Sony smooth interval
 

Has anyone tried 'smooth interval' recording? With a large memorystick can you record many frames before to memory before the camera dumps to tape? Other comments?

Hi Jeffrey, sorry which model is it that can do this?

PC330 and the just announced PC250
 

PC330 and the just announced PC250, not sure about other models

Hi Jeffrey,

Unfortunately I doubt that you will get many responses on this topic here since we're primarily oriented towards the 3-chip Sony camcorders: the TRV-950, PDX-10 and the new HC-1000. I know the TRV and PDX don't have this feature, and from what I've read the HC-1000 does not have it either. You might want to try some of the other sites that discuss the smaller cameras, such as camcorderinfo.com.

PDX 10 P Lens Cap
 

When I take the lens cap off, it just swings around sometimes hitting the camera body, thus spoiling the sound during a take. Even with pulling the lens cap string tight "to fix it" (as suggested in the manual, page 25), the cap still moves around. Unlike some other cameras, the lens cap has no clip that would "fix it" more firmly to the hand strap.

Has anyone found an alternative to this? Are there any other lens caps that can be used?

Sure. Remove it completely. That's what I do on all my cameras.

I thought about that but is there a way of removing it so that I can re-attach it again (I don't want to cut the string)?

Does anyone know of a lens cap that fits over the lens hood? I used that on movie cameras before.

Huh? You don't need to cut anything. The string has a loop at the end and the carrying strap passes through it. Pop open the velcro under the Sony logo and open the strap. Slide the string off, replace the strap. Am I missing something? Is your camera different than mine? It ain't rocket science! ;-)

I'm not aware of any third party caps, but I wish there was one for the wide lens hood. The only reason I use the short hood at all is to cap the lens. So actually my cap is rarely separated from the hood. I just pop the whole thing off - cap and all - and put it in my camera bag.

Hey, thanks. That's helpful. Since there's no third party thing available I think I'll just have to go and make my own lens cap.

PDX10 Mic questions & comments . . .
 

First the questions.

1. Can any standard mini-jack mic (not an XLR connect) be used (for normal live recording) with the mic input in the front of the camera? The only mention I found in the manual is on page 117 in reference to audio dubbing and the low quality ECM-S80 is called for.

2. What does "plug-in power" mean in reference to this mic input?

3. Does anyone have the specs of the OEM ECM-NV1 mic (freq range, etc)?

4. How much additional drain on the battery results from using the phantom power on both XLR inputs?

Now the comments.

A. I didn't find any mention in the manual, but after playing with the XLR inputs, I discovered that Ch1 is the left channel (Ch2=right). Not sure why this isn't mentioned or labeled on the unit accordingly (did I miss something?).

B. I have found the Rode NT4 one point stereo mic to be a wonderful performer.

Thank you.

pdx10 firmware used in TRV950???
 

I know this has been talked to death, but has anyone actually tried loading the pdx10 firmware into the TRV950.
I read a lot of messages of people talking about it but haven't read anywhere that it actually works.
I'm interested in trying it but I'm not sure I want to be the first.
If the NVRAM does get screwed is the repair covered by Sony Service's flat rate ($269 or somewhere around there)?

PDX10, 30i, 60i, shutter speed and magic bullet Q's.
 

Hi there,

There is one thing about the PDX10 which I am not entirely clear on.

The PDX10 shoots in 30i, right? OR 60i? But it can't switch to the other, whatever it may be, right?

Now, I lent my PDX10 to a friend who tried to magic bullet the footage he shot. He got artifacting. I beleive that one of the requirements of MB is to shoot in 60i, correct?

I'm assuming that if he shot with a shutter speed of 1/30th or 1/60th, it wouldn't matter to much, for MB? It would look the same? Or WOULD it make a difference?

Perhaps I should ask this way out question, which is probably going to confuse me more. If I shoot in 1/60th, that is not going to simulate 60i, or will it?

Thanks for the replies.

The PDX-10 shoots standard, interlaced 30fps video which we usually refer to as 60i. Now you can change the shutter speed to 1/30 sec and that will essentially write the same data to both interlaced fields which reduces your vertical resolution.

I haven't used magic bullet, but have worked with DVFilm Maker a lot and believe it does pretty much the same thing, which is creating a pseudo 30 fps progressive effect. They emphasize that you need to shoot at 1/60 sec shutter speed for this to work properly, and I'm guessing that would be the same for Magic Bullet.

