Thanks Bogdan...

A bit of topic but just to confirm that I recieved my refund for the returned Sony battery. Full refund (item price + shipping cost) but lost 10$ because of ratio transfers between USD-JPY and postage to US.

thats good news Bogdan! ;-)

thats good news Bogdan! ;-)

In fact I also ordered 2 pana (cga-du21) batteries. Its on my way

I bought 256 mb Panasonic SD card. Do I need to format using the cam before using it?
Because my existing 16 mb sd card has various directories including title, private etc etc. So will formatting put all those stuff inside?
Or shall I use that card right away with out formatting?

Any body who used new 256 mb sd card, can shed some light? before I try to use it?

Thanks.

Just use it. The cam should create any subdirectories it needs.

Actually, is there any format option on the cam?

Aylwin, check out the English language version of the menus. I believe there is a format option, but I'm just too lazy to go and look right now. In any case, it doesn't apply to the Panasonic SD cards (unless you blow them out through some other means), so not to worry.

Of course there is format option on the cam. In fact, it is recommended that you format using the cam instead of other devices because doing the latter may bring about the following problems.

1. slower recording time to card
2. card becomes unusable/incompatible

normally, formatting is not required, if you take still shots, the corresponding folders are automatically created. but if you want to be more certain that the new card will work well with the cam, then format. note that formatting will not put anything on the card. all data will be lost. those pany titles, I don't know exactly where the back-ups are stored..could be in the supplied CD.

Thanks all for your intputs.

I guess I will use with out formatting, since its a panasonic SD

<<<-- Originally posted by Samuel Raj : thats good news Bogdan! ;-)

In fact I also ordered 2 pana (cga-du21) batteries. Its on my way -->>>


I ordered two batteries from UltraXpress from ebay on 26th August, I received on August 30th 2003. really ULTRA EXPRESS!!!!

I recommend everybody ULTRAXPRESS from ebay. He is very reliable. A+

I am planning to buy a spare battery.- either a 2 hour or 3 hour one. The one that came with the cam is vbd140 - rated for 90 minutes only.

which one should I buy?

Is the cga-du21 rated for 2 hours (or more?)
How much does it cost?

Samuel, you recommended Ultraexpress on ebay - does he sell origianal pana stuff, or other generic brand Lithium Ion with same rating?

Amit, the same cga-du21 battery from b&H costs $99 bucks.

I got from ultraxpress(now miraclezone168 i guess), It seems to be original panasonic battery with western packing. I couldnt find anything to say its duplicate.

Bogdan and some others from camcorderinfo(like BenB, ramganesh etc.) all bought these batteries. They say its working great.

I still really didnt test with two hour or three hour shooting. but it seems to be original.

Question on LCD Hood:

Saw a nice Kenko hood for the 3.5 inch LCD costing around $35. I felt it was expensive. Is that a good price for such accessory?

Is it mink? Actually, I guess the operative question is whether or not it has a magnifier, because that's the Hoodman with the magnifier is in that range.

Outer material is PVC-leather (whatever that is - sounds like an irony to me), with velcro strap and weighs only 60g. Pretty well made IMO. No magnifier (that sounds like Gameboy accessory to me. LOL).