Daniel Sheehy

I am curious as to where you are getting these figures from... ?

http://www.expandore.com/product/DV%20Prod...nce_100_102.htm http://www.expandore.com/product/DV%20Prod...e_100B_102B.htm The 102 series are ONLY PAL. The AG-DVX series come as either NTSC (100A or 100B) or PAL (100AE, 100BE, 102AEN & the 102BEN) The latest NTSC model (100B) offers 60i, 30p, & 24p. http://www.bhphotovideo.com:80/bnh/control...egoryNavigation The latest PAL model (100BE or 102BEN) offers 50i, 24p, 25p & 30p. http://www.bhphotovideo.com:80/bnh/control...oughType=search So maybe I wasn't clear enough. There is no real difference between the PAL 100BE & the 102B. Obviously there will be differences between the NTSC 100B & the 102B (which is PAL). I had just assumed that the first poster was refering to the 100BE, as they were comparing it with the 102. :)

Yes. I was experimenting with a time-lapse sequence in a room with a canon 350D when its shutter died. It just clicked through its usable life span and quit working. The entire shutter unit had to replaced.

Panasonic offers 4 different PAL models; the 100AE, 100BE, the 102AEN & the 102BEN. They are aimed at different areas of the PAL market... the 100 models are aimed at the European market, while the 102 is aimed at the Asian & South Pacific markets. The only difference is in which type of AC cable you will receive with the camera, they are identical in all other aspects. Whether you receive the 100 or the 102 will depend on which dealer you order it from.

It sounds like 16:9 is a significant factor for you, so you should probably go with the native 16:9 camera. Mind you, if you wait long enough, Panasonic may just release a 16:9 chip in the next DVX generation :)

Hi, The DVX100b CCDs are native 4:3, with three modes in which to shoot 16:9. You can shoot letter-boxed (and lose a bit of vertical resolution). You can shoot squeezed (and lose a bit of horizontal resolution), or you can use the optional anamorphic lens adaptor; both of which fit a 16:9 image onto a 4:3 chip. The 100b has a display mode to display 16:9 squeeze & the anamorphic lens correctly in the vf. The Xl2 is native 16:9, so there will be a small resolution difference between the two. Whether you can live with that is dependant on what you are going to do with the footage. :)

That's interesting... I shoot on both Betacam SP (a DXC 637) & the DXV100A. I would agree that the SP has a lot going for it, and I choose to shoot SP over DVX when the occasion warrents it. However I think the DVX has MUCH better lattitude & a better ability to control blow-out around areas that are overexposed. :) Intelligent use improves the output many times over. Over here we have a Govt Film & Television unit that gets GIVEN new gear by the Japanese Govt all the time, however they consistantly manage to turn out shocking footage. I mean simple things like off-wack white balances, & shooting backlit interviews using the auto-iris... On the other hand some of the TV commercial production companies shoot everything on PD150's or DVX cameras, and they come across looking so much more polished.

The blue streak is vertical smear... fairly predictable when you point a ccd camera at a strong light source. The horzontal green streak is odd, I've never seen anything like that. It almost looks like there is a defect on the green ccd. Kinda reminds me of extremely dirty video heads. :huh:

Are you sure comparing using an 18% grey will work? Wouldn't it be better to meter an average scene...?(no strong back light etc) just curious.

I have shot some stuff handheld from a helicopter before, and unless you are using a pilot experienced in aerial filming AND a mount of some sort, it will be best not to be too ambitious about the shots you would like to get. It might help to use a stabilised lens if you can't get a mount.

