Sony DSR-PD150 Camcorder Review
by Chuck LittmanPublished on Feb 12, 2004 12:00 AM
First User's Report on PD150 PD150 Heads up thumbnail: It has Copyright Protection ICON with password! Manual Iris Dial, Manual Shutter Speed, Manual Gain Control AE Shift Button (No separate colors) Time Code Preset H/M/S/F User bit preset Spotlight Button Prevents saturation of spotlighted object One-push reduces brightness in picture One-push increases exposure
The PD-150 offers SWITCHABLE mini-DV and MINI-DVCam recording, dual XLR audio inputs with a mono short shotgun microphone (actually a plastic composite version of ECM-670), a very impressive (high resolution) black and white viewfinder (apparently 500tvl), a 30fps progressive scan (recordable to tape), a settable time code (i.e. tape 2, hour 2, etc), a sharpness and color saturation level, and a setting in menu for 0 or 7.5 ire Black level! The 58mm (thread) aspheric lens was pretty impressive, and much more substantial than VX-1000's. The manual audio levels include a true L-R separation with dB metering. It has a 58mm lens, two Zebra settings of 70% & 100%, two ND settings, and has spotlight mode with manual everything! Finally, there are also color audio levels in both viewers...
I found the low light capability of the PD150 to be absolutely amazing! I thought I was viewing live footage wide open when I was actually at f 5.6 !!! It was pretty great, especially when compared to the 1000 and TRV900! The matte black finished camera was much chunkier in front than in the pictures I've seen of VX-2000, especially with the broadcast style microphone off the side and dual XLR's (with myriad of switches) under the hot shoe mount contoured handle. All this, for about $500 more than the VX-2000, definitely worthy of consideration by the pro-sumer, wedding videographer, and special event “Discovery Channel” types.
The PD150 I saw and tested had a "true" 30fps progressive scan that can be recorded to tape (unlike the PC-100)! I can only assume the VX-2000 is the same. I did, however, go out of my way to confirm this feature... I confirmed it with the Sony representative who brought the camera. I did, in fact, switch the camera to "progressive" mode, and saw the results in the Black & White viewfinder with my own two eyes. It definitely looked pretty sweet.(Note: I believe slow shutter can still be used in combination for even more interesting effects.) This progressive scan mode is called "frame" mode or "movie" mode on Canon products. Apparently, this scan mode is an important feature for digital filmmakers and has a less video-like(I refuse to coin the term "film-look")look, more like 16mm, which most DV people are looking for(see RES magazine). That's my 2 cents.
By the way, the PAL version has a true 25fps mode (something I also confirmed), which is better for DV filmmakers transferring to 24fps film; depending on the transfer house. I will choose the PAL version (and Optex true 16x9 anamorphic adapter).
