No, but the DVC30 does.

Ive been hooked on using frame mode in the dv953, its so nice, it would be a shame to give up.

thanks!

then you should be looking at the DVX100 and bypass frame mode alltogether, go for TRUE progressive baby, yeah.

yea, I know... unfortunatly my wallet only does frame mode.

I am shooting an outdoor wedding, but I need to know how to set up my camera. What kind of filter do i need to get the blue skies? My footage looks good, but i need to know what to do to get it very good the first time.

Also, batteries are going to be an issue. Where can I get a long lasting battery?

What is another dvx-100 forum?

What kind of filter do i need to get the blue skies?A linear polarizer will deepen the blue and make other colors richer. It's always a good idea to have a lens hood on the cam.

I have a cinetactics matteblox that holds filters. Where do i get the filters from?
Thanks,
Jarrett

You need AT LEAST a 2800 mAh ( (3 hours) battery to do any shooting for more than 90 minutes, especially if you use the LCD. I own one 2800 mAH generic battery (Power 2000?), two Panasonic CGR-D16's, and a Sunpak 1600 mAh. I've never exhausted all these batteries during a single shoot, but I never go to an event with a half-charged battery either. For example, when I arrive at the reception location, I charge up the 1600 mAh battery I used for shooting the ceremony.

My next accessory purchase will be a Panasonic CGAD54SE/1B battery. It costs over $100, but I'd rather use it for a wedding shoot instead of three lower-capacity batteries.

<<<-- Originally posted by Jarrett Towe : I am shooting an outdoor wedding, but I need to know how to set up my camera. What kind of filter do i need to get the blue skies? My footage looks good, but i need to know what to do to get it very good the first time.

Also, batteries are going to be an issue. Where can I get a long lasting battery?

What is another dvx-100 forum? -->>>

Using the camera's built-in 1/64 neutral density filter will enable to you to capture rich, blue skies. If your image is way overexposed, the camera will flash either "1/8 ND" or "1/64 ND" in the viewfinder/LCD; that's how I know to engage the filter, and it always does a fine job.

Here's another DVX-100 forum. They also sell a 3500 Mah battery for $45 USD. I bought two of them with good results. Dont order them if you're in a hurry though. It took a couple of weeks for delivery.

http://www.dvxuser.com/cgi-bin/DVX2/YaBB.pl

Panasonic PV-DV852 if you can find one. Great single chipper with all the features you're looking for. B&H had them for just under $600 a few months back but they have been discontinued for quite some time.

I will second the DV953 as mentioned by John.

I just bought a used DVC80 (2 hours use) and it did not come with a manual. I dont see the DVC listed on the panny site anymore so I can't dl a manual from there. Would anyone know where to get a copy in PDF format? thanks!!!

Panasonic has pdf files of many of their manuals online (click on support from the home page, then click on the "Operating Manuals" link in the upper right corner). The DVC80 manual is still up there, but the trick is that you have to search for "ag-dvc80" to find it.

Here's the DVC80 manual .pdf:

http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/AGDVC80.PDF

thanks a ton. I should have searched there but thought they would have taken it down due to the 80 being d/c'ed. thanks again.

I finally made a decision on which $2000 or so camera to buy, the DVC-80. I called B&H on Monday and was told they still had seven copies of the discontinued model. When I called to place the order on Wednesday, they were all gone. One buyer bought them all.

Does anyone know of a reputable dealer that still has one?

Also, should I worry about parts and service for a discontinued camera?

As for the parts and service, I think Panasonic is required by law to provide all of this for the next 10 years I think. Something like that.

DVC 80 reputable seller. EVS online may have a few left.. hope that helps

<<<-- Originally posted by Scott Plowman : DVC 80 reputable seller. EVS online may have a few left.. hope that helps -->>>

*evil grin*

Bought that last one from EVS a couple weeks ago!

LOL.. you made a good purchase sir.. sorry about your luck Tim.. Beware*** of non reputable dealers.. outside of B&H and EVS I wouldnt have the experience to give my approval to anyone else.. i can tell who not to call though,.. lol. But I wont... you can guess the names Im sure.. ; )

Why not try contacting Panasonic? A couple weeks ago I hammered them with questions as to why they cancelled the dvc80 and they told me they would sell me as many as I wanted in their reply back. It will be a bit more expensive than buying from B&H though.

I bought mine from buydig.com a few monthes ago. I had no problems with them, and I've heard the same from others. I have no idea if they have any left in stock though.

