Finally got one

[Kurt Franz]

hello
I am very excited. I finally got a PDX10. I have wanted one of these since they first came out about 15 years or so ago. It wil be good to finally shoot native 16:9 after all these years.

I don't care what anyone says. SD is not dead. There are great cameras to be had on the cheap these days. Craft and technique combined with Early 2000 technology is the way to go 😉

Best
Kurt

[Boyd Ostroff]

Congratulations, the PDX-10 is a real classic and mine served me well. Back in 2003 I shot video that we projected on a 45 foot wide screen for the opera Il Trovatore and the Philadelphia Inquirer said "The idea is a smart one, but only because the polish of the video work is so high". Il Trovatore: Video shoot at Island Beach State Park, 9/9/2003 – boydostroff.com

It does have its limitations however, one of which is controls that are rather awkward to operate. Have recently worked with a lot of 4:3 legacy video that I shot on a VX-2000, and have to say that it had a nicer image than the PDX-10 (athough only in 4:3 mode, it was terrible for 16:9). I think one issue is that SD just looks sharper when you squeeze it down to 640x480 as opposed to stretching it to 853x480.

I gave my PDX-10 to a friend in Europe about 10 years ago and she still has it but doesn't use it. One of these days I should bring it back home. It's a fun little camera - glad you finally scored one!

[Kurt Franz]

Yes - I also have a PD150 that I really like but I have been wanting to see what a real 16:9 camera would do. I plan on using it for documenting my backpacking trips. In the past I have used my iPhone but although it does take some nice video I find it too awkward and limiting for any serious work.

That being said, all of my cohorts think I am completely insane and am a fool for sticking to my old school equipment.:) I know I could get a modern camera for a few hundred bucks that would blow away anything I currently own, but what fun is that? Someone has to be thew keeper of the flame......

Oh, and your video shoot looked quite good. Good technique wins out every time.

Cheers!

[Jay Massengill]

I also still have my PDx-10, somewhere...

I think it ended up at the warehouse in a box with all its accessories. Kind of like the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark!

I haven't used it since late 2008 when I got my first HD camera that recorded to SD cards (Canon HF11).

So I essentially carried on the tradition of using a very small but great performing camera for work that a larger and more expensive camera would normally fill.

I never used the 16x9 mode of the PDx-10 because until the exact same time I got the HD camera, I had no widescreen monitors or native widescreen projectors to show it on.

[Mark Grant]

My TRV900 (bought 1998 or 99) still works, though the internal mikes died years ago and the heads are somewhat worn so I get too many dropouts using it to play tapes. Right now it's acting as a monitor for my DSR-11 when I have to change anything in the menu.

One of the best camcorders ever made. It's lasted many years longer than my Z1 did (blew its brains out one day when I removed the battery too soon after turning it off).

[John Wiley]

Up until a few years ago, the old Sony VX1000 was still a popular choice for skate videos. It was legendary when it first came out, because of the small form factor and the top-handle which allowed a filmer to hold the camera low & steady when tracking alongside a skater. It's look became synonymous with skate videos to the point where many people preferred the original over the updated VX2000 & the VX2100 almost a decade later. When 16:9 & HD came along, the VX1000 still stayed in heavy use because a) most skate movies were underground DVD (or previously, VHS) releases so HD wasn't necessary, and b) because the 4:3 ratio better suited the fisheye lenses and style of shooting at the time. It wasn't until RED cam along & Brain Farm and Red Bull and a few other companies used them to totally revolutionise action sports films in the last few years that a lot of skate shooters finally retired their VX1000's.

It all just goes to show that sometimes, older cameras do have their place.