PDX10 -- various questions

Jeffrey Hogan · July 18th, 2004, 11:58 PM

Has anyone tried 'smooth interval' recording? With a large memorystick can you record many frames before to memory before the camera dumps to tape? Other comments?

Ignacio Rodriguez · July 19th, 2004, 04:56 PM

Hi Jeffrey, sorry which model is it that can do this?

Jeffrey Hogan · July 20th, 2004, 01:42 AM

PC330 and the just announced PC250, not sure about other models

Boyd Ostroff · July 20th, 2004, 05:09 AM

Hi Jeffrey,

Unfortunately I doubt that you will get many responses on this topic here since we're primarily oriented towards the 3-chip Sony camcorders: the TRV-950, PDX-10 and the new HC-1000. I know the TRV and PDX don't have this feature, and from what I've read the HC-1000 does not have it either. You might want to try some of the other sites that discuss the smaller cameras, such as camcorderinfo.com.

Roger Garcia · August 27th, 2004, 07:03 PM

When I take the lens cap off, it just swings around sometimes hitting the camera body, thus spoiling the sound during a take. Even with pulling the lens cap string tight "to fix it" (as suggested in the manual, page 25), the cap still moves around. Unlike some other cameras, the lens cap has no clip that would "fix it" more firmly to the hand strap.

Has anyone found an alternative to this? Are there any other lens caps that can be used?

Boyd Ostroff · August 27th, 2004, 08:43 PM

Sure. Remove it completely. That's what I do on all my cameras.

Roger Garcia · August 27th, 2004, 10:34 PM

I thought about that but is there a way of removing it so that I can re-attach it again (I don't want to cut the string)?

Does anyone know of a lens cap that fits over the lens hood? I used that on movie cameras before.

Boyd Ostroff · August 28th, 2004, 06:47 AM

Huh? You don't need to cut anything. The string has a loop at the end and the carrying strap passes through it. Pop open the velcro under the Sony logo and open the strap. Slide the string off, replace the strap. Am I missing something? Is your camera different than mine? It ain't rocket science! ;-)

I'm not aware of any third party caps, but I wish there was one for the wide lens hood. The only reason I use the short hood at all is to cap the lens. So actually my cap is rarely separated from the hood. I just pop the whole thing off - cap and all - and put it in my camera bag.

Roger Garcia · August 28th, 2004, 11:17 AM

Hey, thanks. That's helpful. Since there's no third party thing available I think I'll just have to go and make my own lens cap.

Roy Lubetkin · August 31st, 2004, 02:23 PM

First the questions.

1. Can any standard mini-jack mic (not an XLR connect) be used (for normal live recording) with the mic input in the front of the camera? The only mention I found in the manual is on page 117 in reference to audio dubbing and the low quality ECM-S80 is called for.

2. What does "plug-in power" mean in reference to this mic input?

3. Does anyone have the specs of the OEM ECM-NV1 mic (freq range, etc)?

4. How much additional drain on the battery results from using the phantom power on both XLR inputs?

Now the comments.

A. I didn't find any mention in the manual, but after playing with the XLR inputs, I discovered that Ch1 is the left channel (Ch2=right). Not sure why this isn't mentioned or labeled on the unit accordingly (did I miss something?).

B. I have found the Rode NT4 one point stereo mic to be a wonderful performer.

Thank you.

Cliff Hepburn · September 16th, 2004, 01:32 PM

I know this has been talked to death, but has anyone actually tried loading the pdx10 firmware into the TRV950.
I read a lot of messages of people talking about it but haven't read anywhere that it actually works.
I'm interested in trying it but I'm not sure I want to be the first.
If the NVRAM does get screwed is the repair covered by Sony Service's flat rate ($269 or somewhere around there)?

Ronald Lee · September 18th, 2004, 01:59 AM

Hi there,

There is one thing about the PDX10 which I am not entirely clear on.

The PDX10 shoots in 30i, right? OR 60i? But it can't switch to the other, whatever it may be, right?

Now, I lent my PDX10 to a friend who tried to magic bullet the footage he shot. He got artifacting. I beleive that one of the requirements of MB is to shoot in 60i, correct?

