now i know this is predominately an NTSC users board, but there are also afew PAL users here, however, considering the ratio of races and formats here, i was wondering if anyone in PAL land experienced the same "faults" with their cam as our NTSC brethren?

Reason i ask is that IMO, pana inadvertantly relased a bad batch of cams...

it wouldnt surprise me if we lined up the serials and they came out to be close to the same batch...

i dunno, but i for onew am a little worried as ive had to import my DVX myself and if anything is gonna happen to it, i want it to to happen within the next 12 months... not after the warratny wears out...

So, now that we know what to look out for re: sensitive heads, SVHS output issues, tape pickiness etc I was wondering if anyone in PAL land had these similar issues?

I personaly havent experienced any issues as yet, apart from the LCD screen which has lines thru it (see my previous post re: Horizontal lines)
These are unnoticable unless your really looking for it, and in all honesty, i think its a power issue but at this time its not worth sending back.
I havent had head issues and i use the consumer pna wet type tapes. These are the ones readily available in Oz (DVM60)
MQ tapes are almost 3 times as much ($26/63 minute tape) and that price cannot be justified when i can get these wet types for $9

so feel free to share ur thoughts and experiences...

am i the only one using wet type tape without having issues?

on a side note, is anyone here using a backup deck as well? ir, DVSync function where the external deck takes over when ur incam tape is almost finished?
Just curious

Are you worried about the tape type or the cam type? If you are having problems, contact Panasonic.

no probs (at the moment) knock on wood, but i was jsut wondeirng as MQ tapes here in oz (or ANY dry type for tha matter) are extremely hard to come by... and when you do, htey are overpriced...

I think i will contact pana now that i have several q's

thanks frank

Greetings from PAL land.

Peter.
I'm using the Panasonic DVM63PQ tapes, and haven't run into any tape or head related problems. In fact I can't remember seeing any dropouts at all so far.

The only problem I've had with my DVX100E is with the analog audio outputs and headphones output. These problems was due to a bad audio board which now has been replaced and everything is working great.

I bought a PAL DVX-100 in Singapore last week and am generally happy with it, but I've been experiencing 2 problems:

1. The optical image stablizer (OIS). This seems to make the image "swim" when shot hand-held on max zoom, or on a walking shot. The sight of a drop of rain on my wide-angle lens actually moving independently of the movement of the camera was very odd. I have a feeling the OIS on this camera over-compensates in the opposite direction to any tremours arising from hand-held work, and overcompensates for too long.

2. The lighter areas of the frame seem to flicker when darker areas within the frame move.

Is anyone else experiencing similar problems? Are there some simple settings on the camera which can remedy them?
Would appreciate any feedback.

James

Peter, i have those same lines in the viewfinder, seems to be a symptom of too low a rez for the size of the screen itself, hence it is showing scan lines. Peter and i purchased it from the same place u did, and had a panasonic rep there and here check it over to see if it is %100.

James, the OIS is like that, you will just have to learn the limitations of movements while hand held.

With the lighter areas, if you are using 'Thin' mode with your camera this is normal, you will have to use a reduce interlace flicker filter with your editing software.

Zac

hmm... Zac, your thoughts and comments are comforting.

Zac, is yours a pal model? Could it be that the LCD cant cope that well with the PAL resolution?

If you have checked it over and its normal i wont worry too much about it.. i DID notice it vanish with colour bars thou..

on a side note, i didnt know audio could be recorded with the colour bars on...

aaaanyways...
I dont seem to have that audio issue thankfully,

see this is what i was tryin to organise...

basically a list of issues which users have so other users can look out for.
Then if we notice that its the same issue over and over again, we can say to Pana, hey wassup with this?

This way we have evidense as well as the knowhow to fix it...

I put up a post about tapes in the MX forum by testing for distortions etc but this these issues are a little more detrimental to the lifespan of this unit.

I actually LOVE the OIS... i think it works wonderfully and teaches your control (it taught me)

James, Thin is set for progressive output. if u have a progressive TV or want to xfer to film, that flicker wont be noticable. You will also notice this flicker occur on interlaced recorded footage which has been rendered as progressive.

thanx for the responses guys :) keep em comin

Thanks Peter, thanks Zac..

will keep em coming :)

Peter, as far as i know winston sent me the exact same model as yours, so yuh PAL.

Those lines are really noticable in 25p mode, it is a rez issue, simple as that. PAL just makes it worse.

Zac

Yeah Zac, totally agree. Pal is good, but i guess thats what we have to put up with for afew thousand dots of extra detail....

I did afew tests with different settings and the colourbar is almost line free..
standard 50i is visible but not that noticable unless youre filming dark areas.
and Progressive with Full Cine & Thin detail is visibly noticable from a distance. (bout 20cm distance but not distorted at least)

Are all these problems in only the PAL unit? Or can they be found on the NTSC?

NTSC here. I have audio issues.

When I use the DVX100 as a transcoder it will not pass audio, only the video.

When I try to capture live to drive (tapeless) it captures video but again there is no audio!

In both instances I am going into Avid XDV for the capture. And yes, there is audio on the tape.
WW

Any BTW how DO you contact Panasonic? I have emailed them twice about this problem and cannot get a response.

William,

What is a transcoder?

Do you think Avid might be the problem? Have you been able to capture to any other systems?

A transcoder changes analog signals to digital video signals.

I don't have another NLE to capture to, but I would be interested in others results.
WW

Oh, like an analog to digital converter? Should the DVX be able to do this on-the-fly?

Yes. Not only the DVX, but most above average camcorders will do this.
WW

Is there any reason why Sony so prominently features their "Analog to Digital Pass-Thru." Is there anything different about their's as opposed to the DVX100's or any other manufacturer's cam's?

No, not that I am aware of.
WW

Being a "cinema" camera the DVX has a "passthru" feature with extended options.

Im not in the studio now so i cant meess with em to tell you what they are, but rest assured, the DVX CAN be used as a passthru, as i have been using it alongside my old DS88 in "chain" mode which allows the DVX to trigger a start record on teh external unit if my tape in the DVX is runnin gat teh end, so u have seemless recording on 2 decks on 2 different tapes.

Id sugest you donwload a trial version of vegas and capture using the VidCap tool. this should work

Sony are driven by the market (as most companies are) and this "passthru" is a good selling feature, so they make it easy for novices and pros alike to be able to link an analogue source to their PC with no further HW required.