is the DVX200 still worth buying?

[Tom Van den Berghe]

these days there more and more second hand DVX200's for sale.
I mostly film stage shows. But I deliver 1080p on usb sticks for clients.

I shoot now with sony hxr-n3 and that goes from 28.8mm -> 576mm
and with the FS100 and the 18200mm F3.5 - F6.3 that goes from 27mm -> 300mm

the dvx200 goes in FHD from 28mm -> 365mm. all in 355 equivalent;

When I sometimes shoot 18200mm the FS100 (11x zoom) the close ups are just not close enough.

I think/hope the dvx200 is just close enough for this work. it has also intelligent zoom in full HD. how is this?

In 4K (UHD) 60P it crops and goes from 37.2 mm to 485.1 mm. So in this mode it seems I have reach enough for stage work, not?

I always film with 2 cams. So for a B-cam i was thinking for the GH5s or the old GH4.

What I like on the dvx200: looks great with the red, big lcd screen, shooting flat profiles like vlog.

Filming cinematic I do less but is nice to have that. (sometimes I make aftermovies)

I don't need 10bit. I don't do broadcast.

Can you advise me please?

[Tom Van den Berghe]

I bought one and I received it today.
But where can I buy a external mic holder for this?

[Vaughan Wood]

Hi Tom.

The external mic holder comes supplied with the camera, but not attached whilst shipping in the box.
You should find it separately in the packaging surrounding the camera.
If you haven't been supplied with one I would be getting in touch with your supplier pretty quickly.

Cheers,

Vaughan

[Tom Van den Berghe]

thx for the answer but it was a second hand one. There was no external mic holder.

but I found it online:

Panasonic VYC1146

[Tom Van den Berghe]

when shooting with autofocus the focus peaking does not work. seems only to work in manual mode.
With my sony camcorders you had peaking in autofocus mode.

What I have found is focus area that works with autofocus is now a user button..

Is this the nest combination for autofocus work? I shoot lots of stage events.

[Tom Van den Berghe]

next problem is the audio is distorted.
recorded with a shotgun and CH 1 in auto.

I checked the menu and audio alc ch1 is on (but it's greyed out)

It was a music band performance.

With the headphone I couldn't hear the audio distortion. The music was too loud from the music band to judge this

So next time I have to switch to manual audio and watch my audio peaks on the LCD?
.

[Ken Plotin]

Hi Tom,
Are you sure the swicth was set to Mic and not Line? I've made this mistake before :(
Ken

[Paul R Johnson]

Stage events very rarely are suited to auto anything! If it's loud, then auto gain just mashes everything against the stops, and distortion is rarely detectable when the room is loud. I often use mics with pads on for recording amplified stuff - so easy to make them sound nasty!

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Tom Van den Berghe

next problem is the audio is distorted.
recorded with a shotgun and CH 1 in auto.

I checked the menu and audio alc ch1 is on (but it's greyed out)

It was a music band performance.

With the headphone I couldn't hear the audio distortion. The music was too loud from the music band to judge this

So next time I have to switch to manual audio and watch my audio peaks on the LCD?
.

ALC is an automatic limiter. It’s useful but I don’t like Panasonic implementation in particular the indicator or lack there of. Panasonic displays “ALC” if the limiter is turned on but not when it’s engaged. So the levels meters will never turn red leading you to believe its ok. In contrast my Sound Devices mixer meters will show red and the limiter light will illuminate when active both are clear warning that levels are too high.
The only tip off that the camera levels are too high is if the meters are maxed out at -3db and not moving up and down.

Headphones are not very useful in loud concerts because the live sound over powers your ability to monitor what’s actually being recorded.

[Tom Van den Berghe]

Originally Posted by Ken Plotin

Hi Tom,
Are you sure the swicth was set to Mic and not Line? I've made this mistake before :(
Ken

yes, it was mic not line. thx for your answer

[Tom Van den Berghe]

Pete & Paul,

thank you for your comments My shotgun audio technica AT875R has no pads I think.
So if I understand it's best to manual audio and look at the meter on the display.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Tom

I had the same issue with loud music at weddings with my AC-130's ... ALC is terrible on some Panasonics and you end up with really bad audio .. Does the DVX still have a SET + ALC function??? That allows you to set a manual level (I usually work around -10db) but also kicks in the ALC if everything is too loud.

If you are trying to record live music then the ALC will be blown away by a live band's level so you would be better off trying to attentuate the mic OR even reverse it so it records reflective sound from behind you!!

[Paul R Johnson]

My favourite JVC has ALC that works pretty well with quieter sounds, but perched a few metres away from KiloWatts of PA, it runs out of steam and you end up with a waveform that sits a teeny away from distortion, and the microphones don't help. I don't think the mic actually distorts, but the level out of it is pretty hot and this makes the camera scream a bit. When I know the SPL will be high, I swap it to a dynamic (an SM57 in most cases), and disengage auto level and the gain knobs sit between 0 and 1 - that's often still quite high on the meter, but switching to line level it's too low of course. I do have a 20dB pad I sometimes use if I'm in very close, and a Formula 1 pit lane headset to stop me going deaf. I'm very protective of my hearing now I'm old!

[Tom Van den Berghe]

thx Paul and Chris for answering, very helpfull!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Tom

Record some fairly loud footage and take a look at the audio waveform in your editor ..On my AC130's which were around the same vintage as the 200, I found the the ALC circuitry was physically chopping off the top of the waveform in a straight line and that was what was causing the terrible audio! It looks like a normal audio wave form but almost seems that someone has taken a pair of scissors and given the top half of the waveform a neat haircut. My AC-130's were assembled in the Panasonic China factory and had all sorts of problems even though the body said "Made in Japan" ..I would be interested in a screen grab of your audio track especially if it has the "haircut" limiting!!