Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Burlingame
Noa:
If, however, you activate the manual gain control on the PD 170, you can manually increase the brightness level for that camera higher than that for the 2100 (which doesn't have a manual gain control), and then you will definitely notice a difference in brightness levels between the 2 cameras.
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Can you clarify that a bit? The VX cameras have the same ability to add gain, it is just implemented differently. In manual mode on the VX when you turn the exposure wheel the iris opens to its widest setting for whatever zoom level you're at and this is indicated in the viewfinder by "OPEN". If you continue turning the exposure wheel past this point it starts adding gain in 3dB increments. So in really dark conditions you can have the iris fully open and add the same amount of gain which you could add on a PD series camera.
Where they differ is that you can add gain to ANY iris setting on the PD series (+6dB gain at f4.0 for example), but that shouldn't really help you in a low light situation, does it?
The other slight difference between cameras is the shutter speed setting. On the PD you can set any shutter speed you want. On the VX you can also choose any desired shutter speed, but you need to set it BEFORE setting the iris. If you set the iris first (in manual mode) and then change shutter speeds, the iris opening will automatically change to compensate, then you can change to any desired iris opening.On the PD you can change shutter speeds without affecting the iris.