Can You Customize The PD150 Like You Can The Xl1s? I know the pd150 dosen't have the different lens thing but i am making my first movie and i would like to get to the same kind of image that danny boyle had for 28 days later.(That Movie Rocks) HELP!!!

No problem, Mike. Just tranfer all your footage to film and color correct it and you will be good to go. That's a bit of sarcasm you understand.

I don't think they did anything mysterious when they shot their film. They used a lot of cameras for the London after the apocalypse shoot, so I doubt they messed around with all the cameras. I'm sure there are more detailed answers, but obviously the majority of the work came when they did their post.

Short answer; shoot the best footage you can and don't mess with it! Then when you transfer you will have good quality that can be manipulated to your heart's content. Even if you don't transfer to film, you will still have footage that you can manipulate with digital color correction in your NLE.

If you want to see good looking footage shot with a PD150 and transfered to film, check out Personal Velocity. Then check out the commentary track.

Wayne

I am looking to purchase a pd150 second hand. What is the life expectancy (both in hours of operation and tape run) of these cameras? Any pd150 owners care to comment on how many hours they put on their camera before it needed major repair work? Thanks for your help.

Chris

kinda random depending on when the camera was made.

Sony had to replace the transport bearings in my first camera at 10 months. I probably had 200-300 hours on the drum at that point and the transport could be heard grinding across a quiet room. Then they got the transport rebuilt, and started to work on the OIS randomly banging about. But they were stumped by that problem ( I sent them a sample tape showing the problem as one should always do) and they gave me a new one because they didn't know about the general RF susceptiblity of the camera design at that point.

The builds (they build them in batches) have had some notable problems including the audio hiss and transport failures (see above) and then Sony got everything settled down and they made a generally reliable product which I think it was for the second half of the product lifetime.

Batch building tends to have problems that many or all of the batch will exhibit. Like the rash of hard-to-close tape doors on the 170 not too long ago.

OTOH, I have almost 800 hours on my DSR-300 transport and my DSR-20 and narry a hitch.

Sony unofficially will claim between 1000 and 1500 hours for the heads.

I reacon that every hour costs about $2 that must be put away for head and transport repairs. So if you buy one that has 500 hours on it, the price should reflect the amount of head and transport that has been used up.

And don't forget that Sony stops the blanket repair charge policy and charges actual parts and labor for any product that hasn't been produced in 7 years.

As a sort of standard process of buying used equipment, I call the service center and ask them what might be wrong at the approximate age of the equipment and what it would cost to fix. It always gives me a departure point for setting a price.

I probably know these have been asked before, but I did some searches.. I didn't find the answers..So..

I have a PD-150 camera and a couple questions. I want to shoot some 16:9 widescreen for the letterbox look. However, the camera shows a 16:9 function, but is that REAL 16:9 or just adds a letterbox?

Second question.. Please bare with me, as I don't even know if I am wording this correctly. I am shooting my brothers wedding outdoors and there is no power sources.

I want to catch the audio from the bride and groom during the ceremony. I don't know if this exists or not, but is their a wireless lapel and power pack that attaches to one of them and then a battery powered receiver and hooks to the camera and inputs into the PD-150 XLR input? I have seen large batteries on the backs of PD-150's with two antennas but I don't know if that is what I am looking for.. basically I am very new to all this camera work stuff, editing I can handle.. Shooting..well thats another story..lol

Thanks for your time in advance..

Patrick

1) It is true 16x9 recording, but not true 16x9 imaging chips so the output is better than letterboxing in post, but not as good as a device with 16x9 chips;

2) Yes there is. A good combo costs more than $1,000 -- there are OK ones for less, and really awful ones for little. Consider renting a good one for a special event.

GB

Thanks for the reply..

I guess I would have to know what to rent.. What exactly would I be looking, brand/models?

Thanks

You are looking for a wireless lapel mic and a diversity receiver. Get advice from the rental house near you ... I expect they'll only be offering the better stuff.

