PDX10 -- various questions

[Steve Tapping]

I have a custom made waterhousing for the PDX10. It was made for water surface work but can go under water to about 4m, Which is more than the one you are intending to buy. Generic waterhousings are known to leak, fog and suffer from internal reflection. I paid around $1700 AUD for mine, which gives me the following functions. Rec, Zoom, Exposure, shutter speed & focus, as well as a port for my wideangle and detatchable handles which include a pistol grip and double side handles.
If you are seriously contemplating doing underwater work you can't go past these companies that specifically deal with making housings.

[James Emory]

I have seen that show a couple of times. The cameras that I occassionally saw were full size Betacam, IMX, or maybe the Panasonic SDX. I haven't seen it lately, but the picture was just too good to be DV when I did see it althought the PDX-10 does have a great image. I wouldn't doubt that they use DV for some b-roll, c or d camera. We're using PD-150s/170s to shoot Room Raiders Atlanta right now.

[Bob McRee]

how close to being the same animal???? anybody know--thanks bob

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Moderator note: I have split this question off into a new thread since it didn't have anything to do with focusing. -Boyd

[Tom Hardwick]

It is the same animal, but one deck will run slower (LP) and the other will run faster (DVCAM). The 950 has a little flash gun but the PDX jettisons this in favour of the XLR adapter shoe. They both have the same lens and chip block assembly, but in an effore to seperate them in the market place Sony has disabled the proper 16:9 facility in the 950. They've rectified this in that the HC1000 (the TRV950s replacement) has the better 16:9.

tom.

[Boyd Ostroff]

There are a few other differences in addition to the ones that Tom mentoned. The TRV-950 has some internet connectivity and I think perhaps Bluetooth (or so I've read). The PDX-10 has a black and white viewfinder that's higher resolution than the TRV-950 and it is supplied with an additional large lens hood which I don't think is standard on the TRV-950. There are some other menu options on the PDX-10 related to timecode, audio and setup level.

Not sure about this, but I think the TRV-950 will automatically power down if you don't do anything for a few minutes whereas the PDX-10 just stops spinning the drum.

[John Hartney]

I may be shooting a private reunion of a band New Years Eve. The party is only for family and friends but will be important (they were once a popular national touring act). As an old associate, I'm offering to shoot it with 2 cameras, one a pdx10 and the other an Ikegami DV7we.

I haven't done any stage work with either of these cameras. Any comments from those who have worked with the pdx 10 in a theater would be appreciated. One camera will be wide, but which one? We'll probably be 16:9.

Any other suggestions?

[Boyd Ostroff]

I use the PDX-10 a lot for performance video. My suggestion would be to use it for the close shots and the 2/3" camera for the wide shots if possible. The PDX-10 does a very nice job on closer shots but leaves a lot to be desired when you go wide for some reason.

See my posts in this thread for a few examples. You might also want to see some tests I did here.

[John Hartney]

Thanks for the rapid reply. I appreciate your input. I agree, the smaller chips in general seem to fall apart on wide shots.

the stage is only 24' x12' set midway on the long side of a room 100' x 80'

So, I'll set the dv7 on a platform wide and do the color/cutaway with the pdx10... yay, my back has been hurtin lately!

[Boyd Ostroff]

Sounds good John, let us know how it works out for you.

[Chris Hour]

I’m Going to Alaska….

Wow, my Girlfriends Mother is taking the Entire family (including my Daughter and I) on an Alaskan cruise! Whoo Hoo… amazing Xmas present

I shoot with a Pd100; I love the thing except for low light. I am anticipating the opposite in Alaska. I want to shoot nature and fly over Glaciers and my big worry is over exposure – too much light & glare off the snow. I won’t have a monitor with me to check my shots and I won’t be able to do this again for awhile.

