h264 heir to the DVC30 and DVX100?
 

I am getting awfully close to going HDV, but I have been so happy with my Panny's that it is hard to switch to canon (a1).

Anyone have any input on Panny releasing some sort of HDV equiv. cameras?

They've just got to be working on something. If I were a betting man I'd say a DVX 100 replacement with 24mbs AVCHD is on the way.

You know how it is, if you need a cam now there's not much point in waiting (there's always something better in the pipe). If you don't need a cam now, certainly won't hurt to wait.

Where does AVCHD fit in the compression scale of things?

There's an entire section of this site devoted to it. Essentially it SHOULD be better than HDV at similar data rates. Unfortunately every cam that's been released with the format is 100% consumer based and uses very low bitrates, so we just haven't seen an effort to exploit the full 24mbs potential of the codec on a more pro style cam. But I'd bet that's exactly what Panasonic is working on right now.

I would be so happy if I owned a Pana DVC30 but with 1/3" widescreen CCDs with optional HDV compression and the OIS wouldn't rattle so.

Good news, its been recently released!

Of course its not a Panasonic...



Ok, seriously, I can't imagine Pana is going to let Canon and Sony run unchallenged forever in the 3-4K HD range. I'm sure you'll get that cam :)

That would be great, I just hope they inject it with the same amount of external (switch and ring based) control as the new Canon's.

Kind of bugs me on the A1 that you cant have peaking and zebras on at the same time. I wonder if that is firmware fixable.........?

The OIS rattle makes these Panas feel cheap. That's my beef.