Certainly agree on balance -- and the 100A seems even better than the 100's I've held. But the joystick, on/off button, and certain other controls are a bit flimsy. Making menu changes is also difficult with the joystick because there is little resistence. Don't get me wrong, I love the camera, but want to be honest about both up and downsides.

Speaking of upsides, the super slow zoom is really fantastic.

Stuart, Matthew, and Stephen - thanks for the replies. Just wanted to double-check and ensure that this was normal, and that it wasn't some kind of mistake. By all appearances the camera looks and works fine. Stephen, where did you purchase your AG-DVX100's from? Each time, they just shipped you the camera in its original carton, correct? I won't concern myself if this is the case with everyone, thanks.

Stuart, I've never used the joystick control on the camera itself for the reasons you stated. The remote control is perfect for this though, even if I'm right next to the camera. Try it, I think you'll like the remote better for navigating the menu.

Not so sure about other buttons though. Will have to see in the long run.

I have to agree with the zoom too. Its smooth! Looking forward to trying out the other features.

Witty but true summary of the competition right now!

only thing about the camera that i could find fault with is the power switch, its not a big deal but at least on mine, unless you slide the little switch 100% up, firmly, it won't come up, it will stop like 95% of the way up and you will think it really is all the way up but its pretty obvious when nothing lights up.

not a big deal but it just feels like a slightly cheesy switch vs. all of the other camera's i've had or used.

its funny, if you call b&h and ask about anything, when they ask you what camera you have and you say dvx-100A they say, no, you couldn't have the A, it hasn't been released by panasonic yet

matthew