I had a last minute small wedding to shoot, so I decided to use it.
I have the FS-100 also so decided to shoot it in HD. I set the camera to 720p 24f and shot at different frame rates for the setting shots. Even tho you can't play back in camera to see the actual slow or fast motion at least I knew that I had good shots.
The wedding was by the beach at around 6:30PM so lighting was great. Everything was fine until I try manual focus for the procession. The focusing ring has a very electronic feel to it and it is hard for someone use to shoulder cameras to get use to. I tried the auto focus and then camera constantly went to infinity. The good thing is that with the 1/3" ships everything looked in focus. For the rest of the shoot I used it in manual focus. The viewfinder and LCD are totally useless for focusing in a run and gun situation. The only way to do fine focus is by zooming in all the way and use the focus assist.

I also had a problem with the FS-100. As the ceremony ended and the Bride & groom passed by me someone bumped into me and the FS-100 stopped recording. I couldn't get it back working until I reseted everything in the FS-100.

The "90 minute battery" was only good for about 30 minutes of actual recording even tho I turned it off every time that I wasn't recording.

A weird thing also happened, at a point when I was shooting the establishing shots the focus ring was controlling the iris instead of focus. I had to shut down and re-start the camera get it back to normal. I don't know if the FS-100 had anything to do with it or if it was the camera.

I thing that the camera is good for some weddings, but this one was a one camera shoot and it had to be hand held all the time due to the little room to work with. There are a lot of things to drag around and the camera is not exactly easy to hand hold for such long time.

Changing from the FS-100 to the P2 or to tape is not easy either. You can't have the tape in the tape mechanism in order for the FS-100 to work. I was told that you can have the P2 in the slot and still record to the FS-100, but I haven't been able to do it myself.

There are a lot of things that could me better, but I love this camera for what it does good. I like the DVCPRO HD format, the variable frames and the 24P.
For the coverage at weddings I provably stick with my Sony FX1's and use the 200 for special shots.

I love to hear your comments and recommendations if you have a different experience with this camera.

The viewfinder and LCD are totally useless for focusing in a run and gun situation.
Did you have the EVF DTL function on? It helps quite a bit, although the only way to really know is to use the focus assist.

A weird thing also happened, at a point when I was shooting the establishing shots the focus ring was controlling the iris instead of focus. I had to shut down and re-start the camera get it back to normal. I don't know if the FS-100 had anything to do with it or if it was the camera.
Actually this is a function you can assign to one of the user buttons. It's called FOCUS RING, and if you have the camera in autofocus mode and press that user button, then yes the focus ring will control the iris instead of the focus. Not exactly high on my list of features, but at least you know what caused it now.

I'm working a lot with this camera, and the only good thing I can find about it is its image quality. I just hate to work with it, the DVX is much better to handle. This one is heavy, you have to carry around a laptop and an external hard drive for backups, you can't attach the FS100 to the camera when hand helding because it becomes even heavier and unbalanced, the focus is bad, the zoom is too fast at the slowest speed and too slow at full speed, the VF is too small, too bad in low light... and it looks like a brick (just my opinion).

I'm using it for a documentary but we started shooting with the HD100 for uncontroled situations. We're using the HVX mostly for interviews and when we can use a tripod. Users should be aware that this is not a versatile camera, it's meant to be used under specific situations.

By the way, I lost 2 takes from the P2 cards, I think it happened when one finished and started recording on the other. It happened only once, but I recommend you to check your footage when ever you can. Also, I was told not to disconnect the firewire cable from the FS100 with the camera turned on.

Did you have the EVF DTL function on? It helps quite a bit, although the only way to really know is to use the focus assist.


Actually this is a function you can assign to one of the user buttons. It's called FOCUS RING, and if you have the camera in autofocus mode and press that user button, then yes the focus ring will control the iris instead of the focus. Not exactly high on my list of features, but at least you know what caused it now.
Even with the DTL on it is totally useless to try to focus. The best you can do is manually set the distance by calculating footage.
I am so glad to hear about the focus ring feature, not because I would purposly use it but at least I know it is not broken.

