PDX10 -- various questions

Carlos E. Martinez · March 9th, 2005, 01:39 PM

Another decision I had to postpone when I bought my PDX10 was the matte-box.

The Cavision was the best option, probably the best deal too, if you compare it to the Century.

The only problem is that it is a non-returnable item if you buy it from B&H. And one thing I learnt is that you do have to take advantage of their 7-day no questions asked returns. By doing that I could return the Century WA and the first Manfrotto monopod I bought, to get different ones.

Now there's another question, also just asked to Cavision: focus rods. It would be great to add an external focusing wheel, riding the PDX10 focus ring. The focus ring is at it should be, as it doesn't move the front.

BTW, more things to think about on the Manfrotto 682B monopod I got. As you may know it has a very useful set of three-legs on the other end that you can use to place your monopod on the floor.

But one use I intend to give to it is as a poor-man steadicam. The PDX10 is quite light, so the balance is not too good. I was thinking of finding a way to add some weight down there, perhaps screwed in as the original cap holding the 3-legs is.

Has anyone tried anything like this?

Carlos

Ronald Lee · March 11th, 2005, 07:42 PM

Hi, how do we set our camera to not regenerate the time code but to copy the time code on the source video when recording from a DVCAM deck (Dsr 11).

I looked in the menu and all the time code options are greyed out and I can't access them either. In VTR and Rec mode....

Can the PDX10 copy the source video time code?

Any tips how?

Boyd Ostroff · March 11th, 2005, 09:12 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Carlos E. Martinez : It would be great to add an external focusing wheel, riding the PDX10 focus ring. -->>>

Personally I think that would be "good money after bad." As we all know, the focus ring on the PDX-10 leaves a lot to be desired in terms of accuracy and responsiveness. I wouldn't spend much money to connect any sort of follow focus to it.... Or maybe I'm not understanding you?

Carlos E. Martinez · March 12th, 2005, 06:05 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Boyd Ostroff :
Personally I think that would be "good money after bad." As we all know, the focus ring on the PDX-10 leaves a lot to be desired in terms of accuracy and responsiveness. I wouldn't spend much money to connect any sort of follow focus to it.... Or maybe I'm not understanding you? -->>>

Why you wouldn't understand me? Of course you do.

But you are introducing information that we all should know and I don't know if we all will agree on it.

What I found hard to accurately handle on the PDX10 was the zoom button, so I bought a Varizoom to take care of that.

The focus ring, in my opinion, suffers from the same malady focus rings have in all prosumer cameras: it whirls infinitely. But that doesn't mean you can't use it with reasonable precision if you have the right tool to do it.

In any case this might be a pointless discussion, as Cavision does not manufactures a focus setup for this rod size.

Carlos

Boyd Ostroff · March 12th, 2005, 10:22 AM

One of the biggest issues with the focus ring is the huge depth of field on the PDX-10's little chips.... see this thread (see my post about 4 down from the top). The good news is that most of the time focus is not very critical, unless you're zoomed way in on something.

Carlos E. Martinez · March 12th, 2005, 03:21 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Boyd Ostroff : focus is not very critical, unless you're zoomed way in on something. -->>>

That's the one I am worried about, and on such cases I might need a good fine adjustment.

Carlos

Jay Massengill · March 17th, 2005, 05:58 PM

I'm pretty sure the PDX-10 isn't capable of this function. You'd need to record the copy in a deck like the DSR-45 that can duplicate with matching timecode. I don't recall all the decks that have this function, but generally it's only the top couple of models.

James Darren · March 18th, 2005, 06:04 AM

hi all,

I currently own a PDX10P with a custom made water housing which I mostly use for weddings & surfing footage. over the next 12 months I plan to shoot, edit & produce a surfing DVD which will be for sale in the retail surf shops (all going well that is)

my question is do I keep the PDX10P with its water housing for this project (& the occasional wedding too) or do I sell it all & buy a Z1 & get a housing for it too?

Its going to be a standard def PAL widscreen 16:9 DVD release. I plan on doing some slow motion in the production & time lapse recordings also. Would I be much better off shooting with the Z1 in HD mode, doing all the necessary slow motion, colour correcting etc then using good software to down-convert to SD output or will it be almost as good starting off with standard def PAL video from the PDX10P & doing all my colour correcting, slo-mo etc without having to do the down-rez to SD.

FYI so it makes it easier to answer my question:
-being surfing most of it is fast action, some on tripod from the beach, some from the water inside the housing

-i'd probably get the editor from my TV station to do the colour correcting, slow motion post work etc as he's pretty good with that type of work

-being my first commercial production (besides weddings but they're not really commercial!) i'm not sure how well it'll sell

the reason I ask these questions is I plan to do a fair bit of slo-mo, colour correcting, etc to the final production & my production manager at work tells me once Avid release HDV support it'll give you better SD video once HDV is down-rezed.

thanks to all who reply...

