servicing a pd150 / focus problem

[Donald Lazar]

hi, i recently bought a pd150p on ebay and have been testing it out. When I am shooting at the Wide end of the zoom range. I find that when I zoom in, then focus through the viewfinder, and then zoom out the shots are slightly out of focus. Looking in the LCD i guess it looks kinda soft when fully zoomed out. Many of the shots are made at a distance of 9-11 feet from the subject. I shoot with manual focus ring, but also try auto focus and also try the infinity setting. shutter speed 1/60, 1/50, 1/100, and various f-stops to see it that helps. I also tried adding sharpness in the custom presets. Can i still get this type of cam serviced by Sony? And any idea if it would be very expensive? Anybody know a reputable place in Europe (I live in Ireland)? Would appreciate some advice, I'm developing quite a crush on this little cam. Thanks a lot

[Shaun Roemich]

Sounds like a PD150 I used to own on this side of the pond. It's a backfocus issue and is likely a result of being dropped or otherwise handled roughly. Doubt there is anything "doable" at a reasonable price, if at all.

What I did to work around my issue was NOT shoot completely wide WHENEVER POSSIBLE. A little lens compression and focus shaped up nicely.

[Donald Lazar]

Shaun thanks a lot for your advise, i appreciate it. What do you mean by in your reply by "A little lens compression and focus shaped up nicely?" - zooming in a bit and focusing i guess ya mean? What a bummer i got a dodgy pd150. I will have to improvise, the seller stated in his listing that he did not except returns on the item - like a lot of the pd150 listings i seen. It had good hours and looked / sounded like it didn't receive much hardship. I can still shoot wide when up close to something i guess thats not related to shooting wide on a subject in the distance right? cheers

[Shaun Roemich]

What I meant by "a little lens compression" was that shooting NOT at widest angle of the lens I was able to get tack sharp focus out of my PD150 but zoomed out full wide was a disaster. I'd say that with my PD150, a 15 - 20% of zoom range away from full wide made all the difference, which of course doesn't help one's cause when shooting in tight spaces.

[Donald Lazar]

Hi Shaun, well i sent it back to the seller for a refund, will try to buy another one, i like the pd150 (edit) by the way as i'm thinking of buying another one on ebay, i've been reading thats its better to buy one thats maybe seen a thousand hours in the lake district rather then 10 hours in Iraq. If ya get me. However the one i bought had low hours and seem well taken care of but was faulty so its hard to tell, i suppose ya have to consider whose selling it and if they've had it from new and what they've used it for and if they provide a return policy etc. I guess the drum hours are important cos thats regarding the cam been in recording mode. What about the threading cos i was looking at a pd150 with these hours below - the treading seems higher then the rest, what ya think? Thanks a lot p.s. can i also get the heads changed if i needed to for a reasonable price now that the pd150 has been discontinued by sony?
Operation 79 x10h Drum Run 40 x10h Tape Run 21 x10h Threading 223 x 10