Imran Anwar Presents Irate: A New & Easy Internet Rating System For Everything in Life
A Digital Picture In The Dark Worth 10,000 Words
Or How To Choose a Digital Video Camera & Panasonic PV DV-701 Reviewed
by: Imran Anwar
I am a journalist, technology executive, gadget lover, and mobile road warrior. Recently I sat down to read a magazine on mobile computing. This was literally a few minutes before I was running out the door to purchase a new digital mini-DV video camera to use with my awesome new PowerMac G4-based digital video editing system. I am sharing my experience with you, so that you can make the right choice for yourself, based on facts, and an actual user’s opinions, rather than a list-typing journalist’s.
I thought myself fortunate to have stumbled upon that specific issue of that magazine, which shall remain nameless, at that particular moment. (Like all other gadget lovers, besides still unopened and unused new gadgets, I have a pile of 100+ unread magazines in a stack and that issue happened to catch my eye). I was thrilled to see there was a review of digital video cameras in that issue. Alas, that is where I realized how useless some of such magazines’ articles often can be. I was hit with a wave of disappointment upon reading the review.
It was one of the LEAST useful reviews ANY magazine could have done. Not only did it not tell me anything useful, it actually did great disservice to anyone planning to buy a new mini-DV camcorder. I had been pretty much set on buying a Canon or Panasonic model, particularly the Panasonic DV-601 and 701 were looking like my prime targets. Unfortunately, the article’s list provided almost no useful information, and the article itself actually almost sent me off track.
I noticed that with just 20 more minutes of work the review writer could have added SOME differentiating factors, some special features, some additional Pros and Cons, to make the table of comparisons even remotely useful. Instead, it was merely a list of different manufacturer’s models, and a listing of price and size of the viewfinder screen and not much else. As a matter of fact, I believe, there were even some models from the same manufacturer, with the same viewfinder size, but different prices, but the reader would not get a clue from this article as to what made them different.
Nothing about which had additional communications, like USB in addition to FireWire and/or MC/SD cards. Nothing about comparison of the quality of still images. Or the ability to easily transfer them to computers or email. Or about the included remote.
As a result, based on my own needs and analysis, I went out and, after some soul (and wallet) searching, decided to go with my first choice. For those who may have been frustrated by reading that article in that “well known magazine” I decided to share my experience of the camera I bought with you, dear reader.
I purchased a Panasonic DV-701 - which is absolutely fabulous. I played with it until late last night. What a wonderful package, what a wonderful combination of all that I needed and more. (My only peeve is that the included software is for PCs only even though the OEM does make Mac versions of the same software.)
First off, this is a sleek, beautiful and well-designed piece of technology. And light. It is SO light, even with a cassette and battery, one almost suspects that it is a mock unit for store display only. The silver and black exterior is aesthetically pleasing, perfectly matches the Panasonic (and others’) new model S-video and regular VHS VCRs out in the market, and its sides even match my “QuickSilver” PowerMac G4 and the black PowerBook G3 FireWire that it sits between.
Quite frankly, one does not buy a camcorder to see how good it looks, but for how it “sees” the world. I am delighted with the large 3.5” color LCD that pops open on the left, as well the color viewfinder, if you choose to use that in bright light. The picture quality was superb, as I played it on both a Panasonic 20” and a Pioneer 60” TV – even without S-video.
The camera came without a FireWire cable (iLink is the name Sony uses for the IEEE 1394 standard high speed link), but my Macs had plenty of them, so hooking it up to the Mac took about 2 seconds. Launching Apple’s almost magically simple iMovie I was instantly pulling the video from the camcorder into the Mac. Magic.
As I mentioned above, I am extremely disappointed in Panasonic for their choosing to only include PC versions of a slew of video tools with their camera – even though the OEM (ArcSoft in this case) has the same wonderful tools available for the MacOS.
Perhaps the Panasonic people felt that MacUsers are already likely to have programs that do what these PC tools do, which is partially true – or they just choose to ignore Mac users…which was almost reason enough for me not to buy Panasonic. But, in the end, my loyalty as a Panasonic customer, their great product, and great offering (8MB card included, hot-plug light included. The store I bought it also had a free carrying case, cleaning kit, blank tape, etc.) made it an easy decision to buy the DV-701.
