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The
Panasonic AG-DVX100 was released in October 2002. Its 60Hz version was the first consumer-affordable
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
camcorder
A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swa ...
capable of recording video at 24
progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
frames per second.
The last revision was the DVX100B(E) (2005). The camera records to tape, but third party developers have modified DVX100 cameras to dump raw images to a tethered laptop. However, the company most known for doing this, Reel Stream, is no longer operational.
For the Chinese market, the series was badged as "AG-DVC180/A/B". They are otherwise identical to the European PAL AG-DVC180E.
Technical specs
Panasonic created a complete line of cameras that support recording in
24p In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second (typically, 23.976 frame/s when using equipment based on NTSC frame rates, but now 24.000 in many cases) frame rate with progressive scanning (not interlaced). O ...
, which is an analog of how
film camera
A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie s ...
s record frames, for
independent film production. 24p stands for 24 frames per second progressive: a frame rate which is commonly used in motion picture production and progressive scan which avoids interlacing to give artefact free frames. These features give the recordings a film quality appearance.
The original AG-DVX100 can only shoot in a 4:3 aspect ratio. The "A" revision added a capability to shoot widescreen video, but this appeared squashed on the built-in monitor. The "B" revision introduced the ability to properly monitor 16:9 aspect ratio. All revisions have CCD sensors with native
aspect ratio of 4:3, which causes the decrease of vertical resolution in widescreen mode because of cropping.
In its segment, the DVX100 was rivalled only by the larger shoulder-mount
Canon XL-2
This is a list of camcorders manufactured under the Canon brand.
Canon Cinema EOS digital camcorders
* Canon EOS-1D C
*Canon EOS C70
*Canon EOS C100
*Canon EOS C100 Mark II
* Canon EOS C200/C200B
*Canon EOS C300
*Canon EOS C300 Mark II
*Canon EOS ...
which also records progressive video.
The DVX100 contains a 3-
CCD image sensor system, with 410,000 (380,000 effective) pixels each with 4:3 native aspect ratio. When shooting widescreen, the sensor is cropped at the top and at the bottom, resulting in significant loss of resolution. Conversely, the Canon XL-2 has native resolution of roughly 680,000 pixels, which is cropped to 460,000 pixels in widescreen mode and to 350,000 pixels in 4:3 mode.
The DVX100 can record
24p In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second (typically, 23.976 frame/s when using equipment based on NTSC frame rates, but now 24.000 in many cases) frame rate with progressive scanning (not interlaced). O ...
video in
"telecined" fashion (2-3 pulldown for 24P and 2-3-3-2 pulldown for 24PA), 30p video in
PsF fashion (25p in PAL version), and 60i standard (50i PAL)
interlaced video
Interlaced video (also known as interlaced scan) is a technique for doubling the perceived frame rate of a video display without consuming extra bandwidth. The interlaced signal contains two fields of a video frame captured consecutively. This ...
onto
MiniDV
DV refers to a family of codecs and tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, DV was strongly associated with the ...
tape. The camera incorporates "Cine
Gamma
Gamma (uppercase , lowercase ; ''gámma'') is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter re ...
" functionality to approximate the characteristic curve of film.
The DVX100 also features two
XLR audio inputs, another rare feature for cameras in its price range, a 4-pin
FireWire
IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...
port, as well as
S-Video
S-Video (also known as separate video, Y/C, and erroneously Super-Video ) is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video, typically at 525 lines or 625 lines. It encodes video luma and chrominance on two separate channe ...
and
RCA in and out ports. It features manual and servo zoom, with a second zoom control and record button on top of the handle for recording from low angles.
Typical camera accessories are: spare batteries, lens adapters, matte boxes, optical filters, tripods, geared and fluid heads for smooth panning and tilting, follow focus systems, external microphone(s), and storage cases.
Films and Shows shot with Panasonic AG-DVX100
Many documentaries, independent shorts, and feature movies have been shot with the Panasonic AG-DVX100, including the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
-winning feature ''
November
November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. No ...
'', ''
The Puffy Chair'' by the Duplass Brothers, and the Oscar-nominated documentary ''
Murderball''. The documentary "
Iraq in Fragments" was also shot with this camera over a two-year period in Iraq. Seasons 1-5 of the popular TV show ''
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...
'' were also shot with the DVX100. ''
The Man From Earth
''The Man from Earth'' is a 2007 American science fiction drama film directed by Richard Schenkman. It was written by Jerome Bixby, who conceived the screenplay in the early 1960s and completed it on his deathbed in April 1998. It stars David Lee ...
'' was shot from only two DVX100 cameras.
The
Ghost Adventures Documentary film, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature from the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in 2006, was also filmed using the Panasonic AG-DVX100A fitted with on-board lights. The camera was operated by fellow investigator Nick Groff and equipment technician Aaron Goodwin.
References
{{Reflist
AG-DVX100
Cameras introduced in 2002