I thought you guys were going to report your findings on the DVC 30 and DVX 100a at the DV expo.. i was most interested in the lux rating of DVC 30 and pricing.. Please help

yes same here looking to get either a dvc80 or DV953 int he next mounth. can't decide which but if this thing has the right features and has a street price in the 1700ish range I'll be on it in a heartbeat

I'm buying a new prosumer camera in February when I get my College finance check :).
Only one thing would prevent me from buying a GL2, and that's good reports on the DVC30 corder.

I do a fair amount of infrared recording with a sony camcorder, and was thinking about getting a TRV80 so I could shoot real Progressive IR, and was going to buy the GL2 for a Movie Short I'm producing for the 2005 Sundance.

It would be nice if I could kill 2 birds with one stone and get a great documentary camera I could also use to shoot IR. I really hope we get some reports on this thing!

I saw the DVC30 today at DV Expo and it is a very impressive, very sweet little 3-chip camcorder. Awesome for what it is, to say the least. I didn't ask about low-light or minimum lux because those factors always have, always will be utterly meaningless to me. You want light, you add light, period. That said, there is a separate IR emitter available for the DVC30 that throws about 30 feet and the demo of this looked great at the show (it is a grayscale IR image, but very clean). The DVC30 is jam-packed with just about all the DVC80 features in a very handy, stylish little camcorder. It just might be my new favorite, and I'm willing to bet it'll make a bit of a splash. They told me April availability (show sample was a pre-production model) at about $2600 list. It had four scene file settings opposed to six on the DVC80, pretty much the same internal menu, 16x zoom. It looks like an excellent little camcorder, not surprising for Panasonic who's at the top of the game at the moment. DVC30 is a winner. Hope this helps,

anyword on 16:9 or frame mode?

I'm a little bummed since I just bought the 80 and could use the 16x and the lighter weight of the cam for my flowpod. I hate to take a depreciation hit on trying to resell the 80 so soon. At 2600 MSRP it will probably be somewhere around 2k on the street but that's probably without the XLR attachment. I wonder what they will charge for that option? Probably around $200. Well it will take a while to get some reviews from users and no point in considering buying before then.

lux, lux, lux... damn you guys.. This is important for us event and wedding folks.. Please help... Im assuming 7 like the competitors ie. Sony Pdx10.. Anyone know??? Thanks

Of interest to me are manaul gain control and wired remote zoom control. If these are the same as the DVX100 control this will be a great little camcorder. Gain in a menu is still Ok but not as good as the switch on the DVC100 and DVC80.

Ron Evans

The Panasonic brochure for the AG-DVC30 claims:

"With high sensitivity, high resolution and a high S/N that suppresses noise in dark portions of an image, the AG-DVC30 is ideal for nightime news gathering. It delivers the best image quality in its class."

I assume that class includes the GL2 and PDX10.

thus 7 lux : ( I assume the same.. I guess i was just wishing for 3 lux in that camera.. sigh*

<<<-- Originally posted by Jon Kamps : anyword on 16:9 or frame mode? -->>>

See the brochure .PDF here:
http://www.panasonic.co.jp/bsd/sales_o/02products/products/ag-dvc30/ag-dvc30.pdf

Yes it has frame mode. Didn't see any mention of 16:9.

<<<-- Originally posted by Scott Plowman : thus 7 lux : ( I assume the same.. I guess i was just wishing for 3 lux in that camera.. sigh* -->>>

No lux ratings have been posted. It'll be confusing because technically the camera is capable of 0 lux images, in black and white. It is the only 3CCD camera that has infrared night-shot style shooting, so you could shoot in absolute darkness and still get clear video (although B&W).

It also has slow shutter speeds for further improved (although blurrier) low-light performance.

But I haven't seen any specs on what the low-light performance is in 60i mode.

Barry thanks for your help.. 0 lux i think means with the infrared feature in B&W my concern is for wedding and event low light situations is that infrared wont work... Thanks again for your help Barry.. If im inccorect please let me know on the 0 lux thing

If anyone knows please tell us on the standard mode lux rating.. Thanks

Chris, did you hold the DVC30 in your hands? What material ist he body? Does it feel sturdy and well balanced? would you say it holds similar to a TRV950?

The second that DVC30 becomes available I'll put the DVC80 for sale.....if anyone becomes interested- you'll know how to find me (hehehe)

16X zoom is what I need........I just hope this thing comes out soon!

Steve:

I'll be very interested in you DVC80, feel free to shoot me an e-mail with a price, and please let me know the condition and hours of usage of the '80.

Thanks...

Dan,-sent ya an e-mail.

Please tell me the DVC 30 has a thread front lens???? Please don't tell me they made the same mistake the JVC designers did when they designed the Streamcorder and put a non-removeable front shade on and no provision for screw-on lenses and filters........just say it aint so!!!!!

Yang,

<< Chris, did you hold the DVC30 in your hands? >>

No, it was tripod-mounted and I wasn't going to ask them to remove it. Their booth was very busy, and as one exhibitor to another, I'm not going to mess up their flow with a request like that. Too bad they only had that one in the booth to show.

