Which 3ccd model should i buy?

Sean_Green · March 1, 2004

Hey all!

I am looking to buy a 3ccd camera. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

March 1, 2004

depends on what kind of budget you have. less than $5000, go for the panasonic dvx100a hands down. if you have more, like $35,000 or so, then go for the panasonic sdx900.

March 2, 2004

That all depends what you want to do with the camera. I am assuming you're looking for an inexpensive 3 CCD camera, otherwise you would not have mentioned this feature.

DVX100A has the best picture, plus has 24p. PD170 has the best low light capability. If you have more money to spend and you want to shoot for TV, 1/2" CCD Sony is excellent. If you're going for optical projection, then the SDX100 would be the next logical step after DVX100A.

I would suggest you wait for NAB in April. There may be some surprises, including possible quality low cost HD and/or or low cost 19:9 chip cameras.

If you're aiming at film look, you may want to invest in, or rent, Mini 35 type adapter that will cut the DOF. At NAB will be shown some less expensive models competing with the P+S adapters.

Mini 35 may your image better (more artistic or film-like looking) than investing in a lot more expensive camera.

Alvin Pingol · March 3, 2004

If you don't need 24P, along with the PD170 consider JVC's DV300.

Not as professional a camera but still has a lot of features, and the image quality is outstanding (I own one so just ask if you have any questions). As for aesthetics, Sony's PD cameras definitely look a lot more pro. The JVC is definitely more sleek and stylish. Whether this matters to you or not I don't know, but image quality is what I always look at first.

Unfortunately, I haven't used a PD170 (or a 150, for that matter), so I am unable to put these head-to-head. But here are some spec sheets.

Sony:

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Professional/weba...lPrint?id=71949

JVC:

http://pro.jvc.com/prof/Attributes/specs.j...=&feature_id=03

For the Sony, the B/W viewfinder and dual Zebra IRE displays are a definite plus, but I don't know how in depth its image manipulation controls go. The JVC has a good amount of image control, the Sony probably does too, but I can't say for sure. Hope this helps.