Carlos E. Martinez · March 18th, 2005, 06:47 AM

If you have the money go for a Z1, there's no question about it: go buy it right away!

The advantages of a PDX10 (real 16:9, small size, affordable price) are not really up to what a Z1 or FX1 has to offer: 16:9 1/3" CCDs, more control over image, HDV capability if you want it, Zeiss lens, 50i/60i (on Z1)... the list can be long.

In my case I bought a PDX10 (and I am happy with it, as I found it to be superior to a PD150 I am now using too) because my funds were diminished. But my next camera will certainly be an HDV, whether it's Sony or JVC.

Your underwater jobs won't suffer a bit for the extra weight, but the "surface tasks" might be. You will need a better tripod and the accessories will certainly be more expensive. But it's a whole new world.

Carlos

Boyd Ostroff · March 18th, 2005, 08:51 AM

Spend a little while browsing through the FX1 group and see if you can form an opinion about the "problems" with fast motion footage. Some people dislike the results, others say it isn't a problem. I suppose the only real way to tell would be shooting a test of your own.

Only other thought is that an underwater housing for the Z1 will probably be expensive, if it's even available at all yet. But other than this, I pretty much agree with Carlos.

Damien Greaves · March 19th, 2005, 12:43 AM

hi i have a pdx10

i have been doing some shooting and the picture via the lcd looks great but when i view on a cpu or monitor it looks dark

i white balance etc

what i end up doing is enhancing the video via my pc

has any one has this problem?

Boyd Ostroff · March 19th, 2005, 05:53 AM

Generally speaking, any video is going to look too dark on your PC monitor because they are calibrated to a different standard than NTSC monitors. I don't think there's anything wrong with your camera, you just need to be sure that everything is calibrated in the right ballpark. Have a look at this short tutorial:

http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm

Your PC editing software should have the ability to display color bars as shown in that example (sorry, I'm on the Mac). Put them on your screen and use them to calibrate whatever monitor you're using. Now connect your PDX-10 to the computer via firewire (iLink) and send the same color bars to it. Adjust the LCD and viewfinder brightness to bring them into the same range (also consider the ambient light level where you're going to be using the camera and try to match that when you calibrate).

Now the image on the LCD screen should match what you see in a monitor more closely. It takes a little trial and error to learn how to set exposure properly, but eventually you'll get a feel for it. You also need to learn how to use the zebra pattern on the PDX-10 (do a search here for zebra for some pointers). That should really be your guide for setting correct exposure in manual mode on the camera, not the way the image looks on the LCD screen.

All of the above assumes that you're shooting in full manual mode on your camera. If you aren't.... well then you need to learn how to do that also! :-)

Damien Greaves · March 19th, 2005, 07:55 AM

thanks for the help i actually forgot about the pc monitor calibration its just that the footage looked so good in the lcd even in the b/w viewfinder

but i think i found my problem the lcd wasnt st true - meaning the lcd is brighter than my camera is shooting so i went into the touch screen and hooked the camera to an external monitor and lowered the lcd level to that of the external monitor oh i did also match it with the bars etc before

but any more help would be appreciated

Ari Shomair · March 29th, 2005, 07:30 AM

Hey everyone! I just ordered my PDX10 PAL from BHPhoto! Can't wait for it to arrive.

I'm quite happy with my final decision. I'm using it for a documentary shoot this summer and was able to shave off close to 15% off the budget by using the PDX10 rather than the DVX100 (Can reuse accessories such as batteries and chargers from my sony handycam, and the price of the PDX is a good thousand dollars cheaper to begin with, also no need to buy widescreen adapter).

Shooting on PAL should also make it pretty easy to switch over to 24 fps if the oppurtunity arises.

Anyone know of any movies shot with the PDX?

Boyd Ostroff · March 29th, 2005, 08:36 AM

Congratulations on the purchase Ari. Let us know how it works out for you. I don't know of any movies shot with the PDX-10 (which doesn't mean there aren''t any), but this thread might be of interest: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=41011

Also, there are some indications that Sony has stopped production of the QM-91 and 71 batteries, so if you want the real thing it might be a good idea to buy them now...

