Ux-180 vs dvx200

[Randy Johnson]

I am making a purchase in the next month or two. I am a wedding guy who is making possibly his last camera investment. I currently have Sony NEX EA 50u cameras. I like the look but im tired of changing lenses. Other than the lens are there any BIG diffFilrences between the UX180 and the DVX200? Low light? Does the DV200 have a more filmy look? Any thoughts?

[Steve Game]

Given that the DVX200 has a Micro Four Thirds sensor of all but a few mm^2 twice the area of the 'One Inch' sensor of the UX180, it should have:
better low light performance
and
slightly better depth of focus control (if that is what you mean by "filmy look").

[Randy Johnson]

Well its more than the SDOF my current Sonys have a "softer" look to them and the black levels look rich and the colors pop. Where my AG-HMC 150s where good but pail looking. Even the DV200 demo video on their website looks flat. Might be a setting thing IDK.

[Greg Smith]

The UX180 has a longer-range zoom lens than the DVX200 (20:1 versus 13:1), a smaller sensor (1" versus 4/3"), and is a smaller and lighter camera overall. Generally, those properties would make the UX180 a better choice for handheld, ENG-type shooting and uncontrolled events coverage, especially outdoors, where the long lens might be needed from time to time and the deeper depth of field might mitigate some focusing accuracy issues in a fast-moving environment. But the DVX will be a little better in low light situations or when you're going for a shallow DOF look.

In practice, the differences are fairly small, and I've used the DVX200 for ENG shooting (sometimes with a shoulder rig, sometimes without) with great success. For indoor shooting (as at weddings), I'd choose the DVX for its slightly better low light/low noise performance, especially if you can use a tripod or other stabilizer.

I wouldn't worry too much about the color or tonality of the image as the cameras come out of the box. Both of these cameras have myriad controls and adjustments that can allow them to achieve almost any "look," or match to another camera, that you can imagine. It does take some time, study and a good set of test charts to make major changes -- but you can also do it over time by looking critically at your footage and making minor adjustments each time until you get it "dialed in" as you would like. The factory scene files are a reasonable starting point (and the ones provided give you a variety of different basic looks), but there are also several optional files available on the web that are in many cases more refined. Barry Green's excellent work is the obvious first place to look for these.

And you should also download both of his excellent e-books on the DVX200 and UX180 to have a look at the differences between the cameras and the many settings you can adjust.

- Greg

[Randy Johnson]

Thanks Greg you helped me make my decision!