I have:

Pd100 with the big 0.7 wide angle lens
Image 2000 matte box I can use with the standard 55mm lens (with step ups).
Cinegear French flag (www.Cinegear.us)
Circ polarizer
Porta brace “rain coat” (may need this off shore)
Hoodman view screen cover
Audio is not too much of an issue, (azden sgm-1) I’m shooting this trip for myself and family.


My questions…

Will the built in neutral density filter be enough for the potential snow glare?

Will I need more ND? What is the built in ND rated at ?

Would filters like 80A, 80B or 80C help with the bright white light? (I have them already)

I assume a circ polarizer is fine to use as well as the UV filters. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)

What “gain” range should I setting the dB at?

What should the AE be set to?

Do any of you have the ICUFF-3 eyecup? Is it worth it?

Is there a place where I can get a download of the PD100 manual? Sony make a fine product but the really SUCK for back end support (try and get you Clie handheld repaired-but that’s another story)

I’m not going until next summer so I have time to accumulate anything else I may need for a stress free shoot.

Any hints, ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This really is the best DV forum out there

Cheers

Chris

[Rob Lohman]

Anyone can help Chris out?

[Daniel Iwata]

I've gone to Alaska and taken good footage with a TRV 900 (counter part to your PD 100) and my current camera, the PDX 10. I don't have any suggestions for additional filters, but you might want to carry a white card and light blue card to white balance your camera for those low light scenarios.

You didn't mention a tripod and monopod. I have found these items to be a key for successful shots. Also a good 2x telescopic attachment is a must if you are going to shoot the wildlife in the area.

Finally, make sure you have a good mike to record those ambient sounds! Don't forget to bring extra batteries!!! If you're in an area with salmon bring an underwater bag, like an EWA to shoot the salmon migrating into the rivers!

Good luck. I'm taking my father on trip to Alaska this summer and going to document the father and son experience!

Daniel Iwata

[Rob Simon]

I use a TRV 950, but I went on an Alaskan cruise last July so I thought I'd chime in.

I always use an ND4 filter outdoors with my 950 but found that Alaska was not that much different in terms of brightness. Maybe because I went in July, there was as much green as white. The ice-fields are obviously white, but they are dirty-white from the ground up rocks, and the fissures and crevasses keep it from being a blinding white surface. Also, the odds are it will be cloudy, if not raining, fairly often.

Keep the exposure on manual and adjust it on the fly (literally). You won't have any control of the lighting from the air as you turn this way and that, so you'll need to react quickly. Use the Zebras to help. You should get some excellent footage from the air. I didn't have a polarizer but that would help with glare out the window. Keep the camera rolling. Get some shots of your travelmates in the copter or plane for cutaways. I alternated shooting out the front window and out the side. That allowed me to edit down the trip significantly without obvious jump-cuts.

I think a good mike is also important to pick up the sound of running water under the ice and to hear your guides speak. There are lots of other activities where a good mike makes a difference.

A tripod, though a hassle to carry, is critical for decent footage from the boat. You'll likely want to zoom in on waterfalls, etc, so stability is important if you want your footage to be watchable.

Get some shots in and around the ship. You can piece that together later with some music for your family to watch.

Have a great time!

[Boyd Ostroff]

Well it's yesterday's news, but I just stumbled across this review which I hadn't seen before: http://videosystems.primediabusiness...x_dv/index.htm

I agree with many of his impressions, although his assertion that it doesn't have optical image stabilization contradicts Sony's own specs. I also think that saying 12dB of gain is not noticeable is a little optimistic. And of course we all know about the undocumented internal ND filters and the fact that you really cannot shoot at f28...

[Ignacio Rodriguez]

Actually, that review persuaded me to buy my PDX10!

Of course, after I got mine, I tried to write a better review, of which there is a recently updated version sitting somewhere on a hard disk. You can see a less recent version of my review here at DVinfo, but keep in mind that at that time I had very little experience as a camaraperson, and had not discovered the super-secret ND filters you get for free with your PDX10: http://www.dvinfo.net/sony/reports/pdx10-ir1.php.