I was informed that I would receive GS400s this week. at DVinfo.net

Kaku Ito · July 20th, 2004, 01:02 AM

I orderd them few weeks ago but I was notified last week that they can deliver the GS400s sometime this week with no delay in delivering.

I will give you the report as soon as I receive them.

By the way, I read some people's posts saying GS400 has true progressive mode, but that is probably not true. Progressive CCD will not be that cheap.

Kaku Ito · July 22nd, 2004, 11:43 PM

I received them today. I will make some comparison between GS100, DVC30, PDX10 and GS400.

Andreas Winkler · July 23rd, 2004, 12:15 AM

Kaku, could you also post some meaningful still shots please!?
Preferably not only in the 4MP resolution, the 1.2MP or others would be also interesting.

And how about the still shot's longest exposure time? Is it really only 1/2s or can be longer?

Furthermore I'm confused about the MPEG4 recording capability, as for instance the Australian Panasonic site says in it specs that the GS400 has it, but e.g. Germany says it has not. So what's truth? Could you please clarify this?

Thanks a lot!!

Btw. I think I can get my GS400 within the next weeks and hope it's identical to the Japanese version, except the menu language! ;)

Kaku Ito · July 23rd, 2004, 01:14 AM

Personally, I'm not interested in taking still photos with this camera at all, but for you fellows, I will take some photos. I assume would just need the photos of GS400 and GS100. No sweat.

<<<-- Originally posted by Andreas Winkler : Kaku, could you also post some meaningful still shots please!?
Preferably not only in the 4MP resolution, the 1.2MP or others would be also interesting.

And how about the still shot's longest exposure time? Is it really only 1/2s or can be longer?

Furthermore I'm confused about the MPEG4 recording capability, as for instance the Australian Panasonic site says in it specs that the GS400 has it, but e.g. Germany says it has not. So what's truth? Could you please clarify this?

Thanks a lot!!

Btw. I think I can get my GS400 within the next weeks and hope it's identical to the Japanese version, except the menu language! ;) -->>>

Andreas Winkler · July 23rd, 2004, 02:34 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Kaku Ito : Personally, I'm not interested in taking still photos with this camera at all, but for you fellows, I will take some photos. I assume would just need the photos of GS400 and GS100. No sweat. -->>>

I also know that the quality of these still shots will not be the same as of a "real" still shot photo camera, but there are some reasons why I think I'll use this feature sometimes:
- I don't own a still shot cam at the moment and have not enough funds to buy it soon (or at least my girlfriend will not agree to "waste money" for two of these "useless things" ;))
- don't want to carry two devices when I travel around by my scooter
- most photo cam's have no image stabiliser yet
- and if they have, then they cost almost the same as the GS400
- the photo quality should be sufficient to be presented on a website or photo VCD/DVD to family and friends
- I don't want to print out any photos

Thanks Kaku! Can't wait to see some nice shots of Shibuya again! ;)

Kaku Ito · July 23rd, 2004, 09:19 AM

Now I finished giving a seminar to customers about surround sound editing and time for me to play around with GS400.

I went through the whole manual with the cam.
The longest exposure time seems to be 1/2. It does not have MPEG4 recording.

For the vidoe, it does not have slower exposure than 1/60 (oh, no! DVC30 goes lower).

And when you switch the focus ring to be manual zoom, GS400's does not have as good feel as DVC30.

Kaku Ito · July 23rd, 2004, 10:20 AM

Some quick shots taken on my desktop.

For the stills with low light, both GS100 and GS400 are not impressive as digital still cameras. I will do the same tomorrow with the daylight.

I also took some photos with my Nikon Coolpix 5000 and with ISO switched to 200 or 400, it took fabulous photos under the same condition.

http://homepage.mac.com/kakuito/Camcorder_comparison/PhotoAlbum185.html

Mark Kubat · July 23rd, 2004, 11:27 AM

Kaku, what is your impression of the video quality? Are you getting video as good as posted from the Japanese magazine hosted originally by Guy? Can you offer zip videos on your site so we can download and examine?

Your impressions of the video quality? How does 690K x 3CCD effective 1/4.7" compare to say XL1s?

Pls. indicate your impressions of the video!!!

Thank you!!!

:)

Patricia Kim · July 23rd, 2004, 03:34 PM

Well, just to add to the nagging, Kaku, may I also ask for your feedback re the noise issue - do you hear zoom/transport noises and does any of this get recorded on the dv tape? (There's an owner over at camcorderinfo who, I believe, said there was some noise recorded to the tape. Doesn't happen with my gs100, so I'm very curious about this.)

Young Lee · July 23rd, 2004, 04:18 PM

http://www.dvuser.co.kr/zboard/data/...e_Wizard_1.jpg

This is a pic taken from my MX5000, so the GS400 should be better than this.

