TRV900 -- various questions

Steve Puttock · February 3rd, 2005, 06:59 AM

Being somewhat of an amateur after reading these posts,what would I,or anyone else for that matter,gain from going from the Sony TRV900/950 to the Canon XL2 ?
Would we see an immediate increae in quality/resolution/colour etc.
I have had good results with the TRV900 being a 3 CCD cam and am interested in a more expert view.

Boyd Ostroff · February 3rd, 2005, 07:15 AM

The differences are so profound I don't know where to begin... off the top of my head these are some of the advantages:

1. interchangeable lenses, including fully manual if desired (although $$$)

2. option for BW CRT high resolution viewfinder (also $$$)

3. True progressive scan CCD's with 24p and 30p modes. This permits you to shoot at the full 480 lines of vertical resolution instead of ~360 lines used for interlaced cameras like the 900.

4. 1/3" CCD's vs 1/4" on the 900 or 1/4.7" on the 950. Means better low light response, less vertical smear.

5. Far more options for picture control in terms of parameters which can be tweaked via menus.

6. High resolution 16:9 mode. Big difference from the cropped 16:9 on the 900.

I'm sure there are others, but these cameras are just in completely different leagues. Of course you would expect this from a design that is several years newer and a price that's at least 3x more than a 950 for the base model. There would be disadvantages as well though, it's bigger and heavier for one thing.

Steve Puttock · February 3rd, 2005, 09:53 PM

Boyd,thanks for the informative reply.
Guess I should start saving....

Jeff Toogood · February 7th, 2005, 11:04 AM

Does anybody know if the Lens hood on the TRV900 is available for sale anywhere?

I have a lead on a TRV900 that does not have the lens hood.

Is the lens hood functional at all? Will I miss not having it?

Thanks

Boyd Ostroff · February 7th, 2005, 01:49 PM

Searching for parts/acessories on Sony's consumer site only turned up things like batteries, straps, etc. However if you go to their professional site and search for pd100 then follow the appropriate links you eventually get to 51 pages of parts! I don't know much about the TRV-900 or PD-100, so maybe it's not a valid assumption that the lens hoods are interchangeable? Perhaps someone else can help with that.

Anyway, here's a link to Sony's "PartsPLUS" website. Unfortunately you can't link to individual pages within the site it seems: https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/PartsPlus.aspx

Tom Hardwick · February 9th, 2005, 06:10 AM

Depends where you live Jeff, but Sony parts are readily available in the UK.

The TRV900's hood is a beautifully made and rather expensive piece of kit consisting of 8 parts. It bayonets onto the lens but in so doing means you can't fit filters to the lens - they have to fit inside the hood itself. Of course this is very bad practice as the filters are a good 10 mm from the front element, and any dust etc is much more likely to be (auto) focused on. Not only that, but by fitting filters inside the hood you decrease the efficiency of the hood tremendously - you've effectively moved the front element forward by 10 mm but kept the hood in the same place.

If I were you I'd not bother with the official 900 hood - I'd go out and buy a Hoya collapsible hood in a 52 mm fitting. Much more efficient (especially if you're doing a lot of telephoto work), much cheaper and you can fit filters right up against the zoom lens.

tom.

Jeff Toogood · February 9th, 2005, 07:28 AM

Is this the lens hood you are talking about?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WD1V

Tom Hardwick · February 9th, 2005, 09:12 AM

That certainly looks like the one - matt black rubber with a fine red line round the circumference at the front. The hood can be pulled / pushed into three positions but beware - the 900 (along with very nearly all camcorders) masks the side-screen and the v'finder, so you might not be told of full frame cut-off till you see the full frame image on your pc. Time for a test or two.

But it's a great hood and if you're doing a lot of telephoto work on safari for instance, the hooding can be very efficient indeed - much better than the stock hood which is only efficient at the wide-angle end of the zoom of course.

tom.

Jeff Toogood · February 11th, 2005, 09:25 AM

Did a search and didn't come up with much. What wide anlge converter lens are out there for the TRV900?
It has a 52mm thread size.