I'm assuming that if he shot with a shutter speed of 1/30th or 1/60th, it wouldn't matter to much, for MB? It would look the same? Or WOULD it make a difference?

Perhaps I should ask this way out question, which is probably going to confuse me more. If I shoot in 1/60th, that is not going to simulate 60i, or will it?

Thanks for the replies.

Boyd Ostroff · September 18th, 2004, 07:43 AM

The PDX-10 shoots standard, interlaced 30fps video which we usually refer to as 60i. Now you can change the shutter speed to 1/30 sec and that will essentially write the same data to both interlaced fields which reduces your vertical resolution.

I haven't used magic bullet, but have worked with DVFilm Maker a lot and believe it does pretty much the same thing, which is creating a pseudo 30 fps progressive effect. They emphasize that you need to shoot at 1/60 sec shutter speed for this to work properly, and I'm guessing that would be the same for Magic Bullet.

To answer your question, the PDX-10 always outputs at 60i, however the shutter speed setting can affect the results if you're deinterlacing in post. Make sure that you have locked the shutter speed at 1/60 and are shooting in full manual mode. My guess is that your friend didn't do this and he tried to deinterlace footage that was shot at 1/30 sec or some other shutter speed. You should get very good results if you shoot at 1/60 sec.

Cliff Hepburn · September 20th, 2004, 09:12 AM

Well in my google search I couldn't find any solid links, just theory. So I think that it really can't be done.

In addition, the TRV950 has a still camera while the PDX10 does not, hmmm... where would that be in the memory map.

I guess you really need Sony's blessing to make this work or at least someone who know's the equipment from the hardware all the way down to the firmware.

Ronald Lee · September 20th, 2004, 03:34 PM

with the price of these, you're better off upgrading to a real PDx and selling the TRV.....

July 18th, 2004, 11:58 PM	#121
Jeffrey Hogan Tourist Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3	Sony smooth interval Has anyone tried 'smooth interval' recording? With a large memorystick can you record many frames before to memory before the camera dumps to tape? Other comments?

July 19th, 2004, 04:56 PM	#122
Ignacio Rodriguez Contributor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 932	Hi Jeffrey, sorry which model is it that can do this? __________________ Ignacio Rodríguez in the third world. @micronauta on Twitter. Main hardware: brain, eyes, hands.

July 20th, 2004, 01:42 AM	#123
Jeffrey Hogan Tourist Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3	PC330 and the just announced PC250 PC330 and the just announced PC250, not sure about other models

August 27th, 2004, 07:03 PM	#125
Roger Garcia Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 40	PDX 10 P Lens Cap When I take the lens cap off, it just swings around sometimes hitting the camera body, thus spoiling the sound during a take. Even with pulling the lens cap string tight "to fix it" (as suggested in the manual, page 25), the cap still moves around. Unlike some other cameras, the lens cap has no clip that would "fix it" more firmly to the hand strap. Has anyone found an alternative to this? Are there any other lens caps that can be used?

August 31st, 2004, 02:23 PM	#130
Roy Lubetkin New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9	PDX10 Mic questions & comments . . . First the questions. 1. Can any standard mini-jack mic (not an XLR connect) be used (for normal live recording) with the mic input in the front of the camera? The only mention I found in the manual is on page 117 in reference to audio dubbing and the low quality ECM-S80 is called for. 2. What does "plug-in power" mean in reference to this mic input? 3. Does anyone have the specs of the OEM ECM-NV1 mic (freq range, etc)? 4. How much additional drain on the battery results from using the phantom power on both XLR inputs? Now the comments. A. I didn't find any mention in the manual, but after playing with the XLR inputs, I discovered that Ch1 is the left channel (Ch2=right). Not sure why this isn't mentioned or labeled on the unit accordingly (did I miss something?). B. I have found the Rode NT4 one point stereo mic to be a wonderful performer. Thank you.