"Actually this is a function you can assign to one of the user buttons. It's called FOCUS RING, and if you have the camera in autofocus mode and press that user button, then yes the focus ring will control the iris instead of the focus. Not exactly high on my list of features, but at least you know what caused it now."

Id say that this feature is a legacy from the DVC30.. I remember getting confused on that unit.. lol

as for the longform versatility, clearly at this time, its NOT a viable camera for this type of project (which is why so many people are jumping ship to JVC land... and teh reason why im biding my time.. ). The uncontrolled environments, as well as duration of requried recordings just doesnt cut it and thats been a known fact for now.. hopefully this will change.. hopefully 3rd partis will get in on the act..

As for the FS100, I have personally trashed the idea of a D2D (for the DVX and Z1) as i have had nothing but probelms with every Firestore ive ever used. The only ones which didnt give me trouble was the FS3 for my DSR570 (havent tried anything else and ot be frank, i dont have the time to deal with issues)
but even with all this, one still requires a storage medium.. imagine shooting a big european wedding, and coming home with 8 to 12 hours worth of raw footag across 2 cameras... now THAT would be a nightmare...

The HVX from it's inception has been hampered as a run-and-gun type camera or anything long-form because of the aforementioned issues.

In reality, these "issues" are really nothing more than characteristics of the camera itself, not problems per se. No camera on the market, video or still, is has a perfect match-to-job functionality for EVERY type of work. It's impossible. (however the RED camera might change this adaptability)

If I had to shoot a wedding with any compact HD/HDV body it would be the Z1 or H1, hands down. However, if the Cineporter were available I'd use my HVX and FOXI focus controller.

As for the Firestore, I concurr with Peter: The Firestore is a problematic device at best and lacks 100% reliability and professional grade functionality.

Focus Enhancements has done a great job of marketing their FS line of products by partnering with all the camera manufacturers, but in real world useage they fall short of the quality and durability of the very cameras they are being co-branded with.

Honestly, if I were Panny, Canon, or JVC I'd have cut direct ties with Focus long ago and forced them to go back to R&D and perfect the FS product line before I'd allow my cameras reputation to be associated with it.

Until the Cineporter arrives and proves itself the only 2 tapeless paths currently available - that work reliably and have good support - are either the P2 or XDCAM systems.

I had better experience with the FS100 than with the P2 cards. It seemed reliable to me, not like the cards that failed on the first hours of usage. As I said on my last post I lost 2 entire takes from them, the files were there but damaged. I tried the repair function but nothing happened.

Diogo,

You might want to hit up Jan from Panasonic up on this one. Most of the time, when I've seen reports of damaged or corrupted files it's been due to user error, not a hardware issue.

That may not be the case in your situation, but to be sure you should have the people at Panasonic look at both your camera and P2 cards to be sure, and have one of them go over proper camera operation to make sure you're not causing the errors caused by improper use.

There are some conditions where you can easily create corrupted P2 files, such as:

- removing the cards while they are "in use"
- turning the camera off during recording
- removing cables or power supply during recording
- attempting to access menu items during recording
- not properly formatting cards prior to use in the camera (many users have improperly formatted cards directly in the PC and then tried to write to them in the camera. It's always best to have the camera do the formatting - when possible)

Like I say, these conditions and others may not apply to your situation but you should have a Panny tech go voer your hardware just to be sure everything is OK.

Hi Diego,

I don't own this camera but it sounds like some of these issues will work themselves out as you aclimate to the camera.

Reading it though I can't help but wish that a boy hvx200 and a girl hd100 would get together and have a HD200 child. It'd combine the best of both cameras.

Brian, that would be a lovely child. lol... actually, I work with both and using the HVX is just a matter of specifications, I can't find much difference on their image quality, just a little more resolution on the HD100.

Robert, thank you for your advices. I made everything by the book, I'm sure it wasn't my mistake. We're waiting for 8GB cards because we're using 4GB ones that Panasonic lent. It happened only once but we will report to Pana if it happens again with the new cards.

