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Sony Builds On Its DVCAM Line With The DSR-PD170
The newest addition to Sony's DVCAM line is the DSR-PD170, a three-CCD camcorder in the $4,000 range that builds on the strengths and successes of its predecessor, the PD150. Here, I'd like to look at the similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses of the two cameras, giving special attention to improvements apparent in Sony's latest DVCAM offering.
Major Improvements
How do you improve on a fully functional camcorder from Sony? For one thing, the PD170 now includes a 0.7x wide-angle adapter. The 12x lens (6mm to 72mm) falls a little short when used at its widest (6mm) and shooting in cramped spaces. I purchased a wide-angle adapter from Century Optics, which I use about 30 percent of the time. This adapter represents an investment of several hundred dollars, must be screwed on and precludes the addition of a standard lens hood option.
The PD170 comes with the standard lens with lens hood, but this hood has a built-in lens cap that snaps open and closed like a film shutter. The tethered snap-on lens cap is also in the kit, but it gets misplaced if unattached and looks amateurish if left dangling from the lens. The PD170's wide-angle adapter is attached in the same way as the PD150's, with a screw mount, but the 170's included lens shade is separated in two pieces, the adapter presses into place, the wide-angle adapter screws onto the lens, and the shade portion twists home. This does add some heft to the front of the camera, but having a shaded wide-angle adapter in place all the time allows me to use it more often than trying to find and attach it from my camera case.
Another difference between the PD150 and PD170 is the latter's improved low-light sensitivity. The PD170 is twice as sensitive as the PD150.
It is in the low-light arena that most cameras usually fall short. Any camera looks good outdoors, but the grain on the PD170's image was slight and the colors seemed more saturated. In documentary conditions where additional lighting would be obtrusive, the PD170's low-light capabilities are second to none.
Minor Improvements
Like some cars of the 1950s, the PD170 is now two-tone: light...