PDX10 tips and questions

John Miller · July 17th, 2006, 07:21 AM

Sorry if this is old news. I did a search and looked in the manual but couldn't find anything about this (even in the service manual)...

...my PDX-10 (NTSC model) plays PAL tapes. Whoo-hoo! I've been borrowing a DSR-11 for a while so it's great to know I can play my PAL DV tapes on my NTSC camcorder.

Interestingly, the PAL version has menu options for NTSC playback...

John.

Boyd Ostroff · July 17th, 2006, 08:13 AM

This has been discussed regarding several of the Sony cameras, it seems to be an undocumented feature. However, have you tried capturing video over firewire? In the past, several people said they could play PAL tapes and watch them on the LCD screen, but not through either the video-out or firewire ports. Let us know if all this works for you; that would be something I haven't seen before! Don't return the DSR-11 until you've verified that this will work! ;-)

John Miller · July 17th, 2006, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

This has been discussed regarding several of the Sony cameras, it seems to be an undocumented feature. However, have you tried capturing video over firewire? In the past, several people said they could play PAL tapes and watch them on the LCD screen, but not through either the video-out or firewire ports. Let us know if all this works for you; that would be something I haven't seen before! Don't return the DSR-11 until you've verified that this will work! ;-)

Firewire transfer works perfectly. Just as if it didn't know any better! And device control from the computer works, too.

DELETE THIS ---> Haven't tried the analog out (no real need for it).

I've just tried the analog output. Direct to my multistandard monitor, I get a black and white signal and none of the monitor's indicators light up (i.e., PAL, SECAM, NTSC or NTSC 4.43). However, if I feed the signal through a TenLab TR-20 converter in automatic mode, it selects NTSC as input and NTSC as output. So it seems that the analog output is an odd hybrid - PAL 3.58 maybe?

Very pleased. That means I can transfer my analog PAL footage to DV on the DSR-11 and, once it goes back to its rightful owner, I can still access the DV footage.

Boyd Ostroff · July 17th, 2006, 09:11 AM

That's a cool discovery John! Too bad they don't make the PDX-10 anymore...

When I get home I'll have to try some of the PAL tapes from my Z1 in my PDX-10 just out of curiosity now.

Ralf Strandell · July 30th, 2006, 05:04 AM

Hi,

My PDX10p suddenly ceased showing the timecode. When I press REC, 0:00:00:00 is displayed on the LCD and it remains at zero throughout recording. Also, when I play back the tape, the timecode remains at zero. I can view the current time/date while recording (if fiddling with settings) or playing back (in any case), though. So, what's wrong?

I'm not very knowledgeable about timecodes and such.

Eric Galton · September 11th, 2006, 09:24 AM

Hello,

A quick question:

I have made my choice at 95% to get a DSR-PDX10. It's into my budget range...

Now, I read that this camcorder has 690,000 effective pixels. The Jy-HD10U has 840,000 effective pixels in HD and 460,000 effective pixels in SD.

I will be shooting mostly in 16:9 and the end result is targeted for web delivery and a couple of DVDs.

Obviously, the PDX10 will give me a higher resolution that regulat DV recording. But, will the resolution be that different from the PDX10 to the HD10U?

Again, due to the fact that the HD10U uses 1 CCD, I'm afraid that the picture's quality won't be as nice as the PDX10.

Am I wrong?

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards,

Eric Galton

Boyd Ostroff · September 11th, 2006, 04:52 PM

Welcome to Dvinfo Eric! For starters, I've moved this post to our PDX-10 forum. Spend a little while browsing back through the forum and you'll learn a lot about this great little camera.

However you must realize that the PDX-10 is strictly a DV camera. The pixel count of the sensor is good to know, but can only be used for comparing apples to apples. All NTSC DV is 720x480 pixels, which is only 345,600 total pixels. If the cameras sensor has more than this then it can help to resolve the maximum amount of detail, but that image is going to be downsampled to 720x480 when recorded to tape.

So your statement, "Obviously, the PDX10 will give me a higher resolution that regulat DV recording" is not correct. The PDX-10 will give you 720x480 like any other DV camera. However the high resolution CCD's insure that it will be a "good 720x480"." This is especially important for shooting 16:9.

I've never used an HD10, but since it's a high definition camera you will definitely get a more detailed image. It also shoots progressive scan which is something the PDX-10 can't do.

The image of 3 CCD's vs 1 CCD is somewhat more complicated so I'll leave that to someone else. Like I suggested above, spend a little while reading through old posts in the PDX-10 forum and you will find lots of good info.

Chris Barcellos · September 11th, 2006, 05:11 PM

With your stated delivery goals, ie., "web delivery and a couple of DVDs", you are not looking high definition needs anyway, and the PDX 10 will be fine for that purpose.

But we are all going to be doing high definition in the future, so if your start up is about the same, and the camera has a good reputation (I don't have that answer) why not go that route.

Eric Galton · September 11th, 2006, 05:59 PM

Thank you very much for your warm welcome and your advice. I will continue my deep diving into the forums to help me decide on my purchase, which isn't easy at all!

Again, thank you.

