Just whose idea was it to include all of these viewfinder messages on the Panasonic PV-704:
I can understand a few of them: the time/date and battery meter, for example, are invaluable. On the other hand, why do I need to constantly know that the self-timer is off? The automatic focus motor is dead, so why can't I turn off the "MF" message that signifies I have the camera switched into manual? Why is the second counter labeled with an "M", and why doesn't it reset when I take the tape out so that it doesn't count up to 9999 on 9600-second tapes? Can't I turn off the white balance selection icon? Why does the camera spontaneously throw itself into its "high-speed shutter" mode (okay, so the camera's 17 years old; it's probably a faulty switch) and display "1/125" at the top?
If I were recording, there would also be a green status LED at the bottom, "INDEX" blinking in the center of the third line every five minutes or so, and "REC" in the top right. It seems to me that someone attempted to mark the center by filling everything else with text rather than including a crosshair.
Yet, strangely, I can turn off the time and date with one button. I suppose this is because those two lines are the only text that shows up on the camera's VHS recorder and composite/RF outputs.