Tony Leung · July 23rd, 2004, 06:55 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Kaku Ito : Some quick shots taken on my desktop.

For the stills with low light, both GS100 and GS400 are not impressive as digital still cameras. I will do the same tomorrow with the daylight.

I also took some photos with my Nikon Coolpix 5000 and with ISO switched to 200 or 400, it took fabulous photos under the same condition.

http://homepage.mac.com/kakuito/Camcorder_comparison/PhotoAlbum185.html -->>>
Hi Kaku,

I would like to see more video sample from GS400.

Now GS400 video in Guy's site is offline and maybe your sample can give us more video review of GS400.

Thanks!

Andreas Winkler · July 23rd, 2004, 10:20 PM

Thanks for the photos Kaku! But as I can see from the EXIF data you took the photos at 2288x1728 resolution and then downscaled them. Is it possible to see an original unchanged still shot file?
I'm particular interested in different resolution modes to compare. (e.g. 1280x960, 2288x1728...)

Of course some frame grabs out of a video or a short movie sequence would be also interesting, but I guess it's not really meaningful compressed here on the internet.

Kaku Ito · July 24th, 2004, 05:03 AM

I went to shoot some stuff today. Now, I'm going to capture them via FCP HD. Took few stills, too, but forgive me because I had to do a lot with video and could not do much stills. Please look forward to the clips.

Mark Kubat · July 24th, 2004, 07:06 PM

Hi Kaku - you seem to be the great hope around here in terms of actually reporting first-hand about the GS400 - any comments? What do you think of the video quality? Will you be able to have any clips up soon?

If you see in other threads, the previous clips from the Japanese magazine provided by Allan/Guyare no longer available and they won't be returning for our future enjoyment - so right now, there is very little indication other than yourself as to how the camera is.

Hope you can share with us a quick update soon!

I heard that it looks better than the DVC30 - care to comment?

Thanks in advance, Kaku - great website!

Kaku Ito · July 25th, 2004, 07:01 AM

Now I put together the clips of GS100. GS400 and DVC30.

If I make them in MPEG2 ready for DVD, the files will be about 20MB each.
I can also make them available on our quicktime streaming server with MPEG4 format. Sorry, I don't have anything to encode to WMP at this point.
For windows users you can download the latest QuickTime.

Will these be feasible?

July 20th, 2004, 01:02 AM	#1
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	I was informed that I would receive GS400s this week. I orderd them few weeks ago but I was notified last week that they can deliver the GS400s sometime this week with no delay in delivering. I will give you the report as soon as I receive them. By the way, I read some people's posts saying GS400 has true progressive mode, but that is probably not true. Progressive CCD will not be that cheap.

July 23rd, 2004, 11:27 AM	#8
Mark Kubat Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 375	Kaku, can you post video? procinema? Kaku, what is your impression of the video quality? Are you getting video as good as posted from the Japanese magazine hosted originally by Guy? Can you offer zip videos on your site so we can download and examine? Your impressions of the video quality? How does 690K x 3CCD effective 1/4.7" compare to say XL1s? Pls. indicate your impressions of the video!!! Thank you!!! :)

July 23rd, 2004, 06:55 PM	#11
Tony Leung Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 46	<<<-- Originally posted by Kaku Ito : Some quick shots taken on my desktop. For the stills with low light, both GS100 and GS400 are not impressive as digital still cameras. I will do the same tomorrow with the daylight. I also took some photos with my Nikon Coolpix 5000 and with ISO switched to 200 or 400, it took fabulous photos under the same condition. http://homepage.mac.com/kakuito/Camcorder_comparison/PhotoAlbum185.html -->>> Hi Kaku, I would like to see more video sample from GS400. Now GS400 video in Guy's site is offline and maybe your sample can give us more video review of GS400. Thanks! __________________ Travel Photos - http://www.fotop.net/hktraveller Traveller Diary - http://hktraveller.blogspot.com

July 24th, 2004, 07:06 PM	#14
Mark Kubat Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 375	Kaku, any word on what you think of the GS400 so far? Hi Kaku - you seem to be the great hope around here in terms of actually reporting first-hand about the GS400 - any comments? What do you think of the video quality? Will you be able to have any clips up soon? If you see in other threads, the previous clips from the Japanese magazine provided by Allan/Guyare no longer available and they won't be returning for our future enjoyment - so right now, there is very little indication other than yourself as to how the camera is. Hope you can share with us a quick update soon! I heard that it looks better than the DVC30 - care to comment? Thanks in advance, Kaku - great website!

July 22nd, 2004, 11:43 PM	#2
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	I received them today. I will make some comparison between GS100, DVC30, PDX10 and GS400.

