I'm looking to purchase a wide-angle lens for my DV953. I have no specific FOV goal, but at least 1.5x the FOV of the lens at 1x zoom would be preferable. As most of you probably know, it has a 43mm threaded mount on the front of the lens. What're my choices in terms of screw-on wide-angle lenses, and where can I buy? I checked out B&H, but they don't seem to carry anything this low-end. Any thoughts on suppliers?

I was also curious if anyone has actually used an XLR adapter (like a Beachtek or Studio 1) on the GS400 and how they thought this worked out. (contact quality on the 1/8 jack, noise or interference) I have used these on my GL1, wondered how it performed on the GS400.

Thanks

Was wondering how this camera is for capturing caucasion skin tones? Overall color reproduction?

I know the color on this cam isn't as saturated as the GL1 and PDX or even the GS400 (as I am told), but do the color/image controls live up as advertised, such as adjusting the pedestal, chroma and color temp? I am assuming I can ramp up saturation in post if I really want it.

I appreciate any honest input on this. Also,

Someone also said that the GS400 is sharper in 4:3 interlace than DVC30, anybody have any experience with that either?

Brian

I live in china and on the websites here (including panasonic's) they have a cam with the same specs and appearance as the dvc30 but its called the dvc33 (and obviously a PAL version).
Would this be the same cam but just with a different number?
by the way the DVX100 is called DVC180 over here. Weird eh?
Why would they do this but only for some cams, the GS400 is still the GS400, GS120 is still GS120 etc..

http://www.fortvir.net/gallery/DV953/mx500_03?full=1

Hey guy took the gs400 to manhattan seems like its not going back so far no motor noise or hiss on the audio going to ge two year mack warranty at bandh thanx for the input to all

Excuse the violation...

Hi,

I wasn't sure what section to put this in, but here it is. I dont know how many any members on this board have been following the development of the Micro35 (www.micro35.com) over the last year? Well, if not, in essence it is a 35mm adapter that has come from a few postings on how to build something to a commercial offering.

I am looking at getting one myself, however James & Brian (the guys behind it) haven't tested it on a GS400 yet. However they are more than willing to test it if they can get there hands on a GS400. Well I live in Australia, so I am a little uneasy about sending my baby through the post to LA.

So I was wondering if there is anyone interested who lives in the LA area who would be interested in teaming up with Brian/James to test the rig out on the GS400?

If your interested drop me an email "info at robertrobertproductions.com", or you can get it from my site @ http://www.robertrobertproductions.com.

Cheers

Robert

Hi, I made a clip using FX1's HDV footage and covered some parts with footage shot by GS400's frame mode. You will be surprised how well it merged in despite the resolution difference.

My blog post about this study (including the links to the video files) (http://www.xtream.ne.jp/content/blogcategory/48/62/)

Hi all ..

I have Panasonic camera model nv-gs50 ..

my friends ask me if we can make movies by this mini camera ..

i have cinema software i can put some effects in Snapshot ..

if there any one have experience about how take snapshot in minicam :|

Thank you

Wasn't sure where to post this, but figured since I used the GS-150 for most of this project, people might be interested how it looks used on a short film.

A friend and I decided to enter a film contest here at my school last week. We just wanted to see what we could do with a camera, 7 days, and iMovie. We ended taking first place in the competition, which I'm still having a hard time believing. Anyways, just thought I'd make a post here about it since this site has helped me so much in educating me as to what tools are available on a students budget.

Let me know what you guys think

The Incident at Telegraph Hill (http://www.campusmoviefest.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IdeaFlow.woa/wa/showAMovie?movieID=720)

Hello again,

The saga continues. Two nights ago I was capturing some footage onto my powerbook, my son touched the closed tape transport door VERY SOFTLY and I started getting some heavy banding and horrible screeching sounds.

When I had reset everything, I couldn't capture to the laptop. I discovered that the timecode was not changing on the camera.

After further investigation, I've discovered that the camera has full funcionality in camera mode, and most functionality in VTR mode, except that the motor doesn't engage when I select Play.

Any ideas on this one?

so ive bene meaning to buy a camcorder for ever, and today i will go out and purchase this thing. i know it's not the best out today and for an extra few hundres i could get a 400, but im on a budget due to it being xmas time right now. im a noob to video, so i thought i should start off with something affordable.
i'll be using this camera for:
skateboarding
live local bands
short films
other random stuff.

so, someone tell me. should i buy this camera? or should i just go for an Elura 85 instead? i need some decent low light performance for filming at club shows.