March 9th, 2005, 01:39 PM	#181
Carlos E. Martinez Trustee Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Posts: 1,138	Matte-box for PDX10 Another decision I had to postpone when I bought my PDX10 was the matte-box. The Cavision was the best option, probably the best deal too, if you compare it to the Century. The only problem is that it is a non-returnable item if you buy it from B&H. And one thing I learnt is that you do have to take advantage of their 7-day no questions asked returns. By doing that I could return the Century WA and the first Manfrotto monopod I bought, to get different ones. Now there's another question, also just asked to Cavision: focus rods. It would be great to add an external focusing wheel, riding the PDX10 focus ring. The focus ring is at it should be, as it doesn't move the front. BTW, more things to think about on the Manfrotto 682B monopod I got. As you may know it has a very useful set of three-legs on the other end that you can use to place your monopod on the floor. But one use I intend to give to it is as a poor-man steadicam. The PDX10 is quite light, so the balance is not too good. I was thinking of finding a way to add some weight down there, perhaps screwed in as the original cap holding the 3-legs is. Has anyone tried anything like this? Carlos

March 11th, 2005, 07:42 PM	#182
Ronald Lee Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 435	PDX10 - record external time code? Hi, how do we set our camera to not regenerate the time code but to copy the time code on the source video when recording from a DVCAM deck (Dsr 11). I looked in the menu and all the time code options are greyed out and I can't access them either. In VTR and Rec mode.... Can the PDX10 copy the source video time code? Any tips how?

March 11th, 2005, 09:12 PM	#183
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Re: Matte-box for PDX10 <<<-- Originally posted by Carlos E. Martinez : It would be great to add an external focusing wheel, riding the PDX10 focus ring. -->>> Personally I think that would be "good money after bad." As we all know, the focus ring on the PDX-10 leaves a lot to be desired in terms of accuracy and responsiveness. I wouldn't spend much money to connect any sort of follow focus to it.... Or maybe I'm not understanding you?

March 12th, 2005, 06:05 AM	#184
Carlos E. Martinez Trustee Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Posts: 1,138	Re: Re: Matte-box for PDX10 <<<-- Originally posted by Boyd Ostroff : Personally I think that would be "good money after bad." As we all know, the focus ring on the PDX-10 leaves a lot to be desired in terms of accuracy and responsiveness. I wouldn't spend much money to connect any sort of follow focus to it.... Or maybe I'm not understanding you? -->>> Why you wouldn't understand me? Of course you do. But you are introducing information that we all should know and I don't know if we all will agree on it. What I found hard to accurately handle on the PDX10 was the zoom button, so I bought a Varizoom to take care of that. The focus ring, in my opinion, suffers from the same malady focus rings have in all prosumer cameras: it whirls infinitely. But that doesn't mean you can't use it with reasonable precision if you have the right tool to do it. In any case this might be a pointless discussion, as Cavision does not manufactures a focus setup for this rod size. Carlos

March 18th, 2005, 06:04 AM	#188
James Darren Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: New York, NY Posts: 235	Keep my PDX10P or Buy New Z1? hi all, I currently own a PDX10P with a custom made water housing which I mostly use for weddings & surfing footage. over the next 12 months I plan to shoot, edit & produce a surfing DVD which will be for sale in the retail surf shops (all going well that is) my question is do I keep the PDX10P with its water housing for this project (& the occasional wedding too) or do I sell it all & buy a Z1 & get a housing for it too? Its going to be a standard def PAL widscreen 16:9 DVD release. I plan on doing some slow motion in the production & time lapse recordings also. Would I be much better off shooting with the Z1 in HD mode, doing all the necessary slow motion, colour correcting etc then using good software to down-convert to SD output or will it be almost as good starting off with standard def PAL video from the PDX10P & doing all my colour correcting, slo-mo etc without having to do the down-rez to SD. FYI so it makes it easier to answer my question: -being surfing most of it is fast action, some on tripod from the beach, some from the water inside the housing -i'd probably get the editor from my TV station to do the colour correcting, slow motion post work etc as he's pretty good with that type of work -being my first commercial production (besides weddings but they're not really commercial!) i'm not sure how well it'll sell the reason I ask these questions is I plan to do a fair bit of slo-mo, colour correcting, etc to the final production & my production manager at work tells me once Avid release HDV support it'll give you better SD video once HDV is down-rezed. thanks to all who reply...

March 12th, 2005, 10:22 AM	#185
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	One of the biggest issues with the focus ring is the huge depth of field on the PDX-10's little chips.... see this thread (see my post about 4 down from the top). The good news is that most of the time focus is not very critical, unless you're zoomed way in on something.

