I heard from somebody that Panasonic may be doing away with the DVC80 because it is competing with their own DVX100/100A. Is this true? I just checked out www.panasonic.com and couldnt find DVC80 listed anywhere. It is starting to scare me because I just listed my trv950 and all my equipment on ebay just to buy the DVC80.

Get in the way of DVX100a sales? No. But it would compete with the DVC30. Why not e-mail Panasonic Pro USA about it? Do you want their e-mail address?

You're right, the DVC80 is no longer listed on the DV Pro line camcorders page at http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/cat_camcorders.asp. However, consider this. Authorized Panasonic dealers probably still have DVC80 inventory in stock, and service and support are still available (by federal law) for at least seven years past the date of discontinuance. Even if it's no longer being made, it will still operate for you just fine. You might want to get one while you can. Hope this helps,

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : You're right, the DVC80 is no longer listed on the DV Pro line camcorders page at http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/cat_camcorders.asp. However, consider this. Authorized Panasonic dealers probably still have DVC80 inventory in stock, and service and support are still available (by federal law) for at least seven years past the date of discontinuance. Even if it's no longer being made, it will still operate for you just fine. You might want to get one while you can. Hope this helps, -->>>


Yea...I'm just hoping that BH isnt sold out by the time I get the money from the trv950.

I'm glad I got mine a month ago while they where still available. This camera is destined to become a cult classic. This camera is a godsend for those of us slugging it out making industrial and training videos. It has the necessary features at a better price point than what the other manufacturers were offering.

I think the DVC30 is overpriced for the features it has, but I suppose Panasonic figures it can make more money with a cheaper 24p camera. They should have raised the price of the dvc80 $200 and sold the dvc30 at $1995. They would have locked up the market.

Michael

Yeah, I got mine about 3 weeks ago. Glad I did. I was kinda hoping to get another in a little while, maybe I won't be able to. It is a great camera, the more I use it, the more I apprieciate it. It does a great job, great sound and I love all the features including it's little joy stick. Sure will hate to see it go. Is anyone at Panasonic listening?

Craig

Is anyone at Panasonic listening?Nope. :-))

It just seems like a horrible manuever to pull off. I mean, with the prices they had, they could be giving the market a run for its money right now the with dvc30, dvc80, and dvx100a.

> It just seems like a horrible manuever to pull off. I mean,
> with the prices they had, they could be giving the market a
> run for its money right now the with dvc30, dvc80, and dvx100a.

Well, considering that the main difference between the DVC80 and DVX100 is a software issue... guess what can happen to the price of the DVX100a when all that DVC80 inventory is gone... so it might not be all that horrible at all. I suspect they want to get more people steering from the PD170 to the DVX and if they lower the price they will do just that I whink.

It's really pretty sad. The DVC80 hadn't even been out for a year and they've just given up on it.

This camera is a great competitor to the PD150/170. As I've stated before, the Journalism/Telecom Department at the university I work at made a sizeable investment in the DVC80s -- this was a heavy PD150 program just over a year ago and now the DVC80s outnumber the PD150s. The professors in this program have decades of experience in broadcast media/photojournalism/ENG and they say the DVC80 is equal to the PD150. This program works closely with CNN, trading material back and forth. According to another dvinfo member, the Univeristy of Colorado has made a similar investment in the DVC80.

If Panasonic had the guts to stand behind this camera, I honestly believe it would have made a big dent into TV production, taking the place of the PD150/170 in many more crews. Seeing how MTV and others were gravitating to the DVX100, it seems natural that eventually they would pull in a few DVC80s to take the place of some of their PD150s and VX2000s. As one professor at my university (a man with over 30 years experience as an ENG cameraman) said, the DVX100 was $1000 too expensive for news and television work where they'll never use 24p or 30p. But, he said, it's an incredibly priced camera that equals the PD150 in quality and beats it in value.