GB

Hi all,

Shooting an exercise video with my fairly new PD150 with very low miles tomorrow. Shooting rehearsal today, I started seeing blue smeared light in the viewfinder. It kind of looks like water but it is obviously something that is affecting the camera in some way. At first I thought it might just be the LCD. Nope, the problem is in the viewfinder as well. I pulled tapes out and it didn't seem to exist on the footage. However, I just got home and did a few tests. First of all, I used a sony cleaning cassette to try and clean the heads. Secondly the camera was reading no tape when I put a tape in it. I tried resetting the camera with th resest button. Finally I got the camera to recognize a tape, the blueish light filled the LCD. When I pulled the tape and played it back in my DSR11, the problem is clear as day. Blue light, particularlt in hot spots.

What should I do?? Has anyone ever experienced this? Pleas let me know asap as I shoot tomorrow morning.

Thank you,

Troy

Hi all,

Shooting an exercise video with my fairly new PD150 with very low miles tomorrow. Shooting rehearsal today, I started seeing blue smeared light in the viewfinder. It kind of looks like water but it is obviously something that is affecting the camera in some way. At first I thought it might just be the LCD. Nope, the problem is in the viewfinder as well. I pulled tapes out and it didn't seem to exist on the footage. However, I just got home and did a few tests. First of all, I used a sony cleaning cassette to try and clean the heads. Secondly the camera was reading no tape when I put a tape in it. I tried resetting the camera with th resest button. Finally I got the camera to recognize a tape, the blueish light filled the LCD. When I pulled the tape and played it back in my DSR11, the problem is clear as day. Blue light, particularlt in hot spots.

What should I do?? Has anyone ever experienced this? Pleas let me know asap as I shoot tomorrow morning.

Thank you,

Troy


Your camera is in need of repair...I dont think there is anything you can do.

I appreciate your response...

so few days ago i reset my camera...
now none of the counters seem to move and data code doesnt show up..
all i have is 00's and -----
help please
thanx

That should not happen. Try resetting it again.

Interesting... the other day I accidently hit a wrong menu item on my Z1 and got the same sort of effect. I don't ever use those time code options myself (which I believe are the same on the 150) and don't understand them, but I had accidently chosen something like "TC PRESET" - I think. Going back to the menu and clearing the selection made everything OK again.

I had something similar happen a while back. Try pressing the "TC/U-BIT" button inside of the LCD compartment.

Some might remember the audio probs I had earlier in the year with my PD not recognising an input on one of the channels, something I put down to the camera falling out of a bag, then solved with a reset.

I think I've found the problem, and its a bug (I consider it a bug anyway..) in the PD and not related to it hitting the concrete...

1. If you goto playback mode and choose a single channel (ie either ch1 or ch2, not both which is the default)

2. Go into record mode, and monitor your inputs.. regardless of the manual setup on the cameras flick switches, both inputs will react to whichever input you chose for playback...

Might be fixed on the 170, but I've never heard anyone mention this on the 150 before, and I refuse to believe its an undocumented feature, because its already done with the ch1.ch2 switch if needed.....

SAME DARN THING WITH ME! I was about to toss it in the garbage..It's like one the first PD-150's made.. So it had the audio bug anyways..

I got some good news though, I just bought a used PD-150 kit with 4 Century Optics Lenses, hard case, batterie(S), Bayonet Mount, Manfrotto tripod and fluid head.. I got a sweet deal, the lenses alone are more than I paid for everything..It's in good condition considering it's been used all over the world for a small film company..

So now I have 3 PD-150's I shouldn't have jumped the gun when I thought the one was broke.. Oh well..

This may or may not tie into this same problem.. Early PD-150's have several problems one being the famous HISS problem when using manual gain the other is the sound not recording to the proper channels selected or none at all..

Well the simple fix for this is to do a hard reset on the camera and then all channels work as they should. I have one of the first PD-150 and about every 100 hours or so, it happens to me and I just do a hard reset and all is well again.

Hi. I just noticed that one of my trusty PD150's has a single pixel out. A number of my bigger cameras have pixel masking utilities, where the camera automatically tries to fix the missing pixel(s) by blending, etc.

