Sony DSR-PDX10 Professional 1/4.7″ 16:9 3CCD DVCAM Compact Camcorder with 3.5 inch LCD Monitor
- XLR Adaptor
- Patterns can be easily switched between 70 IRE and 100 IRE via a side panel switch, Zebra
- Lanc Control (L Control)
- VTR Features
Newly Developed Mega Pixel 1/4.7-inch Type 3-CCD Camera System.
DSR-PDX10 incorporates 3, 1/4.7-inch type Advanced HAD? CCD chips, each with a total of 1,070,000 pixels. (690,000 effective pixels for video acquisition in 4:3 mode, and 1,000,000 pixels for still-image capture).
14-bit DXP (Digital Extended Processor)
Use of 14-bit A/D conversion combined with 14-bit digital processing drastically reduces the noise commonly seen across dark areas of a picture. This precision of digital processing also contributes to expanding the dynamic range of the camera so that both dark and light areas of a picture are reproduced with more contrast, thus reducing the wash-out effect.
Advanced HAD CCD Technology
Incorporates the new Advanced HAD CCD technology. This is another key to reproducing high-quality pictures with reduced noise, even in dark shooting environments and with dark subjects.
Optical Super SteadyShot? Function
Employs the Super Steady
List Price: $ 4,999.95
Price: $ 3,999.95
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- sony dsr pdx10
Multi-style Camcorder,
The Sony DSR-PDX10 professional DVCAM camcorder is almost identical to the consumer dsr-trv950. (The dsr-trv950 was just replaced with the horrible dsr-hc1000.) The PDX10 is one of the smallest prosumer cameras and has a ton of features. The PDX10 features manual control of shutter speed, white balance, exposure, focus, and audio levels. The PDX10 comes with a two channel XLR breakout box which allows you to connect almost any pro audio source. It also comes with an XLR shotgun microphone. The breakout box can supply +48v power. You can control audio levels independently. The PDX10 features a huge 3.5 inch touch screen LCD and a black and white viewfinder. This camera can shoot in either Mini DV or Mini DVCAM. Another feature of this camera is the anamorphic 16:9 widescreen mode which does not just add black bars on the top and bottom, it adds width to the picture! This camera is very versitile. Without the XLR adapter, and using the small lens hood, the PDX10 is just a little bit bigger than the average consumer camcorder and is easy to take on vacations and capture breathtaking footage with the PDX10′s 3 1/4″ CCDs. You can also add the large lens hood, XLR breakout box, and XLR microphone and the PDX10 is bigger, but is a fully functional pro camera with room for wide angle lenses, telephoto lenses, ND filters and more! I love my PDX10 and would never replace it. Although it does not have all of the pro features of its extremely popular older brother(the dsr-pd150 and the new dsr-pd170) it is the only camcorder of its size to have all of the features that it does. I would highly recomend this camcorder.
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|Finicky, Durable, Eccentric – Hey, it’s a Sony,
Quite often I notice many reviewers associate the word “professional” with this camcorder, which is frustrating since this camcorder is not “professional”; it is a professional consumer (prosumer) camcorder. I own this camera by the way, but I am neither a consumer (respectively) nor am I a professional; I have been to Radio-Television-Film school, which has allowed me to become a photojournalist, but I would never consider myself a professional – I have chosen to be this way because becoming a truly professional videographer slash cinematographer requires some extensive knowledge and experience – two things which I don’t have, and two things which you probably don’t have either since your on Amazon’s website looking at the Sony DSR-PDX10, and reading a review on the camera from someone who is on the job, but obviously has nothing better to do at the moment.
Nonetheless, I will attempt to divulge your wonders about this camcorder. As of the current, I have owned a PDX10 since the spring of 2004 – which I suppose is something like a year and-a-half to be not exact. And since I am much better at noticing negative things, I will start with those bad things about Sony’s little three-chip camcorder, the biggest problem being the chips themselves. The three charged coupling devices in this camera are all 1/ 4.7 inches in diameter (almost 1/5 inches in diameter) making these chips the smallest ones in the prosumer market. What does this mean exactly? Well it means that the camera is absolutely terrible in low light shooting conditions. It also means that the image is highly susceptible to noise – a thing which wouldn’t seem so bad if it were as aesthetic as film grain, but alas, this is interlaced digital video – the farthest thing from celluloid. Small CCD’s also mean that the range of optimal exposure levels for this camera is about as narrow as the mind of a narrow-minded person; thus, the image will yield the best quality when the lighting is bright and even. Because of this, the PDX10′s image will look its best when the camcorder used for outdoor shooting situations (except at night).