To answer your question, the PDX-10 always outputs at 60i, however the shutter speed setting can affect the results if you're deinterlacing in post. Make sure that you have locked the shutter speed at 1/60 and are shooting in full manual mode. My guess is that your friend didn't do this and he tried to deinterlace footage that was shot at 1/30 sec or some other shutter speed. You should get very good results if you shoot at 1/60 sec.

Well in my google search I couldn't find any solid links, just theory. So I think that it really can't be done.

In addition, the TRV950 has a still camera while the PDX10 does not, hmmm... where would that be in the memory map.

I guess you really need Sony's blessing to make this work or at least someone who know's the equipment from the hardware all the way down to the firmware.

with the price of these, you're better off upgrading to a real PDx and selling the TRV.....

Cliff, maybe I don't understand you? The PDX-10 has the same still camera features as the TRV-950. It doesn't have bluetooth or the internet capabilities though.

Look at the user manual in the 'stickie' at the top of this forum for more PDX-10 info. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=22998

Regarding the firmware "brain transplant," I wouldn't attempt it unless you consider your camera expendable....

Yep, I misspoke. I assumed that since there was no flash, there was no still camera.
There's too many differences between the two cameras that make me not want to try it.
If I could get a Sony repair facility to try it, I'd go for it. I suspect that they wouldn't have enought knowledge to undergo the transplant.
It would be nice if it were like a BMW that you could switch control chips for better performance.
If the cmos were accessible, I'd consider just swapping the chip, thereby keeping the original firmware intact, if it didn't work.
Oh well, I put far too much time researching this already.
Over and out.

lens hood ?
 

does the pdx 10 NTSC come with two lens hoods one large one small

Thanks

Vince

Mine came with both large and small. That was about mid-year 2003.

Yes, the camera is supplied with both the regular and the wide hood. The regular hood has a removable cover but the wide hood does not. See page 4 of the brochure for included accessories:

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Professiona...pdx10final.pdf

Also worth noting that the wide hood comfortably houses a number of wide angle adaptors. I use the Century 0.65x which has a filter thread and a removable cover. The cover seems to be the only benefit of the smaller hood.

True. The wide hood works well with my .45x wide lens also - no vignetting. I even use it with the Sony high-grade 2x telephoto. It doesn't shade the lens at all, but does a nice job of concealing the ugly silver aluminum finish :-)

thanks guys

Vince

Sony PDX 10 ?
 

WTB Sony PDX 10 must be mint W/low hrs.


Thanks
Vince

MTV's Making the Band and PDX10
 

Since were on this topic, I was watching MTV's Making the Band, with P. Diddy and lo and behold I saw during an episode that one of the guys was shooting with a PDX10.

I dunno if the whole show is show with a PDX10, but it would be interesting to find out.

950/pdx10 size
 

Do these two share the same body and mechanics?

I own a pdx10 and am looking at an underwater housing that is certified for the trv950, but not the pdx10...

Without the XLR box, the PDX is the same body as the 950. You might check with the diver members here about this, or visit one of the dv diving websites.

The only difference that comes to mind is that the TRV-950 has a pop-up flash for still photos but the PDX-10 does not. It has the mounting shoe for the XLR box in that location.

You might try starting a new topic about underwater housings for the TRV-950/PDX-10; it has been discussed here in the past.

I thought they were the same too, but the company selling the housing says the pdx10 is incompatible, although the trv950 is ceritfied.....

This is the Sony SPK-DVF5 which is only sold in Japan.

I did a scan here and found one person who has used the case sucessfully.

Anyone else using a pdx10 with one?

John,

"This is the Sony SPK-DVF5 which is only sold in Japan"

Just a quick searh on the Net would appear that;
The UK sell them online, as do Canada, so do a few other places.

Also UK Ebay have one at the moment,
http://search.ebay.co.uk/Sony-SPK-DVF5_W0QQsacurrencyZ3QQsocolumnlayoutZ3QQsonewuserZ1

I have a custom made waterhousing for the PDX10. It was made for water surface work but can go under water to about 4m, Which is more than the one you are intending to buy. Generic waterhousings are known to leak, fog and suffer from internal reflection. I paid around $1700 AUD for mine, which gives me the following functions. Rec, Zoom, Exposure, shutter speed & focus, as well as a port for my wideangle and detatchable handles which include a pistol grip and double side handles.
If you are seriously contemplating doing underwater work you can't go past these companies that specifically deal with making housings.

