Hi Dennis,

The HD version of the DVX100 is already out... it's called the HVX200. We have an entire forum dedicated to it. See http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=80. However it is more than $5000.

If you want an HD camcorder with XLR inputs (jacks, not plugs!) for under $5000, there are two Sony camcorders that will fill the bill. They are the Sony HVR-Z1U and HVR-A1. They record to standard Mini-DV cassettes in an HD format called HDV. We have dedicated forums for these cameras as well:

Sony Z1 HDV: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=75

Sony A1 HDV: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=99

Hope this helps,

When installing my DVX on a glide cam, I managed to drop the whole thing.
Upon hitting the floor, the tripod mounting plate on the bottom of the camera cracked. Is this a costly repair? Has anyone had a similar problem?

Go over to the DVXuser forum (www.dvxuser.com) and look in the DIY forum. I know there is someone who has made an aluminum or stainless replacement for the bottom plate which I believe they are selling, supposed to be a lot better. good luck, Mark

Hello to all:

I will be shooting with a DVX100 for only my second time and I need to know if I can use my standard 4:3 NTSC color monitor to see the output if I'm using the camera in 16:9 mode?

I know some cameras will output a "squeezed" image to fit 4:3... does this camera do that and is it acceptable?

Thanks,

George

It would output the squeezed image, which would fill the 4:3 screen on your monitor. If your monitor has a 16:9 switch, the image would display in the proper aspect ratio.

Note: you said "DVX100", not "DVX100A" or "DVX100B". For clarification, the original DVX100 did not have a "squeeze" mode; it only has 4:3 (either with or without letterbox bars) so either of those modes will display perfectly well on your monitor.

If you're using a DVX100A or DVX100B then you have access to the 16:9 "squeeze" mode. But you'll have to decide whether viewing the footage "squeezed" is acceptable to you. The image stretch will make everyone look tall and skinny; it's not a massive squeeze though (like with cinema anamorphics; those squeeze the image by a factor of 2:1; the DVX's squeeze is around 1/3 of that). If you're using a DVX100B you can have the onboard LCD automatically correct the aspect ratio, but on the external monitor it will be the full signal; if your monitor is 4:3 only then yes it will appear squeezed/stretched.

I am looking to move from a high end consumer camera into a more capable prosumer camera. I plan to use it at least for (a) fund-raising and short documentary style videos for non-profit groups, and (b) shooting travel video that can be incorporated into documentaries. Family events are a side benefit.

What should I look for? Probably an adequate level of manual controls. Quality video reproduction. Size and weight are important. 24p ability seems at least somewhat important. I’m not certain about HDV. Cost is important.

The choice seems to be between the Panasonic DVX100B and the Sony HDR-FX1.

Both seem to be good cameras. Both cost about the same. The DVX100B has a proven track record and 24P. The Sony is HD and has CineFrame24 but I’ve read both good and bad reviews of that and would like to hear your experience. HD is probably not important right now, but might give some of the travel clips a longer useful life.

I’d like to hear your thoughts. Also what editing packages would support 24P on the DVX100. I currently use Premiere 6.5. I have been told that 24P on the DVX100B produces too much of a strobe-like appearance if there is any movement. What is your experience?

Dale

You are recommencing a debate that seems to go on forever.. Bottom line from what I've seen from all of the threads on this issue is that each camera has assets and liabilities. To get to an output you are lookong for there are post production techniques and work arounds galore.

I chose FX1 because I wanted HDV as an option. Since I got it, I shoot everything in HDV, and decide how to handle from there. You can actually convert to DV right out of camera in 4:3 or 16:9 If you want to actually do a HDV project and your system is up to it, you can get Premiere Pro 2.0 upgrade for $200, and be running there. Its great, despite what you might hear from Vegas and Final Cut heads. Cineform Aspect HD for $500 will give you added capability (claimed better color rendition), but your intermediate files take up about five times the space... You will likely be adding big hard drives. Warning: Once you work with HDV or HD, you will never really be satisfied with your DV options.

Hey guy's, I got a problem here, I am using an AKG shotgun mic on input 1 and it's only giving me 1 channel of audio(the left side). How do I get it onto both if possible and turn off the onboard mic?

