PV-GS400/NV-GS400

unknown..

Is this spec from official source or still compilation of rumors ?

It sounds like the GS400 will have multiple resolutions to record stills to card. Most cams only support 640x480 and then their top resolution. In the case of past Panasonic entry level 3CCDs they always use pixel shift to get a larger still but instead I would rather see a nice 1MP photo from a 3CCD cam with 1MP per CCD.

Now about that 1/4.7" CCD size... If it does turn out to be 1/4.7" then the GS400 will essentially be a mini PDX10 sans XLRs and about $700 USD less.

I'm inclined to believe it will be another 1/6" 3CCD but if its 1MP per CCD then I don't think they'll have much choice but to user a larger CCD. I don't think I've ever seen anything more than 800k pixels per 1/6" CCD (correct me if I'm wrong).

And what about zebra pattern and effective pixels for video? Any info?

That's just stupid of them to put megapixel ccds in it, it negates the whole advantgage of the bigger ccd's. I totally wish my gs100 had 1/4.7 ccds with the same effective pixel count that it has right now, it'd definately boost the low-light, but cramming another 200k pixels on each chip will make it another poor low light cam IMO.

Sorry, why did you decide that G400 would be equipped with 1/4,7 CCD? I can't find any information about except this forum.
I have asked our local Panasonic representative about G400, and they just responded me:
----------------
1. Characteristics is same as NV-GS200 with some differences:
- Photo mode with 4Mpix resolution;
- MEGA O.I.S. - optical image stabilizer;
- 3,5" LCD.
2. Selling star is about end of this summer (in Russia I mean).
3. Price is unknown yet.
----------------

I have asked them about CCD size, but they not respond me yet.

But GS400 is replacing this cam too.

Actually we don't know whats replacing the GS100 (if anything) but production appears to have stopped as mentioned on the Panasonic.jp website.

Just received Panasonic CIS reply:

=====
Good day Mikhail.
NV-GS400 has 1/4,7" CCD-marix.
=====

WOW! I like it! And I want it!

Huh? Really? I'm still not convinced but larger CCDs could explain the physically wider front lens element seen on the GS400 pics.

What happened with specifications?
They became confidential?

what specs?

The full specs have not yet been released, Mikhail.

if you want some official specs have a look here

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/camcorders/nvgs400b/index.htm


and i was just thinking, with the images, couldn't the 12x zoom account for the bigger lens?? as well a bigger CCD??

also the new CCD could be processed on a smaller FAB process, perhaps at .13 or .09u as opposed to the current FAB process.

does anyone know what the current FAB process size used to manufacture CCD's are?? .3u?? .5u???

as they could be changing the FAB process to reduce the size of the CCD and fit a higher count of pixels upon it

no Idea.

there are rumors that it will be the same CCD as in PDX10, but tose are ONLY rumors and nothing else.

You guys are creating and denying your own rumors.

Let's see what it looks like when it come out. A GS100 with a slightly bigger lens, bigger CCD's won't be a bad thing.

Michael, I took the specs off the posts because I got tired of people saying I made them up.

personally I really don't care anymore, I found and learned as much as I could from the people here, and I wanted to share all my information, in turn I got a whole lot of attitude and not much to back it up.

I wanted to see the reaction of the people and I posted that "i made the specs up" and suddenly I got quite a few replys like "you didn't fool anone, we knew you were making them up"

so... I deleted the specs from the posts I could.

I don't get to benefit of the post of those specs, the only possible thing that may come out of posting the specs is more wait for me if the store in Toronto does not store enough units.

there are Only 2 speculations

1-the CCD (is it or is it not Sony's with HAD)
pro- the CCD is the same size and has the same number of pixels
con- Pana has traditionally made its own CCDs

2-is there HD rough FireWire
pro- the frame size when capturing is NOT 640x480 nor 720x480 but a whole 1mega. The technology is there, and it is technically possible.
cons- hmm... it's not .. black?
personally I give HD 50/50 chance of being there.

the rest of the specs are as solid as if they come from Pana... or maybe a bit more.. since we know Pana uses disinformation from time to time.

what we don't know, and we have no additional info to speculate, is:
-is there 24p? what is in the so called "Pro Cinema Mode" this time.
-is there different colours, or just silver for now?

did I miss anything?... I don't think so..

Pro Cinema Mode is probably 30fps 16xalmost9 with a touch of cinegamma thrown in, a la the gs100.

There's no reason on Earth for a 1200 cam to have "secret" HD recording system.

I know that those are the gs100 specs. But about GS400 there's no information about this feature. We can expcet of course it is at least as good as gs100 but that does not mean it will be the same.

If you can make this cam an HD with extra 20$ cost, why not do it? You will blow out the competition. How's that for a reason?

why do you call it "secret"??? there are no official specs to speak of, so at present all specs are "secret". this feature will be (is) no less/more secret than anything else.

Is this spec from official source or still compilation of rumors?Only some of the specs of the PAL version has been posted. Missing is the CCD size---I say missing because 1 pana site posted 1/6" CCDs while somewhere Qeorge claimed Pana e-mailed him claiming 1/4.7" CCDs. So the CCD size is "subject," but most likely 1/6".

Frank, Pana did not e-mail me anything, it was -email to Mikhail.

the size is not missing, it is 1/4.7"

some of the specs posted in pana-es are copied over from gs200.
if you want to see only the specs of gs400 that were sent to pana-es take a look at their catalog and the specs in there.
there's no information on size, pixels or whatsoever in pana-es catalog.


as I said... if you ain't the one done the research yourself... you should zip it.

as I said... if you ain't the one done the research yourself... you should zip it.Excuse me?

Everything I posted in way of specs was from Panasonic. If your list was from Panasonic Europe or whatever, why did you remove them? You should have left them if they were official. I'm not judging you or anyone here. We are all here for 1 reason: to seek and share information.

I only want to know if gs400 is going to be good but I know it is going to be good because it is newer then dv953 and that is good. I feel happy now waiting for gs400 to come out and George sent me all gs400 specs and it looks good. I will phone Panasonic tommorow and blast them for when it will be out and how much.

I only want to know if gs400 is going to be good but I know it is going to be good because it is newer then dv953 and that is good.

I think you'll enjoy either cam and you have the benefit of good timing. While I'm sure the GS400 will be a great cam the DV953 is already a proven performer and I doubt the marginal increase in performance/features will make any DV953 feel the need to upgrade.

Another point you might want to consider is how a replacement can ACTUALLY be worse than the cam its replacing. The Canon Optura 200MC is prime example with it being inferior to the Canon Optura 100MC it replaced. I don't forsee that being an issue with the GS400 but its always good to keep that in mind when anticipating a new arrival.

Frank, I don't think you deserve to have the advanced knowledge of the specs of this cam. No one else has them, and when you got them first, you ridiculed the information.
This is the only reason I took off the specs from the posts.
But there’s one post with the specs still left. If you still want the information you can go and find it =)
G’luck

Frank, I don't think you deserve to have the advanced knowledge of the specs of this cam.No more personal attacks, got it?

I said that I only got a partial list from Panasonic, which I posted. If you e-mail Panasonic, you can get them as well, but they will be the same as the ones I posted.

Frank, i didn't mean "you" personally, there were a lot of people who replyed to "i made the specs up" in a similar way.
and before that too...
anyway, it was not personal, so pls don't take it this way.

cheers

Paging George "High Definition for $20" Beck -

Give Frank some props. Our hard-working mod is just trying to glean the facts from the innuendo.

"If you can make this cam an HD with extra 20$ cost, why not do it?

Ummmmm, because you would blow out your own product line.

2-is there HD rough FireWire
pro- the frame size when capturing is NOT 640x480 nor 720x480 but a whole 1mega. The technology is there, and it is technically possible.

Sorry this must be a stupid question but where did this info originate in the first place? If it's just one of those marketing hypes from Pany, then it's probably the same as the HD technology of the GS100 :-))


cons- hmm... it's not .. black?
personally I give HD 50/50 chance of being there.

Personally, I'd give HD GS400 a 1/4.7% or 1/6% chance :-))



the rest of the specs are as solid as if they come from Pana... or maybe a bit more.. since we know Pana uses disinformation from time to time.

Don't forget the ridiculous 58mm filter thread.

Frank.. just a suggestion...I think you have to change the time-out of posting.. make it a bit bigger... please =/

sorry the answers to all your posts are gone, it took too much time to write them all and the post disapeared =/

anyway... I think I've answered the same questions before.

in short:
Michael :what cam exactly do you think will suffer? Varicam?

Allan: have you seen any marketing of Pana about this cam?
I bet "no". Then why suggest it? What info?- the 1mega capture during playback?

I would be happy to answer any serious question, but looks like this is getting out of control at the moment. I gave you all my info, you do whatever you like with it. I'll answer further if you have some information or reasonable question.

cheers

Isn't the "time out" something you set with your Internet connection? I get the same thing, that's why I post fast and edit later if I have to, and I usually have to.

there is probably a timeout setting in the script for the board.
when I log-in for reply, if it takes a bit more, when I press "submit" then it shows that I'm logged off, and if I log-in again it attemts to go in some page that does not exist.

I guess the PHP script creats a "temp" file for the user to be used as posting page. When the timeout occures this file is destroyed. This is why when pressing the "submit" you end up in no-man's teritory (trying to press a button of a page that does not exist anymore).

whomever has setup the board should be familiar with those things, just let him know you want to... say double, the "posting time-out" and he should be able to do it easy.

I don't have this problem. I did have it but then I added more time to the time-out on my Internet connection. I find this site to be very fast, never a problem and bloat free, unlike a couple that comes to mind I don't want to mention.

Write faster or write off-line. Now there's a thought. :-))

hehe.. yeah... a bit too fast for me =)

maybe you are right... and if there were a persistant connection with the server the page will be preserved ... oh well...

I usually copy the text before pressing "submit" but ocasionaly I forget =)

I have cable connection, so I'm online 24/7 ;-)

Could be glitches in your cable connections, which has nothing to do with PV-GS400/NV-GS400 specs. :-))

Maybe this will be the week when Pana spills the beans. Hopefully Tom will get back to us about his "blast" to Pana head office. Someone should remind him to ask about the CCDs.

hehe.. my connection is rock solid =)
fortified with routers and firewalls =)

by the way.. just got a flashback of setting up my apache web-server.. you know that the open port connection timeout also is setuped by the server (not the script this time) so it's something your web-master can fix.

I wonder what will Pana-Canada send me as an answer :)
if they have not put my name in a spam-filter already :P

yeah.. we are getting close to the "date"... I wonder... why the secrecy with that cam.

by the way, if you have GS100, and look at it in the angle as the GS400 with the open LCD, do you see the buttons behind?
because I don't see any bittons on the GS400 behind the LCD on the posted pics.

click 'n check every day.

http://www.panasonic.ca/english/audiovideo/video/index.asp

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelList?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&catGroupId=11303

Sometimes, I write it in notepad first, then just copy and paste when ready to post.

But then again, might not 'copying and pasting' by pany have been the culprit with those conflicting gs400 specs anyway? hehe! ;) Just a thought.

i still think it might be better off keeping an eye on this page on the Panasonic UK site, as it already has info on the GS400, and a release date. all they are waiting for is an offical photo and official specs

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/camcorders/nvgs400b/index.htm

or at least add it to your list of sites to keep an eye on

ok here it goes, i'm going to end once and for all speculation, here is so far, what is actually offical specs, via an e-mail sent to me from Panasonic Australia

this first e-mail was about a query i had about the CCD's for the GS200 and about a replacement for the MX500a

Hi Kamal,

Thankyou for your Emails.

This is the break down of pixels on the GS200:



We have not yet been advised of a replacement for the MX500

I hope this has been of some assistance.

Kind Regards,
______________________
******* ********
Customer Care Consultant
Panasonic Australia
*******@panasonic.com.au

this second e-mail was about a direct inquery about the GS-400, both of these were done via the panasonic website

Hi Kamal,

Thank you for your e-mail.

NV-GS400A: 3CCD , Leica Dicomar 12x Optical Zoom Lens, 3.5" LCD, 4 Mega Pixel Still Image, MEGA Optical Image Stabiliser,Multi Manual Focus Ring, Built-in-Flash, MPEG4, Web Camera Fucntion, USB 2.0, Pro Cinema Mode, High Picture Quality Wide Mode, Air Soft Grip, 8MB SD Card, SD/MMC Card Adaptability, DV/Analogue Input/Output. RRP TBA, Release date TBA.

Should you wish to discuss the product in further detail or wish to enquire about other products in the Panasonic range, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Care Consultants directly on 132600.


Kind regards,

****** ******** | Team Coordinator | Customer Care Centre | Panasonic Australia



i hope this clears up some of the speculations that have been going around =)

here are the specs, again if you didn't remember them already.
(no changes, just re-posting them)

PV-GS400/NV-GS400

3CCD x 1Megapixel
CCD size 1/4.7"
4 MEGA still (2304 x 1728)
Leica Dicomar Lens (f=3,3-39,6mm 1:1.6)
Filter Thread size 43mm
Crystal Engine
12xOptical Zoom
Telemacro Mode
MEGA O.I.S.

Pro Cinema Mode
High Picture-Quality Wide Mode
Colour Night View
Soft Skin Mode
Motion Video/Still Picture (1 MEGA) Simultaneous Rec
True recording 25 images/sec video MPEG4 (PAL version)

Multi Manual Ring
3.5" LCD Monitor
Air Soft Grip
Built-in Flash

4ECM stereo microphone
Wind noise decrease function

SD/MMC Card Compatible
USB 2 (HS Mode)
Webcam

Quick start
DV/Analogue In- and OUtput
MX500/DV953 replacement

Talking about clueless. Someone has to fire those incompetent union workers. =)
here,s the latest hit from Pana-Canada:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thank you for your e-mail to Panasonic Canada Inc.

The PVGS400 has not been released in Canada or the USA. As such, we have no idea where this dealer would be getting the product from. At the present time we have no information regarding specs, operation, pricing, release date etc. to provide to you. We would recommend that you contact us in approx. 2 months, at which time we should have more information..

Thank you for your interest in our products.

Regards,

Panasonic Canada Inc.
Customer Care Centre
AH

All the info about the GS400 are coming from PALsville. So Pany Canada's answer sounds logical to me. I'm getting exactly the same answer from NTSC Pany Japan.

Unless somebody can find real new info, can we PLEASE just wait for the official press release from Panasonic Global? It won't be that long anyway. I don't see any relevant gains from repeating the same info again and again and again and again. It's probably a waste of bandwidth as well.

Here's something official as of yesterday; the upcoming Sony 3-CCD with 1.4.7" CCDs with Sharp like grip, and it's gonna be out in July. :-)).

Allan, some USA cam dealers have been taking orders or pre-orders for 2 months now. Crazy, huh? So that blows holes into Pana's sorrowful attempt at song and dance. :-))

I hope at least the specs will be realeased pretty soon, as Sony has announced the replacement of TVR950 the HC1000.

basically.. the same cam as far as I can tell with lower price.
The release is only for Japan for the time being.

there was some reference to DolbyDigital 5.1 ... but couldn't figure out what the hell they were talking about.

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/handycam/PRODUCTS/DCR-HC1000/index.html

looks like this cam will not be competition to GS400 =)
(although it's priced to compete with DV953 model)

but.. wait.. hey.. it's BLACK! ;-)

ps Allan, not all the info is coming from palsville. Most of the info is from there, but there're a lot of signs of PV-GS400.

ps2 GS400 come out in the Pana-SK catalog, but no info, no specs, nor picture. (just the model is mentioned along with GS120 and GS200)

hmm, just personal opinion but i don't like the look o fthe new sony, i think the 950 look way cooler.

looks like this cam will not be competition to GS400 =)
(although it's priced to compete with DV953 model)

The HC1000 is probaly aimed at competing with the low-end Panasonic 3CCD cams. The HC1000 appears to be identical in features to the PDX10 (sans XLR and DVCAM).

Very interesting that the HC1000 has front and rear mics which makes 5.1 easy in post as all you need to do is extact vocals and placem them center and don't forget your LFE channel.

Too bad Sony doesn't have a frame mode or progressive scan!

ha =) thats pretty nice to have 4 chan. sound.

and it records them all on the miniDV? does it say anything about the sound-quality?

if it's competing with GS120... it does not make much sense being proced at DV953 level...

I wonder if this is some kind of inbetween model, like the GS100k, that will be available only in Jap, before a major improvemant... and a world-wide release... any word if it's going to be sold outside Jap?

The HC1000 looks cool to me, perhaps even better than the GS100, IMO.

Even before you tried one, read the specs, and got some feedback? You have more faith that I. :-))

B&H photo:
-------------

Hi there

Thank You for your interest in our company,
And we appreciate your business,

Model # PVGS400 $1499.00 (out of stock)

Approximate availability in JULY

Sorry as of now we do NOT have any Specifications on the
model mentioned above,

For any additional questions
Please contact our Consumer Video Dept.
By Phone at 800-947-9910 Quick Dial 813,
Or 212-444-5000 - 212-444-6600
Or via Email at consumervideo@bhphotovideo.com