Which Camera?

Finbo · Post by **Finbo** » May 20th, 2012, 11:12 am

Thanks Martyn. Interesting your thoughts on the colour viewfinder. Some people I know with it are saying the opposite!?! Maybe they're struggling with the change from black and white??

MartynS · Post by **MartynS** » May 23rd, 2012, 11:14 pm

I had a look at the cheaper b/w veiwfinder and really hated it. just seemed to look horrible. I've not seen the expensive B/w one though.. it is meant to be good, but how much is it..??
The colour one takes a bit of getting used to but once its dialed in its great for newsgathering.

Finbo · Post by **Finbo** » May 24th, 2012, 1:16 pm

Several thousand for a viewfinder is a bit difficult to swallow! Sounds like it's down to each individual as to what they like best.

Post by **alisterchapman** » May 24th, 2012, 4:33 pm

The cheap mono VF is pretty grim. The more expensive mono finder (HDVF20A) is much better, but having now switched to colour VF's I wouldn't want to go back to mono. If your used to mono then the switch to colour can be uncomfortable but you soon get used to it.

Finbo · Post by **Finbo** » May 24th, 2012, 9:52 pm

Is it correct that there are 2 colour viewfinders offered by Sony? Several people I know working for BBC News have said the cheaper one is not very good and it's hard to distinguish when an image is properly in focus/pin sharp. Can anyone with experience of the colour viewfinders comment on this?

Robin · Post by **Robin** » May 25th, 2012, 5:47 am

On the 500 Ive only used the HDVF 20A.. and was slightly disappointed.. actually the only thing that I didn't really like about the camera..so far my old digibeta 790 had the best VF !! but got used to it.. and the double ext focus check is a handy assignable switch to allocate.. for peace of mind..
I saw the,I guess cheap colour finder on a PMW350 at the rental place the other day.. and to me it looked terrible.. just my option of course.. there is also a super exp one they make that Ive used on a F900.. and its very good,and you can turn it to BW too if you want. but its really pricey.. !!!you,d have to have a really long job set up to warrant buying that VF..

MartynS · Post by **MartynS** » May 28th, 2012, 9:08 am

Is it correct that there are 2 colour viewfinders offered by Sony? Several people I know working for BBC News have said the cheaper one is not very good and it's hard to distinguish when an image is properly in focus/pin sharp. Can anyone with experience of the colour viewfinders comment on this?

I'm sure our VF's are the cheaper ones!

You have to use a lot more peaking than perhaps you are used to with the colour VF. The BBC news chaps in London seem to use the red peaking. I hated that and have the peaking set to white. I've had no problems telling when something is in/out of focus with the colour VF

Finbo · Post by **Finbo** » May 28th, 2012, 11:44 am

Many thanks for the info. I must admit I'm not a great fan of winding the peaking up on my current b/w viewfinder, but that's a useful tip for the colour one.

peterL · Post by **peterL** » May 28th, 2012, 5:24 pm

You asked about xdcam disc cameras. I've been using a pdw 700 for a year now. Just come back from a 7 day shoot in SE Asia with the thing. First trip to Asia from Australia since I got it.
I tried to get our network to buy the 350 after researching it, mainly because I was starting to suffer physically from the weight of the Panasonic dvcpro we were using.

In 2007 when the 700 was released there probably wasn't another option for news work, but now there is....
I've seen a few writeups on the 350 which say the pics are stunning at 50 or 100mbps

try this review http://dvuser.co.uk/content.php?CID=263

leave it with you

Finbo · Post by **Finbo** » May 28th, 2012, 9:58 pm

Thanks. I've seen that review. It does makes you think twice about buying a 500!!

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