Hi Everyone!
This is the first time I am posting something to this forum. I am trying to get a grip on dv technology to make up my mind whether to buy a Panasonic AG-DVX 100 A or the Sony DSR PD170. I am aware that this discussion has been in this forum before, yet after all the reviews, forum discussions, I read there are still some questions,where it would be great to get some answers to. There are actually quite a few...
I am an independent documentary but also short film filmmaker, very much interested and fascinated by technology, into cinematography (which I think points me again to the DVX 100 A with all its image options, 24p...from all that I feel more convinced about the DVX 100 A). I am based in the UK, so will be using PAL, edit on Final Cut 3.
It might well be that some of my questions are not making 100% sense in terms of understanding the subject, as I said I built up my knowledge and understanding of the cameras only by reading in the net. Also they might have been asked before, I tried to browse the archive to exclude this, but sometimes I couldn't find quite the right answers...
I hope it's ok to quote some experts statements from their websites as I quoted some people to give some more in depth background to my questions contexts.
Any advice, feedback, or answers are very much appreciated!
Many Thanks!
Raoul
1) How does the inbuilt stereo mic of the DVX 100 A compete against the shotgun mic of the PD170? What is the quality of the inbuilt mic of the DVX 100 A, to what extend is it necessary to buy an additional shotgun mic, would this then be the AG-MC100G, is this the equivalent to the PD170's shotgun mic? Adam Wilt says in a review of the DVX 100 on http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/index.html:
'The auto focus motor makes a lot of noise as it locks in on a focus point. You'll hear it through the built-in mics, and you'll hear it by ear in a quiet room. It's noticeable because it's intermittent and because most other cameras are quieter in this regard, but usually the auto focus motor isn't much louder than the zoom motor or the tape transport. '
In a later review on dv.com of the dvx 100 A he adds:
'The camera is slightly quieter in operation than the DVX100. Both the zoom and focus servos have been muted somewhat, though neither is silent.'
2) What is the general meaning/advantage of mechanical control of the lens, without engaging the motor? In a PD170 review, Tony Fonseca mentions this as a special feature that the PD170 does not have.
3) Also the PD170 has a 12xoptical zoom and the DVX 100 A a 10xzoom, another review says that the "tempo/speed" of the zoom of the PD170 is 7, and the DVX 100 A only 5, is it right that this statement refers to the 12x, respectively the 10x?
4) Both cameras aren't native 16:9, and have 4:3 ccd chips; does the added squeeze mode of the DVX 100 A embody a real advantage to the PD170's options?
Has the PD170 like the pd150 a built in 16:9 and what does this mean, compared to the DVX 100 A's 16:9 possibilities?
5) Is it true that the PD170 does not feature a time interval recording function?
6) The DVX 100 A's standard lens goes down to 32.5 mm in the 35mm equivalent, I couldn't find mm details about the wideconversion lenses anywhere, does anyone know what it covers in 35mm equivalent mm? The PD170 standard lens is f 6.0 to 72.0mm, in 35mm 43.2 - 518.4mm, the wideconversion lense details I found say it 'Features an ultra high quality 58mm thread and a 0.7X wide angle converter' Does this mean 0.7 x 43.2 = 30.24mm as the widest 35mm equivalent? If that's the case, does the DVX's wide conversion lens go lower/wider?
7) Does the DVX100A have a LANC port? And what is LANC port?
8)
Mark Foley comments on: http://web.archive.org/web/20021101152118/www.uemedia.com/CPC/article_2468.shtml
about the unpractical location of the XLR connectors, that they stick out and that the cables get in the way, he states a 'fiddely' way to work around it, how do other people feel, or think about/experience the XLR set up? Did this change on the 2nd generation, the DVX 100 A?
9) The PD170 has a hybrid LCD, is the LCD of the DVX 100 A hybrid, too? And how big/effective is the difference of the PD170's high-resolution monochrome viewfinder? Does the EVF DTL option of the DVX 100 A represent an equally good/useful alternative and I found in the Specifications details of both cameras that they both have 180.00 dots (are dots and pixels the same?, Pana says pixels and sony says dots), so is the difference the amount of lines?