For around $500 I think the PV-GS65 is a great buy and from what I've seen it does noticeably better in low light than the Elura 85. I'm not talking about night and day difference but the colors keep longer in the PV-GS65 in dim lighting and with less noise.

Not sure if it matters but the Elura does offer a higher resolution 16:9 mode.

Good luck and let us know what you go with!

Does this camera have a LANC jack?

Is there a way to prevent the camera from going to sleep when paused?

Does it have real 16:9? I'm really confused about this. I've seen people express doubt about it in previous posts. But the test that Camcorderinfo.com did measured 524.1 horizontal lines of apparent resolution and 219.9 vertical lines in 4:3 mode, compared to 545.1 to 256 in widescreen mode. That sure sounds like real 16:9 to me.

Which is better in low light, the GS250 or the Optura 60? Camcorderinfo.com declared the GS250 the winner, but the Optura 60 has slower shutter speeds available which I doubt they factored into their test. I think that the Optura 60 actually does pretty well at a 30th of a second. Comparing the GS250 (using gain) and the Optura 60 (at a 30th of a second), which camera wins?

Which has more accessible controls, the Optura 60 or GS250?

Which camera has a better contrast range, Optura 60 or GS250?

Hi,

My younger brother got this small ccd-cam for his birthday, but I just CAN NOT figure out how to activate the nightvision function. You know the one where it uses infrared light.

I've browsed alot through the manual, but the only thing I can find is a nightfunction, where the shutter is just cranked way up. Result = alot of light, but unuseable camera.

In front of the camera there's a blue/purple'ish plastic shell covering a bulb of some kind. I definately looks like an infrared function, but maybe it's just IR for a remote?

Can someone please clarify?

Okay, I have a pv-dv953 with standard battery. It seems the battery is crapping out. For some reason, it will only take half an hour to charge and then when i put the battery in camera it starts out with about 75% charge and rapidly goes down to 0...what to do..

Is this the battery it came with? If so its probably time for a new one as two years is about max of regular use. I have even less luck with laptop batteries which I barely get 12 months out of.

thank's to help from Allan and others in this forum who helped me to decide which cam to buy I own since about a year my first video cam, a japanese Panasonic GS400. I am very happy with it, but I'd be much more so if there was an option to change the menu to English.
Therefore my questions:

- Has anybody successfully changed the menu to English yet?

- Or does anybody have the English manual for the japanese GS400? Yes, manuals specially made for people who cannot read japanese but use the japanese GS200 or GS400 do exist, though only in the form of Xerox copies. They feature the original japanese characters as found on the menus in the cam and translates them to English. When I had bought my cam I was shown such a manual for the GS200, the one for the GS400 was not in stock and I did not order it then because besides having to wait 2 weeks and paying 25 bucks - then - I had thought that I would not need it. It should be much more useful then the manual for the US model NV-GS400 which I am using after downloading from a link given in this forum. It's biggest shortfall being not listing the final options of each menu in it's 'list of menus' as it asumes that one reads them directly on the cam's menu displayed on it's LCD...

If anybody had this manual I would appreciate very much if it could be made available for download.
If not but there are others interested I will try to get it on my next trip to Japan ( which could be still a few months from now ) and to make it available for download.

Is it worth it to get the new one with a year warranty for 175 dollars more? You could look at it like the same price as the GS150. Just wondering the deal is at newegg.com? I wish I could get a GS400 but maybe later :-)

Thanks for the great forum!

I have a Panasonic pv dv953, and I cannot connect it to my computer. I've tried my computer, my friend's computer and my mom's computer with s-video, firewire and usb, and nothing seems to be working. There's a tape in my camera, it's on, set to play, but nothing happens when I plug it into my tower.

It used to work with firewire on my mom's computer, but now it won't work at all. Do the settings need to be set to something specific for it to work?

HI EVERYONE WHISH U AL A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
I AM VAMSHI FROM SOUTH INDIA. I AM GETTING IN TO CINEMATOGRAPHY. SO I THOUGHT OF BUYING A HANDY CAM TO TAKE LOT OF SHORT FILMS. AFTER GOING THROUGH LOT OF REVIEWS I BOUGHT GS 150 GC. I TOOK 3 SHORT FILMS IMMEDEATLEY WITH OUT WASTING TIME. I HAVE A COMPUTER IN HOME IN WHICH I HAVE ADOBE PREMIER PRO. MY FRIEND EDITS IT. AFTER EDITING ONE SHORT FILM I NOTICED THER IS SOME QUALITY LOSS IN PICTURE. I CAN SEE PIXELS TO SOME LOW EXTENT. WHY THIS HAPPENS. I HAVE SHOT ALL THESE IN DAY LIGHT IN MANUEL MODE AND AUTO MODE TOO. WITH MEDIUM SHOTS ONLY NOT CLOSE . CAN ANY ONE GIVE ME SOME INFO ABOUT THIS. IF I WANT TO GET THE CLEAR QUALITY OF THE WORKS WHAT SHOULD I DO. WHAT ARE THE THINGS I SHOULD HAVE IN MIND BEFORE SHOOT AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS I SHOULD CONCENTRATE AFTER SHOOT. PLS GUID ME.

