ND Filter for DV953
 

I checked out the DV953 at Fry's the other day and I couldn't find a ND Filter setting. Does the DV953 have a built in ND filter? If it does not, what do most people use in mucho light conditions?

There appears to be some uncertainty with the DV953 and built-in ND filter. The Japanese website does list an optional ND filter on the accessories page for the MX5000. I don't think the camera has a ND filter but I'd loved to be proved wrong.

The below link will take you to the Japanese MX5000 accessories page.

http://prodb.matsushita.co.jp/produc...-MX5000_o.html

Doesn't the MX500/MX5000/PV-DV953 have a 3-blade iris, in which one of the blades acts as a built-in ND? I'll check up on this later.

From the brochures, the MX500 has a built in ND, activated automatically, and driven independently from the 2-blade iris.

The older MX300/350 has the same set-up, but the ND was driven with one of the iris blades, which causes poorer performance in semi-open iris (probably F5 region).

As for accessories, those are ND to be mounted outside the camera, to bring light down even more.

Absolutely correct YCH. The MX300 (and I suspect the MX350) has a "third diaphragm blade" which supports the automatic and in-built ND filter. This means that at anything other than maximum aperture you're forced to shoot through some neutral density acetate, whether you like it or not.

This is fine if you remember that the only time you can shoot without using the compulsary ND is when you shoot at maximum wide-angle. This is limiting to say the least. Talent is not known for liking the perspective distortion that accompanies wide-angle focal lengths, yet in lowish light Panasonic don't offer an alternative. More tele? Then more gain, because even at max aperture you've got the ND in place.

There's more. If I shoot on the MX and put the tape into my VX2k the readout of aperture is suspicious. The reading might well say f5.6, but in the MX300 this is a combination of the aperture + ND filtration, and not simply a measurement of the hole formed by the two blades.

Sony did it properly on the TRV900. They used a six bladed aperture and a switchable ND. Six bladed apertures give those lovely "cross screen" effects when shooting point sources of light, and two bladed ones don't. But worse, Panasonics chips suffer badly from CCD vertical smear, so any cross screen look is lost anyway.

tom.

Yes, I have concluded that the MX350 and MX300 are exactly the same inside, the difference being vertical and horizontal (poker) format.

The 2 blade iris will give a 4-star 'hot-spot' in bright daylight, but for these star effects, I use external filters.

Strange that you say that the smear is more on the Panasonic. Having used the MX8, MX350 adn TRV900 side by side on a particular wedding shoot, I noticed more smear on the Sony! Seem like the Sony catches the light and overloads the CCD faster than the Panasonic. But this discussion is not for this thread...

As for the recorded data readout, I guess it is just a semi-pro feature, not the exact numbers that you can expect from hi-end cameras.

The root of the problem is pricing. Panasonic is bringing down the prices of 3CCD semi-pro cams to consumer levels. We really should not expect the performance to be too good. By the time all our wishes are added, we'll probably better off paying for the VX2000, PD150 or the DVX100.

Let's keep in view that we, MX users, are at best budget-conscious semi-pros (meaning: poor man trying to do some work that looks as good as what Speilberg spends a few million on). :-) Hopefully, no offence to the rich among us. :-)