Unfortunately, Panasonic let the DVX100 take the spotlight and spent little time pushing the DVC80, it seems. And now they throw out a PDX10-type 1/3" chip cam with a bunch of frills. Frills, but a smaller chip that simply won't be as good in some situations as the DVC80's CCDs would fare, nor does it have the native XLRs and phantom power. It seems short-sighted and silly on the part of Panasonic.

Chris, you mention that service will last for at least 7 years. But that isn't the real problem. The problem is more that it takes time for a product to build a following and create a community. The DVC80 has not had enough time to find enough buyers and create a community -- it is painfuly obvious to the few DVC80 owners on this board that out voices our rarely heard above the DVX100 din (and that's no complaint re: the board, Chris -- the DVX is simply a more attractive and interesting cam in many ways). The one lone fellow who tried to create a DVC80 board gave up on it after only a month or two. I try where I can, posting clips of the DVC in action on my website, but it takes time to create a community. With only a year of sales, there simply hasn't been time to sell enough cameras to create the community that the PD150/VX2000, or even the DVX100 have created. *That* is the type of "support" that will truly be sorely lacking for us DVC80 owners, no matter how many years the government declares that Panny must offer customer service on the camera. And let's not even bring up the loss of "legitimacy" that comes with trying to professionally use a camera that barely made it to its first birthday...

Things change, models come and go, but I can't blame it if current owners feel bitter or if would-be owners second guess buying this great cam. It's a shame that Panasonic barely gave the DVC80 enough time to exist.

If anyone's interested, I'm open for a DVC80 support group. I'll keep posting video at my site, both in the regular Videos section, and the direct-link-only page, www.karatemedia.com/video/dvc80.html (http://www.karatemedia.com/video/dvc80.html). The only good thing that might come out of this is getting my hands on a second DVC80 for a fraction of what I bought the first one for.

Profeel.com still shows some in stock at $1987.00. Other discounters have already raised the price $250 above this.

What's B&H selling the DVC80 for?

so it might not be all that horrible at all. I suspect they want to get more people steering from the PD170 to the DVX and if they lower the price they will do just that I whink.As John just mentioned, the DVC80 was already competing nicely with the PD150/PD170.

Frank,

About $100.00 higher than Profeel at $2099.00. Still a good price to me and $200 less than the DVC30.
See

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=277532&is=REG

Mark

Thanks! So it's still a PD170 killer in way of price, and while stocks last.

Well damn. I doubt I will get my hands on one now. Maybe I will be able to find a used one on ebay when I get my money.

How soon do you think you'll have the money? At the end of your auction in 5-10 days? I think you'll still be able to find a new DVC80 somewhere by then -- perhaps even for the next 3-4 weeks; who knows, prices may even start to drop at some point :)

I'd say keep aiming for a new DVC80...

<<<-- Originally posted by John Britt : How soon do you think you'll have the money? At the end of your auction in 5-10 days? I think you'll still be able to find a new DVC80 somewhere by then -- perhaps even for the next 3-4 weeks; who knows, prices may even start to drop at some point :)

I'd say keep aiming for a new DVC80... -->>>


Yea if someone buys it in this auction then it will be in the next few days that I get the money. Dont know if it will sell though because I set a high reserve on it ($1600) because I had no idea the dvc80 would be leaving us so I just figured I would take my time and just try to get as much money out of the camera as possible.

> As John just mentioned, the DVC80 was already
> competing nicely with the PD150/PD170.

I know. That's the point... it makes perfect sense for Panasonic, just drop the DVC80 and sell instead the DVX100A for the price of the DVC80, it's really just the same camera running a different firmware. That will kill PD170 sales. I bet they'll do it.

In the light of the upcoming HDV revolution, this all reminds me of what happened in the last days of Betamax: before dropping the format for VHS and nowing that they would do it, Sony sold some awesome Beta machines for the domestic market with higher bandwidth, S-video i/o, digital processing and stuff like that, they made the best of the format, I think in the end it was just two models, a high-end one with all the feature set and a less expensive simpler deck. I would not be surprised if Panasonic where to be doing simethink like that with the DVX100A and DVC30.

