Need some camera advice...
 

Hi Everybody,
I'm not a big camera person, but I could use some advice. I'll be shooting video for a TV show and need a couple of decent cameras. It's a fishing show, so I'l be in bright sun, wind, rain, overcast, and all kinds of other conditions except night-time/low light. I'm going to have cameras in fixed positions, running continuously as we fish, no cameramen. So I'm looking for some models in the $2000-3000 range that can perform adequately on AUTO mode, in a variety constantly changing outdoor light conditions, especially bright sun. This spring I rigged the boat with 4 cameras in the $500 range just to test my theories, and find out which positions worked best. The results were better than expected, but in bright sun the colors look a little smeary, and with the bright sun reflecting off the water a few shots had exposure problems. Over all, the video thus far has been on par with most fishing shows I see on TV. But I'd like it to look better. Keep in mind that I'm a fisherman, not a cameraman, so I just want to push a "Record" button and start fishing, while the AUTO mode takes care of the rest. I know the better cameras can make much better video in the hands of a cameraman, but will they make a difference in the hands of a hack like me, using only auto ?? Any input will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Is $1850 a decent price for a PDX10 ??

Well I just don't use my PDX-10 in auto mode so I have no personal experience. There was a review somewhere, camcorder.com I think, that actually said the PDX-10 had the best auto mode of any camera in its class. But other parts of that review were questionable, so caveat emptor....

If you like the PDX-10, have you also considered the TRV-950? The big advantages of the PDX-10 are that it has an excellent 16:9 mode, very good audio, DVCAM recording and a black and white viewfinder. From what you describe, none of these would be especially important to you. So you could get essentially the same camera for less money.

Just a thought...

Thanks for the reply. I've heard that the TRV-950 has some major issues with over exposure in bright sun while in the auto mode. Does the PDX-10 have the same auto programing software ?? Thanks.

Can't answer that for sure, but I assume it would. However you should be able to set AE SHIFT in the custom preset to help with this sort of problem. Seems to me that most cameras will be confused in auto mode when shooting a scene that consists of mostly sea and sky when you're really interested a a person somewhere in the frame.

when to buy a camera
 

hi - am thinking of buying a camera but don't have much work in hand- is it better to rent initially and then buy a camera - i have just started producing videos - how long should i wait before buying a camera. it costs about $ 150 to rent a camera for a day. also is the sony pdx 10 a good camera - is the image quality the same as a sony pd170 -thanks

Hi Ruchika. Is that $150 US or CDN? Do the math, after about 12 days at that rental rate you could buy a PDX-10 (I don't know what else is included in the rental cost, so you might need a few accessories I suppose, but you get the idea).

The second question is of course subjective and has a lot to do with the sort of stuff you're shooting. I'd suggest just browsing back through the PDX-10 forum and you will find extensive discussion of its strengths and weaknesses. It is at least $1,200 less expensive than a PD-170, and to my thinking its greatest strength is native 16:9 which is significantly better than the 170. IMO, if you don't really need widescreen then there probably isn't a compelling argument to choose it over the 170, other than price.