I have a PD150 that does not have a mark on it.

Operation 1X10
Drum Run 1X10
Tape Run 0X10
Threading 4X10

I might be interested in selling it for a fair offer.

JVC GY-DV 5000 - toss my PD100A and get a 170 to match up?
 

I have the JVC 5000 and a great Fuji lens, that I am trying to it match up with my Sony PD100A with all the bells and whistles. Would the 170 be a better option then?

Well when I used the 5000 and 150 it was a difficult match. A lot of playing with both in the menu settings to get anywhere close. IIRC isn't the PD100 1/4" chips? The fact that the PD100 is an older camera with small chips and the 5000 is 1/2" chips with a good lens (which Fuji do you have) can be problematic. I honestly don't remember the settings I had on either one anymore (I sold the 5000 a couple of years ago and changed the 150 to match the 250 and have since sold that as well) but matching a 1/2" chip camera with a real lens and a 1/4" chip both made by different mfgs can be done (at least to get close) but I think you might almost be better off just getting something newer by JVC to match up with the 5000 if that's going to be your primary camera.

Don

IIRC, the 5000 (which I bought for the local college television studio) has 14 bit image processing and is very close to the image richness of my DSR-300. The 150, which is very good, cannot match 1/2" CCDs for picture quality until you get way down in the mud at which time it is about 1/2-1 stop better than the DSR-300 which is no slouch.

Its like looking at a photograph of a scene from a 35mm camera and trying to match a picture of the same scene from a 6x6 cm camera. You can only do it by degrading the 6x6 image.

PD150 vs. the PD100A as a companion to a JVC-5000U
 

Thanks Mike and Don-

I wanted something small like the the PD100A for a behind the scenes POV camera, and the JVC 5000 for the talking heads in a "mocumentary" sort of along the lines of the "Blair Witch" series / three actors - two cameras - two POVs -

So then I take it that I would be better off selling the PD100A and moving on to a PD170? I have an HVX200 - but I wanted something that if it got smashed I would not scream over. (Thats not the HVX!) Low lux would be a plus for the handheld night shots. Any ideas?

By the way the JVC is armed with a Fujinon TV Zoom Lens - f 1.4 / 6.4-128mm

It kind of depends. In bright lights, most DV cameras will perform adequately.

I regularly mix my DSR-300, PD-150 and PC-110 (small handheld Sony) for weddings. The 300 off to the side and on the B&G, the 150 at the back for processions and the 110 hidden up front and looking at the B&G over the Officiant's shoulder. I flip the screen of the 110 forward and tell the bride to center she and the groom if they want some unique shots. Never fails. I have a Century WA for the 110 that frequently gets used. (much better than the Century WA for the 150!)

However, when the only lights in the reception are a center candle at each table, only the 150 will do and the other 2 stay in their cases. They cannot match the 150. However, in stage plays, the DSR-300 images look much richer than the 150. I have to turn the chroma down a bit to make the 2 cameras match.

I've shot a wedding with a PD-100A as the second camera and I wasn't impressed with its performance in anything but bright light.

So yes, I think a 150/170 would be closer to the 5000. And I think you will quickly leave the 5000 in the case when the lights go down.

Thanks Mike.

I will promtly sell my PD100 this week and start looking for a PD150. The JVC 5000 will be the A camera and the PD150 the B.

I plan on shooting it with 4x3 and then editing it for widescreen in post to get the max resolution. I really appreciate your response and any suggestions you (or anyone else) might have on this "mocumentary" project of mine.

R. L. Appling
Fade To Black FIlms

It won't look any different than if you shoot in fake widescreen mode on the PD. It's going to throw away 120 lines no matter what you do.

360 lines is 360 lines and you can't do anything about that with a 4:3 chip, unless you're talking about using a true anamorphic adapter on your lens.

The only time this looks OK is if you display it letterboxed on a 4:3 screen. On a widescreen TV it will look terrible no matter what you do.

http://www.adamwilt.com/DV-FAQ-etc.html#widescreen

Please read this carefully and shoot some test footage first to see if you like how it looks.

PD150/170 for Sale?
 

Hi there,

I'm in the market for a good used PD150/170 [PAL]. Does anyone have one that they're willing to sell?

Cheers,
Steve