Robert, thank you for your advices.

Be careful. Sometimes it's not too hard for Robert to give you . . . the wrong advices.

Be careful. Sometimes it's not too hard for Robert to give you . . . the wrong advices.

Anything in particular come to mind, Ryan?

Be careful. Sometimes it's not too hard for Robert to give you . . . the wrong advices.

C'mon.

This is about information sharing, not making personal comments about a poster who contributes immensely to this board and others.

It also is against board rules.

Code Of Conduct

The following content will be removed or edited without delay or explanation (repeat offenders may be warned first and summarily booted if deemed necessary):

Personal attacks, . . . .

i found the fs-4 to be very reliable, and well worth the money, but the firestore is probably not the best piece of equipment for beginners, people who aren't technically competent, or those who simply don't have time to mess around with cutting-edge equipment.

I also had a problem with the FS-100. As the ceremony ended and the Bride & groom passed by me someone bumped into me and the FS-100 stopped recording. I couldn't get it back working until I reseted everything in the FS-100.

more than likely that bump hit the stop button, or it caused your finger to hit the rec button, or it caused the firewire cable to come unplugged... all of which are fully preventable situations.

if you doubt the reliability of your fs-100, run a controlled recording test with it... set up everything on a test bench, so that there are no external influences.

more than likely that bump hit the stop button, or it caused your finger to hit the rec button, or it caused the firewire cable to come unplugged... all of which are fully preventable situations.

if you doubt the reliability of your fs-100, run a controlled recording test with it... set up everything on a test bench, so that there are no external influences.
I am almost sure that FW cable got loose since I had the FS-100 in my belt clip. It had the keys locked so I know that it wasn't the keys.
I am sure that in a control situation it would work fine as it would in most wedding situations. This was an out of control situation so if something was going to happen, this was the perfect time to happen. :)
I have a question tho. Is there a way to adjust how long the clips are when recording long clips?
I don't know how long my clips were but I know that they were exactly the same length. That may be related to 2Gb limit or something.

david, discounting the quality of advice given is not a personal attack.

Referring to a person is a personal attack.

Referring to a piece of advice as incorrect isn't a personal attack

I think there's a difference between the two.

I am almost sure that FW cable got loose since I had the FS-100 in my belt clip.

exactly my point, thank you... that ranting about the quality of focus products was not relevant to this thread.

get a long firewire cable, make some half-loops at the ends, and use some big rubber bands as a strain relief.

the max file size is indeed because of the fat32 format of the hdd, which has to happen in order to make it mac-compatible.

i think that there is a new o.s. update for the fs-100? do that, then run enuf of a recording test to span the 2-gig file size limit, perhaps while recording some music for the audio... the object is to see if there are any continuity issues with the audio, at the file break points.

exactly my point, thank you... that ranting about the quality of focus products was not relevant to this thread.
I disagree, I started this thread about the HVX200 in long form, run & gun. The camera focusing mechanism stinks specially for run & gun. It is one of the limitations of this camera.
All cameras have limitations, this one is not meant for fast focusing or pulling focus. It is just not made for that.
My Sony FX1 does better at focusing, but it doesn't do 24P or vari frame or DVCPRO HD.
I bought the camera for TV commercials, Music Videos, etc. I plan on using it at weddings only for special effects while I use the Sonys HDV for the bulk of the shoot. No camera can do it all.

. . . . . .

I disagree, I started this thread about the HVX200 in long form, run & gun. The camera focusing mechanism stinks specially for run & gun. It is one of the limitations of this camera.

i said "focus products" because a company named focus makes the fs-100 that you also referred to in your initial post... "focus products" has nothing to do with the focusing capability of the camera.

thanks for the feedback on the focusing limitations of the camera, but i daresay that focusing is going to be problematic on most all 1/3" hd video cameras.

most importantly, none of 'em have real crt viewfinders that have enuf resolution to do accurate focusing with, afaik... so even if your focus ring worked like a pro lens focus ring does, you don't have an accurate method of determining what the correct manual focus really is.

so i'd imagine that you'll have to be in manual focus mode, zoom all the way in to your subject, hit the autofocus button briefly, then hope that the backfocus on the lens is set correctly from the factory.

i shoot like that with the xl1s all the time, so it's not an issue for me.

