Panasonic AG-DVX200PJ Tech Brief - Volume 2 - Page 4

The design goal for the DVX200 is to provide high quality image acquisition with a large sensor, and the ability to create shallow depth of field as typically found with a large sensor, but to do it with the convenience, functionality, utility, and low cost of a traditional handheld camera's servo zoom lens. Why A Fixed Lens? By making and mating a dedicated fixed lens to the camera, it gives the design engineers the ability to employ several clever techniques that result in making the lens smaller than it would otherwise have to be, lighter than it would otherwise have to be, and less expensive than it would otherwise have to be. The DVX200 achieves a 13:1 zoom ratio in a lens that's only about 7" long, and weighs under 2 pounds. Remember, a 7.5:1 zoom ratio cinema lens like the Fujinon 24-180 is over twice as long (16" long) and ten times as heavy (the lens itself weighs approximately 20 pounds). By going with a fixed lens design, on a slightly smaller sensor, the engineers were able to create a Leica-certified lens that is compact in size, light in weight, yet still provides the zoom range of a traditional handheld camcorder -- while offering smooth powered zooming, and optical image stabilization, and autofocus capability. The DVX200's lens is a complex system consisting of multiple groups of computer-controlled moving elements which work together to provide a 13x zoom range that covers a large sensor, while still remaining physically compact. Five aspherical elements and multicoating ensure performance that meets with Leica's approval, making crisp sharp images throughout the zoom range. Advantages Of A Fixed Lens While it's true that an interchangeable lens system would provide options that a fixed-lens system can't, it's also true that a fixed-lens system can do things that interchangeable lenses just don't. The DVX200 is designed to fill the role that a traditional handheld 1/3" camera would do, while offering the benefits of a much larger sensor. And it's designed to deliver the shallower depth of field of a larger-sensor camcorder, while retaining the flexibility and usability of an allin-one handheld camcorder. Interchangeable lenses offer the ability to pick and choose which lenses you want to use (which of course can be an advantage), but it also can be extremely expensive to collect a variety of lenses. The fixed lens offers a wide range of focal lengths, in a comprehensive all-in-one package. Also, different lenses may render scenes slightly differently (example: some brands of lenses are sometimes said to be "cold" and "sharp", whereas other brands of lenses are sometimes described as "warm" and "smooth"). Both may be great premium brands and excellent lenses, but intercut- 4