U CAN MAIL ME AT focusinn@hotmail.com

thakn u
lov vamshidharan

Just little off topic.

It is quite rude to post your message in capital letters.

Regards
Leigh

GS400 - Just want to make sure I won't get any rear vignetting by using the 43mm when zooming through? ... In other words is the 43mm a clean fit with no hassles or should I go a bigger mating thread for the Raynox and use a step up ring?

Thanks, Simon

When I switch to manual mode the top level adjustments are white balance, shutter speed and iris/gain.
If I want to fix one item, like shutter, and have the camera auto-adjust the exposure (iris/gain), how would I do that? It does seem to notice the last automatic value before switching to manual and carry it over.
Second if I want an exposure adjustment: say 1 value (3db) above whatever the camera would have chosen automatically while adjusting for any changes in scene brightness - is there a way to do that?
The manual does not go into detail and I wouldn't be suprised if the cam has more options than the manual explains.

Most of the time I can see a good enough workaround: set the gain manually when I begin filming and accept or clean it up later if the light level changes.
If the image appears dark in the viewfinder shoud I lean towards over or underexposure? I'm sure I could darken with an editor; I suspect you can't do much about a shadowed out detail.

I wouldn't have known about the 852 without this board. 2yrs later it's still all the cam I need, though I wish it had IR b+w mode for really dim conditions - b+w with good greyscale nuance can be quite attractive.

btw, if anyone reading wants a 43mm (no adaptor needed) .66 WA lens, Adorama has such. Not the cheapest but it claims no distortion. Same filter is avail in 49 and 52 also.
http://www.adorama.com/RXHD6600P43.html

Something that doesn't use the camcorder's battery is prefered. Thanks ahead. Budget is flexible.

OKay confession time. I spend my time on all these forums because I just enjoy film making techniques etc. I am actually a writer not a technical person. Although if i do say so myself, over the last 2 years here and other sites i do know and understand very much. I digress..

Anyhow, I have never bought a DV cam in my life. Never. So, i am going on holiday this year with my many 35mm adapters which i have bought. So i am thinking of buying a gs400 very seriously, because i think it will be great for an enthusiast/wannabe film maker like me. However can someone answer some questions for me?

1. I am buying the pal version, will it be 25p or 25f. i.e. if it's 25f and deinterlacting fields and not true progressive will it loose resolution?
2. in pro-cinema can i still adjust the shutter speed?
3. is it true 16:9 mode, do i loose resolution if it is not 16:9 mode?
4. is there much motion blur in 25f mode?

What i plan to do with my footage is use a 35mm adapter, shoot a mini documentary for the family on holiday, then crop to 2.35.1

So guys, can you help me?

The PAL version of GS400 is 25fps interlaced. It is not progressive. The Pro-Cinema function records at a rate of 25 frames per second and the manual warns you will get a strobe like effect if you use it.

The ccds produce a native 4:3 720 x 576 picture. Nevertheless the 16:9 mode (also 720 x 576) produces, to my eye, a very acceptable 16:9 picture. I now use it all the time. Note that the 16:9 mode is different from the 16:9 Pro-Cinema and Cinema functions - which are inferior in my opinion. I have never used these other 16:9 functions seriously so I cannot comment on blur. I do not suffer from blur in the basic 16:9 mode.

I have no experience of using a 35mm adapter. My suggestion would be to experiment with the camera as it is before fitting one. It is more important to buy a couple of ND filters and a polarising filter, especially if you will be shooting in bright sunlight.

bigger thread are recommended because of less liklyhood of vignetting.
many use 58mm, I use 52mm thread.

I have between $400 and $500 to spend on a digital video camera. I have narrowed it down to the Canon Optura 50 and the Panasonic PV-GS180. I plan to use the camera for production of some educational videos as well as a bit of documentary type work. I will be distributing the videos on DVD and on a web site. I have done a bit of digital video already using a borrowed Panasonic PV-GS15, but I want to move up to a quality of production that viewers can take more seriously.

As far as quality of video, does anyone have any real experience with these two cameras?