Regards,

Eric Galton

David Chia · November 20th, 2006, 10:47 AM

hi all,

this might be really old news, but i guess that some of you might not know this trick. when you want to do a shoot which involve rack focusing or exposure, use a LCD pen in the spot focus or AE mode on the LCD during recording. This way it so much more precise, just like rack fousing( without having a focus puller). less camera movement too

i've got big fingers, so by using a lcd pen, its faster, sharper and accurate.
Also protect it with a lcd protected, this way it doesn't get scraches.

david

July 17th, 2006, 07:21 AM	#16
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	PDX-10 (NTSC version) plays PAL Sorry if this is old news. I did a search and looked in the manual but couldn't find anything about this (even in the service manual)... ...my PDX-10 (NTSC model) plays PAL tapes. Whoo-hoo! I've been borrowing a DSR-11 for a while so it's great to know I can play my PAL DV tapes on my NTSC camcorder. Interestingly, the PAL version has menu options for NTSC playback... John.

July 30th, 2006, 05:04 AM	#20
Ralf Strandell Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 180	Rec Run Timecode stays at 0:00:00:00 Hi, My PDX10p suddenly ceased showing the timecode. When I press REC, 0:00:00:00 is displayed on the LCD and it remains at zero throughout recording. Also, when I play back the tape, the timecode remains at zero. I can view the current time/date while recording (if fiddling with settings) or playing back (in any case), though. So, what's wrong? I'm not very knowledgeable about timecodes and such.

September 11th, 2006, 09:24 AM	#21
Eric Galton Tourist Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 4	Sony DSR-PDX10 Hello, A quick question: I have made my choice at 95% to get a DSR-PDX10. It's into my budget range... Now, I read that this camcorder has 690,000 effective pixels. The Jy-HD10U has 840,000 effective pixels in HD and 460,000 effective pixels in SD. I will be shooting mostly in 16:9 and the end result is targeted for web delivery and a couple of DVDs. Obviously, the PDX10 will give me a higher resolution that regulat DV recording. But, will the resolution be that different from the PDX10 to the HD10U? Again, due to the fact that the HD10U uses 1 CCD, I'm afraid that the picture's quality won't be as nice as the PDX10. Am I wrong? Thank you very much in advance. Best regards, Eric Galton

September 11th, 2006, 05:11 PM	#23
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	With your stated delivery goals, ie., "web delivery and a couple of DVDs", you are not looking high definition needs anyway, and the PDX 10 will be fine for that purpose. But we are all going to be doing high definition in the future, so if your start up is about the same, and the camera has a good reputation (I don't have that answer) why not go that route. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

September 11th, 2006, 05:59 PM	#24
Eric Galton Tourist Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 4	Thank you Thank you very much for your warm welcome and your advice. I will continue my deep diving into the forums to help me decide on my purchase, which isn't easy at all! Again, thank you. Regards, Eric Galton

July 17th, 2006, 08:13 AM	#17
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	This has been discussed regarding several of the Sony cameras, it seems to be an undocumented feature. However, have you tried capturing video over firewire? In the past, several people said they could play PAL tapes and watch them on the LCD screen, but not through either the video-out or firewire ports. Let us know if all this works for you; that would be something I haven't seen before! Don't return the DSR-11 until you've verified that this will work! ;-)

July 17th, 2006, 09:11 AM	#19
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	That's a cool discovery John! Too bad they don't make the PDX-10 anymore... When I get home I'll have to try some of the PAL tapes from my Z1 in my PDX-10 just out of curiosity now.

September 11th, 2006, 04:52 PM	#22
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	Welcome to Dvinfo Eric! For starters, I've moved this post to our PDX-10 forum. Spend a little while browsing back through the forum and you'll learn a lot about this great little camera. However you must realize that the PDX-10 is strictly a DV camera. The pixel count of the sensor is good to know, but can only be used for comparing apples to apples. All NTSC DV is 720x480 pixels, which is only 345,600 total pixels. If the cameras sensor has more than this then it can help to resolve the maximum amount of detail, but that image is going to be downsampled to 720x480 when recorded to tape. So your statement, "Obviously, the PDX10 will give me a higher resolution that regulat DV recording" is not correct. The PDX-10 will give you 720x480 like any other DV camera. However the high resolution CCD's insure that it will be a "good 720x480"." This is especially important for shooting 16:9. I've never used an HD10, but since it's a high definition camera you will definitely get a more detailed image. It also shoots progressive scan which is something the PDX-10 can't do. The image of 3 CCD's vs 1 CCD is somewhat more complicated so I'll leave that to someone else. Like I suggested above, spend a little while reading through old posts in the PDX-10 forum and you will find lots of good info.

November 20th, 2006, 10:47 AM	#25
David Chia Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 427	tips and trick for pdx10 spot focus & AE hi all, this might be really old news, but i guess that some of you might not know this trick. when you want to do a shoot which involve rack focusing or exposure, use a LCD pen in the spot focus or AE mode on the LCD during recording. This way it so much more precise, just like rack fousing( without having a focus puller). less camera movement too i've got big fingers, so by using a lcd pen, its faster, sharper and accurate. Also protect it with a lcd protected, this way it doesn't get scraches. david