What do you want in the next PDX10?

[Chris Hink]

I love my PDX10. What would you like to see in the next version? Since Panasonic seems to listen to it's customers maybe Sony will too. Here's what I'd love:

1. HDV/DV/DVCAM
2. Hard drive based. Using the 80GB Toshiba drives that will be coming out in the next Ipod's. Have USB and FIREWIRE connections on the camera for direct Transfer to an external hard drive or computer. The drive would be on some sort of platter that could be interchangable.
3. Even smaller/lighter.
4. A more hand friendly design. Like an old Super 8 camera with a handle that could contain the battery (but the handle could fold in). I've never felt quite right holding the PDX10. Just pick up your PDX10 and pretend there's a handle on the bottom, like a gun - wouldn't that feel better to you?
5. True 16x9 chips

I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but I'd buy that.

[Dmitriy Volper]

Smearless, 1 lux, wider lens, body better balanced, MS duo pro 8 G.B instead of the tape. HD is O.K., but there will be no new PDX - 10 anymore, something very good, but different. 16:9 is already so nice, don't even touch! Wants more? Sony is listening!

[Duane Smith]

Hmm....I don't have many complaints with my PDX10, so I don't really have much on my "wish list". My cam stays on a tripod (or other mount) 99% of the time, so any handheld/balance issues are moot for me. And since I pretty much only shoot in outdoor daylight, the low-light issues generally don't affect me. Smear has reared it's ugly head a few times, but only when I do something stupid like shoot directly into the sunlight. And honestly, what I'm shooting ends up in such rapid-fire cuts that I don't have any issue editing out the smears when they do happen.

I guess I'd like to see:

- A more linear response from the manual focus control.
- More control over the zoom speed.
- Ability to manually control the ND filter.
- Actual F/stop reading on the manual exposure setting.

But those are all relatively minor things; I doubt any of those would make me want to replace my cam. In fact, the only thing that would make me want to replace it would be 1080 HDV capability. And I seriously doubt that anyone will be delivering a sub-$2,000 PDX10-sized cam HDV anytime in the near future.

[Sean McHenry]

24p....

And, perhaps loose the dumb bayonet mount lens hoods. Screw on lens hoods would be better as you could stack the filters, ND, Polorizer, UV etc and not have the glass creeping out from the hoods.

If the front lens element is out in front of the protected area of the hood, light can affect the image. You need the lens hood to be attached to the front of the elements. That's one thing I always worry about with adding a tele or wide adapter. Yeah, it may fit under the lens shade but you have lost a good deal of the effectivness of the shade.

I personally bought and use the soft matte box from Cinetactics. It attaches directly to the small sony lens shade without adapters and works much better.

If I actually bought the adapter rings, it too would attach to the front of the forward most lens elements.

Oh, and a larger eyecup would be good too. I bought a large eyecup from I-Cuff.

You can see what I've done to my camera here:
http://home.columbus.rr.com/deepblue...nal/Studio.htm

SMM

[Boyd Ostroff]

Wow, is there really a PDX-10 underneath all that stuff? ;-) Pretty cool Sean!

[Duane Smith]

WOW. That is a stunning setup.

I bet it gets a few stares from some people, though.

[Juan Parra]

Originally Posted by Chris Hink

I love my PDX10. What would you like to see in the next version? Since Panasonic seems to listen to it's customers maybe Sony will too. Here's what I'd love:

1. HDV/DV/DVCAM
2. Hard drive based. Using the 80GB Toshiba drives that will be coming out in the next Ipod's. Have USB and FIREWIRE connections on the camera for direct Transfer to an external hard drive or computer. The drive would be on some sort of platter that could be interchangable.
3. Even smaller/lighter.
4. A more hand friendly design. Like an old Super 8 camera with a handle that could contain the battery (but the handle could fold in). I've never felt quite right holding the PDX10. Just pick up your PDX10 and pretend there's a handle on the bottom, like a gun - wouldn't that feel better to you?
5. True 16x9 chips

I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but I'd buy that.

Actually, there is a *next* PDX10 out there.

The Sony HDR-Z1U

Recording Format: HDV / DV (SP) / DV (LP) HDV / DVCAM / DV (SP)
CCD Block: 3 x 1/3" HD CCD (16:9) Super HAD
Pixel Count: 3 x 1.12 million total (3 x 1.07 million effective)
Widescreen: Native 16:9 in HD and SD
14-bit HD DSP
CineFrame 24 & 30
Lens: 12x Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar, 72mm filter dia.
Focal Length: 4.5mm to 54.0mm w/ built-in wide angle
Equiv. 35mm f.o.v.: 40mm to 480mm in 4:3 / 32.5mm to 390mm in 16:9
Aperture Range: f/1.6 (full wide) or f/2.8 (full tele) to f/11 (24 steps)
Shutter Speeds: 1/4 sec. to 1/10,000 sec. in Program AE Mode
Built-in ND Filter: ND1: 1/6 and ND2: 1/32
Super SteadyShot
SteadyShot Types: Hard, Standard, Soft
Zoom Ring: Manual, non-perpetuating
Smooth Zoom
Viewfinder: 0.44" 16:9 LCD w/ 252 kilopixels
LCD Panel: 3.5" Hybrid 16:9 LCD w/ 250 kilopixels
LCD with EVF
Hours Meter
Zoom Display: Numbers
HDV Rec. Format: 2ch. 16bit 48kHz Mpeg 1 Audio Layer II
DV Rec. Format: 2ch. 16bit 48kHz or 2ch. 12bit 32kHz PCM Stereo
Onboard Mic: Built-in, Stereo
Ext. Audio Input: Stereo 2ch. XLR
Ext. Mic Pwr. Supply: Plug-in Power Phantom Power(about 40v)
Vol. Control Dials: Two (L/R separate)
Audio NR
Audio Limiter
Time Code Reset
Time Code Drop-Frame & Non-Drop Frame
Rec Run / Free Run
Color Correction: Two (2) Target Colors
User Buttons: Six (6)
Assignable Functions: Fourteen (14)
Skin Tone Control
Black Stretch
Manual Iris
Manual Gain
Hyper Gain
Man. White Balance
Man. Shutter Speed
Body Color: Black

[Boyd Ostroff]

Yeah, I agree it is sort of the logical successor and it addresses most of my PDX-10 beefs... I may very well get one.

