•I'm about to drive a hammer through my AG-DV2500 Deck!

Coco Bermudez

Coco Bermudez

Well-known member
I'm so freaking frustrated with my PanasonicAG-DV2500 deck....I have never had any problems whatsoever...but it refuses to play back my video I just shot at 24P Advanced. It plays it fine for some parts and then it glitches...as if the tape had some terrible digital hits.

The intetesting thing is that any other tape I put in the deck that I have recorded either DVCAM or just straight DV 60i has no problem. Even funnier is the fact the 24P shot tapes are perfect.....I checked by playing it back from a DVX-100 and a DVC-80. What the heck! Anyone knows what might be the problem and why it refuses to play back my videos? I DO NOT want to use my cameras as the deck....ARGGG!
 
geez...all these months and not even one response?

Anyone got one of these decks out there?

So I tried and tried to get Panasonic to answer my question about if the AG-DV2500 plays back 24P...I tried the phone...nothing. I tried email and all i got was an automatic response to send the deck to the nearest specialized dealer...I had to ship the deck.

When it got there, I had to wait on the cue to figure out if there was anything wrong. The techs told me the deck was fine and they thought that the AG-DV2500 is not supposed to play back any 24P. What the heck. All they noticed is that the heads needed cleaning and maybe that would solve the problem.

So I paid about $100 to ship the deck with insurance via UPS
I paid about $200 for head cleaning and complete bench test.

I got the deck back last week (ALMOST 5 MONTHS since the problem) and today for the first time I opened the box.

Guess what...the freaking problem is still there! Why can't anyone in Panasonic help out here. I feel like I got hosed for $300 and still no one will give me a straight answer as to what the heck is happening here. You know? It might not be the most sophisticated deck out there, but it made a dent in my pocket when I bought one. When all my gear was Sony DVCAM, I could always get someone to help me out with my questions...I was even able to ship back my camera and decks directly to Sony for repairs...It now seems as if I am trapped in Panasonic hell. :(

VERY FREAKING FRUSTRATED!!!!!!
 
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So I went looking online for some more answers and I am AMAZED as to how many people have issues with this deck. I looked at he AVID forums and the FCP forums (both at their own sites) and there are so many people trying different work arounds to this problem.

What truly enfuriates me is that I bouth this deck because on the brochure for the G-DV2500 they show a picture of the deck connected a DVX 100. So what does that tell me...in my mind they are implying that YOU CAN make these two work together. The more I read around the web, I invested on a piece of crap.

How is it that a little cheapo camcorder will read 24P correctly and this machine can't even capture 5 seconds of it! I know there are some Panasonic reps around this forum...any comments from them?
 
gco said:
Man, thats frustrating just reading about it.
Cant offer anything helpful here, but i appreciate you getting the word out on this deck.
Go to the review tab--sounds a bit odd that you would need to "polish the heads in":
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...DV2500_AG_DV2500_Professional_DV_Compact.html
Click to expand...

I read the review...and this guy is pleased with his purchase? He writes:

"No real problems except that out of the box play times were
short into Final Cut Pro before picture breakup, until the
heads were polished in. I can now transfer 20 - 30 mins
continuous from mini DV through firewire"

20-30 minutes? Are you freaking kidding me? and he is happy with his purchase...so if you have 40 minutes you are screwed? You have to patch things up? I STRONGLY believe that we should be given our money back for this deck...it is a useless and worhtless big juicy LEMON. DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING THIS DECK...quite honestly I will never buy another Panasonic deck. I feel jerked around and taken advantage of.

$1,500 down the toiet!
 
The DV2500 didn't work well with my PC at all, but it works happily with my mac all day long. I put in 60 minute or 80 minute miniDV tapes or any length DVCAM tapes and it'll read all of them. The only time it's given me grief is when I have DVCAM, it'll struggle with the first couple of seconds, so I fast forward and then it goes fine.

But I've captured 80, 90 minutes in one go using it.

As for the 24P thing, just because it's hooked up to a DVX doesn't mean it supports all its functions. I can hook a V1U up to it but it can't see HDV. You have to work w/ the limitations of the machine, in this case, it doesn't do 24P.
 
