Derek. Although the TRV950's CCDs are slightly larger than the MX5's CCDs, the lux still sucks. But what can you do when cam makers shove in these small CCDs? (Don't answer that.)

Derek, the 900 is still a camera worthy of your cosideration, believe me. And if you've found a second-hand one where you know the history, so much the better. $1200 sounds a little high maybe, though it could come with a wide-angle, spare batteries, and extended warranty for that money? Who knows. Remember to check out the in-built microphones, and remember that any repair work will quickly loose the money you've saved, so make an offer based on that.

If you're looking at the PDX10 then don't let me stop you. It really is double the money you're talking about for the 900, and the native 16:9 chips alone make it the camera to have. But if it's the 900 vs the 950 and you have a $500 difference, then that money will buy you a great widie, loads of tape and a decent tripod, so the 900 it is then.

It's also better in my view for having a switchable ND, bigger chips, six bladed aperture and better low light performance, though somewhat noisier as they're not HAD chips. The motor drive capabilities in progressive scan are wonderful, and compact flash is still cheaper than Memory stick. Still a formidable camcorder.

tom.

The switch on the 950 is a Zoom rocker, the kind of zoom found on most cams until recently when to save space makers are putting silly little buttons and switches on instead. On overcast days the 950s great, bright sharp images with no grain.

TRV950 and time code
 

Hello! Is there any way to set the time code on the TRV950 so that it counts from an hour other than 00? This would be extremely useful on multi-tape projects. Thank you.

TRV950 and time code
 

I don't believe this feature exists below the PD150.

David Hurdon

Actually you can set the time code on the PDX-10 in the same manner as the PD-150

Hi Geoff

I read ages ago about setting the timecode in your NLE and recording say 5min of black video to your tape via the 1394, the cam should then pickup on that TC, cant remember where i read it though

so on your multiproject get striping those tapes - just like the old days eh?

Trv950 Focus In Meters?
 

Howdy

I just got two TRV950's and am wondering if there is a way to change the focus distance in the display from meters to feet. Also is there a way to display the f.stops when in manual exposure like the VX2000? I haven't put a tape in the cameras yet, just busy messin' around with all the new stuff.

Thanks

Bob

There's no way while shooting to display the taking aperture or applied gain, though on replay (a bit late in my view) you can call this information up on screen. If you do a lot of shooting you'll get to know the apertures in relation to the silly "horizontal bar" display, but quite why Sony decided to leave out this very important information I cannot imagine.

I mean - look at all the other spam up there on screen. There must be many of us here on list who would gladly loose two or three silly display graphics just to have our apertures back.

tom.

Yes this is an odd feature of the PDX-10 and TRV-950. For some reason they decided to tell us the f stop, but not the focus distance on the VX-2000, and the focus distance but not the f-stop on the PDX-10! I doubt there's any way to change this from meters to feet either, certainly there is no menu option. Hey, it'll be good practice to learn the metric system for when the US converts ;-)

Someone else pointed out a little trick which helps with the f stops though. When the little bar graph has the pointer directly in the center, you are at F4.0. At first I really missed seeing the f-stop in the finder, but I've gotten used to it pretty quickly....

TRV950 Sample Footage
 

Does anybody have some TRV950 footage I could see...I really only want about 5-10 seconds but I'm trying to use it to compare camcorders since no shops near me have a TRV950 to look at. If possible do you have any uncompressed footage that's short? I've noticed that most picture quality looks about the same if its converted to wmv which seems to be the new standard in showing movie clips now (at least it is for my friends and others I know)! Thanks a BUNCH!!

Tim

I really don't think you're going to get far with this experiment Tim. The only real way to test camcorders is side-by-side, as the A/B test really sorts the men from the boys. I've had a PDX10 on the same big L bracket alongside the VX2000 (as they're both the same price) and that way the footage is directly comparable.

But take it from me - if the 950 shoots in not-too-contrasty and not-too-dim lighting and doesn't have any point sources of light in frame, then the results can be very good indeed. The camera cleverly forces you to use the lens' 'sweet spot' by applying more and more ND as the lighting increases, and this ensures that you get very sharp footage.

tom.

Would you say this camera has a faster auto-focus? I know the XL1s does not, Our school has 3 and...well its pretty bad in my opinion, at least compared to my $600 Sony one.

The auto focus no faster than the VX, but I found the automation could beat me every time. It knew which way to turn the lens and didn’t need to rock and roll when it reached accurate focus. If the subject moved the auto focus would follow with such speed that it was not obvious that it was working. It will focus in light too low to correctly expose the chips, even at maximum gain up. It is silent, fast and accurate, but as with all automation it’s easily fooled.

This is where Sony’s ‘push auto’ button is so good, my only complaint being that the button ‘clicks’ and isn’t really large enough. While the push auto button is depressed the camera will be in auto focus mode; once released you’re back to locked focus. A focused measurement in metres appears for about three seconds in the viewfinder to confirm the distance, and for pre-focusing in the dark this proved to be superb. The VX doesn't have this.

There’s an infinity focus position which is useful if you’re shooting through scratched aeroplane windows and there’s also a very clever and very effective Spot Focus mode With this activated the side screen becomes touch sensitive and you can do very rapid and accurate pull focus effects by simply touching the image that you want to be focused on the screen. A tripod set-up is almost a necessity, but I couldn’t fault the ingenuity of the design or the effectiveness of the actuation. It’s fun to play with but I found it of little practical use.

tom.

Yeah, thats what I'm worried about on the Canon's. I've thought of the spot focus only necessary when you're say shooting throuh woods and stuff, or like through bushes...thats about it?