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With video's immediacy, ease of use, and lower cost, many traditional filmmakers who maintain that film looks better than video are slowly migrating to the newer format. Recent video converts will appreciate the legitimate "film look" available in Panasonic's latest offering: the 3-CCD AG-DVX100A camcorder that lists for less than $4,000.
The camera's predecessor, the AG-DVX100, was introduced by Panasonic in 2002. The new model looks quite similar to the 100; what's different are the internal features. The 10OA produces a sharper, clearer picture.
Outside Looking In
One of the things that struck me immediately is the large, 3.5-inch, 200,000-pixel LCD monitor. Few cameras sport anything over 2.5 inches, which makes this one massive by comparison.
The viewfinder is also very large and in color. I prefer a black-and-white viewfinder, but this 180,000-pixel color version is very sharp-and a simple adjustment in the camera's menu allowed me a black-and-white image anyway.
When the LCD screen is flipped 180 degrees, to be viewed from in front of the camera, the viewfinder stays active. In my experience, every time you open an LCD monitor, the viewfinder is disabled. Score one for Panasonic.
The front of the 10OA gets the most attention, with its distinctive lens shade and Leica F1.6 4.5-45mm lens (1Ox). Leica makes one of the finest 35mm still cameras, and having a lens like this on a digital unit is worth celebrating. This lens is crystal dear, and I found focusing the 100A much easier than other camcorders in its price range.
Although I seldom use auto focus, "AF" numbers appear in the viewfinder to tell you what "number" focus you are using. These numbers are expressed as a percentage of the total range of the lens. As your subject moves, the numbers will track with it, making follow absolutely possible. There are no perceivable "hunts" for focus, where the lens constantly rolls around trying to determine its focus point. As an experiment, I set the focus on auto and then switched to manual to see what happened. The focus remained locked on that number.
The 1Ox zoom lens is wider than most, but it doesn't...