John Hartney · February 11th, 2005, 08:49 PM

Check out the canon wd58

Tom Hardwick · February 12th, 2005, 11:03 AM

The 52 mm attachment thread size is very well catered for out there in wide-angle land Jeff. Sony make some, as do Tecpro, Raynox, Kenko, Century, Cavision and others.

What you really need to decide is if you want a full zoom-through and what power you want. The less powerful 0.7x converters seem to suit a lot of folk, but I for one want a good and powerful 0.5x if I've gone to all the hassle of fitting it.

If you do get a w/angle, do get a lens hood for it too. It's even more important to hood the lens because you've added more glass elements in front of your camera's zoom, and more elements = more flare.

tom.

Jeff Toogood · February 14th, 2005, 08:15 AM

I am looking for a full zoom through lens.
I know there is lots of 52mm lens out there. I guess I was asking for some personal experiences with any of them.
I had a Canon WD-58H on my old GL2, and I imagine that would be huge on a TRV900, would it not?

Tom Hardwick · February 14th, 2005, 08:45 AM

No, the Canon lens should be just fine on the Sony. You'll need a step-down ring (58 >52). You still have the lens? Give it a go.

tom.

Steve Puttock · February 15th, 2005, 06:45 AM

I purchased a Wide Angle lens for my TRV900 ,a Vitacom 0.45X Semi Fisheye Pro AF and its OK except for vignetting at maximum wide,so best check it on the cam before purchase

Tom Hardwick · February 15th, 2005, 08:13 AM

Better yet - check it on the computer monitor, The cam's side-screen and v'finder mask off quite an appreciable chunk of the captured image.

topm.

February 3rd, 2005, 06:59 AM	#61
Steve Puttock New Boot Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Pattaya,Thailand Posts: 10	Why go from TRV900 to XL2? Being somewhat of an amateur after reading these posts,what would I,or anyone else for that matter,gain from going from the Sony TRV900/950 to the Canon XL2 ? Would we see an immediate increae in quality/resolution/colour etc. I have had good results with the TRV900 being a 3 CCD cam and am interested in a more expert view.

February 7th, 2005, 11:04 AM	#64
Jeff Toogood Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: St.Thomas, Ontario, CANADA Posts: 428	TRV900 lens hood Does anybody know if the Lens hood on the TRV900 is available for sale anywhere? I have a lead on a TRV900 that does not have the lens hood. Is the lens hood functional at all? Will I miss not having it? Thanks __________________ Toogood Studios

February 9th, 2005, 07:28 AM	#67
Jeff Toogood Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: St.Thomas, Ontario, CANADA Posts: 428	Is this the lens hood you are talking about? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WD1V __________________ Toogood Studios

February 11th, 2005, 09:25 AM	#69
Jeff Toogood Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: St.Thomas, Ontario, CANADA Posts: 428	Wide Angle lens for TRV900? Did a search and didn't come up with much. What wide anlge converter lens are out there for the TRV900? It has a 52mm thread size. __________________ Toogood Studios

February 11th, 2005, 08:49 PM	#70
John Hartney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Elgin, Illinois Posts: 206	Check out the canon wd58 __________________ John Hartney Elgin, Illinois USA 847.742.9321

February 3rd, 2005, 07:15 AM	#62
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	The differences are so profound I don't know where to begin... off the top of my head these are some of the advantages: 1. interchangeable lenses, including fully manual if desired (although $$$) 2. option for BW CRT high resolution viewfinder (also $$$) 3. True progressive scan CCD's with 24p and 30p modes. This permits you to shoot at the full 480 lines of vertical resolution instead of ~360 lines used for interlaced cameras like the 900. 4. 1/3" CCD's vs 1/4" on the 900 or 1/4.7" on the 950. Means better low light response, less vertical smear. 5. Far more options for picture control in terms of parameters which can be tweaked via menus. 6. High resolution 16:9 mode. Big difference from the cropped 16:9 on the 900. I'm sure there are others, but these cameras are just in completely different leagues. Of course you would expect this from a design that is several years newer and a price that's at least 3x more than a 950 for the base model. There would be disadvantages as well though, it's bigger and heavier for one thing.

