The fifth colour camera that I bought was this one, brand new, when I went into business for myself. Later on I bought another one, without a docked recorder, second hand; but it turned out to be a complete lemon. Unfortunately this follows the current trend of black/dark camera bodies, which is great for studio work where you don't want reflections, but means that it roasts very quickly when filming outdoors. Also, unfortunately, Panasonic saw fit to only make a tiny battery that could be fitted to the camera, so you have to use an external battery pack for any real work away from the mains.
![[picture of camera]](./images/panasonic-f250.jpeg)
I've found that this 1990s camera still manages to outstrip the quality of current (2000s) digital cameras (various DV formats), in low light and normal lighting conditions (less noise, more signal, better colours, higher resolution). Some of that it being due to the optics, the rest down to the electronics. And whilst it mightn't be the lightest or smallest camera to lug around, it has a proper lens, proper viewfinder, good manual controls that can be directly used (no menus to wade through), and standard XLR type of 3-pin audio and 4-pin power input connectors.