I hear ya. Pana Canada is just a small branch office of Pana USA. Same goes with JVC.

That's okay tho since us Canadians can only use gas powered, thermally shielded cams anyways and i'm pretty sure that makes up a very very small percentage of the cams that Panasonic sells.

I think that Sonys outsell Panas in Vancouver. Sharp and Samsung cams are rarely carried.

I wonder why July 4th? That's kind of late into the shooting weather season. Stupid, I think.

June/July is good time to release top-class consumer cams in Japan. Bonus season for regular employees and summer break for students.

When is the NAB by the way?

Don't you find it intriguing that Pany US is not releasing any info on the GS400 unlike their European counterparts?

As for Pany Japan, well let's see what happens in May or June 2004 but that 58mm filter thread is not realistic IMO.

No mention of low-dispersion glass similar to that of GS100 and DVC30?

Don't you find it intriguing that Pany US is not releasing any info on the GS400 unlike their European counterparts?I have a feeling that they're not going to bring it in for fear it will hurt their DVC30 sales. Or, they're busy stripping it down for the USA Market, and that takes a bit of time. :-))

"Low-dispersion glass?" You mean a low-grade Leica lens?

"Low-dispersion glass?" You mean a low-grade Leica lens? -->>>

It's supposed to be a higher grade Leica lens compared to the one they used for the MX5K/953 (that reduces chromatic aberration to 1/3 that of "normal" lens). Pany is so proud of it that they added a row on the comparison table contained in the catalogue to emphasize that only the GS100 has it :-)).

The DVC30 is said to have the same grade of lens but that cam is handled by Pany systems div. (pro line), not by consumer marketing.

What about the MX300/0's Leica glass? Pana wrote that it's quality is pro-grade, capable of over 1500 lines. Did they lie? :-))

<<<-- Originally posted by Frank Granovski : What about the MX300/0's Leica glass? Pana wrote that it's quality is pro-grade, capable of over 1500 lines. Did they lie? :-)) -->>>

I haven't read anything about the type of glass used on MX3000/300 but I don't think Pany lied about it being pro-grade. The 3000 is afterall, a $2000+ cam when it first came out (and most of a cam's cost comes from the lens).

Perhaps the MX5K needed all the improvements, having only 1/6" CCD and diminutive lens, so Pany came out with the Low-Dispersion lens (still tiny though) combined with the Crystal Engine.

BTW, the GS200 does not have low-dispersion lens.

So if the GS400 can better the GS100 and can maintain the price of the GS100, it's gonna be one hell of a nice cam.

I would have been more pleased if the GS400 followed the similar cool contour of the GS100, with a better body finish at the back of the LCD panel :-))

Look here:Pana MX300 Product Info

Leica's Image-Rendering Ability---Leica Dicomar The leadership of Leica in optical technology and know-how that brings the world so many outstanding lenses and cameras is now adapted to the MX300 Digital Video Camera with the especially designed Leica Dicomar lens. It provides superb horizontal resolution equivalent to 1,530 lines of a broadcast camera.How's that for "run-on."So if the GS400 can better the GS100 and can maintain the price of the GS100, it's gonna be one hell of a nice cam.I'm waiting. :-))I would have been more pleased if the GS400 followed the similar cool contour of the GS100, with a better body finish at the back of the LCD panelMe too. Otherwise I'm moving to Japan. :-))

When is NAB? I don't know. They have a website I think. Maybe it's www.nab.org?

I think NAB Las Vegas starts Saturday April 17 (conferences begin tomorrow!) until Thursday April 22 with product displays starting on Monday April 19 through April 22.

I'm waiting to see what new (and affordable) gets released.

www.nabshow.com

www.nab.org

I guess then next week is THE week for all announcements? Like FULL GS400 specs released? The wait is over?

hmm here are "different" specs of the same model but from Pana-ES
http://www.panasonic.es/fichamod.asp?codegam=01&coderang=EN&codeprd=310&codemod=NV-GS400

Hmmm, that says the front thread is 43mm but the zoom is only 10X??? Which differs from Frank's picture and from other (British) postings. I don't think anyone knows what features this camera is going to have...including Panasonic! :-(( The "picture" they are supplying is really just an artist's rendering. Looks more like an avatar than a camcorder.

The 2 pics I posted were taken by Pana Technical; the few specs I posted were from Pana Technical. Hopefully there'll be more specs on route, but I don't think the GS400 is a completed product yet, or at least it wasn't when I posted that info. I should be hearing more about this cam later today or in the next few days. Pana for some reason does have this one tightly under wraps; and I don't know why.

hmm here are "different" specs of the same model but from Pana-ES
http://www.panasonic.es/fichamod.as...odemod=NV-GS400


It also mentions the CCD being megapixel 1/6" x 3, with 800K effective. Well, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this GS400 turns out to be simply a PAL version of the great GS100. So what's going to be released in Japan then?