July 20th, 2004, 05:09 AM	#124
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Hi Jeffrey, Unfortunately I doubt that you will get many responses on this topic here since we're primarily oriented towards the 3-chip Sony camcorders: the TRV-950, PDX-10 and the new HC-1000. I know the TRV and PDX don't have this feature, and from what I've read the HC-1000 does not have it either. You might want to try some of the other sites that discuss the smaller cameras, such as camcorderinfo.com.

August 27th, 2004, 08:43 PM	#126
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Sure. Remove it completely. That's what I do on all my cameras.

August 27th, 2004, 10:34 PM	#127
Roger Garcia Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 40	I thought about that but is there a way of removing it so that I can re-attach it again (I don't want to cut the string)? Does anyone know of a lens cap that fits over the lens hood? I used that on movie cameras before.

August 28th, 2004, 06:47 AM	#128
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Huh? You don't need to cut anything. The string has a loop at the end and the carrying strap passes through it. Pop open the velcro under the Sony logo and open the strap. Slide the string off, replace the strap. Am I missing something? Is your camera different than mine? It ain't rocket science! ;-) I'm not aware of any third party caps, but I wish there was one for the wide lens hood. The only reason I use the short hood at all is to cap the lens. So actually my cap is rarely separated from the hood. I just pop the whole thing off - cap and all - and put it in my camera bag.

August 28th, 2004, 11:17 AM	#129
Roger Garcia Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 40	Hey, thanks. That's helpful. Since there's no third party thing available I think I'll just have to go and make my own lens cap.

September 16th, 2004, 01:32 PM	#131
Cliff Hepburn Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Boston Posts: 75	pdx10 firmware used in TRV950??? I know this has been talked to death, but has anyone actually tried loading the pdx10 firmware into the TRV950. I read a lot of messages of people talking about it but haven't read anywhere that it actually works. I'm interested in trying it but I'm not sure I want to be the first. If the NVRAM does get screwed is the repair covered by Sony Service's flat rate ($269 or somewhere around there)?

September 18th, 2004, 01:59 AM	#132
Ronald Lee Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 435	PDX10, 30i, 60i, shutter speed and magic bullet Q's. Hi there, There is one thing about the PDX10 which I am not entirely clear on. The PDX10 shoots in 30i, right? OR 60i? But it can't switch to the other, whatever it may be, right? Now, I lent my PDX10 to a friend who tried to magic bullet the footage he shot. He got artifacting. I beleive that one of the requirements of MB is to shoot in 60i, correct? I'm assuming that if he shot with a shutter speed of 1/30th or 1/60th, it wouldn't matter to much, for MB? It would look the same? Or WOULD it make a difference? Perhaps I should ask this way out question, which is probably going to confuse me more. If I shoot in 1/60th, that is not going to simulate 60i, or will it? Thanks for the replies.

September 18th, 2004, 07:43 AM	#133
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	The PDX-10 shoots standard, interlaced 30fps video which we usually refer to as 60i. Now you can change the shutter speed to 1/30 sec and that will essentially write the same data to both interlaced fields which reduces your vertical resolution. I haven't used magic bullet, but have worked with DVFilm Maker a lot and believe it does pretty much the same thing, which is creating a pseudo 30 fps progressive effect. They emphasize that you need to shoot at 1/60 sec shutter speed for this to work properly, and I'm guessing that would be the same for Magic Bullet. To answer your question, the PDX-10 always outputs at 60i, however the shutter speed setting can affect the results if you're deinterlacing in post. Make sure that you have locked the shutter speed at 1/60 and are shooting in full manual mode. My guess is that your friend didn't do this and he tried to deinterlace footage that was shot at 1/30 sec or some other shutter speed. You should get very good results if you shoot at 1/60 sec.

September 20th, 2004, 09:12 AM	#134
Cliff Hepburn Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Boston Posts: 75	Well in my google search I couldn't find any solid links, just theory. So I think that it really can't be done. In addition, the TRV950 has a still camera while the PDX10 does not, hmmm... where would that be in the memory map. I guess you really need Sony's blessing to make this work or at least someone who know's the equipment from the hardware all the way down to the firmware.

September 20th, 2004, 03:34 PM	#135
Ronald Lee Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 435	with the price of these, you're better off upgrading to a real PDx and selling the TRV.....