March 12th, 2005, 03:21 PM	#186
Carlos E. Martinez Trustee Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Posts: 1,138	<<<-- Originally posted by Boyd Ostroff : focus is not very critical, unless you're zoomed way in on something. -->>> That's the one I am worried about, and on such cases I might need a good fine adjustment. Carlos

March 17th, 2005, 05:58 PM	#187
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	I'm pretty sure the PDX-10 isn't capable of this function. You'd need to record the copy in a deck like the DSR-45 that can duplicate with matching timecode. I don't recall all the decks that have this function, but generally it's only the top couple of models.

March 18th, 2005, 06:47 AM	#189
Carlos E. Martinez Trustee Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Posts: 1,138	If you have the money go for a Z1, there's no question about it: go buy it right away! The advantages of a PDX10 (real 16:9, small size, affordable price) are not really up to what a Z1 or FX1 has to offer: 16:9 1/3" CCDs, more control over image, HDV capability if you want it, Zeiss lens, 50i/60i (on Z1)... the list can be long. In my case I bought a PDX10 (and I am happy with it, as I found it to be superior to a PD150 I am now using too) because my funds were diminished. But my next camera will certainly be an HDV, whether it's Sony or JVC. Your underwater jobs won't suffer a bit for the extra weight, but the "surface tasks" might be. You will need a better tripod and the accessories will certainly be more expensive. But it's a whole new world. Carlos

March 18th, 2005, 08:51 AM	#190
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Spend a little while browsing through the FX1 group and see if you can form an opinion about the "problems" with fast motion footage. Some people dislike the results, others say it isn't a problem. I suppose the only real way to tell would be shooting a test of your own. Only other thought is that an underwater housing for the Z1 will probably be expensive, if it's even available at all yet. But other than this, I pretty much agree with Carlos.

March 19th, 2005, 12:43 AM	#191
Damien Greaves Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: trinidad Posts: 46	pdx10 shooting problems - help hi i have a pdx10 i have been doing some shooting and the picture via the lcd looks great but when i view on a cpu or monitor it looks dark i white balance etc what i end up doing is enhancing the video via my pc has any one has this problem?

March 19th, 2005, 05:53 AM	#192
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Generally speaking, any video is going to look too dark on your PC monitor because they are calibrated to a different standard than NTSC monitors. I don't think there's anything wrong with your camera, you just need to be sure that everything is calibrated in the right ballpark. Have a look at this short tutorial: http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm Your PC editing software should have the ability to display color bars as shown in that example (sorry, I'm on the Mac). Put them on your screen and use them to calibrate whatever monitor you're using. Now connect your PDX-10 to the computer via firewire (iLink) and send the same color bars to it. Adjust the LCD and viewfinder brightness to bring them into the same range (also consider the ambient light level where you're going to be using the camera and try to match that when you calibrate). Now the image on the LCD screen should match what you see in a monitor more closely. It takes a little trial and error to learn how to set exposure properly, but eventually you'll get a feel for it. You also need to learn how to use the zebra pattern on the PDX-10 (do a search here for zebra for some pointers). That should really be your guide for setting correct exposure in manual mode on the camera, not the way the image looks on the LCD screen. All of the above assumes that you're shooting in full manual mode on your camera. If you aren't.... well then you need to learn how to do that also! :-)

March 19th, 2005, 07:55 AM	#193
Damien Greaves Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: trinidad Posts: 46	thanks for the help i actually forgot about the pc monitor calibration its just that the footage looked so good in the lcd even in the b/w viewfinder but i think i found my problem the lcd wasnt st true - meaning the lcd is brighter than my camera is shooting so i went into the touch screen and hooked the camera to an external monitor and lowered the lcd level to that of the external monitor oh i did also match it with the bars etc before but any more help would be appreciated

March 29th, 2005, 07:30 AM	#194
Ari Shomair Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: LA, California, USA Posts: 224	Just ordered my PDX10 ! Hey everyone! I just ordered my PDX10 PAL from BHPhoto! Can't wait for it to arrive. I'm quite happy with my final decision. I'm using it for a documentary shoot this summer and was able to shave off close to 15% off the budget by using the PDX10 rather than the DVX100 (Can reuse accessories such as batteries and chargers from my sony handycam, and the price of the PDX is a good thousand dollars cheaper to begin with, also no need to buy widescreen adapter). Shooting on PAL should also make it pretty easy to switch over to 24 fps if the oppurtunity arises. Anyone know of any movies shot with the PDX?

March 29th, 2005, 08:36 AM	#195
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Congratulations on the purchase Ari. Let us know how it works out for you. I don't know of any movies shot with the PDX-10 (which doesn't mean there aren''t any), but this thread might be of interest: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=41011 Also, there are some indications that Sony has stopped production of the QM-91 and 71 batteries, so if you want the real thing it might be a good idea to buy them now...