Well, If you don't succeed try again.

I had a couple of jobs this weekend so I went out to try the camera again.

This time I added the Glidecam 4000 Pro to the mix. I already know some of the limitations of the camera so I am only using it for what I bought it for.

On Friday and Saturday I had Dance Recitals so did some slow and fast motion shots of the dancers rehearsing. The camera shines at this so needless to say the footage looks very nice.
Saturday night I had to shoot another 2 HD camera wedding so I brought the HVX200 along with the Glidecam to help the 2 Sonys with the establishing shots.
Its only by comparing the abilities and disabilities under equal conditions of different cameras that can make a serious comparison. I don't have mush new to say but to re affirm that focusing this camera with out an external monitor is nearly impossible. The Sony LCD in comparison is as sharp as have seen and the auto focus is also very good.

If Sony can make lower cost cameras with good LCDs I am sure that Panasonic can do the same.

As far as the FS-100 I can say that it worked good as long as the battery lasted. I got about 30 minutes out of it once more. It would probably a good idea to get the longer lasting battery, but the price is kind of high. I am sure that someone would figure a different solution to the high price short life battery.

I know that someone is going to ask about the Glidecam HVX 200 combination. IT IS HEAVY and hard to use without practice. I am getting the Smooth Shooter but it was back order at the time that I put the order in. I think that without a vest system it is just to heavy to hand hold for more than a few seconds unless you are the ARNOLD TERMINATOR.

EDITED: I spoke to soon, after reviewing the footage the FS 100 has contant dropouts. Just like the ones you get from tape, not full frame dropout.

I may just return it. It is totally useless this way.

requires a shoulder mount like the dvrigpro if you are going to shot weddings or you may use, as I have, a marZpak. Unfortunately, the marZpak is no longer produced. While many of us commented that we wanted a removable lens on this camera when Panasonic was seeking advice before the production of this unit, I've heard nothing but praise for the lens.
I too think some type of off-spring of the HD100 and the HVX would be wonderful but ... you've got to work with the limitations of your cam and that means really knowing the how to use the gear in the best way. This cam is best mounted in some way, that's just the way it is!

Haven't been here for a while, but have to come in and defend Robert lane. He's one of the most helpful persons on this board. He's one of the few that actually owns and operates this camera regularly, and has contributed immensely with workflow suggestions and test that he had done personally.

Attacking him the way you did is a big no no.

well moving back to topic re firestore units.. ive had nothign but issues withthem and its NOT the cable. its also not the operator, considering im supposed to making a profit by selling these to other pros. For me to sell something i test it first so i can educate my potential buyers on the pros and cons and give them a basic tute as to how to use the thing..

Now the units i was using were first release models. I cant be sure they were pre-release models, but either way, the issues i had was low battery life (and this was with the upgrade kit) incessant powering off on standby. Inability to shoot instantaneously (as in point shoot stop... point shoot stop within a 7 second interval) and this was the DVX model...
I always thought it had an timeslip record function, but that never worked properly for me. The unit kept rebooting itself..

With the HDV update, pretty much the same thing happened.. and this was wit a DIFFERENT unit... however the issue here was not only what the standard DV unit had, but also Gop issues and audio sync issues. Again this could have been a glitch oin the early models, but since then, even though i still sold the units, most people ive sold them to have returned them. The ones who DIDNT return them were the guys who ran their cams and FS4's through line power, not battery.

Either way, to this day, and the current cost of HDD's i still believe firestores are overpriced and underdeveloped. The only one i havent had issues with was the rebranded JVC FS4, which is running the same HDV codecs as the HDV upgrade for the FS4 pro (from memory). I dont know why or how, but ive never had a problem with that model..

