[Dan Brockett]

I think I need to find a friend with a newer Duel adapter and try that. I have had this one for a long time, I bought it when they first came out, perhaps the connection is intermittent, but then again, it worked really well up until I changed to Leopard. I am hesitant to buy another Duel because if that doesn’t fix it, that will be money wasted.

Thanks,

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

So Steve, what did you do to your setup that Abbie and I have neglected to do to ours?

Santa Rosa MBP dual 2.2GHz
4 GB RAM
OS 10.5.8
Duel Adapter
Latest version of P2 Driver for OS 10.4 Tiger and OS 10.5 Leopard

The thing that has me stumped is that once in a while when I try it, it works, but it never never works consistently. It will mount the card once, then the second card, no dice, even after a reboot, reinsert Duel, etc.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I have been experiencing the same thing on my Santa Rosa dual 2.2 GHz Core Duo MBP. The Duel Adapter worked fine on Tiger. The minute I switched to Leopard, it stopped working consistently. That is what is so frustrating about it, about 20-30% of the time, the card WILL mount but about 70-80% of the time, nothing happens.

I too have spoken with Duel and they said the same. If you look on the Duel site, you will see for Leopard, there is no Duel driver available, they say that support is “built-in”, which, to a point, it must be since the card is recognized part of the time. I tried updating to the latest P2 driver but to no avail.

I would suggest that if you rely on P2 and are on Mac, either purchase a used G4 PB with the PCMCIA slot or a cheap PC laptop. That is what I am doing. There will be no Duel support for Snow Leopard so as we move forward, it is up to us to find solutions that work. PCs work great for P2 dumping and my wife’s old G4 PB (that used to be mine), works a charm. I just need to buy her a new Macbook so I can steal my old PB back from her.

Best of luck and sorry to be the bearer of bad news. If your 10.5.5 system is consistently mounting P2 cards, consider yourself very lucky. Some report their Leopard MBPs work fine with the Duel, but many more like me have not had much luck. Short of updating to the most current version of the P2 driver, there is nothing else that you can do, short of downgrading back to Tiger.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Panasonic is in development of a whole new line of 3D capable cameras, recording and P2 solutions, as witnessed in their NAB booth this year. But none of the existing gear will be useful for a 3D workflow.

You might find this interesting. https://www.techwatch.co.uk/2009/12/30/panasonic-plasma-factory-developed-for-3d-hdtv/

I have no doubt that Panasonic will be an innovator in 3D production.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Hi Ronald:

Great explanation of the positives and minuses of the EX1/EX3. They are great cameras and are totally capable of creating arresting images. BUT, the 300 is a superior package to either IMHO. The difference between the 1/2″ sensor and 1/3″ sensor is not as great as people make it out to be and the ergonomics, feel and codec of the 300 blow away the Sonys.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Sounds like your camera is broken. Take it to an authorized Panasonic repair facility in your country.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Also, canned air always randomly releases propellants that can really screw up electronics, can smudge your lens, eyepiece or LCD, etc. You really should avoid canned air with cameras. Use a Giottos Rocket Blower or a real compressor that only will output air and not propellent.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

You will probably not ever see 1/2″ sensors from Panasonic for many reasons that have nothing to do with technology.

A three chip 2/3″ set of sensors and optical could not physically fit into a housing the size of the HPX170/200A.

If you want large sensors today, buy a DSLR.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

I concur Jeff, I have been shooting the EX1 since it came out, I have a client with three of them and when I shoot for them, I shoot with the EX1. The camera can produce really nice pictures, but I find overall, even with tweaks, the picture seems to have that Discovery Channel 60i look. Not bad, just different. It is that razor sharp, antiseptic look. That appeals to a lot of people, it seems especially in Europe and Australia for some reason.

I find the 300 to have a more pleasing colorimetry to my eye. Yes, definitely more noise than the EX1/EX3 but that doesn’t bother me at all. When I go back and look at a lot of my S16 footage, the 300 footage in comparison looks leagues cleaner and then the EX1 looks cleaner yet. It all just depends on what appeals to you. For tabletop, I love the EX1 as to my eye, tabletop looks great super clean. But for people and nature, I much prefer the look of the 300.

YMMV and I would never buy either camera without trying them out in the real world. It is worth a one day rental to evaluate either.

Dan

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[Dan Brockett]

Eric:

I have spoken with both Letus’ on the phone about this (they occasionally answer the phone 😉 and yes, they too feel that edge to edge sharpness can be improved on the 170 as well as the 200 with the optimized achromat. You will want it.

They decided to not come up with a separate 170 kit because the 200 achromat worked fine. I have the Letus Extreme and a 170, this is money well spent. If I am not mistaken, the achromat is physically the same as the EX1 achromat too, it just has different sized adapter rings.

Dan

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