I have read some reviews and basically the advantages of the PV-GS180 are that it has 3 CCDs and has slightly better low light performance, while the Optura 50 has a larger image sensor, optical image stabilization, and a focus ring.

In general use in fairly good lighting, which can I expect to produce better quality video? Is one larger sensor better than three? I just want the best quality video for the money. Any input on which would be the better camera would be greatly appreciated as I do not have a way to test them in person. If you know of any other cameras to look at in the price range, I’d appreciate it too. Thanks!

I doubt you could go very wrong with either models, both are very nice.

A few points:
I don't think the GS180 has a high-resolution native 16:9 mode. I just looked at the manual and it makes references to "the picture quality may deteriorate" and "Images are vertically stretched". See the manual for more details and/or get input from owners, but this sounds like the CCD gets cropped to a 16:9 shape and the image is then digitally stretched. If that is the case, the Optura's 16:9 video will be noticeably sharper.

Also, I don't think the GS180 has manual audio control. When (not if) you add an external microphone, that will be a useful tool.

www.philipwilliams.com

Never mind, I found the answere. Thank you.

Hi guys i'm about to attempt to make a low, low, ultra low budget music video, I'm going to be using the NVGS-400 for this and I was wondering if anyone knows of any low cost lighting solutions? Or similar ways to create a film like look. I'm going to be using "pro cinema" mode, does anybody see any difficulties with this?
I know i'm asking alot of questions but replies would, as always, be appreciated!
Thanks,
Eddy Strickland

I can't say anything bulletproof about Your camera but i have used several times Panasonic NV-MX500. And in most cases i prefer it to many sd prosumer camcorders.
I use 35mm adapter and important thing is there minimum focusing distance mx500 has very low value for this characteristic. So i don't have to use any condenser which is very often source of another problems.
I use PAL version(i guess You have that privilege as well ) so there's no problem with framerates. mx500 has progressive scan... anyway if You just didn't switch on You can do it in post.So those panasonics pre-prosumer sd cameras are really good stuff.

Recently I discovered that there is a small dust particle located inside my GS400's lens module near the center of the lens. I can see it behind the glass. In the video footage it's obviously visible, when there are very bright lighting conditions, on higher F-numbers, I guess because of the very high DOF.

Does anyone have a good advice how to remove this particle? Is the GS400's lens module even servicable or a closed unit, which only could be exchanged completely, like on some Sony cams? Thanks in advance!

hi all,

just bought a PAL version GS500, and I notice that when i try to manually control the shutter and irs, the camera seems to adjust the gain by itself although there is no increase in the gain value (0DB)

eg, i wanted to PURPOSELY unexpose a scene, and set a very fast shutter and small iris, but as i set the iris smaller, the scene got darker and then adjust back by itself, only when the iris is at its smallest, then the scene starts to get underexposed. anybody has the same experience?

also, what is the best way to shoot a scene if i want to make it slow motion is post? is it shooting in high shutter speed and change the shutter in post?

cheers

Hi everyone.

I'm considering buying Panasonic's PV-GS320. It's $499, has a manual focus ring, 3ccds, 16:9 aspect and screen, and seems to be great. Only problem is there is no mic jack. Whoever decided that should be shot. Should I still get this camera and try another audio solution? In the same price range, what camera can I get that has all these features AND a mic?

Thanks.

Have a look at my other reply about the GS500's 'manual control'.

If you want to under-expose the scene you must first put the camera in full manual, and have the shutter speed and the aperture displayed on screen. Then you can either shorten the shutter speed ~ go from the (PAL) default of 1/50th to 1/100th to under-expose by a stop, or close the aperture from an indicated f/5.6 (say) to f/8.

As I explainned, this won't altrer the iris blades at all, it'll simply introduce more internal ND filtration, but (apart from DoF issues) the effect will be the same.

For slo-mo in post I'd keep the shutter speed at 1/50th sec. Raising it badly affects the CCD smear on cameras with such tiny chips, so avoid it at all costs.

If you shoot at 1/50th then everything that happens in front of the lens is recorded to tape. If you shoot at 1/100th, then only half of everything is captured. Slo mo means extending real-time, so you need to give the computer as much info as possible to start with.

tom.

That's a bit harsh. Panasonic marketing make a 'camera for everyone' and you're complaining? Sony are the same - their HC3 has no mic input - and that's on an HDV, CMOS 16:9 cam.

Simple answer - the 320 is not for you, and good job you read the spec sheet before handing over the dosh. Many others have been caught by the shiny 3-CCD logo, only to find their audio's stymied.

Wash cars, but get the 500 or 400.

tom.