<<<-- Originally posted by Ignacio Rodriguez : it makes perfect sense for Panasonic, just drop the DVC80 and sell instead the DVX100A for the price of the DVC80, it's really just the same camera running a different firmware. That will kill PD170 sales.-->>>

Actually, it doesn't make sense -- at least not to me.

First, the DVX100A is more than just a firmware upgrade from the DVC80. There are fundamental hardware differences, especially due to the DVX100A's 12 bit DSP (the DVC80 has 10 bit DSP). This topic also came up when the DVX100A first came out, when DVX100 owners asked why they couldn't just flash the firmware (the original DVX100 had 10 bit DSP, just like the DVC80). As an additional note, the DVC30 has 12 bit DSP, just like the 100A.

Second, the PD170 is selling at B&H for $3200 (the "email me" price). The DVX100A is selling for $3500. And the DVC80 has been selling for $2100.

There is no reason for Panasonic to drop the price of a camera (that is selling well on its own) by $1400 just to trump the PD170. The DVX100 has been a producer's darling and seems to be selling well on it's own -- why lose $1400 on each sale? They'd have to sell one extra camera for every two and a half (or so) sold, just to meet what they're making now. Why sell it for $1100 less than the PD170? I could maybe see them dropping it to $3000 in order to compete with the PD170. But even if they had the monetary headroom to drop the price by even $1000, I just can't fathom a company doing such a thing. That's not being competitive, that's simply suicide. I just don't see it happening -- be great if it did, but I doubt it will.

Of course you could look at the JVC300U with 12bit processing and 14x zoom with ability to be remotely controlled by the Varizoom controller including focus and iris. All for 2399 at B&H !!!

Ron

I know it won't do any good, but I just e-mailed Panasonic my opinion which echoes many of the sentiments on this board. They need to know. I told them I'd be in the market for a B-roll camcorder in January, and it would never be a DVC30. (Probably a VX2100, unless I can ever find a DVX100A for under $2500.) I don't know if Canon's doing anything with the GL2, but this could be their chance to fill the hole where DVC80s were selling. I'm not ruling them out yet. I just shot a wedding where my assistant used his GL2, and it was a good match to my DVC80 footage. (Reds were a little oversaturated, but that can be adjusted in camera I believe.) I love my DVC80, but the more I'm around GL2s the more I appreciate them; they pack a punch for a small camera!

Cheer up, folks. Life will go on.

Ive been thinking about it and I think they will either bring it back, or create a new camcorder to replace the dvc80. There are just too many people unhappy about this so I'm sure they will realize that they kinda messed up. I also heard from someone who said that they talked to a Panasonic sales rep and he told him they dropped the 80 to up the sales of the 30. But I just dont see that happening. In my views, anybody who was originally looking at the 80 will just end up getting the vx2100 instead. Just my opinion though.

<<<-- Originally posted by Dustin Waits : In my views, anybody who was originally looking at the 80 will just end up getting the vx2100 instead. Just my opinion though. -->>>

Agreed.

If zoom control is a factor in your choice of cameras you might have a look at the DVC30. The camera has an incredible zoom capacity. I was told by a Panasonic rep that they were able to achieve a zoom that crawled so slowly that it took more than 90 seconds to move through the entire zoom range. Also reported that it could zoom through the entire range as fast as one second.

I just finished the NAB show and we had the camera in our booth and many people that tested the camera, including myself, were impressed.

