It can be mounted on a tripod, monopod, stabilizer, virtually anything with a standard thread. In fact for some shots and projects unrelated to aviation I do use a tripod. The frame mode is probably as good as you can get for the price and the controls make sense once you set them up for yourself. One pain is having the audio controls behind the viewscreen though.

I like mine
 

I purchase my Panasonic AG-DVC60 in Feb 2006 and have been very pleased with the results. I am a professional sound engineer and the xlr's are a plus for quality and convenience. Also you can record in Stereo with multiple inputs from a professional mixing board (I have 32 channels with 4 grouping sends and 2 stereo sends) The cable length is not a problem also the length of cord I have used is from 25' to 100' without sound loss. I also use boom mics with lightweight and older style - Shure mic 16a which usese one AA battery (unidirectional) so phantom power is not always necessary off the board. Panasonic AG-DVC60 also has a switch for either installed mic l or r seperately and input 1/8" outside source along with the XLR. The lightweight of the Panasonic AG-DVC60 is another plus. Also downloading DV is also convenient with the firewire connection. You wont be unhappy with the Panasonic AG-DVC60, as I would give it a 9.5 out of 10.
Jaii Hein is online now Edit/Delete Message

DV Newbie w/ DVC60 Hardware/Editing Questions
 

Greetings All! What an excellent Forum! Kudos to all involved! This is the best managed forum on DV I have found. So may of the others are full of SPAM/Porn/nonsense.

I hope you folks don't mind, but I have a few basic questions. I will try to be concise, while providing basic tech specs.

After about 18 years as a still photographer I recently became interested in DV. So, to get my feet wet, I purchased a used, "Mint Condition" Panasonic DVC60 w/ less than 70 hours on the heads. It seems to be working fine. So far. I've only shot about an hour of footage, putting it through all the basic tasks in the manual. Now I need to transfer that footage to my computer.

Question: can anyone advise me on what type of Firewire (IEEE1394) cable to purchase and where? I tried Panasonic's web site, but they don't offer one in the Accessories section for the DVC60. They have not responded to my emails. I've found thousands of cables on ebay, but have no idea which would apply, except that I need 4pin to 4pin connectors. My computer features a Firewire port. Thank God.

I plan to edit my footage on my Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop -after I upgrade it. I've read that laptops are not ideal for DV editing, but mine is a very robust "Desktop replacement". It has a Pentium M 740 Processor (1.73GHz/533MHz FSB). I will upgrade the current 80 GB 5400 RPM HD to a new 100 GB 7200 RPM HD and install *only* XP SP2 and Adobe Premier Elements 3.0. I will also upgrade from 1 GB of DDR2 533 MHz RAM to 2 GB RAM. I have a 256 MB NVIDIA 6800 video card and a 17" True Life Widescreen UXGA display. I will not install any other software on this system; it will be used only for DV editing. Of course, I will add an External HD for storage.

Question: does this sound like an adequate system for DV editing? Any other suggestions? If possibe, I want to learn the basics before I invest in a more sophisticated camera and computer system.

TIA! Any and all input/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Happy filming to all!

Regards,

Merton Gaudette

any firewire will do.4pin to 4pin or 4 to 6pin. It depends on your laptop and camera's port. Not too long, or less you might lose data, I can't remember the exact length before the camera has problem in transfer data.( but the shorter the better.)

*Any* Firewire Cable? Good!
 

Thanks for the info David. I thought any 4 pin to 4 pin cable would work, but I wasn't certain. And your tip on the cable length was most helpful. Are any particular brands favored for quality?
Thanks again!

Any big name should be good quality. Sony i.Link would probably be the best. I haven't found any problems using normal generic brands, though.

Audio synch problems capturing from DVC60?
 

We've got four DVC60 cameras that we can't capture from into Final Cut Studio 2 without audio synch problems.

The audio is out of synch on all four cameras, but to differing degrees (not related to clip length.) It's driving us nuts. It doesn't seem to be a setup problem. (Cameras and software both set to 48khz.)

Nothing wrong with the tapes -- we can use a different deck and it's in synch.