Tim.. and anyone else reading call Panasonic and ensure BuyDig or any other people you decide to business with is a Panasonic dealer for the pro series cam. Just some friendly advice. ; )

Wow! I think I had purchased one of the last 80's from B&H over the weekend as well. Try EVS or maybe even Panasonic directly. I am very happy with my dvc80. If I had a bit more dough, I would've loved to have the dvx100a. Good luck friend!

Arnold

Hello guys and gals,

Just wondering if anyone's noticed this with their dvc80? It seems that an internal component close to the lens section is loose. Now I haven't had any problem with the camcorder and I also read another reviewer that stated they also can hear this sound in their 80 as well. (In that review, they stated that Panasonic Tech support validated that this is normal).

Any feedback would be great! I'm hoping that this is the same with everyone else's across the board, otherwise, I'll be glad to have that extended Mack coverage.

Thanks in advance!

Arnold

Hiyas again!

Can anyone enlighten me with the battery life of a 2800 mAh battery and a dvc80 (with and without the use of the viewscreen).

I've also been considering picking up a 3500. By the way, anybody out there try the 3500 sold on dvxuser.com? I read one happy customer in another thread here and would love to hear any other comments.

Thanks again!

Arnold

No defect. I think you'll notice that the soft "thunk" you hear disapears when the camera is powered. The DVX does the same thing (these cams share the same lens and body). I suspect it is some kind of gyro motor for the OIS but I won't claim to be correct, merely speculating, but they all do that.

Now if your cam is making this noise after power-up, well... I should add that I have only noticed this "thunk" when the cam is moved forward-to-back along the lens axis, other directions don't seem to affect it.

im using these as they came stocky with my MX as well as my DVX..

in general, with screen open in warm temp (aprox 30 degrees celius it will last a lil ove ran hour. maybe an hour and a half..

with screen closed your lookin gat about 2 to 2.5 maybe 3. hours.. intermittent power on/off and whether or not your using the lever to zoom or using the zoom ring..

in cooler temperatures, the battery lasts a lil longer..

Well, Jarret Towe is selling his slightly used DVC80 over in the classified forum: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27270

Some people are jumping on it, so you may want to contact him soon. He was pretty gung-ho when he bought his DVC80 -- he even started a short-lived board dedicated to it, so you can at least be assured that he's not just some run of the mill scammer... And what more could you ask for in today's world :) Beyond that, I don't know the fellow, but you might want to check out that post.

Aside from that, I think it's a wonderful idea for people to contact Panasonic directly -- maybe a bunch of calls saying "I Want My DVC80" might make them realize that they should have kept the camera in production... From what I saw during the short time the camera was produced, it was making headway into both the professional and prosumer markets. Another year or two and we might've seen more productions using the DVC80 -- especially in TV news and reality programming, where producers might want a near-PD150-quality camera for the price of a VX2000. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part...

[as a side note, in the May 31 issue of TelevisionWeek, there's a picture of photojournalist Don North in Iraq with either a DVC80 or a DVX100 -- can't see the telltale LCD side of the camera... I'm hoping it was the DVC80... :) ]

The rough, rough rule of thumb for the DVX is, the milli-amp-hour rating is about the # of hours you'll get, if you add a decimal point.

So, a 2800mah battery lasts *about* 2.8 hours.

A 1600mah battery lasts roughly 1.6 hours.

The big battery, the 5400mah, again lasts *about* 5.4 hours.

I think I was able to buy B&H's last copy of this camera. I just got it a couple of days ago. I shot some footage using all the automatic stuff and was very impressed with the image quality. It looked as good as broadcast to me.

It is a professional camera, however, and the documentation is a little spare. I can't figure out how to set the exposure manually, for example. Nor do I understand what most of the menu options mean. Does anyone know of any resources that would explain the why as well as the what of the options this camera gives me?

Success! I kept monitoring the B&H website and a copy of the camera suddenly appeared. I called and bought it. It arrived Friday and appeared to be brand new, packed at the factory.

Thanks to everyone for help and suggesstions. Now if I could only figure out how to operate the thing! See my new post.

set the manual exposure on the lower left middle side of the cam, theres a dial. next to the dial is a button should trun auto iris on or off. you cannot change the iris in full auto mode (top left rectangular button under the 3CCD symbol) unless you change it in your menu options under auto SW. i know this may sound crazy because you dont know the terms, but read everything, i mean everything in the manual and you should learn more than you know. the dvc80 is the same as my dvx100 i think except for a select few things (and 24p :)) so check out the dvx100 resources on this page, they all pertain to dvc80.

