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Six years ago, Sony created a sensation with the premiere of its VX-1000 consumer digital camcorder. I was able to get my hands on one at the time because I was working as a producer/director for Showtime Networks. The VX-1000 lived up to the hype. In fact, even though I always had the budget to hire professional Betacam crews, I often would pick up shots with the VX-1000.
For example, it was raining when we shot the exterior of the White House for a documentary I was producing about the Gulf War. Naturally, the next morning the weather was picture perfect as I was leaving for the airport. So I had the cab pull up to the corner, told the driver to leave the meter running, grabbed the VX-1000, and shot a nice push in on the front entrance of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The DV footage was component transferred to Beta SP and cut into my show. No one noticed that it was shot with a consumer camcorder.
Last summer, the VX-2000, the long-awaited successor was released, which in turn was immediately followed by the release of a professional version, the PD-150. This is the bottom rung on the Sony's professional camcorder ladder, but you'd never know it by looking at its extraordinary list of standard features.
Featuring The Features
For starters, the PD-150 records to DVCAM. I'm very high on the DVCAM format because it looks great and gives you SMPTE time code, which locks the video with the audio. On PD150 you can even set the time code, just like on the Betacams. So I can set the first tape to onehour time code, second tape to two-hour time code, so on and so forth. This is an easy way to eliminate confusion in the edit room.
There are two xlr inputs with manual audio level control. Three improved CCDs that, according to Sony, use the same HAD technology found in their top-of-the-line Digibeta camcorders. A built in slot for a memory card to shoot digital photos that I'll never use. And a lot of other whiz bang bells and whistles that I don't care about because I am a documantarian.
I should also mention that this camcorder will record DV but...