Is Panasonic LW4307 Wide angle Lens, better than the Raynox HD-6600 Pro 43mm ?

Anybody got from PriceJapan?

Sam, I am also interested about LW4307 and LW4307ME and what is the difference between the two.
The price I have seen here is 105 vs 140 Euro, and I was wondering what the diff could be.
For a Raynox... that's hard for me, since I can't find any 43mm version of the 6600Pro, and it also costs 170 Euro.

Samuel, I just received the Panasonic wide angle through pricejapan. It cost $162 including shipping. It took a bit longer to obtain, according to pricejapan, because Panasonic doesn't put that many of its accessories out on the market. I can't speak to the usage issue, because I haven't shot any footage yet. I can say that it is unthreaded, which poses a problem for those planning to use filters (not a problem for me, as I am going with what I read somewhere about not using a filter - except possibly for special effects - if you are planning to film in low light conditions), and I think the lens cap is a laugh, because it's 1) soft plastic and 2) there isn't any way to attach it to the camera and therefore it's more likely to get lost in the shuffle.

Patricia, ITs too costly, I guess!

Soft plastic, which lens cap? cap for the wide angle or cap for the filter?

did u get only the wide angle lens from price japan separately?

How to increase or decrease the audio volume in the camcorder, while it plays a recorded tape ?

I tried the zoom button zoom in or zoom out , no effect.

Every one forgot about the manual translation I guess!!

There are PV DV 953 and NV GS 70 ENGLISH manual are available online in pdf format, from one call.com

Any Japanese if they see both, they can just cut and paste and add some extra thing specific to gs 100 by translating.

The job will be done almost a week, even if they spend one hour alteast per day.

We need only the japanese translation to english, then some one can arrange it together and create another pdf file

HOw is it? any suggestions!! Comon Japanese Gurus Pls give hands?

Frank

So GS 100k or black Mamba, selling as hot cake I guess!

(like its already in the hands of 100 english speaking persons of US, quote from chuckmesiter)

okay i think this needs to be said again
if in fact you bought this or any other cam
i feel the learning curve would be the same
take for instance if you bought a new powershot s50 you would have to read the manual over and over a few times before it set in its the same here its mostly greek "so to speak" to all of us but if in fact you commit yourself to learning as in an english manual its the same
all memory
the menu is jap ok
but so is any other cam manual the trick is repitition i swear its all is the same if every cam were to come in jap tomorrow we would not have any trouble learnng it



well why dont ya just whip me on the head with all this crazy in circles of insane madness and just gimmie the translation will ya meister... sheesh =)
just kidding but even if translation was available over in that hyperbole jungle you are better off just browsing gs70 mx5k and 953 manuals and take yerself over to a superstore that sells one of the above and spend 20 mins tinkering & it will all become clear
i had some doubts about a jap language camera but its fairly straightforward after an afternoon cram session with the above manuals and the store visit i feel much better and would advise anyone looking for a camera with a 1000$ pricetag dont let the language get in the way
compare what you get when you are at that superstore
$1000 cams have 2.5 screens 2mp stills 1 ccd and this is just things you notice within 2 seconds of "looking" dont even have to touch another camera to see the value you get for overlooking the language
i will say old meister is right about 1 thing americans are getting a bummer deal
IMHO it is the best investment for 1100 bucks worth

another thing is
do get yerself a tripod
its much easyier learning with the cam sitting on a tripod you can read the english essentials laid out on the floor whilst your cam sits in front of you at the most cumfy level all pages printed out while you tinker away
i cant say how much i have found it so easy to sit and get this thing commited to memory with it sitting on a stand and pages strewn about dont forget to have yer gs 70 and mx5k manual avaliable on yer pc for quik viewing and pages from 953 as well
i would love to have an english translation but realy its not so difficult

i would change my tune if the manuals above did not exist

raj
its simple
for playback of recordings to hear in higher volume
just hold the jog dial down for a sec
the menu dial and then viola
adjust the sound the round "i know u know what im talkin bout"
dial just press and hold it for like until you get bars for adjust



ding
ding
pow

Thanks Shawn
I am able to figure it out from the gs70 953 manuals.

