I find the PD-170 picture a bit soft at DVinfo.net

Rob Easler · April 5th, 2004, 07:12 AM

As a new owner of a 170 I find the picture of the Sony appears a bit soft as compared to my GL2 or DVC80. Of course the low light is much better and it is a cleaner picture but it's not as crisp or sharp. I haven't found any posts mentioning this observation. Does anyone else feel this way, or am I nuts? I have dialed up the sharpness control in the cam a couple notches per Lou Bruno's suggestion.

Mike Rehmus · April 5th, 2004, 12:04 PM

I find it to be good as-is. But I'm not trying to match it to anything other than Sony cameras.

Bill Pryor · April 5th, 2004, 01:53 PM

It should be very definitely sharper than your GL2. When I got a DSR250 (about 3 years or so ago), it was also too soft right out of the box. Go into the menu and you can adjust that. I think I took it over to about 75%. You don't want to go too far, or you'll start getting some edginess.
You might also want to check out the lens and try to determine if maybe there is a back focus problem. If you zoom into something tight and it's sharp, then you zoom back to a wide shot and it's soft, then there is probably a back focus issue and you'll have to send the camera in for service. This was a problem on early VX1000s, and I've seen it on XL1's, but not on a 150. However, it can happen.

Mathew Evan · April 5th, 2004, 02:00 PM

Depends on what you're shooting. For weddings softer is better. Typically sharpening the picture is bad in any case because it adds artificial edges. In fact I have my DVX100 knocked down to -3 in detail. Gives a nice romantic feel.

Rob Easler · April 5th, 2004, 03:17 PM

I don't know Bill. I compared a friends 150 and it too seemed to me to be a softer picture, compared to the other cams, cleaner for sure but softer. I think that may be just the way they are. Got a friend who also just got a 170 so I'll compare them. I don't want to be a freak with the issue micro managing it but I can see a difference. Thanks for your thoughts so far guys. This forum is great. People are generally pretty well mannered.

Tom Hardwick · April 6th, 2004, 08:30 AM

The Sony lens is - like every other lens made - aperture critical. If you want the sharpest pictures possible then don't stop down below f5.6 - use the ND filters to ensure this is so. Better yet shoot at f4. But avoid f11 - diffraction effects (especially at wide-angle) really soften the picture down there.

tom.

Lou Bruno · April 6th, 2004, 02:18 PM

Rob-had a customer with the same problem last week.

Go into Custom Pre-set.

Raise detail 75%-will NOT produce sharp edges like the analog days.

Click color Saturation one click to the left.

Always manually WB the camera.

You will see a difference.

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Easler : As a new owner of a 170 I find the picture of the Sony appears a bit soft as compared to my GL2 or DVC80. Of course the low light is much better and it is a cleaner picture but it's not as crisp or sharp. I haven't found any posts mentioning this observation. Does anyone else feel this way, or am I nuts? I have dialed up the sharpness control in the cam a couple notches per Lou Bruno's suggestion. -->>>

April 5th, 2004, 07:12 AM	#1
Rob Easler Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 219	I find the PD-170 picture a bit soft As a new owner of a 170 I find the picture of the Sony appears a bit soft as compared to my GL2 or DVC80. Of course the low light is much better and it is a cleaner picture but it's not as crisp or sharp. I haven't found any posts mentioning this observation. Does anyone else feel this way, or am I nuts? I have dialed up the sharpness control in the cam a couple notches per Lou Bruno's suggestion.

April 5th, 2004, 12:04 PM	#2
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	I find it to be good as-is. But I'm not trying to match it to anything other than Sony cameras. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

April 6th, 2004, 02:18 PM	#7
Lou Bruno Go Cycle Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Huntington, NY Posts: 815	Re: I find the PD-170 picture a bit soft Rob-had a customer with the same problem last week. Go into Custom Pre-set. Raise detail 75%-will NOT produce sharp edges like the analog days. Click color Saturation one click to the left. Always manually WB the camera. You will see a difference. <<<-- Originally posted by Rob Easler : As a new owner of a 170 I find the picture of the Sony appears a bit soft as compared to my GL2 or DVC80. Of course the low light is much better and it is a cleaner picture but it's not as crisp or sharp. I haven't found any posts mentioning this observation. Does anyone else feel this way, or am I nuts? I have dialed up the sharpness control in the cam a couple notches per Lou Bruno's suggestion. -->>> __________________ Lou Bruno

April 5th, 2004, 01:53 PM	#3
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	It should be very definitely sharper than your GL2. When I got a DSR250 (about 3 years or so ago), it was also too soft right out of the box. Go into the menu and you can adjust that. I think I took it over to about 75%. You don't want to go too far, or you'll start getting some edginess. You might also want to check out the lens and try to determine if maybe there is a back focus problem. If you zoom into something tight and it's sharp, then you zoom back to a wide shot and it's soft, then there is probably a back focus issue and you'll have to send the camera in for service. This was a problem on early VX1000s, and I've seen it on XL1's, but not on a 150. However, it can happen.

April 5th, 2004, 02:00 PM	#4
Mathew Evan Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: United States Posts: 53	Depends on what you're shooting. For weddings softer is better. Typically sharpening the picture is bad in any case because it adds artificial edges. In fact I have my DVX100 knocked down to -3 in detail. Gives a nice romantic feel.

April 5th, 2004, 03:17 PM	#5
Rob Easler Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 219	I don't know Bill. I compared a friends 150 and it too seemed to me to be a softer picture, compared to the other cams, cleaner for sure but softer. I think that may be just the way they are. Got a friend who also just got a 170 so I'll compare them. I don't want to be a freak with the issue micro managing it but I can see a difference. Thanks for your thoughts so far guys. This forum is great. People are generally pretty well mannered.

April 6th, 2004, 08:30 AM	#6
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	The Sony lens is - like every other lens made - aperture critical. If you want the sharpest pictures possible then don't stop down below f5.6 - use the ND filters to ensure this is so. Better yet shoot at f4. But avoid f11 - diffraction effects (especially at wide-angle) really soften the picture down there. tom.