I have seen that show a couple of times. The cameras that I occassionally saw were full size Betacam, IMX, or maybe the Panasonic SDX. I haven't seen it lately, but the picture was just too good to be DV when I did see it althought the PDX-10 does have a great image. I wouldn't doubt that they use DV for some b-roll, c or d camera. We're using PD-150s/170s to shoot Room Raiders Atlanta right now.

950/ pdx10
 

how close to being the same animal???? anybody know--thanks bob

---------

Moderator note: I have split this question off into a new thread since it didn't have anything to do with focusing. -Boyd

It is the same animal, but one deck will run slower (LP) and the other will run faster (DVCAM). The 950 has a little flash gun but the PDX jettisons this in favour of the XLR adapter shoe. They both have the same lens and chip block assembly, but in an effore to seperate them in the market place Sony has disabled the proper 16:9 facility in the 950. They've rectified this in that the HC1000 (the TRV950s replacement) has the better 16:9.

tom.

There are a few other differences in addition to the ones that Tom mentoned. The TRV-950 has some internet connectivity and I think perhaps Bluetooth (or so I've read). The PDX-10 has a black and white viewfinder that's higher resolution than the TRV-950 and it is supplied with an additional large lens hood which I don't think is standard on the TRV-950. There are some other menu options on the PDX-10 related to timecode, audio and setup level.

Not sure about this, but I think the TRV-950 will automatically power down if you don't do anything for a few minutes whereas the PDX-10 just stops spinning the drum.

pdx10 and 2/3" camera
 

I may be shooting a private reunion of a band New Years Eve. The party is only for family and friends but will be important (they were once a popular national touring act). As an old associate, I'm offering to shoot it with 2 cameras, one a pdx10 and the other an Ikegami DV7we.

I haven't done any stage work with either of these cameras. Any comments from those who have worked with the pdx 10 in a theater would be appreciated. One camera will be wide, but which one? We'll probably be 16:9.

Any other suggestions?

I use the PDX-10 a lot for performance video. My suggestion would be to use it for the close shots and the 2/3" camera for the wide shots if possible. The PDX-10 does a very nice job on closer shots but leaves a lot to be desired when you go wide for some reason.

See my posts in this thread for a few examples. You might also want to see some tests I did here.

Thanks for the rapid reply. I appreciate your input. I agree, the smaller chips in general seem to fall apart on wide shots.

the stage is only 24' x12' set midway on the long side of a room 100' x 80'

So, I'll set the dv7 on a platform wide and do the color/cutaway with the pdx10... yay, my back has been hurtin lately!

Sounds good John, let us know how it works out for you.

Hints on shooting in Alaska
 

I’m Going to Alaska….

Wow, my Girlfriends Mother is taking the Entire family (including my Daughter and I) on an Alaskan cruise! Whoo Hoo… amazing Xmas present

I shoot with a Pd100; I love the thing except for low light. I am anticipating the opposite in Alaska. I want to shoot nature and fly over Glaciers and my big worry is over exposure – too much light & glare off the snow. I won’t have a monitor with me to check my shots and I won’t be able to do this again for awhile.

I have:

Pd100 with the big 0.7 wide angle lens
Image 2000 matte box I can use with the standard 55mm lens (with step ups).
Cinegear French flag (www.Cinegear.us)
Circ polarizer
Porta brace “rain coat” (may need this off shore)
Hoodman view screen cover
Audio is not too much of an issue, (azden sgm-1) I’m shooting this trip for myself and family.


My questions…

Will the built in neutral density filter be enough for the potential snow glare?

Will I need more ND? What is the built in ND rated at ?

Would filters like 80A, 80B or 80C help with the bright white light? (I have them already)

I assume a circ polarizer is fine to use as well as the UV filters. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)

What “gain” range should I setting the dB at?

What should the AE be set to?

Do any of you have the ICUFF-3 eyecup? Is it worth it?

Is there a place where I can get a download of the PD100 manual? Sony make a fine product but the really SUCK for back end support (try and get you Clie handheld repaired-but that’s another story)

I’m not going until next summer so I have time to accumulate anything else I may need for a stress free shoot.

Any hints, ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This really is the best DV forum out there

Cheers

Chris