Got my PD-150 today...
 

I had been using an old VX1000 for shooting weddings, and my trusty little Panasonic PV-GS120 as my backup cam. I got this entire outfit for a shade under $2000:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7575513486

Hours are a little high, but it works great and I'm really looking forward to shooting with it this year.

Intersting tidbit: My Panasonic will play tapes shot in DVCAM mode. No, I didn't think it would, either.

Follow-up
 

I wanted to make sure I could trust this camera on a wedding shoot, so I tried it out tonight in the nightclub where I work as a DJ, both with and without the on-camera light. I knew it was supposed to be one of the best low-light cameras money can buy, but now that I've seen it for myself, this thing flat-out blew me away. I just played back the footage on a regular 27" TV using my Panasonic cam, and indeed, even without the light on, it looked quite good with no graininess. I have never seen such vivid color from any camcorder, including the good ol' VX1000 I'm used to, which ain't half bad in good lighting.

One problem has cropped up - sometimes the display goes haywire, flashing a bunch of gibberish and the occasional yellow stripe all over both the LCD screen and the viewfinder, and the little numeric display on the outside of the LCD door that shows timecode and battery life shows all 8's most of the time. However, this does not affect the recording, and I can still see the image on the LCD/viewfinder. Twisting the LCD screen usually clears this up. Must be a loose connection, or maybe just dirty. Has anyone else seen this happen? Is it an expensive fix? Should I just live with it?

Despite this (hopefully) minor problem, this is looking like the best $1900 I've ever spent.

There's a way to reboot the camera which you might try. Don't remember offhand but someone should post where the button is so you can try.

I found the reset button under the LCD door; you push it with a pen point. Didn't really help, it just screwed up all my settings. I'm thinking a dirty connection at the hinge, but why would it show up on the viewfinder, too?

I would be a little troubled by a camera with high hours that's also showing these problems. Hope it works out for you. You can find the nearest repair center here; might be a good idea to get this looked at before the screen and viewfinder completely stop working...

http://eservice.sony.com/webrma/web/index.do

The signals on these cameras are carried by flexible circuits which eventually do break due to fatigue. It is likely that the flex circuit needs to be replaced. Typically they cost about $25 - $50 and can be replaced by someone that isn't too nervous about opening the camera.

Glad you got the camera, but sad to hear about the problems. As it has had a lot of use, it's very possible that some flexible circuits are a bit damaged. If you have any Sony service nearby, maybe you should show it to them and they would at least tell you what is the cause. If it's not too expensive, you should let them replace those items as well.

Well, I didn't expect it to be perfect, especially with the high hours on it, but it does function well in spite of this display problem. This guy was a good seller; he did everything right and I left him good feedback, but you know how it goes - I was scared to death it was going to be DOA. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

If it really is inexpensive to have these flexible circuits changed out, I'll do my best to get it done before the busy season. If it turns into something worse, my little Panasonic is always right there in my goodie bag, ready to step in. I've shot an entire wedding with it and had no complaints.

Give what Mike said and I my own experience with such cameras it will likely only case a couple hundred dollars to get it fixed. It's worth and you'll still have spend a low price for the camera. In fact it might be good to have them clean the tape path too.

Sony charges $125 and hour for the 150's and the 170's are $535 (still i think) flat rate so whatever is broken they fix it for that amount. Get a estimate first..

The 170's and even the 150's later models I believe can suffer from a defect in the grounding of the lcd connection. One way to test is to use the camera for the same length of time you did before without opening the LCD and see if it happens.. I think the Sony Service site has a service bullentin on this problem..

HOWEVER, I could be way off the mark..

Is this what you're referring to?

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Broadcastan...odNotice.shtml

Not exactly my problem. The image never flickers, changes colors, or goes away; it's just the display info, which is why I don't think it's really that big of a deal. But I'll give them a call next week just the same - it sure can't hurt to find out.

Sony know all about replacing flexible looms - the VX1000 was notorious for breaking the loom to the v'finder.