I currently own a Sony TRV900. I'm a broadcast journalist and what to broaden my "reach" by having the ability to shoot and edit broadcast quality stories. I have a non-linear system on my powerbook and now want to "upgrade" my video camera. I love Sony products but I've heard some very good things about the Panasonic DVX100. Can anyone give me pros and cons?

Sharon,

If you can hold out a little longer Sony will most likely announce their version of the DVX1000 at NAB.

When is the next NAB?

Any early word on the upgrades with Sony's version?

NAB is the first week of April in Las Vegas

Adrian is absolutely correct. I wouldn't buy any camera until the dust settles on NAB 2003 (April 7 through 10, in Las Vegas).

Even so Sharon, having a 900 means that if you go for the VX2000 (or PD150) you'll be able to use all your TRV900 batteries, Lanc controllers, whatever. You'll also feel immediately at home with the menu system and the colour balance and so on.

But the Panasonic has a much better side -screen and no bumps in the manual aperture control, so it's a goodie.

tom.

Hi Sharon,

LAFCPUG has a very informative comparison of the two cameras at
http://www.lafcpug.org/review_dvx_pd150.html

Noah Kadner did a side-by-side comparison between the Panny AG-DVX100 and the Sony PD-150. One observation made was how much more detail could be seen throughout the highlights and shadows with the DXX100 over the PD-150 due to the "Cine Gamma" feature. There is actually a free DVD of this article which features the test shoot in its entirety, which can be had for free by simply contacting Charles McConathy or Dan Hatch at ProMax at http://www.promax.com/contacts.html.

- don

The DVX 100 clearly looks better to me, but the poor focus controls in 24p mode really make me think twice about it.

I think the focus on the Panny is the best of any miniDV I tried (I previously owned a XL-1 with all lenses) and have used Sony VX models.

Sure, no "autofocus" in 24P mode, but I rarely used autofocus on any cam. Autofocus really only works well on high-end still cams.

Push autofocus might have been nice in 24p for doc/sports shooters, but I find the focus guage to work almost as well. It also works better than any thing short of focus puller for rack moves and rehearsed scenes.

Thanks for all the input. I have another question for PD150 users....how does the camera perform in low light?