Unfortunately it doesn't meet some of the items on everyones' wish list, which include a compact form factor and low price. It's much bigger and heavier, and you could buy 3 PDX-10's for the price of one HVR-Z1! But considering what it can do this isn't so bad. And if you can live without a few bells and whistles the HDR-FX1 is a great value.

But this still leaves us wondering whether Sony will introduce a new compact pro camera to continue the sucession of PD-100 > PD-100a > PDX-10 > HDX-10??? :-) My personal guess is that they will, but maybe not right away so as not to cannibalize FX-1 and Z-1 sales...

[Chris Hink]

I looked very closely at buying the Z1 but for my needs it's just too big.

I've always looked at the PDX10 as semi-revolutionary in that it brought super high quality in such a small package, with TRUE 16x9 which was unheard of at that price range. I'd love for Sony to do it again with the PDX... this time with an HDV tapeless camera.

[Juan Parra]

Originally Posted by Chris Hink

I looked very closely at buying the Z1 but for my needs it's just too big.

I've always looked at the PDX10 as semi-revolutionary in that it brought super high quality in such a small package, with TRUE 16x9 which was unheard of at that price range. I'd love for Sony to do it again with the PDX... this time with an HDV tapeless camera.

Chris

I'm curious to know why do you want a smaller size camera?

I like the size of the Z1U over the PDX10 'cause it will give
me more control doing handheld shots, plus it has better
manual buttons of choice.

Btw, there is another feature that was not listed under the Z1U
features. It's much better under low-lighting conditions than
the PDX10, due to its better digital signal processing.

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

But this still leaves us wondering whether Sony will introduce a new compact pro camera to continue the sucession of PD-100 > PD-100a > PDX-10 > HDX-10??? :-) My personal guess is that they will, but maybe not right away so as not to cannibalize FX-1 and Z-1 sales...

Boyd

I agree, I see it happening, much more later than sooner...

[Boyd Ostroff]

Interesting points Juan. But after reading a number of comments about the FX-1/Z-1, it sounded like it was only about 1 stop faster than the PDX-10. But one advantage (if you're shooting SD that is) is that you can shoot at 1/30 (or 1/25 PAL) shutter speed without losing half your vertical resolution as you would on the PDX-10. There are enough pixels on the CCD's so you can still get 480 lines after downsampling. I guess that would give it another f-stop advantage. However the PDX-10 uses 14 bit DXP just like the Z-1, although the smaller CCD's don't help I suppose.

The size wouldn't be a big deal for me either since almost all my shooting is on a tripod. But when it comes to lugging stuff around then smaller is better - all other things being equal of course. But it's funny you mention the handheld aspect. Somewhere around here there's a thread from someone at the BBC (I think) who said they're replacing their PD-150's with Z-1's. He was very happy with the image quality and controls, but specifically complained about handholding the bigger camera which he felt was poorly balanced. Maybe the shoulder support helps?

The dedicated manual controls and calibrated zoom/focus rings would be a welcome change from the PDX-10 certainly!

[Duane Smith]

I spent about 14 hours last weekend hiking outdoors with my PDX10 and a tripod. I completely wore out all 3 of my batteries and filled up over 5 tapes. I figure I spent about 1/2 of my time shooting on a tripod and the other 1/2 shooting handheld. I also spent a little time shooting with the cam attached to a Jeep rollcage with a Superclamp and ball head.

After that experience -- which to be honest is how most of my shooting should go in the future -- I can say without any reservation whatsoever that the FX1/Z1 cams are just too large for my needs (and yes, I've held them and compared). Every extra once of camera weight is that much more I have to drag around all day while hiking.

I'd love an HD cam in the relative size-range of the PDX10...but until I really *need* HD, I can't see migrating to a larger cam.

[Juan Parra]

Originally Posted by Duane Smith

I spent about 14 hours last weekend hiking outdoors with my PDX10 and a tripod. I completely wore out all 3 of my batteries and filled up over 5 tapes. I figure I spent about 1/2 of my time shooting on a tripod and the other 1/2 shooting handheld. I also spent a little time shooting with the cam attached to a Jeep rollcage with a Superclamp and ball head.

After that experience -- which to be honest is how most of my shooting should go in the future -- I can say without any reservation whatsoever that the FX1/Z1 cams are just too large for my needs (and yes, I've held them and compared). Every extra once of camera weight is that much more I have to drag around all day while hiking.

I'd love an HD cam in the relative size-range of the PDX10...but until I really *need* HD, I can't see migrating to a larger cam.

I think you should start considering a shoulder mount support
or a stabilizer with support.

I personally like the stabilizer idea better since it can accomplish more
that just support.

[Duane Smith]

Oh gosh, believe me....better camera support of some sort is the NEXT THING on my "gotta-have-it" list. I'm doing research on support right now, and in fact have a local rental shop working on helping me too; I'm going to try out a few things they have to see what works best, and then I'll buy what fits my needs/style. I've been searching through the "Support Your Local Camera" forum here as well, trying to see what others have had success with.

:-)

[Chris Long]

A cupholder. Beside that, I'm satisfied.