I have settled on buying the 3 chip panasonic over the sony trv80 and now after reading all this talk about the panasonic I have a new question. Or set of questions.
There is much talk that the Japan version cameras are much better. I being in the military can get things shipped from the states or buy any Japan spec cam right here in good ol Seoul, South Korea. Having this option...what is a better cam?

the panasonic MX350 which has THREE 1/4 inch CCD's at 570k

panasonic DV 953 has THREE 1/6 inch CCD's at 800k

So I ask the question...which one should I get? Low light is important to me cause I film skateboarding which is often done at night and besides that I want the all around better cam.

Last question...what is difference between PAL and NTSC, for american Laptop which one do I need, and how can I tell the difference when buying cam?

I will actually have to pay a bit more for the older 350 because Seoul has high prices on cameras. I think it will be about 200-250 dollars more than the 953. Is it worth the difference in price?
thanks again...u guys on this forum are great about answering my "newbie" questions!

why have you decided to buy Panasonic? Now I have MX500 and I'm very dissapointed:( Check a short problem overview on http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8789. Now I'm thinking of selling MX500 and buying SONY TRV60 (it has bigger CCD and better lux rating, yes 1CCD, but in some situatins it even better:o). So my advice is to be very careful when buying a camcorder, try to test them as much as you can:-)

How much u asking for your MX500? maybe we can make a deal?

North America, Japan and Korea uses NTSC. The MX500 is PAL. The MX5000 and PV-DV953 are NTSC. The PV-DV953 is the North American English version of the MX5000.

I played with a PV-DV953 the other day. I think it's a fantastic cam. Yes, fantastic. But if it's low light shooting you want, I suggest going with a cam that has large CCDs, such as Sony's DSR570.

frank,
thank you for the reply to my question but my thread was in concerns to the MX350. It has 1/4 inch CCD where as the 953 has 1/6. I am looking to find out what kind of a difference that will make? plus through these forums many are sayin the older 350 is better than the 500/5000. sorry to ask so many questions

Re: what is a better cam?
* the panasonic MX350 which has THREE 1/4 inch CCD's at 570k panasonic
* DV 953 has THREE 1/6 inch CCD's at 800k

I think the PV-DV953 is the better cam, but the MX350 would perform a bit better in lower light. However, there is no NTSC model for the MX350. It's a PAL model only. Go with NTSC, and an NTSC cam with English menus (PV-DV953)---or can you read Japanese?

If I remember correctly, and Frank corrected me once on this, the MX350's NTSC brother is the DV952, which, instead of 1/4" CCDs uses 1/6" CCDs. That'll mean that teh higher pixel count of the DV952 actually be better. Not better in lights alone, but probably in how noise is handled.

As for the low light difference between the MX350 and MX500 (comparing PAL models), it was enough for me to decide on the 350 instead of the 500. Another close friend of mine, having used the 350 for 8 months and deciding to sell it for the newer 500, changed his mind and stuck to the 350 after checking out the 500. Sure, the features are better, especially top loading, but the video quality just doesn't measure up.

But for Luke in Korea, stick to NTSC, or you'll have problems playing at your firends' place or mixing footage from diffrent cams.