Sony PDX-10 .... is it worth it?

Ray Gonzales · December 3, 2007

Hi everyone... to make a short story long, I saw a guy using the pdx-10 this past weekend and I fell in love with the small bady and standard shotgun mic. I did some searching around and it appears that the going rate for the whole package on ebay is around $1450. I have not been able to find any information on prior retail for this camera as it is apperantly not being made any more.

Does anyone have a link they could share... or perhaps a really good idea what the retail price for this camera was before it went out of production??

Thanks!!!

James Baker · December 3, 2007

Hi everyone... to make a short story long, I saw a guy using the pdx-10 this past weekend and I fell in love with the small bady and standard shotgun mic. I did some searching around and it appears that the going rate for the whole package on ebay is around $1450. I have not been able to find any information on prior retail for this camera as it is apperantly not being made any more.

Does anyone have a link they could share... or perhaps a really good idea what the retail price for this camera was before it went out of production??

Thanks!!!

I think the street price when it was still available new was around 2100.00 USD. It was a better choice (IMHO) than the TRV-900 and 950 models. Both have a nice small form factor. The PDX-10 does give you true 16:9 and XLR. The PD-150 was much better in low light but cropped for 16:9. The PDX-10 isn't that great in low light. If 16:9 is important, then the PDX-10 is the choice (or the more recently discontinued 3CCD Panasonics.)

But for $1450 I think you might have some better options with newer or current models. Are you dead set on "old school" mini-DV? The Canon HV20 might be a good choice for you and it records not only SD but also HDV. A Beach-Tek will give you XLR. And it's less than 900.00 USD right now.

Ray Gonzales · December 3, 2007

You know James, Im at that point where I dont know which way is up. Im in that hazy period of time where I have been researching the various products, highs and lows, lefts and rights, bonuses and downfalls.... all my brains am hurting. LOL

16x9 is not that big of a deal to me... its very cool.. but something that I will probable not utilize to its full potential within the next year or so. I dont think that I am set on old school, but I am comfortable with the DV experience and to be quite honest, the only medium with which i have really worked with (CSU Fullerton.... i finally finish my BA this month).

I am really interested in the compact design with the added bonus of the mic. I have been trying to find a desent camera with an audio connection so that I could go get the beachtec module, but most manufacturers must know that I want this feature.. or the local Fry's sees me coming and they hide all of the cool models. :lol:

oh ya... I really like the idea of being able to rack focus... and i 'think' this can be done with the PDX-10. Most of the fancy new models dont have this option and it kinda bums me out.

So ya... any suggestions or guidance at this point would be amazingly extremely grateful!!!!

another oh ya... CMOS scares the wookie out of me! LOL!!

Tim Terner · December 3, 2007

I had 2 of the PDX 10's about 3 years ago. Was generally happy with the image quality but the biggest problem was the vertical smearing of background practicals

David Auner aac · December 3, 2007

oh ya... I really like the idea of being able to rack focus... and i 'think' this can be done with the PDX-10.

Phew, that's quite a far reach IMO. I can hardly do that on my PD150 let alone the tiny PDX. You can't really mark anything on the lens barrel too since it's a servo control not a mechanical focus ring. And keep in mind that the cam is only 1/4", so an awful lot of DOF for ya. I shot some event footage on a PDX once and didn't like it much. Especially the exposure controls suck, much better on the 150/170 line.

Cheers, Dave

Jason Outenreath · December 25, 2007

It doesn't shoot true 16:9. The same as the pd150, it squeezes a 16:9 image onto the 4:3 CCD's. It doesn't shoot 16:9 natively. But aside from that, I was not impressed with it. The size is nice, but the image control is extremely limited (as far as black levels, color temp, sharpness). Yes you can control these things somewhat, but its clunky. And I personally love doing as much as possible in camera. Also, you don't even control exposure in f-stops. You control exposure by moving a cursor in the direction of a plus (+) sign, and negative (-) sign. The XLR-inputs are nice, but other than that, and the DVcam option, it felt a lot like a toy, and lacked a lot of professional features I look for in a solid prosumer camera. And its also really overpriced.

Might I recommend the AG-DVC30 as a comparative alternative. Really excellent camera. Excellent image control. Beautiul image, durable. Lacks xlr-inputs, and 16:9, but if your going prosumer, you won't find a camera that shoots native 16:9 for under 3k (the new canon XH-A1 is the cheapest I've seen at 3,500).