I have been offered a second-hand MX300
 

Hi all. I have been offered a second-hand MX300. Is there anything I could check on the camera to see what version of the firmware it has?

Do Panasonic upgrade at no cost or is that within warranty only?

Appreciate it, thanks.

You cannot check this yourself, regarding firmware. Check the cam over like you would do with any used cam, to see if it is A-Okay. Contact Panasonic about who pays. Since it is a second hand cam, I don't know. In fact, few Panasonic PAL service centres are even geared up to replace the firmware. On the bright side, the MX300 is a fantastic little cam.

Thanks Frank. It is actually from a dealer, I should have said that. He is a good guy and I trust him. I just wondered if he would be in a position to send it off for fixing. He is offering a year warranty himself with it. So I guess that reduces my risk.

Just to give me a picture of what I am getting, because I hear a lot of good stuff about this cam. What does this cam not offer that an XL1 or VX1000 does? (Bar interchangeable lenses on the XL1.)

<< What does this cam not offer that an XL1 or VX1000 does? >>

The ability to change zoom and focus from a tripod pan handle-mounted lens controller. Possible on Canon or Sony cams thanks to the Control-L jack; not possible on Panasonic or JVC. See this Varizoom controller review as an example. But it's not mission-critical to everybody, though. Hope this helps,

The MX300's slowest manual shutter setting is 1/50th. With the VX1000/2000 and XL1, you have slower shutter settings. Panasonic has a tripod that you can control some of the functions. I don't know a lot about it, but a few members here actually have this tripod and would know a lot more about it. Another thing is that the lux is lower with the VX1000/VX2000 and XL1.

Talk to the dealer about the MX300 firmware upgrade, but I doubt he knows anything about it.

Thanks both of you! It really does seem that it has a very high spec indeed if that is where we are down to in terms of finding differences...

I've bought it! It seems to be working fine. I inputted into iMovie and FCP, no glitches on about 20 minutes of material... should I chill?

Yes, chill and shoot video. If you do get this "glitch," you'll at least know what needs to be done.

You'll love the MX300 Tom. I find the Leica Dicomar lens is noticeably sharper than the Sony lens on my VX200 when they're both at maximum aperture. Thing is though that the MX is at max aperture while the VX (In the same light) still has 2.5 stops to go! That's a huge low-light difference, so the Leica lens better be good.

tom.

Congrats, Tom Weir, for taking the plunge... & WELCOME to the MX300 club!

You won't get glitches if you keep using Apple. Apple & MX300 users don't complain of any glitches (as far as I know).

Use a PC and you will probably get glitches if you haven't upgraded the firmware. Probably something to do with the DV drivers on the PC?

Anyways, *enjoy* your cam & the more you use it, the more you'll like it ;) 8O ;)

Well, I am enjoying it more and more. A great little cam, weighty but sits very nicely in my hand.

I love the manual functions. The other camera available to me is a Canon XL1 and it's manual focus is not a true manual focus, the servo motors in the lens keep doing tiny little micro adjustments and it drives me mad.

I have a question about the 16:9 mode. Here's my understanding, tell me if I am wrong.

'cinema mode' simply matts the top and bottom of the ccds and gives a 4:3 letterboxed image.

'16:9 mode' takes that letterbox and stretches it to fill the CCD's.

That is done via some algorithm rather than optically.

To do it optically you would need some form of add-on anamorphic lens such as the ones available for the VX2000.

Am I right or off the mark?

The 16:9 is better than the wide screen mode, and it's pretty good, but the MX500 16:9 is more true: higher res and not stretched. Those 16:9 adaptors would be better for the MX300, but they're no big whoop either.