I'm curious if the PD150 has any similar abilities, hidden factory service menu's or other utilities (hidden or not) to minimize or eliminate the anomaly.

Hopefully there's something handy that can be done by the user.

Any advice?

Thanks much,
Shawn

none that I'm aware of or have ever seen in my 150s.
Sorry;-(
Don

I'm currently being offered a PD-150 PAL with usage times of:

Operation
100x10 Hrs

Drum Run
59x10Hrs

Tape Run
31x10Hrs

Threading
141x10hrs

Plus:

1
DSR-PD150P Serial Number – 1038966

1
Standard Lens Hood

1
Standard Lens Cap

1
Small Viewfinder Rubber Cap

1
ECM-NV1 Top Mic

1
Top Mic Foam

1
Large Rubber Eye Piece

1
Sony VCL-HG0758 x0.7 Wide Angle Conversion Lens

1
Front W/a Lens Cap

1
Rear W/a Lens Cap

1
AC-V700 F Series Battery Charger

1
Figure 8 Mains Lead

2
NP-F960 High Capacity Sony Batteries

1
HVL-20DW2 Battery Powered Top Light

1
Instruction Manual (English)

1
1550 Peli Case – Foamed out to fit the camera Perfectly!


How much do you recommend I pay at the most?

Does it come with any sort of guarantee, even for a few weeks? Have you had a close look at it, inspected the screw heads and the front element? I'd say it was in the £1500 ball park, because the accessories are valuable.

Remember you can get a brand-spanking new VX2k1 for less than £1600.

tom.

Hello,

I'm looking for a camera that will cover a width of 45 feet (13m), from a distance of 25 feet (8m) away.

This camera will form part of a multicam shoot, with the other cameras being PD150s.

Previously I've used a PD150 and fitted a 0.3 partial zoom lens, but wasn't very happy with the results.

I done a multicam shoot with an Italian a few years ago and he used a Panny that had an extremely wide lens that came as standard on the camera. Unless I am mistaken, the Panny was in the same price-range as a PD150/PD170, though it might have been marginally cheaper. From what I recall, the Panny was a relatively new camera at the time.

Ideally I'd like a camera to compliment the PD150s that will form part of the multicam shoot.

My final output delivery will be DV, though this doesn't necessarily mean the camera has to be DV or DVCAM. I'd consider an HD camera if it was sufficient to cover 45 feet, from a distance of 25 feet away.

Whilst I appreciate you only get what you pay for, I don't have a mega budget to call upon, so I'd welcome any thoughts regarding the options open to me.

Neil

Neal,

Why not hire a Pro camera with the required WA prime lens? Much better optical quality and if you get a Sony 370/390, it will match fairly well with the 150's. You might have more problems getting a Panasonic to match up all that well.

I have a DSR-300 that I shoot as the prime camera with a PD-150 in a supporting role (for jobs that pay for the big stuff) and it works very well. Although I don't have a very WA prime lens for the 300 but I do have a Century WA adapter for its lens that works very well and has about a 5 inch front element.

Hi Mike

I actually typed a reply to your post a couple of days ago, but can only assume I forgot to submit it - DOH!

I'm beginning to think just hiring a camera might be the way to go.

Which ever route I decide, I'm now of the opinion the camera needs to be a Sony for a better match.

Many thanks and regards
Neil

The people who made the hard case for my pd150 gave me a call and asked if I knew of any other PD150 owners who might be interested in their last two cases. I had my case custom made by these people. Using my measurements, they made a lot of five. They have two left. These are top grade cases made by a firm that builds cases for professional audio and video companies. These won't be suitable for the casual shooter, you wouldn't want to lug this around to the park! They're heavy. For the travelling pro only.

I promised them I would give it a try. They will let these go for $150 each. I paid $250. They are out of Toronto Canada. You can e-mail me if you would like more information or a picture.

Myron Iwankewich
iwankewich2001@rogers.com

Im looking to purchase a PD150 for a friend of mine, and found one for sale locally.

The hour meter reads...

Operation: 1570
Drum: 400
Tape Run: 560
Threading: 3610

are those hours good, fair, or bad?
guy is asking $1500 for it, is this a good price for it?
FYI the camera is 3-4 years old and comes with the standard accessories .

