On Fri, 12 Jul 2002 18:35:29 GMT, "UrbanVoyeur" wrote:

>I'd like:
>
>a true widescreen 1/3 chip (like its big brother the 2/3 chip) - no more
>digital squeezing

Ah, for that "Band-Aid" video view...?;-)
(I guess I'm old-fashioned - but images for me
look best 4:3 or so, which also permits easier
variations like the occasional 16:9, round for
full-circle fisheye, full-frame fisheye with
real curvature still showing, and "real" tele
[which looks kinda weird in "wide screen"
view...;-]. A lot of useful transitions and
effects also work better in 4:3. If 16-9 had
not been around so long, I would regard it as
an unfortunate fad...;-) But, if the camera
works well with both aspect ratios......;-)

>a better lens

Well, the VX2000 lens appears to be diffraction-limited
by about f4, and good to the corners and close to the
f4 performance even wide open (see:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/diffraction.htm), with
excellent color, contrast, and freedom from flare, so
I assume you mean better zoom control? Wider zooming
range? Or...?

>24 fps switchable
>longer tape capacity.

You can get up to two hours now on an 80-minute
tape recorded in LP mode - enabling use of the
big 3-hour tapes would make the camera MUCH bigger...
I would like to see the option of using less
compression (assuming the imaging device quality
makes this worthwhile), though this would reduce
recording time when used...

>a zoom with a adjustable sensitivity & speed.

Though the present zoom ring permits accelerated/
decelerated zooming from "0", it is very hard to
maintain zooming speed for very long; the rocker
makes this easy, but has abrupt starts/stops; it
would be nice to have the rocker have the advantages
of both, with maybe a zoom rate selector added...

>better matrix metering.

I've been happy with the VX2000 auto exposure
(modified when necessary by use of the AE-bias or
lock-and-shift controls), but any *real* improvement
in metering is welcome ("matrix" metering has only
recently advanced to the point where it is useful
for other than negative materials - in the past, it
was a "when in doubt, overexpose" system, only
suitable for negative materials and not positives
like slides and video).

I would like to see: better stabilization of the
VX2000 lens when zoomed long (without spoiling the
excellent short-end stabilization, which does not
now have the common "bouncing ball" effect problem,
or the "swimming" problem when used with a tripod);
a bit smaller overall package size, if practical;
a quieter mic preamp (if for no other practical
reason than to quiet the complaints over this
VX2000 non-issue...;-); and an accessory XLR
adapter that uses the hot shoe (like on the GL-2),
and has variable padding for each input
(preferably in several fixed, accurate increments
[I would like this padding also available for the
mini-plug inputs, to best match the mic
sensitivities to the currently-excellent AGC]).