While searching for a camcorder, I was also in the market for a digital still camera. Almost all the content on my web site (http://imran.com) has been taken over the years with an old, but still working Apple QuickTake 150, or with my Minolta Maxxum 7000i, and then scanned with an Apple ColorOne scanner.
I felt it was getting time to move up in the world, and get something that can take more than 16 digital pictures at a time. But, I also did not want to spend $300 for something with the same 640x480 capabilities as an Apple QuickTake, nor $800-$5,000 for something really fancy to replace both my digital and film cameras with.
The Panasonic DV-701 solved a great problem for me. The camcorder has a digital still camera built in. It is not a MegaPixel camera (I believe 640x480 is still the size of the pictures it takes) BUT, with a built-in card slot and included 8MB card, I can now take almost 100 pictures without needing to download them to a Mac as my QuickTake 150 requires. Additionally, as a special, Panasonic also had a rebate coupon for a free additional 16MB card.
I am a sucker for buying things thinking I will mail in the rebate and almost never get around to it. This one I sent right away and am looking forward to getting the ability to snap a few hundred more images, without carrying an extra camera, or running out of storage. And, I can always buy more of these cards later.
What differentiated the Panasonic DV-701 (and several models of the Panasonic DV line) is their claim not to pause a moving image but to actually take a still shot (complete with making a shutter like clicking sound of standard film cameras). I tested this, and it does seem to bear out.
The picture quality is better than many of the motion-pause-capture type still photos I have seen in other cameras. Even though its resolution appears to be the same as my older digital camera’s, the color accuracy (especially in the all-important skin tones) and image quality were definitely better – so this was indeed a good bonus.
I am sure a true Mega-Pixel still camera will take incredibly good pictures, but for 99% of my needs (emailing, web creativity) the Panasonic is just perfect. And, for real print work, I would still go with a film camera - so I do not see myself splurging on a Mega-Pixel still camera anytime soon (at least this month ;-) ).
The camera also has a built-in USB connection in addition to the FireWire link. I am thus able to move video with FireWire to the Mac and back, but moving still images did require the use of the USB connector built-in and the supplied USB cable. I was able to transfer the images easily to a PC laptop, and transfer them to the Mac over the Ethernet (and also via email). (I did not test this yet, but I am sure I should be able to install the Panasonic USB software and driver on my Mac under SoftWindows or Virtual PC so I can have video and stills directly on one machine instead of two).
The included software to get the images from the camera is as basic and boring as one gets included with cameras for free. It simply draws up a window with the pictures on the camera and you can select the ones you want to save on disk or delete. I will look again, but I did not see anything allowing me to bring in ALL the pictures on to the hard disk with one click. I am not looking forward to manually clicking Save 100 times to store one hundred images.
The bundled software, in addition to the above image transfer software, is basically some basic editing, and video-emailing software. I do not foresee giving up Eudora or Photoshop on my Macs to use these packages on the PC with the camera.
One package I have not played with yet is to create panoramic images – which saves them in the very popular Apple QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) format. I will try to see if I can bring the images to the Mac and use something like Apple QuickTime VR Authoring Studio or something like that, but that is for later. Considering the low cost of many of these packages, I am also planning to buy the Mac versions from ArcSoft.
In addition to the FireWire and USB connections, the included Multimedia card can also be used as a third form of data transfer for computers or devices that have the reader or ability to read or write these cards directly. I understand that the camera can use up to 64 MB cards (much larger cards are available, but I am not sure I need them at this stage). My only complaint about storing images on cards like this is that it can take several seconds before the image is stored and the camera ready to take the next shot. I recall that even my decade old Apple QuickTake appears to be ready for the next shot quicker than this.
In case you think I only like Panasonic, no, for this purchase I labored over Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and even a few JVC models. The Canon ended up looking and feeling a little chintzy (how does one spell this word anyway?) when I tried it. I recorded something with one of my friend’s SONY cameras and found something else very useful in the Panasonic, the ability to change cassettes without having to take the camera off a tripod, or change batteries without having to move the viewfinder eyepiece around. The included Panasonic light that affixes at the top of the camera will also be useful when I am faced by a situation where I need good color without relying on low light or infra-red capabilities.
The camera also has built-in speakers to listen to the video as it plays back on the eyepiece or the viewfinder. The built-in stereo microphones also work VERY well. I was especially happy that on playback you do not hear the background noise many older camcorders used to pick up from the humming sound of their own internal motor. An external microphone connection enables you to make better audio recordings, for example, of people having a discussion, where sound would be more important than just the video. I have not invested in a good external stereo microphone yet.