This seems like a terrible camera now doesn’t it? Not very professional at all, you say. Well, before you write this camera off, I must mention that the PDX10′s image at its best is quite incredible for this amount of money. And to mention the unmentioned, this is the only camera in its class that will record in true widescreen (16:9) ratio – the PD170 (Sony’s next-best prosumer DV camcorder [$3,500]) can’t even do this. Most cameras which claim to record in 16:9 either crop the top and bottom of the 4:3 image, or they squeeze the initial recorded image by electronically changing the aspect ratio (but not the physical aspect ratio) of the pixels, which will later be “stretched” out when viewed on a 16:9 television – this process is physically degrading to the recorded image. Personally, I always record in 16:9 because when viewed on a 4:3 (“full screen”) TV via DVD, the over-sampled image looks great, and is also future proof for viewing on 16:9 televisions in “full screen”. In fact, the PDX10 has been a choice camera for underwater photographers who want to have the ability to shoot in 16:9 while keeping a small form factor; because of the ambient lighting found underwater, this camera will yield an exceptional image in such conditions (during the day, of course).
When I purchased the camera, I also purchased both wide angle and telephoto lens adapters that thread on to the front of the camera’s fixed lens quite annoyingly. With the 2x telephoto lens, there is serious chromatic aberration (a condition which is best described in words as blue-ish slash purple-ish hazes of light around subjects displaced in the depth of the image) that worsens the further you “zoom” in. This condition is not so apparent, if at all, wile just using the fixed lens, but then you will be limited to a 12x optical telephoto range. Digital zoom is available, and is broken up into two areas of intensity; the first level is 24x, which isn’t so terribly bad as other digital zooms, mostly because the CCD’s have roughly one million pixels scattered about each of their tiny 1/ 4.7 inch surfaces, and the resolution of NTSC DV only asks for about half of those pixels to show a proper image. The second level of digital zoom is available also, but I wouldn’t advise using it unless you’re spying on somebody whose one eighth of a mile away from you.
A wide angle adapter is nice to have, but I wouldn’t suggest using it if you are planning on zooming in a lot, otherwise you will have to be constantly adjusting your focus. Particularly helpful when using these fixed-lens cameras is an auto focus feature, or more importantly, a push-auto focus feature. For example, you may set the camera to manual focus, and if you don’t feel like messing with the focus ring on the front of the camera, you may push a button on the…
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|Great unless you need to shoot in low light,
I teach videography and have tried many different camcorders before deciding on the PDX10 as the best compromise between price, easy of use, and professional quality.
The best feature of the PDX10 is the dual-XLR audio inputs and good quality microphone normally included with the camera. Cheaper consumer cameras often don’t even let you adjust audio levels, even if you did add an third-party XLR input.
Video quality is both great and poor–that is, great when there’s plenty of light and poor when you’re in low light or even not-so-well-lit ordinary indoor situations. I shot a well-lit scene with the PDX10 and, right next to it, a $20,000 Sony camera with a $5,000 lens, and nobody yet has been able to tell which is which when I show them the footage. (Interestingly, the more expensive professional camera also did poorly in low light conditions.)
I’ve heard some people say they preferred the old Sony PD-100A, which was the PDX10′s predecessor. However, I have both and appreciate the many improvements to the interface and slightly better color quality of the PDX10.
The closest competitor to this is the Panasonic AG-DVC30, which has better low light performance but doesn’t have as good 16:9 support. More importantly to me, the PDX-10 records in DVCAM format (on regular mini-DV tapes) which puts more data on the tape for each minute of recording. I have found to my great dismay that the regular DV format is VERY prone to errors, dropouts, and rapid tape degradation. I can’t tell you how many of my projects have been ruined or nearly ruined by problems with DV! Since I switched to DVCAM-only hardware in my studio, I have NEVER had a visible dropout or data error, even when re-using previously recorded tapes (which saves money, and which only a suicidal videographer would try with regular DV).
Bottom line: Buy the PDX10 unless you need to shoot in low light, in which case you should get a Panasonic AG-DVC30 (and splurg on best-quality tape) or save up the extra money for a Sony PD170, which also has good low-light performance. The PD170 also has more bells and whistles (such as selectable frame rate and more switches so you don’t need to use menus as often), but for my money I’d much rather have two PDX10′s (or a PDX10 and a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills) than one PD170.
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