My friend has just bought the Z1 and i have been helping him set up the camera i took along my PDx10, and although the Z1 leaves it way behind in settings plus HD this little camera is a legend i was amazed to see how well this little gem stood up to its big brother in sd mode,

I think the quality of this little cam is awesome, yes it has some flaws but long live the PDX10,

Hear, hear! My sentiments exactly. When I look at the stuff I shot in 16:9 on the PDX-10 I'm rarely disappointed.

Damn straight. ;-)

The widescreen footage straight from the cam looks very, very, very good on a widescreen HDTV set.

There isn't, and still isn't, another camera with such hi-quality widescreen for this price in my opinion.

Panasonic GS 400 , and it is cheaper (but no XLR)

Cheers

Hans

Does anybody know what footage from the PDX10 looks like on a HD screen using the s video connection, I ask because my friend has bought a Philips HD ready tv screen but it only has composite connection inputs, After having the PDX10 for a while now for close work and in 16:9 i can't see much to beat it has HD is around 2years off here in the UK.

Panasonic GS 400 , and it is cheaper (but no XLR)


Oh all right, you got me. :-)

When I picked up the PDX-10 a little bit over a year ago from B&H, what swayed me was what everyone said here--it is part of Sony's professional division, and the $200 rebate at the time didn't hurt. So I decided to get something I can learn on.

I love the manual controls, the two different hoods, and that tough magnesium body. It feels really good to the touch..it seems substantial.[I recently played with the controls on the HC-1 and was kinda disppointed at the feel of the body plus the small lcd screen.]

I can nicely balance the PDX-10 on a Hollywood Lite-VS-1 stabilizer because the tripod hole is in a good spot. And of course it is a top cassette loading camcorder.

Sony should have just introduced an HDV cam inside the PDX-10 body. I know there is the A-1, but it is still a bottom loader.

But once again, the footage from the PDX-10 looks great on a HD set from the S-Video output.

I think in a sence that the PDX is better becuse of the XLR and I was just about to buy one when they stop selling them here in Europe.

Luckily i found out that the GS 400 had the same chip as the PDX (and has manual controls aswell) so when it comes down to the picture they are the same.
I am still amazed every time I look at some of my footage shot in widescreen, it is ssooooo good.


Cheers

Hans

I think its great that this forum is still ticking away although the camera has been out for a few years now,

It seemed to get a right bashing from some reviews but has since proved itself as a very underrated camera and even though its been replaced by HDV camera people are looking back at footage shot on the PDX10 and are realising how bloody good it still is, and I might add has still a lot of life left in it yet.

I was just shooting with my PDX10 yesterday, along with my A1U. Now granted, I was initially disappointed with the A1U, but now that I've got it and am shooting with it, I actually prefer it to the PDX10...but there are certain little things I still prefer about the PDX10 (mainly the rear-mounted manual controls, top loading design, mode selection switch button, zoom, etc).

But for my final end product (widescreen DVD) the PDX10 produces astounding footage, and it works surprisingly well with the A1. I fully expect to continue using my PDX10 until I switch to an HD-DVD/BluRay distribution, which might still be years away.

John C, you say: 'There isn't, and still isn't, another camera with such hi-quality widescreen for this price in my opinion.'

I find this an odd thing to say as you've obviously tried the HC1 and the A1, and although the A1 may be a smidgen dearer, the HC1 is a lot cheaper. I would rate the HC1's widescreen as better than the PDX10's, mainly because the PDX10 16:9 mode isn't full res as Sony often claimed, whereas the HC1's is.
I agree with you though - Sony should've put the A1 innards in a PDX10's shell, that way we'd have a camera that could take bigger batteries (moving v'finder), have a bigger side-screen, more direct-access manual controls, a top loader and a better looker.

I think I may have been one of the reviewers to give the PDX10 a 'right bashing' Ian, but that was only because Sony had dumbed down the PD100 (bigger chips, no CCD smear, berrer low light, proper aperture readouts etc). But as all you guys say, in good light the PDX10 astounds with its image quality.

tom.