defective dvx100a units?

Re: defective dvx100a units?

Horrible if true, but I'd rather wait for definitive confirmation from someone other than Kevin. No offense to anyone but what with the nature of the Internet, it's just too easy to spread misinformation.

Perhaps Rush could let us know if he's heard anything? Or someone from Panasonic directly.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Oz-

You're probably right. I guess I'm getting a little paranoid. This is my first video camera and probably my "big" purchase for the year (including tripod, anamorphic adapter, tripod, batteries, microphone, etc); I get really anxious when I hear things like this. I took me a long time to save up for it, and, unlike many of you guys here, I really don't know a thing about video (but trying my best to learn).

-hemipod
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Man everybody had me freaked out over here, so I turned on my camera in my lowly lit room and all of a sudden I saw lots of grain. I have this blue keychain so I looked at it and there was blue fuzz all over the place. How could I not have noticed this before, this is auful. Then all of a sudden as I reached for to set the white balance, I noticed something odd. My gain was set to H. I set it back and all was well. I'm not saying that these other people need to check the gain, but after setting it back to off, there was no noise that I could see, neither in super saturated red shadows or the blue keychain. Maybe a little noise in the blue keychain but nothing to get worked up about. Maybe I lucked out, but later on tonight I will post an uncompressed clip for all to see my dimly lit room. I'll let you guys be the judge.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Well.. I just received mine today from EVSOnline... Guess what?  The darn LCD display doesn't work!  Man am I dissappointed.  I took a half a day off work when I heard it arrived.

The LCD will come on briefly, then turn off (most of the time it never comes on)...If you look really hard you can see that it is functioning, but with just barely any brightness (ie, you can see the display VERY faintly.)

I just hate getting excited about something (researched forever), then having that anticipation turn into dissappointment.

I will be calling RUSH ASAP. He seemed like a really good guy. I am sure they'll fix the situation.

Andrew
Crystal Clear Media
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

sounds like the backlight... if you shake the camera does it work or is it just hooped?
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Well the same thing happened with the DVX100 bugs that had to be worked out. That is why I waited to buy it. Then Panasonic turns out a new version and the same thing is happening. Go figure! :-/
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

I walked around with it for a while (gently shook it), then sat it down on the counter and poof it came on....Stayed on fine for 15min or so...I went to shut it, then I reopened only to have it do the same thing. This time I could not get it to come back on...

I agree, it does sound like the backlight since you can see the image (VERY VERY faintly).

Thanks for your quick reply. I just emailed Rush. Not sure if they work Saturdays or not. I am a bit freaked out though. I needed to have this in time for a shoot next week (albeit, with a couple of days to get familarized with it).

Hopefully, they'll come through for me.

Thanks again,

Andrew
Crystal Clear media
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Well, because I'm a nice guy I am posting a link to a 47meg uncompressed .mov file of some very low light clips I shot in my computer room.  I only had the light from my monitor and an overhead 60watt light bulb.  I shot in the shadows and tried to focus on saturated colors such as blue and red to see if any noise was present.  You can see for yourself, http://www.stefweb.net/lowlighttest.mov
I really don't see excessive noise in the video even in the super saturated blue light of my external hard drive and flash mx book.  Again judge for yourselves, however I find it hard to believe there is a video quality problem with my 100a, or maybe I just got lucky.  Again it is a 47meg file so have patience and it works best if you right click and save it to your desktop.
ps: sorry for the shaky cam, my tripod is out in my car right now and I'm too lazy (plus it's freaking freazing outside) to get it.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

How about headphone jack hiss/noise on the "A"? It is really bad. The first "A" I bought I sent back because I thought it must be defective. The second did the same thing.

I have confirmed on a 3rd & 4th unit that this is just the way it is. My VX-1000 has superior audio headphone jack quality and it is 8 years old...

