Video look PD150/VX2000 vs PD170/VX2100
 

Hello,

I've all the time been thinking that the video from PD150 and my VX2100 look almost identical. We used a PD150 about a year ago for a few projects and I today took out the tapes to have a closer look at the quality. Surprisingly, the video from my VX2100 is considerably better than the footage recorded with PD150. Firstly 2100's footage is much sharper and things like automatic exposure have given better results with the newer camera. Of course in low light the 2100/170 are producing nice results because of less noise.

Having filmed quite much with both cameras now I've noticed something strange. The PD150 in some situations tends to over-expose the video (in well lit places) and one of the reasons might be that it keeps the shutter locked at 1/50, closes the iris as much as it could and if no ND filters are used, there is simply no way to turn any more light down. This all sounds fine and logical, but why doesn't this happen with my VX2100? I have the AUTO SHUTTER turned off and still I've never ran into situations where the camera itself couldn't adjust the settings so that the picture is over-exposed. Even if I run to sunny garden from a completely dark room, it perfectly adjusts the overall brightness although it starts asking for ND1 or ND2. By the way, I've seen the PD150s overexposing in some TV programmes too - it's not only me.

So my questions are that is there really a noticeable difference in video quality between these camera series (in good lighting) and how to explain that over-exposing story?

It may sound complicated, but I hope you can help! Thanks a lot.

It may be that there is an automatic function turned on or off on one camera that is set differently on the other. Perhaps the VX2100 automatically adjusts the shutter speed to a shorter exposure in bright sun if the user doesn't engage the ND filters? Make sure that ALL automatic functions are turned off on the PD150 before you make a comparison. Sometimes, it is easy to not turn off something like auto-gain which can ruin your shots.

George,
The 150 an 2000 ARE identical as far as chips blocks and DSP. The 170 an 2100 are also identical to each other and both have a better DSP than the 150/2000 so it would stand to reason that the 2100 might have a better image in a lowlight situation than a 150.
Ad for the shutter locking in 1/50th - I've never had the shutter lock on the PD150 unless 1) I lock the seeting by use of the switch on the rear of the camera or 2) I go into the menu and set the auto shutter to "on".
I do'nt see any reason that the shutter would lock on you unless you've set the camera in one of those modes.
I've never seen an overexposure with the 150s but I run the camera completely manual- no auto anything-it sounds like either you have something set incorrectly OR there is a problem with that particular camera.
Don

Thanks for the replies!

Actually both the cameras were in similar configuration. I'm pretty sure the too exposed video from PD150 came because of no ND enabled, but strange it doesn't happen with my VX2100. I don't have AUTO SHUTTER turned on so it keeps it steady at 1/50. I will do some more testing to see if I can get the overexposing from my VX2100 as well.

However, here's a framegrab from the PD150's footage. It's not the best shot for demonstrating that, but that footage should have been a lot darker, because it was a very cloudy winter day. This is what it should have been like - filmed with VX2100.