PD-170 finish?
 

Just got my PD-170 in today. Charging it right now...which sucks having to charge it ON the camera- gonna have to buy a charger. The build is quite nice- I like the feel of it compared to my DVX100. The zoom and focus rings feel more smooth and offer resistance. I absolutley love the lens hood...very nice touch to make it out of rubber...the DVX's feels so fragile.

Anyway, this may seem like an odd question but what is the finish on the PD-170's body like on yours. Notably next to the focus and nd controls. It has a speckled kind of look to it which I don't remember seeing in the store. Is this unique to mine or are all PD-170s painted with a fleck paint?

My 170 has a flecked paint finish as well. I didn't think anything of it. It has a great build quality and worth every penny I paid for it!

John

Yes it is most definitly a good buy. As ar as I'm concerned I paid under $3000 for it when you count the cost of the included wide angle adapter and hood. I want 2! Just have to come up with another 3k. :)

Glenn,

You ordered your PD170 with the Sony wireless mic too? If so, have you had a chance to try it out? I'm thinking about this wireless setup and wanted some first hand accounts as to how it works in the field and if battery life and range is good.

Please let me know how you like the Sony wireless when you get a chance.

No problem Paul. Though I don't think I'll get to it tonight- I'm spending all night fiddling around with it learning all the setting etc.

I called Sony today to see if their ECM-77 lav. mic was compatable with the UWP-C1 system- and it's a YES. I'll be ordering the upgraded ECM-77 for the system as soon as I get a chance. The ECM-77 is supposedly much MUCH higher quality than the packaged lav. It is, however, a bit pricey....$230. Well worth it to me- as I'm aware how important good audio is to video.

OK, keep us updated on how you like the Sony wireless setup. I believe there are a few others on the board that are interested in the Sony as well. Congrats on the camera.

Update:
Got the ECM-77 yesterday and did some tests comparing it to the included lav mic ECM-44. The system is great! Batteries last about 6 hours (though I've never tested it). The transmitter has two modes L, and H. H is for long distance transmittion and MAN does it work well. I set up the camera in my living room pointing through my kitchen and through the pane glass out into my backyard. I had my friend wear the lav and transmitter and walk all the way to the back of my backyard (roughly 100ft) and still sounded as clear as he did when he was in the same room. It even transmits through walls.

The ECM-77 has a much richer sound than the ECM-44 but still not as rich as my ME66 shotgun. One note however is that the 77 is very VERY sensitive. I had to set the attenuation on the transmitter to -12 to get a decent audio level. Beings I have no experience with lav mics and wireless systems I never expected them to be so sensitive. I mean the subject can whisper something as quitely as they possibly can and I can hear it clear as day. Very nice- but very sensitive....have to really watch your input levels and transmitter attenuation.

This is, most definitly, going to help a great deal capturing vows during weddings. No more cranking up the input levels on my ME66 just to hear ANY audio during vows, then having to run several passes with Noise Reduction (plugin for Vegas 4) to clean it up.