February 3rd, 2005, 09:53 PM	#63
Steve Puttock New Boot Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Pattaya,Thailand Posts: 10	Boyd,thanks for the informative reply. Guess I should start saving....

February 7th, 2005, 01:49 PM	#65
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Searching for parts/acessories on Sony's consumer site only turned up things like batteries, straps, etc. However if you go to their professional site and search for pd100 then follow the appropriate links you eventually get to 51 pages of parts! I don't know much about the TRV-900 or PD-100, so maybe it's not a valid assumption that the lens hoods are interchangeable? Perhaps someone else can help with that. Anyway, here's a link to Sony's "PartsPLUS" website. Unfortunately you can't link to individual pages within the site it seems: https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/PartsPlus.aspx

February 9th, 2005, 06:10 AM	#66
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	Depends where you live Jeff, but Sony parts are readily available in the UK. The TRV900's hood is a beautifully made and rather expensive piece of kit consisting of 8 parts. It bayonets onto the lens but in so doing means you can't fit filters to the lens - they have to fit inside the hood itself. Of course this is very bad practice as the filters are a good 10 mm from the front element, and any dust etc is much more likely to be (auto) focused on. Not only that, but by fitting filters inside the hood you decrease the efficiency of the hood tremendously - you've effectively moved the front element forward by 10 mm but kept the hood in the same place. If I were you I'd not bother with the official 900 hood - I'd go out and buy a Hoya collapsible hood in a 52 mm fitting. Much more efficient (especially if you're doing a lot of telephoto work), much cheaper and you can fit filters right up against the zoom lens. tom.

February 9th, 2005, 09:12 AM	#68
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	That certainly looks like the one - matt black rubber with a fine red line round the circumference at the front. The hood can be pulled / pushed into three positions but beware - the 900 (along with very nearly all camcorders) masks the side-screen and the v'finder, so you might not be told of full frame cut-off till you see the full frame image on your pc. Time for a test or two. But it's a great hood and if you're doing a lot of telephoto work on safari for instance, the hooding can be very efficient indeed - much better than the stock hood which is only efficient at the wide-angle end of the zoom of course. tom.

February 12th, 2005, 11:03 AM	#71
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	The 52 mm attachment thread size is very well catered for out there in wide-angle land Jeff. Sony make some, as do Tecpro, Raynox, Kenko, Century, Cavision and others. What you really need to decide is if you want a full zoom-through and what power you want. The less powerful 0.7x converters seem to suit a lot of folk, but I for one want a good and powerful 0.5x if I've gone to all the hassle of fitting it. If you do get a w/angle, do get a lens hood for it too. It's even more important to hood the lens because you've added more glass elements in front of your camera's zoom, and more elements = more flare. tom.

February 14th, 2005, 08:15 AM	#72
Jeff Toogood Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: St.Thomas, Ontario, CANADA Posts: 428	I am looking for a full zoom through lens. I know there is lots of 52mm lens out there. I guess I was asking for some personal experiences with any of them. I had a Canon WD-58H on my old GL2, and I imagine that would be huge on a TRV900, would it not? __________________ Toogood Studios

February 14th, 2005, 08:45 AM	#73
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	No, the Canon lens should be just fine on the Sony. You'll need a step-down ring (58 >52). You still have the lens? Give it a go. tom.

February 15th, 2005, 06:45 AM	#74
Steve Puttock New Boot Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Pattaya,Thailand Posts: 10	I purchased a Wide Angle lens for my TRV900 ,a Vitacom 0.45X Semi Fisheye Pro AF and its OK except for vignetting at maximum wide,so best check it on the cam before purchase

February 15th, 2005, 08:13 AM	#75
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	Better yet - check it on the computer monitor, The cam's side-screen and v'finder mask off quite an appreciable chunk of the captured image. topm.