Any chance of DVX100C with 16:9 CCD's?

C

CineAlta

Well-known member
Hi,

You guys are more in touch with product development, than me. I was just wondering if anyone thinks, or has heard, if Panasonic will come out with a DVX100C, that will incorporate native 16:9 chips?

I realize people were hoping for that in the DVX100B, and that the HVX200 has them, but that's a whole different type of camera (HD, P2 etc).

I notice Panasonic is giving a $400 rebate on the DVX100B, and was just wondering if they're blowing them out for a new model?

Thanks for the advice!
 
CineAlta said:
Hi,

You guys are more in touch with product development, than me. I was just wondering if anyone thinks, or has heard, if Panasonic will come out with a DVX100C, that will incorporate native 16:9 chips?

I realize people were hoping for that in the DVX100B, and that the HVX200 has them, but that's a whole different type of camera (HD, P2 etc).

I notice Panasonic is giving a $400 rebate on the DVX100B, and was just wondering if they're blowing them out for a new model?

Thanks for the advice!
Click to expand...



No Way! They just release DVX 100b in October. I'm all for technological advances but my pockets aren't. Jeez...they do this with software companies too.

Instead of releasing 100C, I would hope they just update the whole thing, like 120A or 200A. Worst case scenario is that you buy 100b they update it and then you'll have to sell it once they update.
 
My educated guess is there will never a DVX100C. My best estimate is by sometime mid next year, there will be an improved HVX200, like Daniel said, called the HVX200A. It would make more sense.

In general, companies are starting to shy away from SD to spruce up sales in HD. Manufacturers don't make any real money on SD stuff anymore. Their hope is to capitalize on HD for the coming years.
 
That's too bad. I can see many folks using SD for several years. Most Americans don't even have HD TV's (although they probably mistakenly think their cinema aspect-ratio Trinitron SD's are HD). The FCC mandate is for digital TV only, not HD. I have some 900 channels on my Cable TV. That would take a lot of bandwith to broadcast all that program material in HD (assuming it was even produced in HD).

This is all, not to mention the cost of P2's, computer hardware/software for HD editing (Mac G5, terabyte RAID, Aja cards etc). No delivery medium (BluRay, HD DV, Holographic Versatile Disc etc). You know when those players come out they'll cost a bundle.

Lastly, there's no guarantee that HDV (1080i) will become a standard. It could be the Betamax of our generation. Broadcast HD is 720p (I believe). Who knows what the standard will become.

All this leaves me to reiterate, that I see a niche for an SD camera (like the DVX100B), that uses DV tape, but has 16:9 CCD's. IMO, the HVX200A, will dump the DV tape drive, in place of either a built in hard drive, or 5 P2 slots.

Does HD even look good for dramatic films?
 
It's actually a good question. But I would suspect we're entering an era where it will be hard to *not* include HD of some sort on all Prosumer cameras because there's a demand for it. So there might not be a DVX100C but perhaps there will be another camera that fits between the HVX and the DVX offering a bit of both because there is a market ongoing for $3,500 cameras.

Noah
 
You could be right. Interestingly, I notice that Panasonic's $400 rebate on the DVX100B ends on Mar 31. NAB is in April. They may want to sell as many DVX100B's as possible, before introducing a new camera, which will fit into that $3500 price range. Perhaps, they may call it the EVX-150, or FVX-300?

One other thought I had, and this may be completely wrong, but perhaps they could double the speed of the DV tape drive motor, so that it could encode DVC Pro? Not sure if that would work, just an idea.
 
I think Panasonic will just wait out the inevitable price drop in the HVX. They would never make back the development cost of a new 3500 dollar camera in the time it will take the HVX to drop in price..
 
That's a really interesting point. I never thought of it, in terms of R & D cost, but you may be right. Rather than develop a whole new camera, I was thinking more in terms of just adding 16:9 CCD's to the DVX100B. But your point is well taken.
 
What about a Panasonic HDV? I would like to see something without the P2. The price of the HVX is out of my budget. So if they had something alittle cheaper. HVD with 24p .
I just wonder if Panasonic will ignore the consumer HVD markert. Maybe the HD is better, but the Best Buy crowd isn't going to spend that much.

So why not market HVD? I think its going to be around for awhile.
 
If they were to do ANYTHING, it would be an SD P2 camera with 16:9. However, that is unlikely to happen at all in the prosumer area, however, there could be such a camera in the consumer range to spread P2 sales. But even so, what would be the point?

If you want 16:9 DVX footage, get an HVX200 and shoot in SD mode on mini-DV. If that doesn't work for you and you're hesitant towards the HVX200 as it is, wait for the "A" version, that is assuming Panasonic is going to play the same hand twice.

Also, as has been stated BILLIONS of times, Panasonic was not a member of the HDV consortium, so don't expect an HDV camera from them. If they want to release a lower DVCPRO-HD camera, all power to them, but as I've said before it's unlikely and there isn't enough evidence to suggest Panasonic would do such a thing.

Though it would be cool of them to make a DVX100C, that would be beating a dead horse as far as the camera goes and angering their user base again a'la the DVX100A situation, B was okay because they had announced it well in advance, but a C when so many have gone with B's by now? Not cool.

But yeah, don't get your hopes up, people. There's plenty of alternatives for 16:9 SD.
 
Well, the reason not to get an HVX200 and shoot SD is $3000 (roughly the difference b/w buying a new DVX100B & HVX200).

I agree Panasonic will never put out an HDV cam. They were never part of the Sony/JVC HDV consortium, and would never be compelled to join at this late stage, to just throw another HDV camera into the ring.

I think waiting for the HVX200A would be prudent. But it may very well be a totally different camera by then (perhaps no DV tape drive, more P2 slots, built-in hard drive, 1/2" CCD's or a CMOS, 20x lens etc). The point is no one knows. At least the 1st generation production problems would be worked out by then.

But what about my idea, to just double the speed of the DV tape drive motor in the DVX100B, so that it has enough data throughput to record DVC Pro?
 
Ok I'm not so much thinking of $6,000 to $9,000 cameras, but more in the $2500 to $4,000 range. More of a entry level pro camcorder in HD. Sony seems to be hitting that market.

And is Panasonic going to have some HD for the big box stores? You go to Best Buy and you see Panasonic right there with Sony, JVC, Canon in the home video camcorder. I would think that market is a lot bigger than the pro sales.

So is Panasonic going to pass on that?

I guess my point is if they would make a home HD/HDV maybe they will make a mid range camcorder. Something to compete with the A1U's and FX1's and maybe if Canon does a GL3 type camera.

By the way I'm not going to spend $6,000 grand on a HVX to shot DV.
 
If consumer HD takes hold, you can bet Panasonic will enter that market. But the question is, with HDV or not?

Samsung or Sanyo, don't remember, is already offering a $799 high-def unit where they skipped tape entirely, and skipped HDV MPEG-2 entirely, and went for MPEG-4 recording on SD memory cards. And it's half the price of the Sony tape-based HC1. Still a bit pricey for consumers at $800, but it's getting there.

So I certainly expect them to enter the consumer market, but whether they'll sign on to HDV or go their own way remains to be seen.
 
The new issue of studio monthly wasn't to favorably to HDV was it. The HD market is going to change I'm sure.
 
Barry has an excellent point. Undoubtedly, Panasonic will offer some HD consumer camera to please the public. But they may have some other recording media up their sleeve.

From all the anectdotal reviews I've read (having never worked with it in person), HDV is a poor medium for HD (tape dropouts, GOP encoding, MPEG-2 sound etc). Many shortcomings (or so I hear).

That SD memory card approach sounds very interesting.
 
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