Thanks

use input 2 and under the lcd select input 2 to 2 and input 1 to recieve channel 2 as well. these selections will also turn off the int. mic.

I am considering getting a DVX100B. I have some older analog videotapes that I'd like to convert to digital. Does this camera have the capability of taking in an analog signal and writing it to mini-DV?

Dale

Yes it does.

hi
i'm ovidiu marginean , bucharest(romania) based cinematographer.
since last summer i'm owner of a dvx 100 ae (pal).

i like this camera , but now i have a problem. the fire wire connection doesn't work anymore.
i use it for transferring the material from camera to pc only once.
that time i was present , when the video editor was trying to capture the material.
he used his pinnacle sound board for capturin video. sounds strange for me and i asked him if everything is ok. he answered yes!

after about ten minutes of normal transfer, the avid express stopped the transfer and didn't want to accept the fire wire (didnt recognize it).

that day we stoped the editing , and the editor finish the job,later, in another editing mashines.

but , next time when i tried tu use my fire wire option af my panasonic dvx , didn't work anymore. i tryed different ways , but unsuccesfull.

can somebody have any ideas?
realy appreciate!
thanks

ovidiu marginean
www.cinematographer.ro

Hi Ovidiu and welcome to DVinfo. I've moved your post to our DVX forum which is the correct place to ask questions about your camera - that other forum is just a place to say "hi" to everyone :-)

Regarding firewire on the DVX, I don't have much familiarity with that camera but have read several posts about blown firewire ports - see the following for starters:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=41620
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost.php?p=351429

I imagine you'll get some additional responses here too.

Has any one used the multi camera firewire timecode sync set up with the DVX100B cameras? Do you use free run time code? Once the master cam has slaved another DVX100B cam. can it then be unplugged and repeated for a second or third DVX100B, etc.?? What might be the issues when using Firewire Hard Drives with each camera???
Any insight would be helpful...

Thanks'

Gary

You must use free run, yes. You can designate one camera as the master and then sync all the other cameras to the master. If you're in a mixed-camera environment (say, a bunch of 100B's and a 100A) you can designate the 100A as the master (or, any DV device; the 100B's will sync to any DV timecode coming through a firewire port regardless of the source).

I've been thinking about buying a used DVX-100.

A couple of the used ones I've seen on ebay and elsewhere list the number of hours on the timer. Does this timer show the number of hours the camera has spent recording or is the number of hours of actual use (capturing, rewinding, time spent scrolling through menus, etc.)?

this is something i didnt like about the DVX, as opposed to the sonys which give u drum hours vs operating hours, the DVX only gives you "transport" hours...

being that anything you do with the transport is logged, be it FWD, RWD, Play and record.

The actual operation hours are not logged, however i would prefere a Drum hour meter reading AND a Transport hour. Operating hours arent as important as these 2

BARRY:
I live in Panama and my country is not part of PAYPAL. Where can I buy it using my VISA online?

-EDWIN HERNANDEZ

Hi there,
I'm thinking of doing a shoot with a DVX100 and was wondering if anyone here has done so with success. I'm looking for settings for either camera to help match picture quality. If there are filters available for the JVC, that would be nice to know too. I'm taking it for granted that all the film gamma stuff will need to be turned off.

Thanks for your help.

best thing to do ith both these units is to run them side by side on a colour chart.

then tweak the DVX as best u can. The 500 is a brilliant camera no doubt, but its lack of tweakability can get annoying. The biggest issue is white balancing both cameras to get a correct "white"
Ive done a couple of stage shows with this unit (it was a team up of my company and a competitor)

the DVX is naturaly cooler, not as sharp (unless ur shooting Progressive thin) The dynamic range of both of these units is surprisingly close considering the varying CCD size. The only real noticable difference is that 500 is MUCH cleaner in lower light situations but thats a given considering the CCD block.

I guess it realy depends on what ur shooting, but i would recommend a colour chart for claibration then a grey/white card for white balancing.

Try amazon.com. Many international buyers have found it easier to go through Amazon.

Thanks!