TIA

That's a lot of hours, but less than were on mine when I got it in January. Mine had, to the best of my recollection, 1770 operation, 720 drum, and I forget the other two. I got the camera, wireless remote, three Sony "8-hour" batteries, a Sony twin-lamp light, deluxe charger with digital display, Canon wide-angle adapter, and memory stick reader, all in a custom hard case w/padding inside, for $1950 + shipping. I wasn't happy that the guy shipped the whole rig in just the naked case w/o packaging it at all, but it did arrive here in good condition.

The camera did work well despite a problem with the display, but it malfunctioned badly just under two weeks ago - it looks like a CCD chip went bad. I have sent it to Armato's Video in New York (they received it on Monday according to UPS), and I'm waiting to hear from them.

My advice is to test the camera as thoroughly as you can. If it works well, go ahead and buy it, but be ready to shell out a few hundred more for repairs in the future. The good news - these cameras are actually worth repairing.

I'm trying to figure out how one gets fewer drum hours than tape hours. The heads probably have one-half their life left but the numbers bother me.

Hello.

I've got a couple of PD150's I use for B-roll. The newest of the two recently bombed out, occassionally showing a purple streak/blip/tear, total purple image, and then back to correct colors. It records that way on the tape, and passes that image to a firestore as well (so it's not just the LCD). I would turn it on/off and wouldn't see it do it again.

I turned it on a couple of days later, saw the same anomaly, then it went away. I tested it for an hour or two before a shoot last week and it was fine. Then at the job, it started doing it right away. I was fine, because I had a 2nd cam, and brought other backups.

However, now, it's purple all the time...

Anyone ever seen this happen? I don't expect that it's anything easy (ie: 'factory reset' - if that's even available), and would expect that Sony will have to look at it.

Does anyone have any good leads on where to send it (fair examination price, quick turnaround, etc)? It seems like the last time I called Sony (I had a spec of lint on the inside of the lens), they were charging a flat fee of $575 to fix these (or maybe just look at it). I ended up fixing that one myself.

This looks far more serious - perhaps a CCD going bad...

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
Shawn

Do a search on this forum and you will find that Sony has admitted a CCD problem that they will fix even if your camera is out of warranty.

Otherwise, Armato's in NYC is a much more affordable place if the repairs are minor. If they are major, Sony could be less expensive with their flat-rate repair policy for products under 7 years old that haven't been majorly abused.

Looks like you lost the green chip, just like I lost the blue one (my image was green). Check with Sony to see if your serial # is among those affected. Armato's fixed mine for $295 + shipping; in my case there was nothing wrong with the CCD itself, it was a bad connector and some bad solder joints. Your cost may be less since I had other work done as well. Nice people to deal with and they stand behind their work.

Thanks fellas - I noticed the product notice from Sony shortly after posting this and sent it to them this morning. Hopefully no guff from them on it - I would guess it's out of warrantly (probably late '03/early '04) but has low hours and has lived a cozy life inside a portabrace bag.

I have another one that's even older - maybe 12-18 months... Hopefully that doesn't need attention either(?). It's been my failsafe for now... Got the Z1 warmed up in its place as well.

Well here is the deal, I may be starting a project on local cable airing fire safety topics and have come across a pd150 for sale from someone i know. All the footage that is shown on this channel has to be on sent back out to vhs tape after editing. I dont see them upgrading for some time. So will the 150 serve us well in the startup and what is a fair price for these with low hours.

Thanks
John

Just browsing through the classified section here from the last 6 months, I see:

$1,250
$1,800
$2,000

All of these included a number of accessories, like the WA lens, extra batteries and chargers, etc.

If you're going to VHS tape you'll be fine. In fact, you might even argue that a PD-150 is overkill for that since the resolution of VHS is so low (something like 250 lines IIRC). But of course it's nice to have a camera like the PD-150 which offers good manual controls, pro audio and great low light performance; I'm sure you won't be disappointed. :-)

I'm still using my 7-year old PD-150 every day. Never, ever had a mechanical problem, still going strong and the video it churns out looks great -- especially in low light.

