DV Info Net - Good source for the MX5000

I recently purchased a MX5000 camera through Allan Rejoso who lives in Tokyo and who says he has been an engineer there since 1989.

I did not know Allan before and found him through the MX5000 yahoo discussion group. In fact see:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MX5000/message/28

which inspired me to contact him.

Allan put in so much effort in answering all my questions that I became confident that I could trust him, even though he was a complete stranger. I realized that if there were any problem, I could have posted it in the discussion groups and he would have a hard time selling thereafter.

He was more helpful and more honest than I could have ever imagined. He offered to open the camera and test it for me (because there is a 7 day return to the store) and I took up his offer. He sent by e-mail pictures of what he had bought, including the Japanese sales receipt. I then wired him the money. He then shipped it by 3 day mail and sent by e-mail a picture of the mailing receipt. It arrived two days later, VERY well packed...Allan took extra care in packing everything.

Here is what I got:
1. MX5000 camera;
2. VW-PMX50 Accessory kit (including a Pany VW-VBD35 & 2,700 mAh battery, a charger, and 16MB SD card;
3. 1 extra Pany VW-VBD35 & 2,700 mAhbattery (so I have TWO (2) batteries in all)
4. A lens protector;
5. Laminated Cheat Sheets showing all menus, camera markings and screen displays in English with the Japanese next to each entry (I subsequently put English labels on all Japanese Markings on the remote and the camera);
6. A 16-page MX5000 Quick Reference Guide in English courtesy of Panasonic; and
7. A start-up guide in English.

I also downloaded the English MX500 manual from dv.freak.com

It all cost me $1574 (including shipping) my only other expense was $10 for the wire transfer.

I can't praise Allan enough. He did make a $250 profit but a lot of that is due to his finding a good inexpensive source in Japan where the price can vary by as much as $700 depending on where you get the camera. I did a tremendous amount of research and am confident that you will find that once you decide to get a MX5000 (or the MX1000 which is the equivalent to the Panasonic DV852), you will be as surprised as I was about the great service Allan provides (It would take too long to detail all his efforts on my behalf).

I am not an expert on dv cameras. I wanted to get the best dv camera that took good stills. Indoor lighting is not a concern of mine. I did use the MX5000 indoors and can say it was sufficient. Outdoors it was outstanding. Look at http://www.dvfreak.com, http://www.supervideo.com and the MX5000 and MX3000 yahoo discussion groups for more information. You can also look at the forums on http://www.dv.com and http://www.dvinfo.net. I was very hesitant about the Japanese markings and menus but now find that it is not that much of a problem, it just takes a little time to adjust (but that is true for any new camera)

If you would like to call me, send me an e-mail message and I will let you know how to contact me on a one to one basis so that you can be sure that I am not some kid on the internet or another Walsh 23 (for those familiar with the dv.com forum)! I volunteered to post this message simply because I was so pleased with the service Allan provided. If you purchase the MX5000 I will receive no compensation at all. A month ago I was just a shopper looking for what I was told was impossible, a dv camera that took decent stills. I happened upon the above discussion groups and read all messages. I am just sharing the results with members in return for everything I learned from others during my research. I would never have purchased the camera were it not for these groups. Many thanks to all.

Andy Maslow