A used Sony PDW-F330

[Simon Glidewell]

Dear All,

I am thinking of buying a used Sony F330 with 450 laser hours; it has a Canon YH19 x 6,7 KRS SY14 as part of the deal (circa £3,900). I'm not sure if this is an HD lens or SD and whether it will shoot in 16:9 aspect ratio. The seller says that it is a 1/2" HD lens and will shoot 16:9. Does anyone here know the answer and does the price sound about right? I know that this lens is not the stock item that usually comes with this camera. If it is an SD lens what will the picture quality be like? Not HD I suppose. Many thanks.

Simon

[Gary Nattrass]

Def an SD lens and actually a 4x3 lens I think, more info here: Canon BCTV Lenses : Pro-Video Lens : YH19x6.7 IRS / KRS

Hmmm not sure how good this will be on a 16x9 camera and it is a very cheap lens to start with so you may be losing a lot of your image quality before you start, some SD lenses can be Ok on an HD camera but not the cheap ones!

[Alister Chapman]

I used to have one of those YH19's and I used it on my F350 before I got the Canon KH20, which is an HD lens. To be honest I could barely tell the difference between the two lenses and I regretted spending the extra money on the KH20. It should be OK. Don't expect miracles, the F3** cameras are getting on a little now and while they do still produce a useable HD image, they don't have the sensitivity and lower noise of newer cameras.

[Uli Mors]

I found that the 330 produces great images if they are contrasty enough. Therefore I lowered the blacks (Black, Black Gamma) a bit more than usual, also higher Aperture Settings help the picture. We shot some wellness hotels with the 330 - its lighter than a pdw700 and not that power hungry too...

uli

[Simon Glidewell]

Hello Uli,

My research shows that the F330 is indeed a great camera and capable of excellent picture quality. Further, contrary to certain viewpoints, this camera, and the Sony XDCAM optical system in general, is not obsolete or likely to be abandoned by Sony. Why would Sony introduce a new advanced XDCAM disc reader if they were going to ditch the system? Just like a lot of people who say that motion picture film is finished! Why then is Kodak introducing new Vision stocks in both super 16 and 35mm? Film is still way ahead of the best HD video in terms of relative "pixels" and resolution and it will take many years before HD can equal or better film in this respect. Cost wise, now that's a different ball game altogether.

Cheers
Simon

[Uli Mors]

Again - any news broadcaster is much faster when using flashram media (P2, SDHC, SxS , whatever).

Everybody else who has to give away the recording media after shooting or who needs a fully reliable , archivable media loves XD for its robustness - and Sony pushes the Professional disk in direction of archive (100+ Gigabyte).
Its a matter of taste and a matter of data organisation (backups? metadata?).

I just received the next 20 Disks for the next weeks: Record and put it on the shelf - done.
No hardrive backups, no copy session after a shoot, no hassledassle with data, filenames and folders.

The backdraw: Its not the "hip" SDHC media and its not as fast as flashram.

ULi

[Luc De Wandel]

Hi Simon,

I don't know if you're all set yet, but if not, I have a PDW-F350 that would suit your needs perfectly,and with a very sharp broadcasting lens. Our mutual friend Gary Natrass drew my attention to your search for a good camera. The PDW-F350 only has 50 laser hours and is in mint condition. I can send you loads of detailed pics if you like.
best regards
Luc

[Uli Mors]

Hi Luc,

what lens are you using on your 350?

regards

ULi

[Luc De Wandel]

Hi Uli,

I sell it with the Canon H20a x6IRS, an older broadcasting lens, that proved to be very sharp. Even sharper than a Fujinon HD-lens that I tested. Only when the extender is brought into the optical path, there is noticeable CA, but without extender this lens performs amazingly well.

[Gerald Geegan]

Originally Posted by Simon Glidewell

Dear All,

I am thinking of buying a used Sony F330 with 450 laser hours; it has a Canon YH19 x 6,7 KRS SY14 as part of the deal (circa £3,900). I'm not sure if this is an HD lens or SD and whether it will shoot in 16:9 aspect ratio. The seller says that it is a 1/2" HD lens and will shoot 16:9. Does anyone here know the answer and does the price sound about right? I know that this lens is not the stock item that usually comes with this camera. If it is an SD lens what will the picture quality be like? Not HD I suppose. Many thanks.

Simon

The price you mentioned seems a bit high. If you are interested, I am selling my Sony PDW-F330 XDCAMHD camera with a Canon KH19X6.7 KAS 19X zoom lens, 1.5" B&W viewfinder and Sony microphone for £750.00.
The lens was supplied with the camera when purchased new. Lovely pictures and in good working order. Many thanks

[Rob Cantwell]

i don't know if you noticed but this thread is almost six years old! so he may not be looking for a cam now.