Nice Camcorder With Cool Infrared Capability

It's getting rather crowded at the entry-level end of the professional digital video camcorder business and each model seems to have something unique to set it apart from the pack.

At least five companies have 3-CCD digital camcorders that sell for prices ranging from around $1,000 to $5,000. One company -- Panasonic -- even has a 3-CCD digital camcorder in its consumer line that sells for less than $700. So when Panasonic sent me the AG-DVC30 DV camcorder to review, I looked for its distinguishing factors. It wasn't a lengthy search.

FEATURES

The Panasonic AG-DVC30 is a small camcorder weighing little more than 2.5 pounds when loaded with a battery and cassette, ready to roll. With an f1.6 16:1 Leica Dicomar lens that has a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 39.5 to 632mm, the lens has a surprising reach at full telephoto and a built-in optical stabilizer helps keep shots steady at the long end of the lens. The lens has an easily spun ring that can be used for either zoom or manual iris control, both of which are unusual in this class of camcorder.

The image sensors are 1/4-inch interline-transfer (IT) CCDs, each with an effective pixel count of 380,000 pixels. The camera boasts gain settings from 0 to +18 dB and has a wide range of shutter speeds for a variety of effects. Speaking of effects, the AG-DVC30 has a CineGamma setting that mimics the contrast range of film.

Like many small DV camcorders, the AG-DVC30 has both an eyepiece color LCD viewfinder and a flip-out 3.5-inch color LCD monitor that is big, bright and clear. A removable handle on top of the camera supports a variety of optional accessories, including an XLR microphone adapter, shotgun mic and an infrared light source.

Infrared light source? Yes, the AG-DVC30 doubles as an infrared camera and even boasts a small built-in infrared light source under the lens. Using this light source, the camera can make easily recognizable images in total darkness; clipping on the optional IR light source increases the nighttime range considerably.

Stereo audio can be recorded at either 48 kHz/16-bit or 32 kHz/12-bit sample rates and the viewfinder has an audio bar graph meter to help keep an eye on levels. The monitor also shows other interesting information, such as battery status, tape remaining, zoom setting, SMPTE timecode and optical stabilization status.

Three buttons on the camera, called User 1, User 2 and User 3, are used to save whatever setting you want. By default, User 1 is set to perform a quick focus, just like some expensive broadcast lenses. When you press the button, the lens zooms quickly in, automatically checks focus, then returns to the previous zoom setting.

All the User buttons can be adjusted to whatever settings the user wants. This is accomplished by stepping through the comprehensive menu displayed in either the eyepiece or flip-out monitor.

The AG-DVC30 uses miniDV tape, which records at a data rate of 25 Mbps and has a maximum recording time of 63 minutes. The camcorder can be set for either a 4:3 aspect ratio or letterboxed 16:9.

Some other interesting features include true SMPTE bars with pluge, IEEE-1394 (FireWire) I/O port, as well as a Hirose connector, S-Video jack and a single miniphone connector for video and stereo audio. The recorder in the AG-DVC30 can be started and stopped from two buttons: one atop the camera near the built-in mic and another behind the camera within reach of your right thumb.

The supplied lithium-ion battery lasts for about 90 minutes of record time and an optional 5,400 mA-h battery will power the AG-DVC30 for several hours.

IN USE

Although the Panasonic AG-DVC30 does not look appreciably different from other small professional camcorders, a couple things were immediately apparent when I switched it on. First, the zoom speed on this thing really... well, zooms. It is the fastest zoom I've seen outside of an expensive broadcast lens. When the lens reaches maximum telephoto, its automatic focus manages to get the job done quickly, faster than most competing camcorders. Of course, you can always switch off autofocus and do it manually, which is also easier on the AG-DVC30 than most other small camcorders.

With a 16:1 zoom lens, the range of telephoto is bigger than most other cameras in this class and I was particularly impressed with just how close this camera could get under full telephoto. During a slow zoom, I thought it was never going to reach the end -- although the lens readout in the viewfinder let me know just how far along I was. It would be nice to get a little wider shot at the wide end, however. Panasonic tells me that it sells a screw-on wide-angle adapter for about $175 but I did not test it. At long telephoto shots, the camera's optical stabilization did a good job of keeping handheld shake to a minimum, although this does not replace a tripod for real stability.

The AG-DVC30 has a variety of white-balance modes but I did most of my shooting using its autowhite-balance setting. In this mode, it took the camera a few seconds of shooting to adjust the white balance to be correct for a deeply overcast day. On a sunny day, the white balance was good three or four seconds after switching the camera on.
Image quality was very good for everything from bright daylight down to dim room lighting. However, where the AG-DVC30 is really unique is its ability to shoot in total darkness with its infrared lighting.

This does not use infrared light emitted from warm objects; rather, it works by shining IR light on the subject and then capturing that light. An IR emitter just below the lens works for anything up to about six feet or so, while the optional IR emitter that mounts on the camera's handle extends that to a good 15 feet. If you are trying to see something that is highly reflective -- a license plate, for example -- these glow like crazy in IR light and can be seen from 100 feet away.

I went out on my street and experimented with this feature and it was a lot of fun. Between the fairly powerful accessory IR emitter and the camera's fine 16:1 lens, it was easy to read license plates that were at a good distance and in total darkness. The images shot in IR mode are all black and white; there is no color.

Seeing the AG-DVC30's infrared capabilities gave me ideas about shooting an indie film all in IR mode for a claustrophobic and sinister effect. Just imagine shooting in total darkness! The big optional IR emitter does make a slight visible bit of light, but it is just perceptible.

I shot some video at a park that is right at the end of a major airport's runway and captured scenes from ducks in the river to jets roaring above the tree line at the edge of the park. The AG-DVC30 did a good job of handling the brightness changes from a tight zoom on the talent's face to a quickly widening shot of an airplane screaming overhead. Colors from the scenery were well saturated, without losing detail.

When I plugged the FireWire port of the AG-DVC30 into my PC-based editor, the computer immediately recognized the camcorder and let me control ingest into the editing system. Once completed, the edited content could be laid back to the AG-DVC30 with no problem. I used the simple editing software that comes with Windows XP.

From an ergonomic standpoint, the handle atop the AG-DVC30 is unusually comfortable and easy to grip. The lens' zoom rocker has a nice touch that is about the best I've felt in a camcorder of this class. However, I couldn't quite get the hang of pressing either of the start buttons without getting the camera to shake a bit. Maybe it's my fingers.

SUMMARY

For a list price of $2,600, the AG-DVC30 has some desirable features that set it apart from the crowd. For a start, this is the best lens you'll find until you get to cameras twice this price and the control over the lens is unusually good, too. Image quality is the equal of its peers and the AG-DVC30 also has a unique infrared capability that allows it to shoot in total darkness.

The Panasonic AG-DVC30 is an unusual and even fun DV camcorder. I appreciated its many thoughtful features, excellent lens and the easy-to-see 3.5-inch flip-out viewfinder. This is a good choice for a news stringer, independent filmmaker, event videographer and other video operations that can effectively use this camcorder's interesting capabilities.

Sometimes a video tool puts ideas in your head that you hadn't considered before. The AG-DVC30 is one of those tools.

Note: This review, written by me, appeared in the Nov. 24, 2004, issue of TV Technology magazine. I received the camera on loan from Panasonic for four weeks, for the purposes of writing this review.