Hi all,
I just bought a used Panasonic AJ-D700, I'm hoping it will arrive next week but I have some questions about the camera. I'm fully aware it's an older 4:3 camera but I'm hoping it will be good for practicing and low budget small fun shoots.

In terms of quality and age, how old is it really? Is it comparable to a DSR-300? Are there any known scene settings for these camera's?

Also, it has the 26 pin VTR output, I could get uncompressed component out of this. If I were to turn that into SDI and input that into a recorder, what kind of colorspace would that deliver? The camera is 4:1:1 but I thought that applied to the DVCpro encoding only?

Thanks in advance for the answers :)

Also.. the camera has a VTR output.. if I were to record using the internal tape, then play it back, would it then output that signal through the VTR output?

I want to say it came along around 1998. Operator's manual attached here as a PDF.

Thanks for the manual, will help a lot!
I received it.. lens is on the way, next week I will be able to hook it up to some power so I can start checking functions.

I also added some rods, not really for a matte box but more for protecting the lens.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/FW200/AJD7001.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/FW200/AJD7002.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/FW200/AJD7003.jpg