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Panasonic DVX-100...Amazing

post #1 of 18
3/31/03 at 4:49pm
Thread Starter 
Hey all, this is my first post at these forums and from what I've seen there's a very nice community here and I'd like to be an active contributor to it. It's good to have fellow filmmakers to talk shop with and what not.

Welcomes aside, I just recently worked as an AD on a short film titled "Awakening" here in Connecticut for a good friend of mine and budding DP. We got our hands on a Panasonic DVX-100 because we were hearing great things about it (mainly the 24-p progressive scan mode). After shooting like hell with it for two weekends I must say I'm absolutely impressed by the quality of image we got from it. It looked downright broadcast television level and sometimes even better. I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experiance with this camera and if so what do you think? I'm going to be shooting a short in May and am planning to use this camera because it's just that good. Any tricks or interesting tidbits about the cam would be handy and most appreciated.

Oh and if you're interested in seeing "Awakening" you can check it out at <a href="http://www.ufo-pictures.com" target="_blank">UFO PICTURES</a> in it's pre-score form.

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post #2 of 18
3/31/03 at 9:34pm
this is weird cause i was just surfing ebay the other night looking for a camera and not having any idea what the hell to get, although i can't help you with it, i can thank you for recommending it, here's a short comparison review i found against the sony pd-150:

[URL=http://www.lafcpug.org/review_dvx_pd150.html[/URL]
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post #3 of 18
3/31/03 at 9:39pm
hmmm... let's try this then...

<a href="http://www.lafcpug.org/review_dvx_pd150.html" target="_blank">Panasonic DVX-100 Review</a>
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post #4 of 18
3/31/03 at 11:54pm
How much was it on ebay?
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post #5 of 18
4/1/03 at 1:42am
Quote:
Floydian Trip:
How much was it on ebay?
oh, just a little over three grand, too rich for my blood, see it here...

Panasonic DVX-100 on eBay

although there is a zoom controller listed there that looks pretty interesting...
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post #6 of 18
4/1/03 at 2:56am
WOW! That's cheap for that kind of quality. I was expecting around $10,000! Hell my TV was over 3,000 and it does nothing for me! This summer it will be mine! Thanks for the heads up guys! I was also looking at handhelds today and can't decide what to get. The price ranges of the ones I liked were between 6 & 8 hundred! I'm going to skimp on the handheld a bit but I still want nice features so I may go up to a grand on the handheld, not sure yet though!
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post #7 of 18
4/1/03 at 11:00am
I dunno... the Panasonic DVX100 has a 3500 dollar price tag, and I wouldn't pay a penny more for it. It's an ok camera... of course it has the 24 fps, but is that anything more than a gimmick? That cine-mode is not compatible with most desktop editing platforms (if any... I think Final Cut supports it), so other than the novelty, what do you get out of it?

I admit, it handles just as well as the VX2000 (which you can find for around a grand less)... the image might be a little crisper... but doesn't touch the XL-1S...

Doesn't JVC have a hi-def camera coming out this summer? I'd wait for that.
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post #8 of 18
4/1/03 at 12:41pm
I am 100% clueless about cameras at this point including handhelds. In fact, I was going to start a thread about cameras and this was here so it was perfect timing. Any info on any cameras would be appreciated by me. Hell even the basics like what features are important and what are not and other basic info like that.
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post #9 of 18
4/1/03 at 12:42pm
Thread Starter 
Right now the DVX-100 is the best looking thing out there. It really gives you a film look on Mini DV which is something I've never seen a DVCAM do before. It might be expensive to buy, but paying $130 for a weekend rental to shoot a short is unbelievable. In comparison, I shot a short in March 2002 on Super 8mm and the film development and color correction alone was $1000+ and the image quality was nowhere near the DVX-100's. While the XL-1s has better lense functionality out of the box the image just doesn't compare to the film look the DVX-100 gives you. But it really does come down to what you feel comfortable with and where you want to do the work. I like that I can spend more time on set adjusting the lighting and adjusting the camera than creating a film look in post having shot in 60i. Either way making movies is what counts, but for my money the right now DVX-100 is the DV camera to use.
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post #10 of 18
4/1/03 at 12:59pm
24fps is a magic speed... really does make things beautiful. But how do you edit your DVX100 footage? What program do you use? Because, as far as i can tell, when you render it to a hard drive, it's converted to the common 29.9.

If you want the film look, shoot film (16mm, not 8mm). Film exists in fine swirling grains, which really lend to the images, just as much as the film speed does. Video does not have that. Transferring video to film will cost you to the tune of a couple thousand.
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post #11 of 18
4/1/03 at 1:15pm
Film is old school to me! Digital is the only way I want to go. Dont get me wrong I understand its charms and everything just like LP's but I am building a video/audio editing system so I can do all the post production myself including digital audio.
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post #12 of 18
4/1/03 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
Very true Vintage, when you put the footage on your comp it's in the standard 29.97 timeline. It sucks, but future versions of Final Cut Pro and presumable Adobe Premiere promise 24p import staright from the camera so full use of the camera's functionality should be achieved in the near future. As for shooting with film, ideally that's the way you would want to go. But shooting indie films on a shoe string really doesn't make it a viable format. DV offers high quality at a low price which is ideal for indie filmmaking. Believe me I'd love to shoot all my movie on film, but the reality is that I can't. So finding the best DV has to offfer is key and I'm feeling the DVX-100.

<small>[ 04-01-2003, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: ]</small>
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post #13 of 18
4/3/03 at 9:39pm
This place offers software specifically for converting dvx100 to 24p format, windows, mac, quicktime, avi:

<a href="http://www.dvfilm.com/maker/index.htm" target="_blank">DVFilm Maker</a>
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post #14 of 18
4/4/03 at 7:40pm
A little something for those of you looking to get this camera. <a href="http://www.bwayphoto.com/product.asp?item=psagdvx100&l=google" target="_blank">http://www.bwayphoto.com/product.asp?item=psagdvx100&l=google</a>

A lot cheaper than mentioned before. Now is it the same model? or a cheapned one with the same name?
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post #15 of 18
4/6/03 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
Whoa that's the best price I've seen Cleric. Nice find!
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post #16 of 18
4/6/03 at 7:08pm
Yah i didnt bother checking, but just in case, make sure it has the same accesories as the others that youve seen on sale. Sometime to draw the cost down they'll stiff you with just the camera.
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post #17 of 18
4/7/03 at 2:30am
then end to any Ag-DVX100 problems, as of yesterday....

“We are excited that Apple’s Final Cut Pro 4 has native 24-frame support for Panasonic’s AG-DVX100 and in an industry first, Apple and Panasonic have worked to deliver 50 Mbps 4:2:2 quality video over FireWire,” said Stuart English, vice president of marketing, Panasonic Broadcast. “Our DVCPRO50 customers can now edit in the highest quality 4:2:2 video at low data rates and take advantage of all the innovative new features and functionality of Final Cut Pro 4."
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post #18 of 18
4/7/03 at 4:08am
Wow! I don't know shit and I'm impressed!
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