For a unit like this, at this price, there SHOULD be an option to choose the file system (ntfs) over fat32. Not everyone uses a Mac. Good luck syncing a 3 hour stage show when all your files are split @ 2gb points especially when shooting DVCPRoHD 1080i.. isnt that like 1gb a minute or something.. hmm.. 2 minute clips...thrown across a 3 hour timeline... joy oh joy...
If THAT is considered efficient media management, then theres something SERIOUSLY WRONG with that line of thought...

Now if this camera were to ever be released with a HW H.264 encoder, then maybe it will cut it for long form, or better yet, maybe a Firestore type uinit with an inbuilt converter which converts a live DVCPRohD Stream from the cams firewire output, and convert to H.264 on the fly, but then we'd still have those power issues and drive latencies.

Maybe its Pal models.. who knows... who cares, but until somethign is done about the long form workflow with this unit, then its pretty futile even considering it.
I so wished i could do a smooth upgrade and grab myself a couple of HVX's... hell ive got thousands of dollars worth of accessories here, but even with this im seriosuly consideirng jumping ship. I love the codec, i love the camera, i love everythign about what it can do and what ive seen done with it so far, but when it comes to the bottom line, this wow factor still doesnt cut the cheese as the amount of work required to manage and process this media in this codec takes up too much time, which most clients wouldnt be happy to pay for.

Has anyone been recording this camera directly into their laptop/desktop? I want so desperately to talk myself into getting this camera but I just can't stop every 8 minutes to reload the card when I'm shooting an emotional dialogue scene.

Lots of us are doing that. Look for many posts from Robert Lane describing his setup. And I've been beta-testing Serious Magic's DVC Rack, a program that will let you capture live to the computer on the PC platform, and it includes a monitor emulator, waveform, vectorscope, frame grabber, all sorts of tools. Looks very, very good!

Has Serious Magic made an HD codec for DV Rack? I thought the monitor was only for HDV?

I assisted as extra cam on a church discussion group last night. My observations are unrelated to the technical functions of the camera and more to the physical characteristics. Therefore, they are not pertinent to everyone, but I offer them as observations to potential buyers.

1) as most other things in this world, it doesn't accommodate left-handedness. This makes for slower adjustments and sometimes-uncomfortable body contortions. (I know this isn't unique to the HVX, and I don't expect a separate "left-handed" version to be marketed).

2) when on a tripod, some remote focus & iris control is almost mandatory, especially with the camera high on a tripod. (tho I'm only 5'7", so many things are a "reach" for me).

3) also when on a tripod, an external monitor is as necessary as remote focus & iris control. (particularly if you're "vertically challenged", as I am).

4) as mentioned in a prior post, the menu control buttons can be difficult to manipulate, again, particularly so when the operator is of short physical stature. (I recommend keeping that IR remote control handy for such adjustments).

Just my 2 cents.

Has Serious Magic made an HD codec for DV Rack? I thought the monitor was only for HDV?
The DVC Rack powerpak plug-in isn't on the market yet, but it is in beta-test and it works very well. It supports full 720/60p and 1080/60i DVCPRO-HD even on my Pentium M 760 laptop. Should be a stellar performer on the Macbook Pro I expect to get after the New Zealand tour.

They do have an HDV PowerPak but this is something different, this is specifically for HVX/DVCPRO-HD; they are currently calling it DVC Rack.

Updating my original post:

I previously said that the battery life of the FS 100 was about 30 minutes. In all fairness to the Firestore if you capture continuously it may give you the 90 minutes that they claim. In another test that I did with a full battery and a little over an hour left on the FS100 HDD, I ran out of HDD space and still had 2 line s on the battery.

As far as drop out in the same test I added the supplied carbon to the firewire cable and updated the firmware and I didn't get any dropouts. That doesn't guaranty that I won't get any if the environment changes (static from wireless signals etc) but I didn't get any dropout during the test.

I am also able to record to the FS100 while having the P2 card in. I had to change the function setting FA to Tapeless from Sync.