Even the lens focal range is identical to that of GS100 and MX5K.

Probably trivial but the site mentions the built-in flash to be type GN-05. Just for reference, the GS100K and MX5K use type GN-06 while the new GS200 uses type GN5.5

On top of the speculations, could be lots of typographical errors :-))

Allan,
That link you posted comes up 404. Anyway, I don't think anyone has really been given the real specs for this GS400 version. Who knows, maybe it'll be a miniDVC30???

sorry that I posted the Spanish Pana disinformation.
the specs before were usually taken from more than onse site, and from only sites that were not posting conflicting specs.
(there are few of those, on of them Pana-es)
looks like the Pana-es have no clue what cam is soming, but the rest of the specs from Russia, UK , BE and others point only to the specs I posted before.
but who knows... until I read the specs in my manual at home after I buy it it will never be sure =)

Here's a bit of GS400 info.

http://www.grandeye.com.hk/etx/900/index.html

10X, same CCDs as the MX5 and GS100. Nothing about the widescreen---whether is MX5 widescreen or the better GS100 widescreen.

(1/6" CCDs)

Furthermore, it won't be out until July sometime, Down-Under.

Frank that info you just posted is False!
the info on that page was taken from from Pana-es (there's even a link from that page to the specs on pana-es)
and this is the Only web-page (pana-es) that states those specs.
(which do not make sense by the way, you can't have 4Mega and only 800K pixels IMHO)
anyway... if I had to bet on something, I would stick to the specs posted before =)
(1Megapixel 3CCD etc...)

Trying to disect and reverse engineer "conflicting" technical specifications is becoming to be an art as well as a science here at dvinfo. :)

I just can't see how the 2 in 12X can be mistyped to be a "0" and come up with a 10X. O and 2 are in almost opposite sides of the keyboard. A probable explanation would be the execution of a "cut and Paste" operation from a pre-existing tech spec of another product perhaps and no proofreading was done on the released specs.

Or are all these sometimes conflicting specs just part of a grander conspiracy to tickle the brain cells of the forum members into coming up with a pre-production list of user defined features which can still be included in the final product? hehe :)

=) yeah... it's like cracking the world ;-)

I think thats was the result of incomplete info sent by Pana-headquarters, and they used the old specs (maybe of NV500) and edited-in the available info.

looks like Pana has sent incomplete specs to all international Panas, but seems like each time they send different part of the specs. Thats how we ended up in that mess, but yet being able to put things togather a single spec at a time.. =)

To have a conspiracy the Pana headquarters had to be having smart policy and full control... but that does not seem to be the case =) just look at how they waste the whole potential of the Canadian market, and practically given it away to Canon.

sorry that I posted the Spanish Pana disinformation.That's all right.To have a conspiracy the Pana headquarters had to be having smart policy and full control...but that does not seem to be the case =) just look at how they waste the whole potential of the Canadian market, and practically given it away to Canon.Good Area 51 material, but I kind of agree with you. :-))

Hi Frank,

Just like you have, I tried sleuthing around asking for specs or CCD and lens sizes but came up empty handed. Hope you dont imind (or Pany too) if I place snippets of communication in here?

Please advise.

As an example, here's a snippet from what I received sometime this week:

=======Start of Snippet=======
"I can see that you live in the US, and therefore I have to warn you that NV-GS400 is a European version, with PAL TV system, so it will not work properly in the US, where you use NTSC TV system. We suggest that you visit the US web site; www.panasonic.com.

NV-GS400 will not be introduced before July/ August in the Nordic countries.

Med vennlig hilsen / Best Regards

Panasonic Norge
Branch of Panasonic Nordic AB"

=======End of Snippet=========

I got more snippets if you think it's okay to share :)

That's funny. Sure, more "snippets" please. Can't hurt. The snippets are information, afterall. :-))

PS: Maybe tell Pana over the pond you want NV-GS400 info because you what PAL because it has more lines. Don't forget to post their answer here. :-))

Okay then! Don't be disappointed as I did come out empty handed.

here's another one:
=======Start of Snippet=======
Thank you for your visit on our homepage and your interest in our products.

Unfortunately, we are not doing any export business and therefore, we do not have leafflets in foreign languages.

