PD150 Questions

[Mike Rehmus]

Do a search on this forum and you will find that Sony has admitted a CCD problem that they will fix even if your camera is out of warranty.

Otherwise, Armato's in NYC is a much more affordable place if the repairs are minor. If they are major, Sony could be less expensive with their flat-rate repair policy for products under 7 years old that haven't been majorly abused.

[John Harmon]

Looks like you lost the green chip, just like I lost the blue one (my image was green). Check with Sony to see if your serial # is among those affected. Armato's fixed mine for $295 + shipping; in my case there was nothing wrong with the CCD itself, it was a bad connector and some bad solder joints. Your cost may be less since I had other work done as well. Nice people to deal with and they stand behind their work.

[Shawn Alyasiri]

Thanks fellas - I noticed the product notice from Sony shortly after posting this and sent it to them this morning. Hopefully no guff from them on it - I would guess it's out of warrantly (probably late '03/early '04) but has low hours and has lived a cozy life inside a portabrace bag.

I have another one that's even older - maybe 12-18 months... Hopefully that doesn't need attention either(?). It's been my failsafe for now... Got the Z1 warmed up in its place as well.

[John Griffin]

Well here is the deal, I may be starting a project on local cable airing fire safety topics and have come across a pd150 for sale from someone i know. All the footage that is shown on this channel has to be on sent back out to vhs tape after editing. I dont see them upgrading for some time. So will the 150 serve us well in the startup and what is a fair price for these with low hours.

Thanks
John

[Boyd Ostroff]

Just browsing through the classified section here from the last 6 months, I see:

$1,250
$1,800
$2,000

All of these included a number of accessories, like the WA lens, extra batteries and chargers, etc.

If you're going to VHS tape you'll be fine. In fact, you might even argue that a PD-150 is overkill for that since the resolution of VHS is so low (something like 250 lines IIRC). But of course it's nice to have a camera like the PD-150 which offers good manual controls, pro audio and great low light performance; I'm sure you won't be disappointed. :-)

[Brian Standing]

I'm still using my 7-year old PD-150 every day. Never, ever had a mechanical problem, still going strong and the video it churns out looks great -- especially in low light.

If you don't need HD, widescreen or 24p, there's no better small-format DV camera out there.

Snap it up!

[John Griffin]

Now another interesting find has come up, a GL2. Hum what to do?

[Patrick Moreau]

I've owned both. In my opinion, the GL2 doesn't come close to comparing to the PD150. Since you don't need the PD, if it is 30-40% cheaper, go for the GL2, otherwise I would take the better cam.

[John Griffin]

Thanks to all for the responses.


John

[Tom Hardwick]

I agree. The GL2 was never meant to be a PD competitor, it's just that Canon roped in sales because the two cameras looked vaguely the same. The PD range was built tough as nails, the GL was for Easter and birthdays.

The longer zoom of the GL looked a plus point, but Sony's much bigger chips (nearly double the surface area) meant far better dof control and much better low light performance.

tom.

[Eric Westrom]

I'm looking to buy a used 150 or 170. I've been browsing ebay and want to know what to look for so that I don't end up throwing money away. How many hours are too many? Is there a good reseller there or elsewhere?
Thanks!

[David Chia]

I was considering about buying a old pd150p camera for fun to use at home.

The hours on the camera is as such:
Operation: 186 X 10h
Drum Run: 125 X 10h
Tape Run: 46 X 10h
Threading: 336 X 10h

Do you think that the hours are too much?
The offer is about 750 euros. No warranty. Just camera, 1 battery, charger.

[Gareth Dodd]

Hello all I have bought a Sony pd150 but for some reason The camera is locked in the zoom Position and when I press the zoom out button I can hear the camera trying to zoom out but with no luck the only thing that I have really done to the camera is tried a lens on it but that is all I have tried to press the reset button but with no Luck.I have searched the internet to se if any one has had the same problem and how much it would cost to repair this any help is much appreciated.


Thank you in advance

[Stylianos Moschapidakis]

Hello everyone,

Recently one of my pd150s exhibited the (acknowledged by Sony) "CCD Banding Issue";" the entire image produced was covered in its entirety by a green tint. I shipped the camera to Sony and just got it back. Among the comments found in the report of the repair is this: "Replaced CCD imager and CD board assy." What exactly is the CD board?

Thank you.

[Russ Holland]

assy is usually an abreviation for Assembly.

Gawd knows why!

I only spotted this because I have a dvd player recently returned from repair and it said the fault was the 'drive unit assy' on the tech sheet and the engineer who brought it back to set it all back up again said the drive assembly.

This is the best I can come up with for you.