Here are a few recent screen shots at 60i 4:3 format. The DVC30 has a little trouble with reds but I believe this is typical of smaller chip cams. Photos were converted from .bmp to .jpeg

Regards,

Mark

http://www.uploadyourimages.com/view/209768test1_copy.jpg

http://www.uploadyourimages.com/view/059151test2_copy.jpg

http://www.uploadyourimages.com/view/445170test3_copy.jpg

http://www.uploadyourimages.com/view/716352test4_copy.jpg

Very cool frame grabs Mark. About the reds, I'd thought red was an awkward colour for most mini DV cams - could it not be limitation of the format?

Those were some serious jaggies on the second shot, and to a lesser extent on the forth, using frame mode would elimintate this altogether, and I have found that when shooting things like windy trees, and other similar movement, it looks very nice - much less 'vidoey'.

That little fly thing reminds me of some kind of cool space alien ;)

Good grabs though, were you up close and macro'd or far away and zoomed in to get the shallow DOF (are you using a screw in ND filter?).

I'm gonna post some grabs today (hopefully) the weather hasn't been good though - overcast, sometimes heavy rain, the worst for shooting.

Dave.

Thanks Dave,

All shots were up fairly close. Yea, the jaggies look bad on the still but ok on the video stream. It might of had something to do with the frame I grabbed, movement from wind, the 1/60 speed I typically use or the conversion from .bmp to .jpeg. I just don't know. Anyway post some grabs when you can. I am really interested in what tweaks others have discovered.

Regards,

Mark

just curious to know how this cam fares in low light situations (re: Weddings) as im lookin to buy one of these as a lil bro to the DVX100...

any thoguhts or comments would be greatly appreciated...

<<<-- Originally posted by Tommy Haupfear : There have been tests (by Boyd Ostroff) of comparing the VX2000 16:9 mode to that of the PDX10 and there is quite a difference. -->>>

Tommy, I thought it was worth revisiting those tests since they were done about a year and a half ago and really weren't very scientific. To accurately measure vertical resolution the test chart needs to be aligned such that it just fills the frame vertically, which it wasn't in the old tests. And the old images were low quality JPEG's that had been converted to grayscale.

I just re-shot my tests and put them on a new web page here (http://www.greenmist.com/dv/16x9). This is a pretty large webpage (~3MB) that contains high quality jpegs along with tech data about exposure, etc.

Neither camera can attain the full 480 theoretical lines of vertical resolution in either 4:3 or 16:9 mode, as some form of field blending is applied on 60i cameras in order to prevent thin horizontal lines from flickering on and off in alternate fields. However the PDX-10 has 16:9 vertical resolution that is almost as good as 4:3 mode. As you might expect, the VX-2000 really falls apart in 16:9.

From what I understand the DVX-100a can capture the full 480 lines of vertical resolution in progressive mode however. If so, that would give results similar to the PDX-10. If anyone can repeat my test with a DVX-100a, I'd love to see the results and would be happy to include the images on my webpage.

Peter,

I can't say how well its low light ability is compared to the DVX100, but I can say it is a tad better that the Canon GL-1. I shoot a lot of stuff in the deep woods and used the GL-1 for 3 years. There were some scenes I just couldn't get with the GL-1 without raising the gain which is unacceptable for the type image that I like to get. With the DVC30 in similar situations I have yet to have to do this. I know this sounds very subjective, not using charts, tests etc. but experience has got to count for something.

Regards,

Mark

mark, thanx for the feedback!
thats exactly what i wanted to hear!

Boyd, thanks for the updated testing on the VX2000 and PDX10. That really puts things in perspective.

As for the lowlight on the DVC30. Even without using this cam in low light you know that it will mostly likely perform similar to another 1/4" 3CCD cam with non-megapixel CCDs. Just don't expect 1/3" 3CCD (VX2000,DVX100, XL1S) low light performance from the DVC30.

<<<-- Originally posted by Mark Williams : Since the manual is somewhat lacking I have two questions.

1. The manual lists the video quantizing as 8-bit. However, advertising lists it at 12-bit. Anyone know what is correct?

2. Also, the review in camcorderinfo.com states "The 30 frames progressive scan mode can be disabled for times when it is not appropriate for the shooting circumstances, and CineGamma can be activated on its own." I interpret this as meaning CineGama can be activitated at 60i normal 4:3 mode. If so, does anyone know the exact steps to do this in the menu? -->>>

Mark - Did you ever get answers or figure this out. I'm also wondering if there's any way to control the ND filters. The manual mentions it in the specs but I see nothing in the menu to do this.

Thanks,
Gary

hey guys the dvc-30 kills te vx-2000 and 2100 in daylight and cannons xl-1 and gl-2 must be that 12bit rgb processor it inhertited from its father the dvx100a and the frame mode on the cannon looks like crap cmpared th the dvc-30s cinegamma frame mode hery dont forget pana invented the technology.

Has anyone actually used the cinegamma mode with this cam? I use the DVC30 a fair amount because it sits on my Merlin Steadicam well. I shoot live music events with it and normally post the video to You Tube. Usually light is minimal and full of greens, and reds. I have to colour correct somewhat to get rid of the full red lighting conditions.