I got my Dvx-100B 2 weeks ago an I use it outside 95% of the time and I need something to protect it from the dust and rain. Whats the best rain cover for the 100B.. I want somthing that fits tightly and lets me use my shotgun microphone and lets me see the LCD fine.
Thanks

portabrace, kata, petrol all make covers similar to each others.

this is probably the least exspensive @ $50

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=361587&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this upgrade? Their examples look pretty sweet and Post had a good writeup on them a month or so ago. I'm definately thinking about it...

http://www.reel-stream.com/

Download the spider footage - if anyone is interested and take a look at the web showing up in it. Amazing how clear it is. There's also a clip on there with a micro35

I have a Panasonic DVC60 and use a Sony HC90 as a second camera.
I have been offered a trade straight across for the Sony with a Panasonic GS250. The Sony cost a bit more but my reason for posting is this:

Would it be easier to match the footage from the two Panasonics rather than the Sony and Panasonic? Or is there really no difference. I don't want to spend a bunch of time color matching if I don't need to.

I am thinking the two Panasonic's would work better together but am not certain on this and was hoping someone might shed some light on the subject.

Hi, I'm new here. I'm thinking about buying a used DVX100a but what do you think about the condition? The hour meter is at 85H.

The DVX100A is a great camera. The heads don't need to be serviced until about 1000 hours, so 85 is very low. I would make sure that firewire port is functioning as these can burn out sometimes. Of course I would make sure all the other features work as well.

Nope, the dvc60's footage will look different than either the hc90 or gs250. your best bet is to adjust the dvc60 to look like the hc90 ( or gs250 ) in the scene file settings, you can preview it in advance and should get rather close. The DVC60 by default will look sharper and less saturated but more natural and colour accurate than the hc90, also it will be less sharp ( the gs250 is oversharpened ) but once again more natural and less saturated than the gs250. Adjust accordingly.

Hey gang,

I'm hoping you all can help me out.

I'm ordering two DVX 100b Pannys this weekend and I can't decide between the Varizoom VZ-Rock-PZFI with the rocker controller or the Varizoom Stealth with the throttle type controller.

I'm hoping somebody on this board has had experience with both and can assist me in deciding which gives better, smoother zooming.

Anyone?

Thanks.

sincerely,

ian

a rocker is far more intuitive IMO, however if u have a focus puller at your disposal, or youve ever used a Fujinon or Canon broadcast lens, the throttle controller would be more intuitive for them..

if your shooting events etc, go the rocker..

IMO, if you have the budget for both, get one of each..

Over the weekend some friends and I filmed a short film for the 48 hour film project in the Washington DC area. During filming the Tripod mount on the bottom of my DVX-100 Broke in two places. The bottom plate is fine, but the actual part you screw the tripod plate into broke. This small piece of graphite is not listed on the Panasonic Website parts list as "Tripod Mount" I can't find anything. The closest I saw was binding head screw.


Does anyone know the technical name for this part and where I can get it at?


I need to fix my camera so I can resume shooting in two weeks on my film DEADLANDS.

I don't know if this place will have what you want, but I need to replace the eye cup on my DVX100 before I sell it and the PartStore was the only place I found that had one listed. I haven't ordered from them yet, so this is not a recommendation.

http://www.partstore.com

I'm looking to purchase a second-hand DVX100A - anyopne know of any for sale?

I have sometimes had difficulty getting exact focus with the DVX-100A, especially with fast-moving subjects. The focus-assist aid helps a lot, but I still find myself missing the focus point at times. I learned at the NAB that many professional camera operators prefer black and white viewfinders because they find it easier to identify the correct focus point. Does anyone adjust their DVX viewfinders to B & W to aid focusing ?

yup, i run the EVF in BW and the LCD in colour (u cant change this) but u CAN elect to have both of them on when u flip the LCD open

Just FYI, I wrote an article on my research site about buying a digital camcorder. I just recently had to go from knowing next to nothing about camcorders to buying a whole system, so I hope my adventure into the DV camera field is helpful to you! Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.

http://www.johnnyzone.com/research/index.php?action=artikel&cat=5&id=1&artlang=en

I think you missed a whole area that is of interest to people buying for the future. HDV or HD cameras. Sony has some great HDV cameras that shoot great HDV, in 16:9, and also shoot regular DV. Go for right around $2000 with rebate (See A1U). And of course your artificial price ceiling left you with 1/4 ccds instead moving into larger and popular 1/3 ccd cameras such as the Sony VX2100.