Interestingly, my biggest choice had been between the DV-601 and the DV-701 models from Panasonic. I had chosen these for their built-in analog conversion capability through an S-video as well as A/V In/Out capability. This was important to me to transfer my existing VHS, as well as VHS-C, tapes into Digital Format and to make regular VHS tapes of iMovie or Final Cut Pro, or Adobe Premiere creations. Using an easy to set up menu, I was able to change the A/V line to become an Input. Playing the VCR, TV and SVS-C camcorders into that line, each provided perfect conversion to digital format – without my needing to buy an additional piece of FireWire hardware for my Macs (or some less expensive, but slower, USB device for PCs).
The Panasonic 701 has an Optical Zoom of 10X (which works very nicely) and a Digital Zoom of 500X. That worked VERY surprisingly well. I was able to look out my window and zoom into objects I could barely make out in the distance. Of course, the digital zoom does look more pixelized and my hand movements made the image somewhat shaky (the built-in Dual electronic image stability systems came in handy) but with a tripod (I bought one for just $15 with the camera) that was not a problem. The 601 had a 20X optical zoom but a lower digital zoom if I recall correctly. I would have liked the 20X optical zoom rather than just the 10X that I got in the 701 but there was one more feature that was important to me.
The ability to shoot color video in low light. The 701 offers that capability and it works well. Both cameras provide something I was almost giving up on believing as useful or usable – the ability to record video (Black and White or in night-vision type blue, or green) in total darkness.
What turned me off the reviews of the earlier mentioned magazine’s review was their inaccurate representation of this capability. That magazine reviewer wrote something along the lines that this capability barely worked and was useless and unusable. I was ready to remove recording capability in total darkness from my search criteria for a camcorder.
However, since the Panasonic DV-701 came with this capability built in, I accepted it as a freebie that was probably not much use. Late last night, after I had set up the camera, I turned off all the lights in the house and decided to test it.
Wow. It was like a new kind of magic. I chose to use the eyepiece viewfinder instead of the 3.5" screen - so that the ambient light would be as close to zero as I could get. Even in that tiny screen I was able to clearly see (and record) the kitchen, dining and living room areas as I stood in one corner of the house. The aforementioned pile of magazines came into view, more than 10 feet away.
I zoomed in on it, still in total darkness. The screen lit up in my eye, with the magazine covers staring me in the face - clear, easily legible. The white cover of an aviation related FAR/AIM book shone in the eyepiece like it was under a lamp, so clear was the writing on it.
Even an issue of Fortune magazine, with a very dark cover, and colored text on top of that, was clear to see and the words could be read too. I zoomed in on the back of a postcard that stood on a ledge about 12 feet away. With total DIGITAL zoom, and zooming despite holding the camera in my hand instead of on a tripod, I was able to see the really tiny "Printed in U.S.A." printed on the back of the card. I was able to zoom in further and literally have it fill the screen with the letter "S" taking up all the screen space. Amazing, magical, and definitely MOST useful, totally unlike what that other magazine’s reviewer stated.
In addition to the video capabilities, I can imagine one immediate and perfect use where it could save me problems and misadventures. On occasion I have gone on my boat to regional marinas that are easy to travel to and from, but the narrow channel, the shallow area, and the unlit buoys make them places one either leaves before dusk or stays overnight.
I have an absolutely wonderful Garmin 220 GPS moving map chart-plotter, but even if I were to take it with me for such a quick run to a local marina, in such a narrow channel, I would be hesitant to use any GPS to keep me accurately within a merely10 feet wide channel in total darkness, when I cannot see the buoys.
What I need in such situations is a night vision device. With the Panasonic DV-701, I would be able to make out the buoys, bright as day, and be able to have even more late night boating adventures, with my laptop, wireless email, digital video tools and toys in hand! Maybe I can file my next review as a total darkness, video report from somewhere off Fire Island, next season!
As a matter of fact, I may start adding infrared recording versions of my boating and flying trips to http://imran.com in addition to the digital stills, QTVR panoramas and regular QuickTime movies there!
I hope you find this useful in making your buying decisions whether you look at the Panasonic 601/701 that I chose between - or deciding what capabilities are useful to you in whatever brand and model you choose.
This is….
Imran Anwar, signing off.