DVX100B being discontinued?

[spluppet]

Has anyone with vendor or retail connections heard anything about the DVX100B being discontinued? I know that Panasonic has something new coming down the pipe that's supposed to be priced below the HVX200, but I didn't think the 100B would be replaced this quickly.

Any info or insight?

I wouldn't be surprised if Panasonic's strategy is to get their pricepoint back up to the $4000 range since the 100B was dropped to $2995 a while back.

 

[Paladin]

I happened to trade emails with Jan Crittendon recently about another matter and I mentioned the possibilty of the DVX100B being discontinued. She told me that Panasonic has no plans to discontinue the camera any time soon. Maybe in a year or so, but not soon.

 

[dory_breaux]

I belive that when the HMC-150 hits teh streets, the DVX will be discontinued within six months, prolly less.

 

[Barry_Green]

Not necessarily. As long as people keep buying it, they'll keep making it. There's a ton of stuff being shot on cable networks that's all SD 4:3, and if they want great low light performance, 24P, and DV tape, the DVX still has that sewed up.

 

[Paladin]

I recently spoke to a friend of mine at a local TV station and he told me that the networks are not planning the switch to HD anytime soon. In fact, our local stations are still using 1980s and 1990s technology for news gathering and have no HD broadcast capability at all.

The switch to digital next year is government mandated, otherwise the networks would not even be doing that. HD has not caught on as well as some people (TV manufacturers, for instance) would have you believe. Most of the TVs in American homes are still SD 4:3 sets and, as Barry said, a lot (if not most) of the stuff being produced for cable networks is still geared for that type of reception.

In addition, HD is still too expensive for many users. The SD output from a camera such as the DVX100B can be captured and edited on inexpensive software on just about any modern computer using inexpensive NLEs. Editing HD requires considerably more powerful computers that are, in turn, considerably more expensive, as well as more expensive NLEs.

I use a homebuilt computer with a 3.2G Celeron processor and an old copy of Adobe Elements 1.0. I spent $300 to build my computer and bought the Adobe NLE for $30. This setup does what I need for it to do at the present time.

In order to capture and edit HD, I would have to replace my computer and my NLE at a total cost of over $2000. And that doesn't even take into consideration the much higher cost of an HD camcorder with true 24p capability.

Also, in ringing the death knell for the DVX100B and other prosumer SD cameras based on what independent filmmakers may or may not be wanting, you are completely ignoring an even greater area of the market: the home movie/vacation crowd. During a little trip I made a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that a substantial number of the tourists I saw making their vacation videos were using cameras like the DVX100A/B and Canon's GL-1/2 and XL-1/2. I don't believe Panasonic is going to discontinue the DVX100B as long as it continues to have a niche in the marketplace. Remember, JVC is still selling its little VHS/C cameras because there are still people who like that format. There are still many, many people out there who do not own computers on which to edit or store DV and a VHS camcorder is still the best choice for them because they can watch their videos on the same tapes from which they shoot them without the need for expensive decks.

To put it simply, there are just too many reasons as to why SD MiniDV is still a viable medium for the masses for anyone to declare it obsolete and ready for the scrap heap.

And, as I said in an earlier post, Jan Crittendon of Panasonic says that they have no plans to discontinue the DVX100B any time soon.

Maybe I'm just whistling in the wind, but I don't think we should be singing funeral dirges for the DVX100B just yet. It is simply too good a camera.