Where does the waist battery VW-VBD7 for GS100 and 70 available in US ?

...

As far as I've heard, the waist battery is not directly available in the US at all.

I just got my black GS100 from PriceJapan (DHL) this morning and I got the waist battery with it...

The battery pack is smaller than I had expected it to be. ;-)

I do know the battery came with the cables for both battery types (GS100 and MX500/DV953 compatable) so you just use the cable you need and toss the other... Or keep it so you can use the battery with a friends camera and make them drool. ;-)

Thanks Donald. I hope the waist battery will soon be available in US.

I dont want to order only that one from price japan.

hello board,

I'm buying the GS100K within the next couple of days.

Need your inputs on two things:

1. the CD with the driver software that comes with the shipment is in Japanese, and will work only with Jap OS. Is there an alternate that will work with Windows 2000?

2. The remote that comes is also marked in Japanese. Is there an English alternate?

I am OK with dealing with the Jap menus using the excellent translation provided by others on this board, and intend to manage with the 953 Manual.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Amit:

I used to have a pdf of the english buttons on the remote on my computer. I can't find it now and I think I deleted it. I understand that a new one (english) from B & H is only 16 dollars. That may be something you might want to do. The English version remote translation pdf is somewhere in this forum I think- I believe it's been posted here before. You might also want to check the Yahoo forum on the GS100. There are several posts there where english translations were made. I do have the Japanese menu translations if you require them but they are also available here online.

As for the software I can't help you, but I did read that the software can be downloaded from the Panasonic site so you should be in business.

Good luck.

thanks Rick,

much appreciated.
I've posted another query on the gs100K owners association thread.

would be great have your point of view.

There's OIS and Mega OIS. OIS I can enable on the Camera Setup menu. How do I enable Mega OIS?

What's the difference? Should I just leave OIS or Mega OIS on all the time (except when using a tripod)?

Mega OIS is enabled only in still picture mode automatically when you half press the shutter.

For normal video use the OIS is controled via the menu (on/off)

Mega OIS is extremely useful for stills. It stablizes the picture and produces sharp images even when the camcorder is shaky (holding the camcorder with one hand and at 4x zoom). It manifests itself as a dot in the middle of the viewfinder in photo mode. When the dot is green, Mega OIS has a "lock" on your subject.

OIS is your standard Optical Image Stablization for video. That works great too IMO. It eliminates a lot of my hand "shake" and vibration induced movements. Best of all, unlike Electronic (EIS) it works in all light conditions including low light.

The green dot actually signifies that the image is in focus. thus you can safely take the still shot. In Japanese, that dot is called "shutter chance mark".

You can deactive MEGA OIS and still be able to focus and take stills..but why would anyone do that?

Regards

I thought this thread was for OPERATING INSTRUCTION SUBJECT MATTER ONLY.

Mike,

I looked at both your translated and Japanese manuals. Other then the English translated section, the Japanese text did not transfer properly. I want to fool around with translation the document with some Japanese friends. Can you email me a copy of the Japanese manual in a format that I can read and download.

Email me at ricklorimarshall@hotmail.com for my personal email. Because of its size, I don't think my hotmail account will handle the full document.

Can ANYONE tell me were I can download the manual in PDF format.

Rick

Hi Rick,

You can download the GS100K manual in Panasonic web site. I can also email a copy to you.

Can anyone tell me what "blue" menu items are? Does that mean that a function is disabled? I just got the GS100 and am trying to figure out the settings...some menu items are shown in dark blue...and don't seem available... For example, in the camera setup menu, Program AE(which should have 6 options) shows in dark blue with only one option available....

Thanks...

Peter

Blue means disabled under the default setting (full auto). Just switch to manual and more options will be available (they'll turn white that is).

Yes Peter,
The blue menu means it�fs not available for certain setting.

For example AE preset exposures are not accessible in Auto mode. You have to switch to Manual mode (the button on the left side of the lens barrel) to activate AE exposures.