Hey,
I have a used DVX that I am interested in possibly selling. E-mail me at robertpb@jmu.edu, if you are still interested.

Thanks,
paul

It seems everywhere i look places are selling the dvx b with all these accessories. I am looking for a place that has just the camera for sale at a good price. From the looks on ebay, that tripod looks like it will just "get the job done". I'd rather skip out on the accessories and put my money into the accessories at a later time. Any helpfull advice will be great. Thanks so much.

steven

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I can capture video onto my computer with my old sony camera with no dropped frames, but when I try to capture with the dvx100b, dropped frames every time. I've disabled every program on my computer that I can - nothing else is running.

Shouldn't the signal coming out of the two cameras be the same - a DV signal?

I'm captuing thru Premier Pro using firewire. I can't figure why one should work and the other not!

Is there some switch I forgot to flip somewheres?

Thanks. Bob.

I found that the video I captured with the sony still did not play back correctly.

Turns out that my new high-speed internet cable connection was causing the trouble. even though the browser was closed, the cable was apparently still sending lots of info into the computer. It wasn't even noticable on the Task Manager. (98% of resources were set to Idle.)

Whatever the reason, I unplugged the cable, and capture and playback are back to normal.

Ya-hoooo! :)

I know of an an old Panasonic AJ-D700 going cheap (about 1000 USD).
http://www.broadcaststore.com/dsp_image.cfm?strFileType=ModelLarge&strFileName=19565%2Ejpg

It is old enough to have problems with the blacks (becoming blacked out) but was until recently used for TV.
I has been used for
Operation １８５０
Drum １５９０
All the same it seems very reasonable and might be nice to use in good light.

What I am wondering about is, how come there is no digital output from the camera (only analogue) and whether this is a problem.

Tim

It went for about 1100 dollars on Japanese version of ebay.

Can anyone who has used both the DVX100 & 1002B models please advise on their experiences with it. I am a long time Canon XL 1 S user but sold it a little while ago. I am seriously looking at the these models and would like peoples experience using these models. I have a smaller NVGS 250 and i am rather impressed by that little camera and what it can do. Any advice would be most appreciated. I mainly film motorcycle events such as MX and Enduro etc where mobility is a key thing i look for in a camera compared to the XL1 S which was quite heavy for this type of filming all day off the shoulder.

I've had the dvx100, dvx100a and presently have 2 dvx100b's. The biggest difference is between the dvx100 and dvx100a. You can read Barry Green's book to go through all the advances or search this forum or dvxuser.com. The dvx100b has advances from the dvx100a but they are mostly structural (e.g. reinforced tripod mounting plate, a more sturdy tape holding unit, etc.). The most useful improvement on the dvx100b for me is the ability to transfer data from one camera to the other. It has a feature for syncing time codes, but this could be done with the dvx100a (or 100) as well. This is great for multicam shooting. If money is tight I'd go for the 100a, if not I'd go for the 100b. All that being said the dvx100 is still a damn good camera.

I have been told that it would be possible to use a firmware or flash type program to upgrade my 100 up to a 100A is there such a hack...our studio has two DVX100's that we are very happy with but if we can we would like to make a 100A out of one, we are selling the other one because we just bought a JVC HD100 that so far is a great camera. Ware asking 1600.00 for the one we are selling.

Hi all,
I have the sony dvx100b with a cavision matte box using 4x4 filters. I do most of my shooting indoors and am looking for a filter or 2. There 's so much info out there and so many different kinds of filters. I'm looking for one that can be used as more of a general purpose filter. Do I go with a warm diffusion type filter or an ND filter. If ND, what should I be looking for. I've seen all of the options like these .3 .6 .9 and so on.

To sum it all up, if you could buy one great 4x4 filter, what would you get.

Thanks!

I've been looking at buying a GS500 or XM1. But i've come across a Panasonic NV-DX1E less than a £100 ($196) i don't know anything about this camera apart from the fact it's old, can anyone give me any info on it.

What is the picture quality like compared to the GS500 and XM1, and also it's size, the GS500 is a great cam in a small body.

Any help much appreciated.

The reason i've posted here is i think it was one of there pro model cameras, apologies if it's in the wrong place.

Cheers

- Mike