Raoul Perros
May 27th, 2004, 11:26 AM
Hi Everyone!
This is the first time I am posting something to this forum. I am trying to get a grip on dv technology to make up my mind whether to buy a Panasonic AG-DVX 100 A or the Sony DSR PD170. I am aware that this discussion has been in this forum before, yet after all the reviews, forum discussions, I read there are still some questions,where it would be great to get some answers to. There are actually quite a few...
I am an independent documentary but also short film filmmaker, very much interested and fascinated by technology, into cinematography (which I think points me again to the DVX 100 A with all its image options, 24p...from all that I feel more convinced about the DVX 100 A). I am based in the UK, so will be using PAL, edit on Final Cut 3.
It might well be that some of my questions are not making 100% sense in terms of understanding the subject, as I said I built up my knowledge and understanding of the cameras only by reading in the net. Also they might have been asked before, I tried to browse the archive to exclude this, but sometimes I couldn't find quite the right answers...
I hope it's ok to quote some experts statements from their websites as I quoted some people to give some more in depth background to my questions contexts.
Any advice, feedback, or answers are very much appreciated!
Many Thanks!
Raoul
1) What is the general meaning/advantage of mechanical control of the lens, without engaging the motor? In a PD170 review, Tony Fonseca mentions this as a special feature that the PD170 does not have.
2) The DVX 100 A's standard lens goes down to 32.5 mm in the 35mm equivalent, I couldn't find mm details about the wideconversion lenses anywhere, does anyone know what it covers in 35mm equivalent mm? The PD170 standard lens is f 6.0 to 72.0mm, in 35mm 43.2 - 518.4mm, the wideconversion lense details I found say it 'Features an ultra high quality 58mm thread and a 0.7X wide angle converter' Does this mean 0.7 x 43.2 = 30.24mm as the widest 35mm equivalent? If that's the case, does the DVX's wide conversion lens go lower/wider?
3) The PD170 has a hybrid LCD, is the LCD of the DVX 100 A hybrid, too? And how big/effective is the difference of the PD170's high-resolution monochrome viewfinder? Does the EVF DTL option of the DVX 100 A represent an equally good/useful alternative and I found in the Specifications details of both cameras that they both have 180.00 dots (are dots and pixels the same?, Pana says pixels and sony says dots), so is the difference the amount of lines?
4) On http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/index.html Adam Wilt also reports about some problems with the auto exposure function namely that the auto iris changes in small jumps escpecially if the light change is slow. I found in a PD170 review that it actually performs with far less options when set in auto exposure, that it will use one constant F stop and only adjusts raising or lowering the gain levels. So it seems that the DVX 100 A is more advanced in its possibilities anyway, but what do other people think about these auto iris jumps?
5) From what I found about the shutterspeed option of the two cameras, it seems that the PD170 goes as fast as 1/10000, but the DVX 100 A only 1/2000, then again the DVX 100 A has more options with the slower shuterspeeds and it has a synctro scan function to film of a screen/TV, which the PD170 has not got. How essential (in the opinion of others...) is a shutterspeed faster then 1/2000? When would it be necessary, useful?
6) I found lots of reviews/comparisons that repetitively state that the PD170 has the better lowlight performance, starting with the simple juxtaposition of 1 lux/ PD170 and 3lux/ DVX 100 A. The most detailed one I found was by Tony Fonseca, it tests both cameras in auto and manual mode, and basically concludes that the PD170 wins in lowlight performance, but that the DVX 100 A especially when used manually comes very close, but that it has a tendency to produce a muted color palette.
I belong to the people that rather work manually, but for documentary work, will sometimes be in 'available lowlight situations', where I might even be forced/urged to use the auto functions. Are there any advice/ comments/ experiences about this subject regarding the DVX 100 A?
From Tony Fonseca's review, the differences aren't that big, I found lots of comments of people that say the PD170 is better for shoot and run, documentary work and the DVX100A for filmic, controlled lighting stuff, is there anyone who uses the DVX100A for docs, shoot and run, who is satisfied with it's lowlight performance?
And finally, is there anyone in this forum who knows about the lowest prices for the cameras, as well as for the Century Optics 7x wideconversion lens, the anomorphic adapter of the DVX100A and for Sennheiser K-6/ME-66/ME-67 mics or shops that sell the assecoires like the 5.6 Ah Battery for the Panasonic in the UK or Germany?