This is the first time I am posting something to this forum. I am trying to get a grip on dv technology to make up my mind whether to buy a Panasonic AG-DVX 100 A or the Sony DSR PD170. I am aware that this discussion has been in this forum before, yet after all the reviews, forum discussions, I read there are still some questions,where it would be great to get some answers to. There are actually quite a few...
I am an independent documentary but also short film filmmaker, very much interested and fascinated by technology, into cinematography (which I think points me again to the DVX 100 A with all its image options, 24p...from all that I feel more convinced about the DVX 100 A). I am based in the UK, so will be using PAL, edit on Final Cut 3.
It might well be that some of my questions are not making 100% sense in terms of understanding the subject, as I said I built up my knowledge and understanding of the cameras only by reading in the net. Also they might have been asked before, I tried to browse the archive to exclude this, but sometimes I couldn't find quite the right answers...
I hope it's ok to quote some experts statements from their websites as I quoted some people to give some more in depth background to my questions contexts.
Any advice, feedback, or answers are very much appreciated!
Many Thanks!
Raoul
1) How does the inbuilt stereo mic of the DVX 100 A compete against the shotgun mic of the PD170? What is the quality of the inbuilt mic of the DVX 100 A, to what extend is it necessary to buy an additional shotgun mic, would this then be the AG-MC100G, is this the equivalent to the PD170's shotgun mic? Adam Wilt says in a review of the DVX 100 on http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/index.html:
'The auto focus motor makes a lot of noise as it locks in on a focus point. You'll hear it through the built-in mics, and you'll hear it by ear in a quiet room. It's noticeable because it's intermittent and because most other cameras are quieter in this regard, but usually the auto focus motor isn't much louder than the zoom motor or the tape transport. '
In a later review on dv.com of the dvx 100 A he adds:
'The camera is slightly quieter in operation than the DVX100. Both the zoom and focus servos have been muted somewhat, though neither is silent.'
2) What is the general meaning/advantage of mechanical control of the lens, without engaging the motor? In a PD170 review, Tony Fonseca mentions this as a special feature that the PD170 does not have.
3) Also the PD170 has a 12xoptical zoom and the DVX 100 A a 10xzoom, another review says that the "tempo/speed" of the zoom of the PD170 is 7, and the DVX 100 A only 5, is it right that this statement refers to the 12x, respectively the 10x?
4) Both cameras aren't native 16:9, and have 4:3 ccd chips; does the added squeeze mode of the DVX 100 A embody a real advantage to the PD170's options?
Has the PD170 like the pd150 a built in 16:9 and what does this mean, compared to the DVX 100 A's 16:9 possibilities?
5) Is it true that the PD170 does not feature a time interval recording function?
6) The DVX 100 A's standard lens goes down to 32.5 mm in the 35mm equivalent, I couldn't find mm details about the wideconversion lenses anywhere, does anyone know what it covers in 35mm equivalent mm? The PD170 standard lens is f 6.0 to 72.0mm, in 35mm 43.2 - 518.4mm, the wideconversion lense details I found say it 'Features an ultra high quality 58mm thread and a 0.7X wide angle converter' Does this mean 0.7 x 43.2 = 30.24mm as the widest 35mm equivalent? If that's the case, does the DVX's wide conversion lens go lower/wider?
7) Does the DVX100A have a LANC port? And what is LANC port?
8)
Mark Foley comments on: http://web.archive.org/web/20021101152118/www.uemedia.com/CPC/article_2468.shtml
about the unpractical location of the XLR connectors, that they stick out and that the cables get in the way, he states a 'fiddely' way to work around it, how do other people feel, or think about/experience the XLR set up? Did this change on the 2nd generation, the DVX 100 A?
9) The PD170 has a hybrid LCD, is the LCD of the DVX 100 A hybrid, too? And how big/effective is the difference of the PD170's high-resolution monochrome viewfinder? Does the EVF DTL option of the DVX 100 A represent an equally good/useful alternative and I found in the Specifications details of both cameras that they both have 180.00 dots (are dots and pixels the same?, Pana says pixels and sony says dots), so is the difference the amount of lines?
I suggest you hang around and start reading the posts. More or less, everything you have asked has already been addressed umpteen times.