:( :( :(
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Still not a direct confirmation per se, but here's what's being said on the matter over at DVInfo:


Apparently, Noah Kadner spoke with Jan Crittenden from Panasonic about this, and verified that it was a rumor.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Actually, Panasonic never said the DVX100A was a rumor (that I know of). I spoke to a rep there a couple of weeks before it was released, and he swore me to secrecy before actually confirming it. All I remember from Panasonic was zipped lips about the 100A, I don't recall seeing any denials.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

this is not something i wanted to hear. my friend and co-producer just got our first DVX-100A 2 days ago. he's still doing all the tests with it.

hopefully nothing is wrong, i'd be furious if there was.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

I don't think it is really much to worry about. I seriously have not seen anything wrong with my 100a and I bought mine the first week of January. It is possible that a few bad units have shipped, but I don't think panasonic has recalled all the unsold 100a's or watever, all of the sites I visit still say that they have them in stock. Usually what happens is that one person heres some mis-information and all of a sudden it is "offical Panasonic news". Don't worry, check your camera to make sure you didn't get lemonade and shoot away.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

I haven't really had much time to use the DVX yet, and haven't received my case/tapes/UV filter yet (so I wouldn't dare take the cam out of the house ;D) but so far the only noise I've noticed appears on the lcd monitor when taping reds and shadows and audio hiss on the headphone. It's not a huge deal, because I'm assuming neither will be recorded to tape.

I plugged a dynamic mic (Shure PG57) into the camera and played around with the switches. According to the headphone out, I don't think I was picking up any sound from the mic, though it's very possible that I didn't flip the right switch. Honestly, I didn't even look at the viewfinder window to see if the levels were changing as I spoke into the mic.

A question: For some reason, I remember the viewfinder of the DVX100 on display at B&H having a bigger screen, albiet same resolution. Were they using a magnifier or something, or am I just having a bad recollection of what was going on? Also, my viewfinder doesn't seem to be perfectly "square" but rather more of a vignetted box with concave sides. Is this normal?


The only real concern is as follows: If there is a problem with the 100A's, will Panasonic be offering a free replacement program (or will the fix be covered under warranty)? I'd hate to bother the vendor who sold me the cam with returns and whatnot. I'd rather ride out the situation and return to Panasonic if necessary.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

For anyone who is trying to download my test movie, sorry I had to take it down. Being a 50meg file and having been downloaded about 60 times, I figure anyone that really wants to have seen it, has seen it by now. thanks for looking and sorry to anyone that did not get a chance to view it. :'(
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

I have posted a separate query about Mosquito and block noise in the DVx100 cameras, in this forum. I dont know how relevant or otherwise my findings are to the problem (or the 'so-called' problem of graininess and noise in the DVX100A), I have noted that while there is more noise in the usual recording setings (more than what I expected a 3CCd camera to have...may be I still dont know efficient use of the settings of this giant), the 25P recording mode is LITERALLY FREE of ANY NOISE WHATSOEVER. This is true even in the darkest places I have taken the shots. I think, HAD THERE BEEN A REAL PROBLEM IN THE CAMERA'S CAPTURE MECHANISM, it should have been visible in ALL MODES.

But this is what I think. I would like to see some real expert opinion (a technical reply not just a plain denial of the existence of any problem) over this issue. In fact the lack of the same has also contributed somewhat to the PANIC.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

A post from the Panasonic official in charge of the DVX100A line, copied from DVinfo.net...

"... your dealer is not an authorized dealer and thus has no direct line to Panasonic for all of his inside information, he has none. Ted (Castillo) only reported that we were doing a QC check. We do that sometimes. We normally do a 100% QC on the DVCPRO50 product and occasionally we do a DV product. The DVX100A's number came up. That is all.

I hope this helps,

Jan Crittenden
Panasonic Broadcast
"

This would suggest that any defects a person might find in their unit, just fall into the normal range of occasionally defective products - an unfortunate fact of life.
 
Re: defective dvx100a units?

Hi Andrew, your replacement DVX100A is shipping today overnight. Thanks for your great communication. ;)
 
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