<< What material ist he body? >>

Magnesium alloy as is the DVC80, with a tough plastic shell on the outside, just like other cams in this range.

<< Does it feel sturdy and well balanced? would you say it holds similar to a TRV950? >>

Sorry, can't say for sure. Looking forward to actually getting my hands on one, I'm pretty sure they'll show it again at C.E.S. in Vegas in January and also VideoMaker Expo West in L.A. in January.

Chris- did you happen to notice if it had a threaded lens element or provisions for adding on lenses or filters?

I can't see any thread sizes.....was hoping for 58mm or better.

Steve, I didn't see the lens front, but I'd be *very* surprised if it wasn't threaded -- Panasonic doesn't make mistakes like that. It's probably a common size like 58mm.

Thanks Chris- that's reassuring.......I just can't wait til that thing comes out!

Steve, availability is not until late March, don't sell your DVC80 just yet!

Doesn't sound hopeful for a quality 16:9 mode on the DVC30.

Judging by the low pixel count it looks like they are aiming more towards 4:3 with good low light. Most 4:3 consumer/prosumer cams with little to no resolution loss in their 16:9 modes have at least 800k pixels per CCD (and OIS if you're lucky).

Anyone else have any info on the 16:9 mode?

Pretty much the same info thats in the PDF Brochure:

http://www.globalmediapro.com/video/products/Panasonic_AGDVC30E_DV_CameraRecorder_PAL--1002.html

-Bo

The cine-like gamma curve and 30-fps (25-fps in PAL model) frame recording function* create moving images that are virtually identical in appearance to movies made with film cameras.


So you can have the look of film but limited to the aspect ratio of a 4:3 TV... ??

Anyone else going to catch Return of the King tonight on their local 4:3 theater?

Maybe Matsushita should include these glasses as a supplied accessory.

http://lonestar.texas.net/~bdub/earl/goggles.htm

LOL

movig back to the topis, just wondering if anyone here knows if this cam wll have a stil shot function.
Reason i ask is that i am looking at one of these as a replacement for the MX500....

i use the MX500 stil shot quite alot... and its actually become part of my product offerings..

any ideas???

i cant find anything on it :(

Seriously. If you want to take still shots, invest in a nice digital camera for $300.

I would never look for a digital still picture option as being a deciding factor in purchasing a camcorder like the AG-DVC30.

I'm much more interested in picture quality, how it handles 16:9, Frame mode, low light ability and how much can be adjusted as far as gamma, white balance, and all those other nice picture tweaks you can do.

Price too, but if it retails for 2600, then street price should be around 2300 or so which puits it square in my range.

I was going to buy a new camcorder in February, but I may just wait until April if this camcorder meets up to our expectations.

Heck, by then the GL3 might be out and blowing away the DVC30!

Megapixel camcorders stills are about worthless but switch them over to 640x480 and I've been fairly impressed on my last few cams.

Here are some VGA 640x480 stills from my Sony PDX10 and Panasonic DV953. Getting macro shots couldn't be easier.

PDX10

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/74415/pdx10(1).jpg

DV953

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/74415/Picture360.jpg

Of course my Canon 10D can do a lot better but in a pinch the latest cams can pull off some great VGA stills for email or web. I find myself using the still function a lot lately and I like the fact that most cams allow you to save VGA stills to card even while you're recording video to tape.

BTW - any more news on a quality widescreen mode on the DVC30? If not then I'll be keeping my new GS100.

thanks for the response arthur, but im already using a nikon 5700 which is for the more professional looking shots (im a videogrpaher so photogrpahy isnt a priority) however i also use the still shot function of the mx500 as i find even though the images are interlaced, they are perfect for web, multimedia and email purposes (the additional product) i was referring to...

Im actually into what Tommy is describing, being for these online and cdrom formats, and on a television, these still images are more than sufficient quality.

so does anyone have the lowdown??

Id like to replace teh MX and use a DVC30 as a lil bro the DVX, but the still image factor is only goin to assist me n deciding on whether to sell the MX or not :)

Tommy,
I'm not a big Sony fan but that frame grab from the PDX10 was good. Of course with macro focus is critical but the DV953 didn't look quite as sharp as the leaf with dew that the PDX10 showed.

Oh yea, did you help that fly get out of the grips of that killer plant or did the fly become "toast"?

Happy Holidays, Nick

Maybe Steve is right in waiting for the DVC30 for his nature shooting.

But I wonder if the DVC80 won't provide a better all around quality for not so specific applications.

In my opinion the 80 should blow the PD170 and VX2100 out of the water, and it's a pity Sony didn't acknowledge that when they released the new models.

Sony and Canon should have suffered a lot with the DVX100 release, and likely new Canon versions at NAB2004 may provide some relief. Though if they don't go for 24p or native 16:9, their sales shouldn't go up that much.

Sony's apparent policy of not harming their upper lines with the "pretending prosumer" market is probably making them a lot of harm. But will they wake up to that?

In my case, it's quite likely I will be buying an 80 or 100a in January 2004.


Carlos