Frecuently Asked Questions About the PANASONIC AG-EZ30 Last UPDATED: 26/12/1998
NOTE: You must e-mail me with any correction / question / answer or addition in order to let this F.A.Q. grow. When doing so please STATE if you want your name exposed in here. I will not post ANY name by default.What about Camera service Manuals ? can be bought ?
Service manuals must be ordered from another company (Not Panasonic) Presumably, Matsushita Services Co in Kent, WA. got them ...I'm told they are about $70 US dollars.
Can we get a firewire input in the AG-EZ30 E model (the one that is being sold in South America, and presumably also in Europe ?
According to Panasonic, The 1394 connector is disbaled on all S American versions due to copywright concerns . The microprocessor is not programmed to enable this feature, so it cannot be activated (Again: That is according to PANASONIC :)
Does it have 1/4 or 1/3 inch CCDs? Is the Panasonic site wrong?
I received an e-mail from Panasonic stating that the AG-EZ30 has 1/4 inch 3CCD capture device. So this is not different in the Europe or North American Versions of the camera. all have the same CCD capture devices.It should be quite nice to know exactly on what does the size of the CCD reflects on. I know that it is more of an issue about how well does the CCD sistem responds to low light situations, but i would like someone to confirm this.
How does the camera compare in features and quality to the VX1000 and the XL1?
In the FEATURE SIDE, it is less packed than both the models in question. Both XL1 and VX1000 are more expensive, and as expected, they got more action packed in them .... about quality, well ! I Never saw those cameras, but I can easily guess that they are BETTER than the AG-EZ30 ... Specially the XL1. The Vx1000 Has a great drawback (if I correctly researched about it) and it is that it has PLASTIC LENSES ! ... Is it a BROADCAST QUALITY CAMERA ?
A difficult one :) O.k. There is no standard definition of the term BROADCAST quality that I am aware of. In my country everything that is over 4.5 MHZ of bandwidth is considered as O.K. to be BROADCASTED by T.V. Stations. I shall say that the quality of the signal that this camera delivers is perfectly O.K. to be sent to AIR.
What this camera DOES NOT COVER, is the ROBUSTNESS requirement that the BROADCAST "Definition" imposes to a piece of equipment. This camera is not designed to be used under the pressure of a T.V. Station CREW. The mechanisms inside her WILL NOT LAST as much as necesary in order to keep pace with 24 hours of WORK under RUDE handling.
WHAT BANDWIDTH does this camera delivers ?
I don´t have the exact number, but it might be past close of the 6 Mhz (wich is better than BETACAM SP). If anyone got this cleared out, please email me ASAP.
HOW MANY RESOLUTION LINES does this camera have ?
460 LINES of resolution, according to PANASONIC
HOW MANY VERSIONS of this camera are currently being MANUFACTURED ?
Up to this date, and as I am aware of, only two versions. One AG-EZ30U for the NorthAmerican (NTSC) market, and one AG-EZ30E for the European (PAL) market. A Panasonic letter that was sent to me states that there is a "gray market" wich "could" have earlier (beta) models, like the one i got (wich does not have firewire input).
ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES between the different versions of AG-EZ30 ?
Sadly enough, there are. My AG-EZ30E came with this DRAWBACKS: First, it came with an IEE1394 OUTPUT only (NO input), second it came with 3 1/4 INCH CCDS, and Third it did not include the firewire cable as a standard accesory (but brought the DVC pro Cassette adaptor instead). On the other hand, the AG-EZ30U (according to what PANASONIC states in their USA web page) comes with IEE1394 INPUT/OUTPUT, and firewire cable.
What about the ZOOM ?
OPTICAL ZOOM: 12X. Digital ZOOM: 24X and 120X .... The digital zoom is usable up to 60X ... more than that delivers an incresingly noticeable pixelization. This is common to all DIGITAL ZOOMS.
How MUCH TIME DOES THE BATTERY RUNS ?
Under NORMAL USE, the STANDARD BATTERY that comes with the camera lasts aprox. 2 hours. It seems that PANASONIC offers an accessory BATERY (wich goes in the OPERATOR´S BELT) with INCREASED duration.
WHAT IS THAT LP MODE ?
The LP recording MODE that PANASONIC included in the AG-EZ30 is by no means supported by the MiniDV Standard, so if you record on that mode you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THAT RECORDED TAPE IN ANY OTHER CAMERA OR PLAYER THAN a PANASONIC LP Player or camera. Having clarified this, we must add that it is a welcome addition, that convinently extends the tape recording duration withouth any QUALITY LOSS. This is accomplished by letting the tape roll more slowly. The Digital DATA STREAM remains the same (with the same quality of compression), BUT MORE GETS RECORDED ON the same lenght of tape, hence more RECORDING TIME is obtained. This makes me think about the TAPE quality. Any kind of GLITCH or bug in the TAPE MIGHT NOT AFFECT A SMALL ENOUGH PORTION OF THE DATA STREAM for THE ERROR CORRECTION to behave correctly, so this MIGHT END UP on some kind of visible NOISE or PAUSE when the tape is not 100% o.k. This must be check ... Dont Tape any CRITICAL thing on LP mode until things get solved.
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