Tim... have yourself a HUGE bowl of chili and be sure to use PLENTY of jalepenos... Oh yeah, be sure to leave the owners manual of your camera on the bathroom floor.

Within about 12 hours you will know exactly how to use your new camera's extra features... in a mostly painless and relatively quick study session.

Really the 80 is an excellent camera. Even though I have a DVX I felt like I was missing out by not getting one before they were gone. I really feel like that cam will go down as one of the best price/performance cams of this decade.

You are about to embark on an INCREDIBLY satisfying journey of video production... I still find that the images I can get inspire me to find stories where it doesn't seem like there is any story... You'll be having the same experiences soon.

Give it two weeks and you'll be jumping with excitement at each new suprise your cam will give you.

One thing I love about the 80 is being able to have a semi wide angle perspective without the heavy lense attachment. It works great for weddings while using my flowpod without the extra weight of an extra lense.

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Easler : It works great while using my flowpod. -->>>

Hello Rob :-)

How well does the flopod work ??

Thanks

Scott

I really don't need all that a DVX100 or 100A has. The feature set of the DVC80 was pretty good for what I want to do.

But the only place I can find DVC80s still for sale as 'In Stock' are at sleazy webstores. B&H has a feature where they will notify me via email if they get any, but no word for a while.

Does anyone know of a reputable dealer that has a Panasonic AG-DVC80 in stock and ready to sell and ship?

I had no more than posted the previous message than I got a reply from the B&H store indicating the DVC80 wan not going to be restocked and that I should consider the DVC30 as a replacement.

Kudos to B&H for actually sending me that email. I think it reflects very well of that store to send it and I'm more prone that ever to deal with them becasue of that small thing.

That said, I'd still like to find a new AG-DVC80 somewhere and then shop at B&H for all the necessary gadgets and googahs.

from what i hear, the DVC80 might indeed have been halted. while it has a good featureset, it is supposedly still a flop for Panasonic, as it still costs enough that most people will buy the DVX100 instead or go for a lower-end model such as a GL-2.

i hear the DVC30 is the model they are using instead as the model below the DVX. it's further below the DVX than the DVC80 was, but that's supposedly the point.

haha, your second post wasnt there when i posted mine.

anyway, wait for the DVC60. both this camera and the DVC30 are going to be the cameras targetting the DVC80's market.

hrmm, what the going rate on DVC80's? I have one with 7 hours on the head. It doesn't have an eye cup, haven't ordered a replacement yet. It is in great shape. You guys know what I could get out of it? I'd like to scoop up a DVX100 if i could sell it.

Any word on DVC60 chip size?

dvc60 i think is 1/3, but one person i know said 1/4. i think its 1/3. people, you dont need the eye cup, infact its annoying and ill sell mine if you want it :)

DVC60 is 1/4. It's the same camera as the DVC30 but in a different shoulder-mount form factor.

Just a heads up for anyone that might be interested. I just happened to spot it while surfing their site. Asking $2400. Probably won't be available for very long. I bought mine when the rebate was in effect and its certainly a great camera for the price.

way overpriced you could get a used dvx-100 for the price

Joe, I paid about that much for my DVC80 a little over a year ago and it was worth every penny. Still is. Comparing used to new prices is a little unfair, as well.

As of today, it's still there at B&H and I'd definitely recommend it.

It's worth about 1900.00

How do you figure that, Michael?

At the very least, it's as good as a VX2100, which is more than $1900. At best, it was nearly a PD150/170 competitor, and was bought (and considered) as such by some broadcast news professionals.

I'm not trying to start an argument here; it just sounds like you're making a pretty arbitrary statement.

(and I'm comparing new to new. If a new DVX100a costs $3400, then I'd say that the same camera without 24p/30p is worth $1000 less. And a new DVC80 was a huge savings over a new PD150. A *used* DVC80 probably is worth about $1900)

Any way you look at it, the DVC80 is a great camera. If I didn't own a DVX, I'd probably own that.

I can't remember the exact price but B&H had the DVC80 for much less (perhaps right at $2000) before they last went out of stock.

For $2699 you can get the PD170 from B&H using the WEVA discount and mail-in rebate.