs around three sides of the actual camera box (because we all know that the bottom layer of the cardboard shipping box never gets jolted). Ha, ha. And, on the top of my VX2100 box, there was a great big boot print. Nothing like using your boot to move a $3000 piece of precision electronics around on the floor, either that or using the box as a stepping stool. I was able to simply dust it off, so at the very least B&H packaging department could have done so before sending it. I took a picture before I dusted it off and wlll post when I get some time.

I only mention it because I know B&H monitors these threads. I have a warranty so if anything is funny with the performance of the camera, I'm not worried, I'm only out the time to wait for it to get fixed. :-(

Grant

This is a new cam? You better double-check your warranty right now and read the fine print on parts and labor.

It's advertised as new on B&H (SODCRVX2100K). I would hope they are telling the truth (and I'm sure they are). Also, it's a MACK warranty, and I've read good things about them here too.

The camera does appear to be new, it's just the boot print on the box (the one the camera is in when it comes from Sony) that had me worried, like if a microchip inside the camera could possibly get knocked loose from a "kick across the room". I'll also contact B&H directly.

Grant

The Sony camera will take a kick across the room without the box and survive most of the time. The chips in the camera are all surface mount and not only soldered, but glued in place.

If the box is not crushed, nobody stood on it and the box is designed to protect the camera in quite a big impact.

Maybe someone has a big boot-shapped rubber stamp and they randomly use it to cause consternation? :-)

The only thing I'd be worried about is back-focus if the camera really took a hard lick. Auto focus will mask a back-focus issue so you want to put the camera in manual mode, zoom all the way in on a subject that has big, high-contrast bits (like a checkerboard pattern printed with a laser printer). Manually focus on the pattern and then slowly zoom out, watching the video image on a large monitor/TV. The image should stay in focus all the way out. If it does not, then the back-focus needs adjustment and that must be done at a service center. But that would be under warranty.

Grant, I hope you'll let us know how you like the camera. I'm considering buying one from B&H myself.

Hey, the post is unlocked! I just filmed my first event with it last weekend and was amazed with the quality (compared to what I had been used to with my TRV-840's). I filmed in a small church with low lighting and everything was clear and bright. I used my iBook and an external HDD and FCP to record the footage and it went very smooth. I've been too busy to follow up with B&H about the incident but hope to next week. I got the kit with the extra long battery (still had 650 minutes after filming for an hour with LCD screen open) and bag and wide angle lens. The lens is real nice and the bag is as well. It's a soft-sided one, but seems padded very well. Overall, I'm very happy with the camera!

Grant

Thanks for the update, Grant. Regarding recording the footage at the church, do you mean that you recorded straight to the iBook, not to tape?

Good luck with the follow-up at B&H.

To keep this post on-topic, please see this thread, I describe my workflow there, http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=87229


Grant

Did you use the Impact DVP-WA50-58 wide angle lens? If so, is it true that this lense is a zoom through?