I have a Sony PD-150 in my hot little hands for the next day or so (until handing it off to my other group member. Apparently it’s a much loved videographer’s camera, although for film, maybe a little less ideal.
- Sony Stats
- GL1-XM1: message on optics and video CCDs (last updated here?)
- THE SONY PD150 CAMERA WORKBOOK
- Focus Pocus: Depth of Field Calculators for Photographers
So, from these sources, and doing some rough math and guestimating:
- 3×1/3″ CCDs, 35mm ratio (~6.66:1)
- 6.0-72.0mm; f1.6-f2.4; 58mm filter, this converts to a !40.0-479.6mm 35mm FOV equivalent
- aperatures smaller than f11 or so will have diffraction (not losing much because at 6mm, you’re going to get like 1ft-infinity hyperfocal anyway; those ND filters will really come in handy, best to aim for f5.6 or less (to test)
- at 6mm, DOF is pretty hopeless, you’ll pretty much get 2/3ft to infinity, even completely wide, but at a tele (remember 6mm is already close to the standard 50mm equivalent for FOV) you can get some decent DOF. You’ll just need to shoot your actors from across the room…
Basically speaking, DOF is pathetic on all these video cameras.
More fun:
- Perry’s PD-150 tests
- ANAMORPHIC LENS ADAPTERS for the DV Camcorders
- Shooting Widescreen on DV
And remember, whatever you do, don’t use the camcorder’s “16:9 mode”, however tempting this may seem.
- The Myth of Mini-DV Widescreen
- DV-CINEMASCOPE
- VX2000, PD150 & DSR250 Information Resources
- Feature: AGDVX100 / PD-150 Comparison Shoot – seems like the focusing is sort of unfortunate (or not! this reviewer really liked it); the 24p + CineGamma looks real good, although apparently once struck onto 35mm film w/ proper interpolation, the differences aren’t as pronounced as one might think.
- DVX100 Resource
- Working with the new Panasonic AG-DVX100
Perhaps I’m just dreaming, but to having a much larger imaging site and fully adjustable gamma (and real-time histograms) would be pretty darn useful.