If you don't need HD, widescreen or 24p, there's no better small-format DV camera out there.

Snap it up!

Now another interesting find has come up, a GL2. Hum what to do?

I've owned both. In my opinion, the GL2 doesn't come close to comparing to the PD150. Since you don't need the PD, if it is 30-40% cheaper, go for the GL2, otherwise I would take the better cam.

Thanks to all for the responses.


John

I agree. The GL2 was never meant to be a PD competitor, it's just that Canon roped in sales because the two cameras looked vaguely the same. The PD range was built tough as nails, the GL was for Easter and birthdays.

The longer zoom of the GL looked a plus point, but Sony's much bigger chips (nearly double the surface area) meant far better dof control and much better low light performance.

tom.

I'm looking to buy a used 150 or 170. I've been browsing ebay and want to know what to look for so that I don't end up throwing money away. How many hours are too many? Is there a good reseller there or elsewhere?
Thanks!

I was considering about buying a old pd150p camera for fun to use at home.

The hours on the camera is as such:
Operation: 186 X 10h
Drum Run: 125 X 10h
Tape Run: 46 X 10h
Threading: 336 X 10h

Do you think that the hours are too much?
The offer is about 750 euros. No warranty. Just camera, 1 battery, charger.

Hello all I have bought a Sony pd150 but for some reason The camera is locked in the zoom Position and when I press the zoom out button I can hear the camera trying to zoom out but with no luck the only thing that I have really done to the camera is tried a lens on it but that is all I have tried to press the reset button but with no Luck.I have searched the internet to se if any one has had the same problem and how much it would cost to repair this any help is much appreciated.


Thank you in advance

Hello everyone,

Recently one of my pd150s exhibited the (acknowledged by Sony) "CCD Banding Issue";" the entire image produced was covered in its entirety by a green tint. I shipped the camera to Sony and just got it back. Among the comments found in the report of the repair is this: "Replaced CCD imager and CD board assy." What exactly is the CD board?

Thank you.

assy is usually an abreviation for Assembly.

Gawd knows why!

I only spotted this because I have a dvd player recently returned from repair and it said the fault was the 'drive unit assy' on the tech sheet and the engineer who brought it back to set it all back up again said the drive assembly.

This is the best I can come up with for you.

Russ - Thank you for replying. Yes, 'assy' is indeed short for assembly which I was able to figure out; however, I still don't know what the "CD Board" is. I was hoping that someone from this forum would know.

Hi Stylianos. I can't link to individual pages on this site, but go here:

https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/sony-parts.aspx

In the Parts Finder box enter this: dsrpd150 and click Search. Now pick your specific model from the list and click on it. Then click on the button to search all categories. It looks like this would be the CD-254 BOARD, COMPLETE part. Usually there's a drawing (exploded view) of the part, but that doesn't seem available here unfortunately.

But this might be of interest. Here's a VX-2000 (consumer cousin of the PD-150) being "dissected": http://www.camcorderservice.nl/indexvx2000.htm

Hi people just to let you know I sent my camera away and the store said it would cost 370 pounds to fix i declined this price but when it got returned it was fixed I was so happy just thought i would let you know what happend

Hello people I was wondering if any of you guys could advise me on setting up my Sony pd-150. for youtube I am in need to film better quality footage as my friends camcorder had better results. I would prefer to use wide screen for the shoots and unsure on what format to use dvcam mini dv sp/lp and so on we do use lighting and film out doors and in doors
my camera was second hand so not sure what it should be set to
if any one can advice me on any setting this would be very appreciated

If you haven't set up the camera at all, it might be a good idea to reset it to factory defaults. Look at the control panel in back of the LCD and you will see a small hole with the word Reset molded in the plastic. Use a paper clip to reset the camera and you are now back to square one.

In general, the camera will take great footage. You can deviate with manual settings if the camera doesn't do what you want. Any manipulation to feed the YouTube format requirements will very likely need to be done in a post process.

There is absolutely no difference betweeen DV & DVCAM in terms of image quality so use DV.