That page talks about caliberating NTSC monitors, not PAL. The method there is essentially what I described; just using the white bar instead of the white chip & the black bar instead of the pluge bars below the red bar. :)

These might be useful. http://www.cybercollege.com/tvp_ind.htm http://www.mediacollege.com/ http://www.videouniversity.com/

I had a look on-line, but couldn't find any pages specifically for PAL. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but here's how I've calibrated my field monitor... Switch to underscan on monitor...allows you to see pure black around the scanning area Turn chroma down...greyscale. Adjust brightness till black bar is just visible from the underscan black Turn contrast all the way up, then down till the white bar stops blooming... looks bright & clean Switch to blue only channel, and adjust chroma till the bars turn to black & white bands of equal brightnesses (ie, all the white bars are equally bright) Then turn blue channel off & voila... you should be done. Again, if I've got it wrong, someone like Phil should be able to set me straight.. :)

There is probably nothing to gain from using autofocus in the wide shots. Just focus as usual. If anything, the autofocus may cause trouble if it starts buzzing or seeking. If you use the lens at its widest, or with a wide angle lens, the depth of field will be quite large, covering any small focus imperfections.

Hi, Probably the best thing to do is to go out & shoot test footage at various shutter speeds and play with them in post. As Mr DeCrescenzo noted, moving subjects would be best.

I have a similar sekonic meter @ work... just set the mode to the continuous lighting (little sun symbol), set the shutter speed approprietly (1/50PAL or 1/60NTSC - or to 25 or 30fps)... set the equivalent ISO and away you go... However if you are working with video, unless you need to set up a specific lighting ratio, you can constantly check the lighting on the monitor... its quick & easy :)

For interviews a lav mic would be good, what type will be determined by your budget... You will always get that echo/room ambience sound if you rely on a camera mounted mic. All the best.

I am more familiar with the dvx100a, but these symptoms you've described sound a lot like the camera was in auto mode... the shot looking softer as you widened out; or the look of the shot changing as you zoomed. Are you completely sure the camera wasn't in auto mode? If I remember correctly, the camera only prompts you to change ND filters if the auto iris is engaged. ...what type of moniter were you reviewing the footage on? No need to set it before every shoot, as the black level is unlikely to change very much between shoots...unlike the white balance.

You haven't specifically said that you're dealing with video, but if you are, www.cybercollege.com is a good resource. The sections on lighting & maintaining video quality may be helpful to you. That can vary from camera to camera, obviously... :)

You can get a fairly good explanation here: http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/#24pRecording Hope it helps

Given the factory specs, it will be roughly ISO 800. Not sure about loss due to the lenses... though its easy enough to try them on and find out. :)

Yes, downloading bootleg movies off the web is wrong. Yes, it is stealing. No, no matter what the industry does about it, they aren't going to be able to stop it. So, I reckon, that the movie industry should take a page out of the music folks book, and start offering cheap, good quality downloads for those who want them, at a reasonable rate. True, no download is ever going to do justice to the original work of art, but the numbers of people downloading movies off the internet seems to indicate that there is a whole group of people out there who don't really care about the quality of their movies. Infact, it may even give rise to a new stream of movies, aimed primarily at internet release... like that guy in South Africa who shot his picture on cell phone cameras!

I agree, stealing... a bit hard to make that one stick. I mean, you own the disk tape etc that it's on, but not the content. That sounds much more like copyright infingement. I mean, how come it's permissable to record and keep (for your own use of course) copies of programmes/movies that air on television. (Yes, you ARE allowed to.) I believe this argument was had a while ago at the birth of the consumer VHS deck, and the courts refused to allow movie companies/content generaters the right to tell people what they could or couldn't record for their own personal use. We have a big problem with this issue over here in Fiji, the are shops that sell pirated (crap quality) DVD's and VCD's and the police aren't able to handle them. These guys advertise in the papers and on radio... yet no one knows how to shut them down. If it was a simple matter of theft, they'd have closed them down long ago! However the problem lies in the fact that it is an 'infringment of copyright' issue which legislation hasn't covered well here. I am not for a second condoning what they are doing, but merely pointing out that the issue is much more complex than the big companies would have us believe. I agree with the point someone made, that the people who are really getting ripped off here are the little people.

A happy Easter to you too... Over here in Fiji, it is the shortest working week in the year - 3 days! :D The monday before the Easter weekend is a holiday (Prophet Mohammed's Birthday) Work tues, wed, thurs... then we have Good Friday, Easter Sunday & Easter Monday! We're not big on gifts for Easter, but we do like our hot-cross-buns!

I ran across that site several months ago... I can't see that much has changed :huh: