I just got my GS400 from B&H. When I (gently) shake the camera in the camera's shooting direction then the camera makes a sound like there is a loose item inside the camera. But only while power is off. With power on then the the sound disappears.
Anyone know what's making the sound (assuming my camera is not the only one doing this). Is it a mirror? The prism? The image stabilizer? Is it normal or should I RMA?
I'm also asking because allthough everything appears to be in order from B&H then I cannot say I was impressed with their packaging for UPS. The shipping box could have been a little bigger with a little more bubble wrap - I would gladly have payed for it, there was no bubble wrap along one side inside the shipping box and the shipping box looks like it had a rough ride - looks like an accordian in one side. I mean - come on - this is an expensive precision instrument that probably was carried on velvet while being manufactured at Matsushita. But the camera appears to work though. Then again, all I've done so far is turn on power.

That is not a problem Claus. It is the Optical Image Stabilizer block making that sound while the cam is off.

I'll second what Allan has said. My DVX100A does the same thing and I believe the DVC30 and DVC80 also have the power off OIS rattle.

Let us know what you think of the GS400 when you've had more time to put it through the paces.

I just spent four hours testing somebody else's GS400K (although I haven't even found the time to open my own unit :-)). Anyway, excellent widescreen quality and VERY clean image!


My few complains

1. Panasonic replaced the 2-bay battery charger with a cheapo 1-bay type? What is Panasonic thinking???

2. Probably I'm still getting used to the new buttons inside the LCD panel but at this moment, I have to say the jogwheel of the GS100 is a lot faster to operate.

Thanks for the replies. Calms me down. My next chore is to get the video onto the PC. My Windows box is collecting dust - has only USB1.1 and no firewire. My Linux box has USB2 and firewire. Anyone know how to get the video onto Linux using the USB interface? I've read that dvgrab/kino supports only firewire. Also, the manual says that both camera and PC must be off when the firewire cable is connected but mentions no such requirement when the USB cable is connected. That makes USB the more convenient of the two. I know it is only half as fast as firewire - but the manual does not say that it may not be fast enough. But I think I'll get a firewire cable anyway.

I'm not familiar with Linux but definitely firewire over USB 2.0

I know the GS400 has the ability to transfer full video via USB 2.0 but I think you'd be better off with ol' reliable. There could be some compatiblity issues with some editing suites in the acquisition process.

Just a little feedback... Got the firewire cable (2x4-pin), installed some additonal required rpms and used kino (equivalent of motiondv) to get and compress a clip. My GS400 is PAL.
The clip is ridiculous - it is of my TV tuned to KQED last night - is here 67.123.164.74 which is just a dynamic address that's bound to get recycled, is ultra short but leaves the bottom line that the process actually works on Linux - and then just like that. I was expecting at least a little resistance - also because this is my very first video processing experience - but got none. I'm running SuSE 9.1 - if interested. But I'm sure Fedora is just as capable.