Digital Warning! (General Comments on Panasonic...)

Member Name: FraserP

Product:	General Comments on Panasonic...
Date:	06/08/01 (735 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: light, small, quality pictures

Disadvantages: unreliable, expensive, limited connections

My Panasonic DS 99B has had its ups and downs. My cameras before this were VHS; the last one being an S VHS Sony, which was a good machine, and until its batteries died, I had no plans to change it. Why did we change it? Well, the old machine was a bit heavy to carry, so it was often left at home, so we missed some good picture taking opportunities.

Usability
The DS99B is about 14 months old and has a wonderful LCD screen, so that you have a far better, colour view of the subject. This model was 3.5 inches, a little larger than average. The advantage is the usual one; you can hold it high or low, to get a better shot, and play back your shots so that two people can see them, if they are prepared to get fairly close to the camera.

The disadvantage of the screen is that it uses the battery up more quickly than the standard view finder. You will have to get at least one spare battery, but we find that two are enough, provided that you have your charger with you and access to some "Juice" (power).

The new style batteries are small and light, recharge quite quickly, and seem to last a good time, and are rechargeable even if only part used, which is soo much better than the older technology batteries; they have a "memory effect", which means if they are not fully discharged, they forget how to fully recharge.

The functions are too numerous to mention, and frankly, although I am a keen photographer, too many to use for holiday records. It does have some useful ones, like low light capability, and I also like the digital anti-shake function, which sacrifices a little clarity for keeping the picture steady on the long shots.

It weighs about one pound or if you prefer, half a kilo, and fits in my wife's handbag.

I do however have some significant reservations:

1. It is not so good for moving images; I understand from someone far more technical than I, who works in the tv camera busi
ness, that this is a well known problem with digital cameras; they cannot keep up with fast movement without getting "blocky", compared with s-vhs, they are inferior for this purpose.

2. The case is so small it is a bit fiddly getting the tape in and out.

3. It has no wide angle ability, so you end up having to pan about in small spaces to take in the whole scene.

4. The digital zoom is a trap! It works well enough, to a point, but it is cheating by zooming in on part of the digital picture, so the view gets progressively more grainy. As a tip, when choosing the camera, just compare the optical zoom ability. The digital bit is a bonus, but you have to sacrifice detail.

5. Playback is a bit of fiddle as you have to either copy it to a standard vhs tape, which loses a good deal of quality ( the detail is poorer and the colours are not so accurate or plug it into the TV with an adaptor which is supplied; there are masses of wires to connect but this way the pictures are clear.

A friend of mine thought that he could save money by using just one tape and copying everything to VHS, however *beware* that you lose detail and colour accuracy by doing this and if the VHS fades or jams, you have lost your precious memories.... You are just going to have to fork out for more digital tapes, at about £8 each for a 60 minutes version, which will record 90 minutes, if you select long play. Long play is a good idea, as you only sacrifice a little audio quality, not the quality of the picture.

6. I purchased a kit (about £50 for a cable and a cd disk to set it up) to transfer the one shot photos to my computer, but it is a poor system. The connection is an old fashioned serial cable, which means it is slow to transfer even a single picture. What is especially disappointing is that you cannot transfer a digital copy of the moving images, except if you buy a more expensive model.

7. Last but not least, I hav
e just discovered the major flaw! It has broken down, only two months out of warranty, and being so small and specialist, you have no choice on getting it repaired. It just stopped focussing, which is a bit limiting.....

I have had to take it to one of their Panasonic agents and pay what ever price they quote, short of throwing an otherwise good camera away! I was told £35 to estimate the cost of repair, and have to wait up to 4 weeks for a repair. I am waiting with baited breath to find out what it will cost.

The experience of taking in a very expensive camera for repair is not enjoyable. They tell you that you have a choice (take it or leave it!) and knowing that I cannot expect to find a little corner shop which specialises in mending these things, you do feel like you are opening up your wallet and saying "here, help your self!"

In summary, I wished I have taken out an extended guarantee, but in my defence I was not given an opportunity, and I do feel that having paid for a top quality model and with a reasonably "mature" technology, that I should not expect to have a break down in a little over a year of careful use. My other cameras have lasted at least 5 years, and they still work!

I shall be contacting the makers to see what they have to say, once I found out what my "general user wear" fault (according to Jessups, who took it for repair) amounts to.

I would like to know if others have had the same problems with their expensive toys.

PS I am now told it is likely to be the lens assembly, for which I am quoted a mere £428, or more if they find any difficulties fixing it, which as you may expect is pretty annoying for a nearly new piece of equipment; some people only pay £400 for a camera. I shall have to find out why they think it shall have to find out why they think it has failed so early on its life.

Update; it is the gears which drive the lenses (focussing
them) which are shot; Jessups simply hold their hands out for the money. I put a call into Panasonic and eventually find their customer services department. They ask me to prove how young the machine was - 14 months old- and have agreed to meet the cost of the parts- £288 plus vat. I have to pay labour- £100 plus vat. Well it could be worse. A salutary lesson, never the less.

Update; I received the "ex-gratia" refund, so thanks to Panasonic for this, but how about offering a longer guarantee or fairer prices for the parts?

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