Just a problem with the capture from the camera. (And the tapes play back in camera in synch, when monitored from the headphone jack.)

Anyone having problems with any other NLE?

Hi Chuck.............
 

I stumbled upon this gem of info whilst researching audio mixers. It's on the Sign Video web site. I'm not familiar with the cameras you've mentioned but could this be a possible cure?
"

MINI-DV UNLOCKED AUDIO PROBLEMS- Are they real and how can they be fixed?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problems Are Rare
In the DVCAM and DVPRO video formats, the audio signal is locked to the video signal, insuring that audio and video will always stay in sync. Technically, in the less expensive DV format, i.e. mini-DV format, the DV audio signal is not locked to the video signal, and could stray somewhat out of sync. In practice, this is rarely a noticeable problem. Audio and video usually stay in sync, even though there is no "lock" to guarantee that they will stay in sync. This sometimes drives DV camcorder dealers nuts, since the manufacturer feels obligated to tell the public that the audio is unlocked. Meanwhile, the dealer has not had so much as a single customer complaint about unlocked audio.
If your budget limits you to a DV camcorder, or you just like the smaller, lighter camcorder, don't worry about locked and unlocked audio. It is unlikely that you will have significant problems, and in fact, you may never have a problem.

Audio Can Be Relocked
In the rare event that you do have a problem, you can take your tape to a professional video house and have it dubbed between two DVCAM decks to relock the audio. Again, the problem is rare, so the video house may not be familiar with the process. Tell them to do the following:

Dub from a DSR 60 or 80 to a DSR 80 or 85 in QSDI mode.
This will relock the audio. "


May be a complete red herring, but hey, it's something.


CS

Chuck................
 

You ever sort this problem?


Chuck?


CS

No, we solved it by buying some sony decks. Still haven't figured out if it was a Panasonic issue or a Mac issue.

DC Power Cable for DVC60?
 

I just bought a used DVC60 (with 24 hours on the meter). Checking it out this afternoon...looks like a nice camera.

Anyway...I just noticed that the battery charger has a seperate cable that connects the cam to the charger when using AC to power the camera. Well that DC cable is missing.

Is that a generic type cable that I could buy at an electronics retailer or will I need a special order Panny part. I hate to buy the whole charger assembly just to get that one cable...

Any ideas? Thanks

Never Mind
 

I saw a link to Panny's parts ordering web site. Ordered the cable...it will be less than $20 with shipping...

Now I'm going to go try out the cam....

Is this DVC60 camera fried? can it be fixed?
 

So I rented a DVC60 from my school for the weekend, and when the guy was packing everything up, I asked if he had a charger for the camera. (This was after he tested the camera to make sure it was working, it was). So he looks around and sees a charger plugs it in, nothing happens. Then he looks at it, oh this is for a laptop, no sorry man but you have 2 batteries you should be fine. So I take it and all.

When I got here, the camera would not turn on. I checked the voltage for its DC in, and it was 7.9 Volts. I looked at the charger for MY laptop, and it said 65 volts, probably similar to the one that he plugged in. Did this fry the camera? Blow a fuse? I really need to shoot this project this weekend, is there anything I can do to get this fixed?

yes , laptop charger are usually around 20V, so there is a big chance that something is fried in the camera.

Sorry, there is no remedy other than sending the camera to an authorized Panasonic repair facility.

Most likely a master fuse inside has blown but there is no way to replace it yourself.

Moved from Open DV Discussion to Panasonic DVX / DVC.

And let's hope the school accepts responsibility for the repair cost since it was THEIR tech that did the damage as you were picking it up.

If you find that the school wants you to pay for the camera this what i would do. So you know I have a dvc-60p and it has more then 290 hours on the head. It is a great camera if you use a sound mixer and go in via the XLR jacks. the mikes are only good in low noise levels. any way if you can find someone local like myself who is good at repairing stuff you can find the shop manual on line at manualsparadise.com i know that they have the manual for the dvc-30 it is the same as the dvc-60 with out the XLR'S Just a thought. GOOD LUCK. You can buy parts on line also i have had to replace a dew sensor before.