Panasonic AG-DVX100A, Wonderful Viewfinder and Control Layout

Panasonic AG-DVX100A – GarageHP.com previously wrote articles about Olympus SP-570 UZ, Acer Ferrari 1100, and Toshiba 55TL515. Now we are talking about Panasonic AG-DVX100A, Wonderful Viewfinder and Control Layout. If you’re looking for a MiniDV camera for pro-level videography with a film-like look, this 24P model is a top contender.

The Panasonic AG-DVX100A is the kind of camera that sends shivers down the spines of pro videographers and serious amateurs with modest budgets. If you relish the rare pieces of gear that are both affordable and designed for professional use, you’re probably already familiar with this MiniDV model’s predecessor, the AG-DVX100. That version made news by being the only 24P camera available for less than $25,000, and its successor competes with only one other 24p model in the current prosumer market, Canon’s XL2. While the DVX100A makes only modest improvements over its predecessor, they’re very well thought out, and they demonstrate that Panasonic is listening to what its serious customers want.

If you don’t need 24P capture or very advanced features, this Panasonic AG-DVX100A camera might be overkill–it’s definitely not for the point-and-shoot crowd. While the DVX100A can function automatically, its exceptional feature set will come alive only in the hands of a knowledgeable user.

Panasonic AG-DVX100A Review

Aside from being a darker silver, the Panasonic AG-DVX100A looks almost identical to its predecessor. That’s a good thing–the DVX100′s design was very well thought out. Panasonic has come up with a unique hybrid that combines a Handycam’s light weight and easy handling with the full complement of sophisticated external controls and connections usually found on only bigger, shoulder-mounted pro rigs.

As with a typical consumer camera, the Panasonic AG-DVX100A viewfinder is on the back and above the battery. On the left is a flip-out 3.5-inch LCD, and on the right are the tape compartment, a zoom rocker, and most of the A/V connections. The lens is 72mm in diameter, with zoom and focus rings and a removable shade. The top-mounted, full-size carrying handle sports its own zoom and recording controls, and a stereo microphone sprouts from its front. The camera feels well balanced in the hand and is almost disturbingly light, but its solidly constructed magnesium chassis is built to last.

The Panasonic AG-DVX100A’s external controls are almost identical to those found on cameras that cost 10 times as much. Discrete and logically positioned buttons, switches, and wheels control the iris, shutter speed, white balance, two built-in neutral-density filters, gain, zoom, focus, the left and right audio levels, the audio monitor level, phantom power, image stabilization, zebra stripes, frame rate, and other functions. You can adjust each of them quickly and directly, without having to waste time exploring menus or fiddling with automated features. Panasonic also added a third user-assignable button to this model. And since accidental knocks to the DVX100′s audio-level and Scene File knobs tended to change their adjustments, the controls now sit inside slightly higher bumpers.

Our only lingering design complaint is with the clever joystick that governs menu and VCR functions. It’s a bit too small, so controlling it accurately is difficult. The Panasonic AG-DVX100A retains the progressive-video modes and the audio and image controls that made its predecessor so revolutionary. Two types of 24P capture are available, along with 30P and standard 60i. We won’t get too technical about 24P video here. Just know that it goes a long way toward making digital productions look cinematic as opposed to soap operatic. The 24P setting also results in superior transfer to film. These issues are particularly important if you’re shooting narrative projects in DV, and the only other cameras offering this functionality cost at least $25,000.

No other model in this price range offers cleaner sound or easier interfacing with pro audio gear, either. The DVX100A’s built-in capabilities reduce the need for separate audio-recording devices, such as a DAT or MiniDisc. Likewise, no other prosumer camera provides anything close to the DVX100A’s six Scene Files, each of which includes rich, user-customizable menu settings for gamma, color matrix, detail, chroma, pedestal, setup, and other parameters.

Panasonic AG-DVX100A Camcorder

The DVX100A shares its predecessor’s excellent lens. Particularly notable is the manual zoom function, which includes focal-length markings on the barrel. Also exceptional are the lens’s precise focusing and the viewfinder’s focus-number display. The updated camera decreases the full-telephoto close-focus distance from the previous 3.5 feet to 1.5 feet. For most purposes, the 10X zoom lens offers a nice range. Panasonic clearly traded an impressive number (say, 12X or 20X) for a useful wide angle, which is generally much more helpful than the competition’s extreme telephoto. If you need a long lens for nature videography or event work, you can attach a telephoto converter.

The A model’s 12-bit digital signal processing (DSP) enriches this camera’s already impressive image controls. There are three new gamma options: Black Press crushes the blacks, Cine-Like_D (D for dynamic range) gives highlights more detail, and Cine-Like_V (V for video) increases midrange contrast. The last two settings are particularly significant because they broaden the DVX100A’s latitude by a full stop. That advantage decreases the incidence of blown-out highlights, a problem suffered to some degree by all video cameras. Also new to the Scene Files are the Enriched color-matrix option; an adjustable knee that helps you handle highlights; a vertical detail control; and coring, which minimizes noise in darker image areas. And when you activate zebra stripes to highlight overexposed areas, you can now see their settings in the viewfinder.

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