This is the first time I am posting something to this forum. I am trying to get a grip on dv technology to make up my mind whether to buy a Panasonic AG-DVX 100 A or the Sony DSR PD170. I am aware that this discussion has been in this forum before, yet after all the reviews, forum discussions, I read there are still some questions,where it would be great to get some answers to. There are actually quite a few...
I am an independent documentary but also short film filmmaker, very much interested and fascinated by technology, into cinematography (which I think points me again to the DVX 100 A with all its image options, 24p...from all that I feel more convinced about the DVX 100 A). I am based in the UK, so will be using PAL, edit on Final Cut 3.
It might well be that some of my questions are not making 100% sense in terms of understanding the subject, as I said I built up my knowledge and understanding of the cameras only by reading in the net. Also they might have been asked before, I tried to browse the archive to exclude this, but sometimes I couldn't find quite the right answers...
I hope it's ok to quote some experts statements from their websites as I quoted some people to give some more in depth background to my questions contexts.
Any advice, feedback, or answers are very much appreciated!
Many Thanks!
Raoul
1) What is the general meaning/advantage of mechanical control of the lens, without engaging the motor? In a PD170 review, Tony Fonseca mentions this as a special feature that the PD170 does not have.
2) The DVX 100 A's standard lens goes down to 32.5 mm in the 35mm equivalent, I couldn't find mm details about the wideconversion lenses anywhere, does anyone know what it covers in 35mm equivalent mm? The PD170 standard lens is f 6.0 to 72.0mm, in 35mm 43.2 - 518.4mm, the wideconversion lense details I found say it 'Features an ultra high quality 58mm thread and a 0.7X wide angle converter' Does this mean 0.7 x 43.2 = 30.24mm as the widest 35mm equivalent? If that's the case, does the DVX's wide conversion lens go lower/wider?
3) The PD170 has a hybrid LCD, is the LCD of the DVX 100 A hybrid, too? And how big/effective is the difference of the PD170's high-resolution monochrome viewfinder? Does the EVF DTL option of the DVX 100 A represent an equally good/useful alternative and I found in the Specifications details of both cameras that they both have 180.00 dots (are dots and pixels the same?, Pana says pixels and sony says dots), so is the difference the amount of lines?
4) On http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/index.html Adam Wilt also reports about some problems with the auto exposure function namely that the auto iris changes in small jumps escpecially if the light change is slow. I found in a PD170 review that it actually performs with far less options when set in auto exposure, that it will use one constant F stop and only adjusts raising or lowering the gain levels. So it seems that the DVX 100 A is more advanced in its possibilities anyway, but what do other people think about these auto iris jumps?
5) From what I found about the shutterspeed option of the two cameras, it seems that the PD170 goes as fast as 1/10000, but the DVX 100 A only 1/2000, then again the DVX 100 A has more options with the slower shuterspeeds and it has a synctro scan function to film of a screen/TV, which the PD170 has not got. How essential (in the opinion of others...) is a shutterspeed faster then 1/2000? When would it be necessary, useful?
6) I found lots of reviews/comparisons that repetitively state that the PD170 has the better lowlight performance, starting with the simple juxtaposition of 1 lux/ PD170 and 3lux/ DVX 100 A. The most detailed one I found was by Tony Fonseca, it tests both cameras in auto and manual mode, and basically concludes that the PD170 wins in lowlight performance, but that the DVX 100 A especially when used manually comes very close, but that it has a tendency to produce a muted color palette.
I belong to the people that rather work manually, but for documentary work, will sometimes be in 'available lowlight situations', where I might even be forced/urged to use the auto functions. Are there any advice/ comments/ experiences about this subject regarding the DVX 100 A?
From Tony Fonseca's review, the differences aren't that big, I found lots of comments of people that say the PD170 is better for shoot and run, documentary work and the DVX100A for filmic, controlled lighting stuff, is there anyone who uses the DVX100A for docs, shoot and run, who is satisfied with it's lowlight performance?
And finally, is there anyone in this forum who knows about the lowest prices for the cameras, as well as for the Century Optics 7x wideconversion lens, the anomorphic adapter of the DVX100A and for Sennheiser K-6/ME-66/ME-67 mics or shops that sell the assecoires like the 5.6 Ah Battery for the Panasonic in the UK or Germany?