July 23rd, 2004, 12:15 AM	#3
Andreas Winkler Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan Posts: 125	Kaku, could you also post some meaningful still shots please!? Preferably not only in the 4MP resolution, the 1.2MP or others would be also interesting. And how about the still shot's longest exposure time? Is it really only 1/2s or can be longer? Furthermore I'm confused about the MPEG4 recording capability, as for instance the Australian Panasonic site says in it specs that the GS400 has it, but e.g. Germany says it has not. So what's truth? Could you please clarify this? Thanks a lot!! Btw. I think I can get my GS400 within the next weeks and hope it's identical to the Japanese version, except the menu language! ;)

July 23rd, 2004, 01:14 AM	#4
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Personally, I'm not interested in taking still photos with this camera at all, but for you fellows, I will take some photos. I assume would just need the photos of GS400 and GS100. No sweat. <<<-- Originally posted by Andreas Winkler : Kaku, could you also post some meaningful still shots please!? Preferably not only in the 4MP resolution, the 1.2MP or others would be also interesting. And how about the still shot's longest exposure time? Is it really only 1/2s or can be longer? Furthermore I'm confused about the MPEG4 recording capability, as for instance the Australian Panasonic site says in it specs that the GS400 has it, but e.g. Germany says it has not. So what's truth? Could you please clarify this? Thanks a lot!! Btw. I think I can get my GS400 within the next weeks and hope it's identical to the Japanese version, except the menu language! ;) -->>>

July 23rd, 2004, 02:34 AM	#5
Andreas Winkler Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan Posts: 125	<<<-- Originally posted by Kaku Ito : Personally, I'm not interested in taking still photos with this camera at all, but for you fellows, I will take some photos. I assume would just need the photos of GS400 and GS100. No sweat. -->>> I also know that the quality of these still shots will not be the same as of a "real" still shot photo camera, but there are some reasons why I think I'll use this feature sometimes: - I don't own a still shot cam at the moment and have not enough funds to buy it soon (or at least my girlfriend will not agree to "waste money" for two of these "useless things" ;)) - don't want to carry two devices when I travel around by my scooter - most photo cam's have no image stabiliser yet - and if they have, then they cost almost the same as the GS400 - the photo quality should be sufficient to be presented on a website or photo VCD/DVD to family and friends - I don't want to print out any photos Thanks Kaku! Can't wait to see some nice shots of Shibuya again! ;)

July 23rd, 2004, 09:19 AM	#6
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Now I finished giving a seminar to customers about surround sound editing and time for me to play around with GS400. I went through the whole manual with the cam. The longest exposure time seems to be 1/2. It does not have MPEG4 recording. For the vidoe, it does not have slower exposure than 1/60 (oh, no! DVC30 goes lower). And when you switch the focus ring to be manual zoom, GS400's does not have as good feel as DVC30.

July 23rd, 2004, 10:20 AM	#7
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Some quick shots taken on my desktop. For the stills with low light, both GS100 and GS400 are not impressive as digital still cameras. I will do the same tomorrow with the daylight. I also took some photos with my Nikon Coolpix 5000 and with ISO switched to 200 or 400, it took fabulous photos under the same condition. http://homepage.mac.com/kakuito/Camcorder_comparison/PhotoAlbum185.html

July 23rd, 2004, 03:34 PM	#9
Patricia Kim Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Posts: 453	Well, just to add to the nagging, Kaku, may I also ask for your feedback re the noise issue - do you hear zoom/transport noises and does any of this get recorded on the dv tape? (There's an owner over at camcorderinfo who, I believe, said there was some noise recorded to the tape. Doesn't happen with my gs100, so I'm very curious about this.)

July 23rd, 2004, 04:18 PM	#10
Young Lee Major Player Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 268	http://www.dvuser.co.kr/zboard/data/...e_Wizard_1.jpg This is a pic taken from my MX5000, so the GS400 should be better than this.

July 23rd, 2004, 10:20 PM	#12
Andreas Winkler Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Kaohsiung, Taiwan Posts: 125	Thanks for the photos Kaku! But as I can see from the EXIF data you took the photos at 2288x1728 resolution and then downscaled them. Is it possible to see an original unchanged still shot file? I'm particular interested in different resolution modes to compare. (e.g. 1280x960, 2288x1728...) Of course some frame grabs out of a video or a short movie sequence would be also interesting, but I guess it's not really meaningful compressed here on the internet.

July 24th, 2004, 05:03 AM	#13
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	I went to shoot some stuff today. Now, I'm going to capture them via FCP HD. Took few stills, too, but forgive me because I had to do a lot with video and could not do much stills. Please look forward to the clips.

July 25th, 2004, 07:01 AM	#15
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Now I put together the clips of GS100. GS400 and DVC30. If I make them in MPEG2 ready for DVD, the files will be about 20MB each. I can also make them available on our quicktime streaming server with MPEG4 format. Sorry, I don't have anything to encode to WMP at this point. For windows users you can download the latest QuickTime. Will these be feasible?