Tom McKay
VariZoom Lens controls

<<<-- Originally posted by Dustin Waits : I heard from somebody that Panasonic may be doing away with the DVC80 because it is competing with their own DVX100/100A. Is this true? I just checked out www.panasonic.com and couldnt find DVC80 listed anywhere. It is starting to scare me because I just listed my trv950 and all my equipment on ebay just to buy the DVC80. -->>>

<<<-- Originally posted by Thomas McKay : If zoom control is a factor in your choice of cameras you might have a look at the DVC30. The camera has an incredible zoom capacity. I was told by a Panasonic rep that they were able to achieve a zoom that crawled so slowly that it took more than 90 seconds to move through the entire zoom range. Also reported that it could zoom through the entire range as fast as one second.

I just finished the NAB show and we had the camera in our booth and many people that tested the camera, including myself, were impressed.

Tom McKay
VariZoom Lens controls

<<<-- Originally posted by Dustin Waits : I heard from somebody that Panasonic may be doing away with the DVC80 because it is competing with their own DVX100/100A. Is this true? I just checked out www.panasonic.com and couldnt find DVC80 listed anywhere. It is starting to scare me because I just listed my trv950 and all my equipment on ebay just to buy the DVC80. -->>> -->>>


I will admit, the dvc30 does look like an excellent camera. But I'm ready for something that I can actually hold onto. The little compact camcorder thing is wearing off on me. The dvc30 resembles the trv950 too much, and I guess you could just say that I'm the type of person that has to have a change every once in a while or I get bored easy. Also, where are the xlr inputs?

Just got the latest issue of Videography in the mail. (Well, it's dated April 2004, but I think it's the latest issue; I just got it yesterday)

GUess what I found inside? A two-page Panasonic ad featuring the DVC80! Now, I know that these things are prepped far in advance of publication, but was the discontinuation of the DVC80 such a last minute decision that they couldn't even pull/change April advertising?

The DVC80 is one of many products in the ad, so it seems it would have been relatively easy to make a last minute change (without screwing up the layout or having to pull the entire ad). So did someone at Panny simply wake up on March 31 and say, "Hey, let's drop the DVC80 tomorrow?" I'd like to think that more forethought than that went into the decision....

Anyway, just my daily DVC80 "Isn't this weird"/"What the heck" rant...

<<<-- Originally posted by Tim Birej : I know it won't do any good, but I just e-mailed Panasonic my opinion which echoes many of the sentiments on this board. They need to know. I told them I'd be in the market for a B-roll camcorder in January, and it would never be a DVC30. -->>>

I feel weird quoting myself, but I wanted to let everyone know about the phone call I got from a Steve at Panasonic. He didn't leave a last name on my answering machine, but he left a number from a 201 area code. In a nutshell, he said that recent price drops -- I assume those made in January when the DVC80 went from MSRP $3299 to $2999 -- made it so that Panasonic "couldn't afford to make them at that price." He also said something about a $500 difference between the DVX100A and the DVC80, which didn't make sense to me because the DVX100A lists for $1,000 more than the DVC80. The rest of his message was a pitch for the DVC30, but he said that if I called him back he could put me in touch with a few dealers that had "hundreds" of DVC80's in stock. If anyone wants his number, e-mail me.

I didn't return his call, as I'm not in the position to purchase another camcorder right now anyway. I'm still not interested in a DVC30. If for no other reason, I prefer a larger pro camera because it's easier to stabilize when shooting handheld. And I want built-in XLRs, not a clunky expensive add-on adapter. If I had to buy a cam today and the DVC80 never existed, I'd probably go for the DVX100A. Forget what I said earlier about a Sony :)

> He also said something about a $500 difference between
> the DVX100A and the DVC80, which didn't make sense to
> me because the DVX100A lists for $1,000 more than
> the DVC80.

Hmmmmm. Preemptive marketing? Perhaps by the time you read this, the DVX100A will be listing for $500 more than the price of the late DVC80. Or perhaps next week :-)

I cant believe it !!!!! ! ! ! !

I just got my DVC80 last month, i went all from guatemala to New York, and then to BH to get it.

