John Trent
Well-known member
The "B" model has been out a year and the rebate has just ended.
Low cost HD cameras from the competition are coming. Panasonic doesn't like HDV, so no low cost cam from them. Sounds like a Panasonic AVC-HD prosumer 24P camera will require P2 cards. With the current price and time limitations, P2 just doesn't work for me. Given a choice between another companies HDV cam, or a 16:9 DVX... call me nuts, but I'd buy the DVX.
Every time I consider another manufacturer's camera, I'll see some DVX footage on tv and marvel at the colour and filmlook, and think, how could I buy anything else? The problem is if I shoot squeezed or cropped I lose 25%of my resolution. I go from a 500 line picture, to 375, right? Now, if the HDV cams out there are 700 lines, well...that ain't too good. That's nearly double the rez. I'd stay in SD (and retain that great filmlook that only Panasonic has) if I could at least keep my 500 lines. (I don't want to use "no stinking adaptors".)
Some say Panasonic won't go backward and fix up an "out-dated" SD cam but I think it'd be a smart move and re-energize sales. There are a lot of us low-budget filmmakers who would buy this cam, love it, and lick the Panasonic logo :love4: - just like Stephen Dorf licked the Panavision cam he commandeered in "Cecil B. Demented".
Will it ever be?
Low cost HD cameras from the competition are coming. Panasonic doesn't like HDV, so no low cost cam from them. Sounds like a Panasonic AVC-HD prosumer 24P camera will require P2 cards. With the current price and time limitations, P2 just doesn't work for me. Given a choice between another companies HDV cam, or a 16:9 DVX... call me nuts, but I'd buy the DVX.
Every time I consider another manufacturer's camera, I'll see some DVX footage on tv and marvel at the colour and filmlook, and think, how could I buy anything else? The problem is if I shoot squeezed or cropped I lose 25%of my resolution. I go from a 500 line picture, to 375, right? Now, if the HDV cams out there are 700 lines, well...that ain't too good. That's nearly double the rez. I'd stay in SD (and retain that great filmlook that only Panasonic has) if I could at least keep my 500 lines. (I don't want to use "no stinking adaptors".)
Some say Panasonic won't go backward and fix up an "out-dated" SD cam but I think it'd be a smart move and re-energize sales. There are a lot of us low-budget filmmakers who would buy this cam, love it, and lick the Panasonic logo :love4: - just like Stephen Dorf licked the Panavision cam he commandeered in "Cecil B. Demented".
Will it ever be?
