Panasonic sent me a picture of the black professional NV-GS100 cam a few weeks back. In the spirit of Fred, I believe he was onto something. For example, the GS100 is black, and the pic they sent me is called, GS100pro.gif. (Note the "pro" after GS100.) Furthermore, you will note in the picture, Pana placed a black-cased FUJI tape next to the Black Mamba, and not a Panasonic tape. What does all this tell you? Well, a number of things:

[list=1] the GS100 is a professional cam because it's black
FUJI minDV tape is a professional tape because it's black
Panasonic uses FUJI tape
Fred was correct[/list=1]

Here's the pic: http://www.8palm.com/gs100pro.gif

I thought professional cameras were red, white, and black.

I thought professional cameras were red, white, and black.

Red, White, and Black. No problem.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-12/74415/GS100profile2(Small).jpg

Why would a 'pro' camera have non-standard colour bars?

Why would a 'pro' camera have non-standard colour bars?

I think you mean non-SMPTE as non-standard is a little too vague. The bars on the DV953 and GS100 are commonly referred to as camera color bars. I would have preferred SMPTE color bars but thats easily fixed with the SD memory cards (and a mix-to-tape).

Does anyone else soley use the SMPTE bars for calibration? For black levels I much prefer a seperate pluge pattern.

http://www.mediacollege.com/images/iresource/itech/pluge01.gif

Yeah I did mean non-SMPTE but as they are the general standard for colour bars I thought it would have been enough. Thanks for clearing it up. The XL/GL series alos have these 'camera bars' but if Panasonic are marketing the camera as 'pro' then you'd think they'd include 'pro' reference.

<<<-- Originally posted by John Locke : I thought professional cameras were red, white, and black. -->>>

No, the XL1 is only a pro camera when you add a black manual lens. Which may only make it a prosummer camera. Hmm... What colour is the DVX100 again? BLack or dork grey?

She's black to my eyes. :-))

Frank,
To be a professional camcorder shouldn't it have a handle on the top?

Well, no. The PD100 didn't have a handle, nor did the AG-EZ1---and they're both black and sold through their pro divisions. Hope this helps. :-))

So all I need to make my cam a professional model is a black magic marker? Do you think nail polish would work better?
Michael

Spray-paint. :-))

Note: this post is not intended for the ironically challenged.

Yep, and eveyone knows that giving your lens a good coat of black spray-paint (flat or glossy) is a great way of identifying stuck pixels on the CCD.

Why did they forget to paint the focus ring, which is so close to the lens, black on the model they sent you a photo of, Frank?

<<<-- Originally posted by Tommy Haupfear : Yep, and eveyone knows that giving your lens a good coat of black spray-paint (flat or glossy) is a great way of identifying stuck pixels on the CCD. -->>>

You paint the lens directly eh? Wow that's news to me. I hate to think about how many UV filters I've ruined.
I know another guy who does it just by putting his lens cap on. Talk about unprofessional! What a loser.


(Actually, when I shot my first short the (somebody else's) cam had 3 dead pixels. Never noticed until I was doing the edit, and I got to a scene shot in low light. Heh.)

Thin film lamination is probably the better choice. Can choose different designs too, (Disney characters anyone), and it's reversible.

Patricia, I don't know. That would make a good question for Panasonic.

Am I the only one that thinks the silver camera looks much nicer than the black one? The black one kind of looks cheap, like a Fisher Price toy IMHO.

You shouldn't say that about the great Black Mamba. It's not nice. :-))

Let me offer you some consolation. I don't mind the silver one as well, heck, all my cams are silver; but I sure like black.

PS: both my car and motorcycle are silver. Hope this helps. :-))

Ouch. Did someone really say that about the Black Mamba? And I was trying to be so diplomatic in pointing out how nice the Silver Shadow looks with my titanium powerbook.

I havent seen any official figures yet but my guess is, the silver must have outsold the black by at least 20 to 1. The reason. I think the availability ratio between silver and black is something like 100:1.

I feel the black mamba would have looked even cooler if not for that grayish focus ring.

Actually, the black version is cool-looking in person. Black makes it look even more compact - and all that power in a small package adds to the coolness. For titanium powerbook owners, however, I highly recommend silver (it's really not silver - the exterior of the lcd looks like titanium and the eyepiece and grip on the right hand side are almost the same color as the keyboard on the powerbook). Maybe I'll start calling it the Titanium Tiger instead of the Silver Shadow. How's that for hype?

Titanium Tiger is very good hype, but I'm afraid that Black Mamba still sounds better. :-))

Too bad there is not one in yellow and black. It could be called "The Killer Bee".

Now that's a good one. Don't go suggesting this to Panasonic. They might get an idea, and then Heaven help us all. :-))

Though I'm sure many people would end up buying such a bee-looking cam. Just to bee different. ;))

Bee-autiful Frank. :)

Out of topic but anyway.

I got info from Bic Camera (one of the biggest electronic retailers in Japan) that regular production of the GS100K has ended and they dont have any stock at the moment. Limited stocks of the cam would still be made available for a while of course.

Why would Panasonic do that?

Perhaps Pany doesnt want to reduce the price of the GS100 any further and compete with the upcoming GS200.

i thought the GS200 was a different class of camcorder.

The GS100 is clearly a higher class cam but when Pany Japan starts marketing this new ultra-compact 3-CCD with its new universal design that is easy to use, easy to understand and safe even for grannys and children, not to mention a brand new model with an attractive price, then even the great black mamba would lose its sting in the Jap market.

I just re-read the specs of the GS200. It doesn't even mention anything about manual WB setting.