AND IT WAS ALL WORTH IT.

I was now saving again for making the trip and buy another one, but today i found out that it is discontinued !... thats crap for my opinion, cause the dvc30 is inferior, and i cant afford the DVX100a...

Damn the one that decided to discontinued it.

Hope panasonic brings a new option better and in the same price as the dvc80 cause i wont be getting another one again, and i loved it...

Yup, I got my DVC-80 about a week before they pulled the plug after reading forums like this one and gleaning what info I could. The breakthrough for me came when I got the chance to actually touch it side by side with the 100 at the DV EXpo back in LA in December.

(Come to think of it, there was a sizable crowd gathered around the 100 the entire time I was there and I was able to play with the 80 alone for a significant length of time, hmmmm.....)

I am so glad I didn't wait another day to order it. I got mine from Pro-Feel for $1987 and have already completed one short doc with it.

I choose the 80 over the 100 because I don't want/need that 24p thing (call me crazy but I actually like the way video looks). And everyone else is right, the 80 was $1,500 to $2,000 cheaper than the 100.

But I'm off track...:(

What I really wanted to say is I agree there was/is a serious lack of info available from actual users/owners of the 80 and I am up for sharing info with anyone about this great camera. The tips I've picked up I had to glean from the 100 forums since they are essentially the same camera.

Anywho, I'm game for sharing tips and info with any other 80 owner out there.

I've had my dvc80 for a couple weeks now and finally have all the accessories to get shooting. I have a couple friends visiting next week who are being enlisted as actors in my first short. I'm all for maintaining a dvc80 community, either by itself or as the self-acknowledged poorer cousins of the dvx crowd.
Let's get shooting.


"Television is the retina of the mind's eye, therefore I will appear on television only on television." -Cronenberg (Videodrome)

Aaron, is profeel a pretty trustworthy source? That price was really low, almost too good to be true...

Profeel is a great business to work with. In my dealings with them, they have never tried to up-sell me or tried the bait-n-switch like some other outfits. They have excellent on-line reviews, are registered with the BBB and their sales staff is helpful and courteous, but be warned. They are not an authorized reseller for Panasonic DV Proline.

This means their Panasonic cameras come with a U.S. warranty, but if you have an out-of-the-box problem with your camera you will likely have to send it back to Panasonic for warranty repair rather than returning the unit and having it replaced by the dealer -- which could leave you without a camera for weeks. I've been very fortunate and have never had to deal with that situation, but that's the piece of mind you have when paying the premium with one of the communities sponsors.

Hope this helps.

-Tim

<<<-- Originally posted by Tim Brown : Profeel is a great business to work with. In my dealings with them, they have never tried to up-sell me or tried the bait-n-switch like some other outfits. They have excellent on-line reviews, are registered with the BBB and their sales staff is helpful and courteous, but be warned. They are not an authorized reseller for Panasonic DV Proline.

This means their Panasonic cameras come with a U.S. warranty, but if you have an out-of-the-box problem with your camera you will likely have to send it back to Panasonic for warranty repair rather than returning the unit and having it replaced by the dealer -- which could leave you without a camera for weeks. I've been very fortunate and have never had to deal with that situation, but that's the piece of mind you have when paying the premium with one of the communities sponsors.
-->>>

Isn't the same case with B & H? That's something I got to know on another Forum, that B & H wasn't an authorized Panasonic dealer.

So if anything happens to your camera you have to wait all that long time you mention. That was told by Jan Crittenden, a Pana rep.

Carlos

Is there access to a list to all the resellers of panasonic ? my DVC80 has a broken piece and i want to find the authorized company down here in guatemala.

B&H is an authorized reseller for the DVX100 and 100A, but not authorized for the SDX900... I'm not sure about Panasonic's other larger shoulder cams, but my instincts tell me they are not.

You can find information on authorized resellers on the Panasonic website under "where to buy."

Hope this helps.

-Tim