For further information we kindly ask you to contact Panasonic in New Jersey. The address is as follows:

Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company
1 Panasonic Way
Secaucus, NJ 07094
USA

Phone: 201-348-7000
Fax:201-348-7016

Yours faithfully,

Panasonic Deutschland GmbH

-Marketing Support-
=======End of Snippet=========

More to come!

And yet another one...

=======Start of Snippet=======
Unfortunately, we didn't heared about this model at all.
You can find some simaler models on the web-site
www.panasonic.co.uk

Best regards
********************************************************
XXXXXXXXXXX
Panasonic Engineering CIS Ltd.
Russia, 119021, Moscow, Rossolimo, 17
Tel: (095) 725-05-65, 258-42-04

=======End of Snippet=========

And yet one more.....

=======Start of Snippet=======

Greetings from Panasonic Malaysia.

Please be informed that we are unable to assist you on this matter because
the model is not available. Please visit the following web site to locate
the Matsushita Sales organization providing customer support in your country
http://www.panasonic.co.jp/cs/global <http://www.panasonic.co.jp/cs/global>

=======End of Snippet=========

Hi Frank,

That's a good suggestion. I did try to to solicit again telling them to send it to me when available but i'll try your spin of wanting a PAL version and I'll post the reply here. :)

Here's their last reply so far (snippet 1) ...and the rest i'm just attaching here so i don't use up to much space.....

Snippets 3 and 4 give numbers to call for manuals but i don't have money to spend long distance. I think sniippet 4 is panasonic espanya!

=======Start of Snippet 1=======

Sorry, but we do not have this information yet.
However, I will be happy to send it to you as soon as we get it!

Med vennlig hilsen / Best Regards

Panasonic Norge
Branch of Panasonic Nordic AB

=======Start of Snippet 2=======

Thank you for your inquiry. We do not have any technical specifications
for Panasonic PV-GS400 at this time.

Thank You,
Panasonic Consumer Support

=======Start of Snippet 3=======

You can order a manual from Order Hemelektronik in Helsingborg
tel nr 042-25 23 70
08.30 - 12.00
About the size questions, check with our sales dept. for consumer products
tel nr 08-680 2600
13.00 - 15.00

Panasonic
Receptionen

=======Start of Snippet 4=======

Please, call to 902 15 30 60.
The manuals aren't free.
Our country code is 46 and city code 08
= 46 08 680 2600

=======Start of Snippet 5=======

We don't have the technical information about this camera, we think that it will be august when we have more technical information.

Kind regards,

Met vriendelijke groet,

Panasonic Infocentre
tel: (073)6402802
fax:(073)6402812
www.panasonic.nl

=======End of Snippets=========

I just about choked from puffing my pipe reading those! :-))

LoL! Well, what can I say! good thing I dion't have a pipe here with me now! ;)

Okay, just one last one then. A translated (babelfish) french reply:

We thank you for l'intérêt that you carry to our Mark. You ask a spare part, a technical diagram or for a d'emploi mode. Our statute d Importator does not allow us you l'adresser directly. Also, we invite you to contact l'un our technical centers of which you will find the co-ordinates hereafter: STAV 14 street Desaix B.P. 81 002 67451 MUNDOLSHEIM CEDEX Tel.: 03.88.20.43.30/stav.pce@wanadoo.fr Fax: 03.88.33.91.56 or TEVISO Z.A. of Terrefort B.P. 71 33 530 BRUGES Tel.: 05 56 28 96 36 Fax: 05 56 28 53 72 teviso@teviso.net We wish you a pleasant day. Sincere greetings, The Service Consumers

There you go Frank! that's it for now! I think i'll give it some time before I go fishing for more information again. And i can't order those manuals even if they did exist as they're not in my budget But.... I'll buy an NV-GS400 if there's one available right now hehe ;)
Anyway, Maybe something will come out of the NAB. You think?

Hehe. :-)) Nothing new at NAB so far, except vapourware. :-((

Frank, You have that right.

Do you think NAB has any relevance for the under $5K prosumer camcorder market? It seems that they are higher-end focused and that may not be the right forum to look for under $5K prosumer camcorder announcements.

Nick

hmm hey.. here's an idea...

find e-mails of Matsushita japan (the owner pf Panasonic) and complain about the mismanagemant of Pana-Canada, hige prices, lost profit and market share.
=)
I coudn't find appropriate e-mail to send something like this. =/
(in "contact" you are redirected to the "local"-pana, the rest is in Jap. )

Nick, I haven't heard any new cam announcements from NAB even in the 5K & up price range, except for vapourware. Maybe they're still coming, I don't know. Watching and waiting.



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Has Pana USA announced the PV-MX3000 yet?