DVX 24p is recorded in a standard DV-format 60i stream, though, right? As Super8 said, if a standard consumer cam can handle it, why can't the fancy deck?
 
mrWr0ng said:
The DV2500 didn't work well with my PC at all, but it works happily with my mac all day long. I put in 60 minute or 80 minute miniDV tapes or any length DVCAM tapes and it'll read all of them. The only time it's given me grief is when I have DVCAM, it'll struggle with the first couple of seconds, so I fast forward and then it goes fine.

But I've captured 80, 90 minutes in one go using it.

As for the 24P thing, just because it's hooked up to a DVX doesn't mean it supports all its functions. I can hook a V1U up to it but it can't see HDV. You have to work w/ the limitations of the machine, in this case, it doesn't do 24P.
Click to expand...

Valid points...I had never had a problem with it. I used DVCAM tapes all day long as well as mini DV shot on DV 60i. It worked like a champ. Then we got a DVX100 and when we put a 24P tape it got screwed up. It will not even play DVCAM or Mini DV 60i tapes at all. It has been on the bench for 5 months and nothing has changed. The machine is hosed.

So I ask this...I will agree that just because the picture shows that it is connected to a DVX100, it doesn't mean that it will have all the functionalities...but if there is a chance that connecting both together you might screw something on the deck...should there not be a DISCLAIMER of some sorts? Wouldn't you agree that most people that have the DVX100 shoot some sort of 24P or 24P Advanced mode and hence will try to use this deck as a playback? When Sony shows their connectivity diagrams and shows a deck with a camera linked together...you better darn well believe that YOU WILL GET ALL FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE from deck to cam...I've been a die hard Sony user forever to know that Sony would never cheat their consumers like this.

Just take a look at all the people who have inserted 24P tapes into this deck only to screw the whole deck into oblivion...dropped frames, glitches that resemble dirty heads, audio drops...something is quite not right....
 
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DV2500's a dog. I know of one division of Panasonic that refused to even carry it; if a customer called up and tried to order it they'd say "sorry, but I'm just not gonna sell that thing to you."

It's not a Panasonic product, it's a rebadged JVC. I had the JVC version, the BR-DV3000. Mad dropouts with that thing.

Now, with that said, I shot a ton of 24pA on the DVX100 and imported it through the DV3000, and it worked. There was no specific problem with 24pA; it worked with 24pA as well as it worked with anything else.
 
Barry_Green said:
DV2500's a dog. I know of one division of Panasonic that refused to even carry it; if a customer called up and tried to order it they'd say "sorry, but I'm just not gonna sell that thing to you."

It's not a Panasonic product, it's a rebadged JVC. I had the JVC version, the BR-DV3000. Mad dropouts with that thing.

Now, with that said, I shot a ton of 24pA on the DVX100 and imported it through the DV3000, and it worked. There was no specific problem with 24pA; it worked with 24pA as well as it worked with anything else.
Click to expand...

rebadged JVC!!!?? oh now I am truly screwed. So i guess there is nothing that can be done. I better unload this piece of dog poop on ebay.
 
oh man i was about to buy this deck the dv2500 thank god for you guys cuz ive never heard problems from this deck. i dont understand how a 1500 deck can cause so many problems when a 100 pawn shop cam worked fine for me for 4yrs. what deck should i get now? how does the deck do with 30p tapes?
 
Its my understanding that 60i and 24p are both recorded to tape as 60i and that 60i from 24p native includes flags which allow you to remove pulldown and reconstruct the original 24p. So it must be the 24p flags in the 60i/24p version of DV that the Panasonic deck cant handle.

VideoMojo is using this deck for SD stuff and says he likes it alot.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/430959-REG/Sony_HVRM15U_HVR_M15U_Desktop_HDV_VTR.html
Dont know if he is recording straight 60i or 60i/24p. Will see what i can find out.
 
Like I say, I used the JVC version of the deck (only difference was the color and the name on the front) and I did tons of 24pA stuff with it; the deck transferred the 24pA flags just fine...
 
Help me

Help me

I have tried to get the heads cleaned twice and I have done it tons of times with my own tapes. I still get crackling and frozen frames when playing back footage - please tell me what to do with my dv2500
 
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