Same is valid for different options in the menu when you are in card mode, etc�c

Tony Leung,

Can you send me the Japanese GS100 operating manual. I emailed you personally with my email address.

Please advise

Hi Rick,

Here's the panasonic page to download the Japanese manual (PDF) from:

http://panasonic.jp/support/video/manual/manual.html

it's about 1/2 way down the page in the middle column.

Once you open the manual, click on the little text icon in the top menu bar and then you can cut/paste any non-graphics text from the .pdf into translator software or whatever...

hope this helps.

Just as a sidebar to this, I read in the GS70 manual that the OIS function may not work effectively if you have a lens adapter--wide or tele--on the cam. Anybody know anything about this? Is it true? I normally leave my wide adapter on all of the time.

Peter

AFAIK, GS70 has no OIS but ratther EIS that isn't teribly effective according to majority of user reports.

Alex

Peter Waren,

If you are talking about GS100's OIS you shouldn't worry as it is linear motor shift lens system not affected from reduced light or electronic manipulation but just from the physical shake.

The GS70's EIS is automaticaly disabled at light levels when the gain is pushed below 9dB. At 12 dB for exmple the EIS is not working as reported on other forums.

Adding additional glas in front of the original lens reduces more or less the reception of light so that might be a problem and Pana just puts it in it's manual for own safety.

You can easy say if the EIS is disabled as the shake is very obvious at modest zooms. Zoom to 5x and try to hold steady - you can compare how it behaves at different light conditions.

Thanks, folks, this makes a lot of sense. I have the 953 manual, but have been using the GS70 manual as a first read.

I find that the cam is rather difficult to hold steady at any but widest lens settings. Some sort of stable platform is really indicated for any serious shooting....

Peter, are you talking about GS70 or GS100K claiming it is nto convenient for steady handholding ?

Alex

Alex...I am talking about the GS100K...I am not deriding the cam-it is a wonderof technology and Japanese quality--but it's small size makes it hard to hold steady even with the OIS. Have you found it otherwise?

I think Peter is talking about GS100.

I would agree with him that the optical stabilization of this tiny little lens is not of the best. It's not easy to tame the movements so it's "normal" to experience "bouncing" in the 8x-10x range. I also find this frustrating. I didn't find GS70 to have bouncing.
At the full wide I don't have any problem though.

Problem is that for this size lense physical compensation is very tricky.You need very sencitive and fine tuned motors to move the inside lens to compensate.

That's why in other post I complain about the lens size and also I prefer the active prism type of OIS found in higher class cams. This prism is compensating in such way that the ligh/image enters to it's surface exactly at 90 degrees canceling any errors.

In general for this price and given that OIS doesn't degradate image quality I'm happy with GS100.

Yeah, I understand. Hope to test your words guys next week when my little GS100K beauty will reach my hands... :-))


Alex

In my observation, Canon Optura100's OIS is more steady than that of MX5K and GS100.

Peter, the GS100 is "closer" in functionality to the MX5K/953 than the GS70.

Well, there's always.....a tripod!

;-)

Allan, thanks, I learned that the hard way...after printing out 110 pages of the GS70 manual.

It is difficult to imagine that the manual for the GS100k is almost TWICE the page count of the 953 manual! Is it that there are so many additional features on the GS100k? Or does the manual do a better job of explaning the various functions? One of these days, we'll have a translation I suppose.

Allan, I wouldn't be suprised to reveal Canon's OIS would be better in comparable cameras.
Canon's OIS technology is actually the most advanced among others and this is well known fact.

Regards, Alex

Warren only 150 of 212 pages of the Jap manual are relevant to the cam itself. The rest explains the software package contained in the supplied CD-R, which you basically don't need (except for the basic drivers which you can install manually), because they are in Japanese and won't work properly with PCs running on English OS.

Between the Jap and English manual, yeah, there are more info contained in the Jap version..including how to clean that sensitive surface at the back of the LCD...some of them are rather trivial though.