i found a classified ad selling a PD150 for $2600 US. according to the seller it has only 2 hours of usage. it was purchased last March. the seller has been very upfront with me and has offered to use a service called escrow.com, so that if i'm unsatisfied i can send the cam back to her. apparently is was purchaed for a project that was never realized.

here's a couple of questions for the sages out there:

1) since it's less than a year old, it should still be under warranty. does anyone know if warranties can be transfered when selling equipment (ie. she buys an extended warranty, i pay for it, i get a safer deal) or can i purchase my own warranty seperately?

2)i've heard conflicting reports about quality of DVCAM vs miniDV. first i heard the only difference was in the robustness of the tape format, then i heard DVCAM records more information on the tape, therefore getting a better picture. can someone clear this up for me, if possible. i ask because i'm also considering the Pana DVX1000 and to a lesser extent the XL1. since these cams only record MiniDV, the 150 seems to have a distinct advantage. this won't make my decision, i'm going to look at each cam in the flesh today, but it would make a difference.

thanks to all who reply

I think the warrenty only applies to the original purchaser.

DVCAM will not give you a better picture. It is more reliable in terms of fewer dropouts than miniDV, but that's not to say there is anything wrong with miniDV. I would not buy a PD150 based mostly on the ability to record DVCAM. It's not a distinct advantage, just an extra feature.

I think it's a great camera but you could buy it NEW for $2999 at B&H now. If the extra $400 is important than I would get it. DVCAM does record more information to the tape but it has less to do with image "quality". It moves the tape faster so you will only get 40 minutes off a 60 minute tape. FWIW I have used the PD-150 for a couple of years and always in DVCAM mode and I can't remember the last time I had audio slip or a drop out, but Dylan is right, the image it records (DVCAM vs. DV) is no different. The difference in image comes from the different cameras themselves.

DVCam and DV record exactly the same data to tape. DVCam simply takes more tape to do it so in linear editing system, it is more robust. It has no advantage in a non-linear editing advantage.