Excellent in Low Light

I have previously reviewed Sony's smallest, 3-CCD professional camcorders, including the current DSR-PDX10. I found these to be perfectly competent models that could easily be mistaken for consumer camcorders, even as they shoot with three-chip quality and record in the professional DVCAM (25 Mbps) format.

So I wondered what the DSR-PD150 and its successor, the DSR-PD170, bring to the party. Sony kindly loaned me a DSR-PD170 to answer this question and I found it pretty quickly, but you'll have to read more to find out.

The Sony DSR-PD170 has a form factor that is somewhere between a consumer camcorder and a traditional shoulder-mounted camera. It has a handle on top like larger cameras and a 2.5-inch color flip-out viewfinder such as you would find on a consumer camcorder. In addition to this color monitor, there is an eyepiece monochrome viewfinder.

The three 1/3-inch CCDs in the unit are 380,000-pixel imagers that use Sony's Advanced HAD technology for better low-light performance. The permanently mounted lens has a 12:1 zoom ratio, and the DSR-PD170 comes with a 0.7x wide-angle adapter that screws onto the end of the main lens.

On the right side of the lens is a two-position neutral-density filter, a switch for manual or auto focus and a selector for manual iris control. In manual mode, the iris has 24 settings. The back of the camcorder has switches for gain, white-balance and shutter speed, as well as a nifty rotary control for the many menu selections that the PD170 supports. Also on the back of the camcorder is the battery slot; the PD170 ships with a lithium-ion battery that provides about 60 minutes of shooting.

The DSR-PD170 can be set to record in either DV or DVCAM mode, both of which record at 25 Mbps. The DVCAM tape speed is faster, giving the unit a record time of 40 minutes in DVCAM mode and 60 minutes in DV mode.

The unit has a progressive scan recording feature that saves 15 images per second at a higher resolution. This is interesting for doing some motion analysis work or for loading a fast series of pictures into a computer, but it is not the same as progressive scan recording of 24p or 30p images. The camera is switchable between 16:9 and 4:3.

There is the usual fingertip rocker to control the zoom lens, and the PD170 also has a small zoom switch and start/stop button on top of the camcorder’s handle that let you easily shoot while holding the camera at low angles. At the front of the handle is a convenient audio connection point with two XLR connectors, either of which can be switched to mic or line level. These connectors also support phantom power at the flick of a switch.

The unit records digital stereo audio at three quality levels: 16-bit/48 kHz, 16-bit/44.1 kHz or 12-bit/32 kHz. Next to the audio connectors is a shock-mount for the supplied shotgun microphone. Near the front of the camera are several I/O connectors, including S-Video, analog video, stereo audio and i.Link (IEEE-1394 or FireWire).

In addition to the wide-angle adapter, li-ion battery and shotgun mic, the DSR-PD170 comes with a power supply/charger, two lens hoods (one of which has a cute built-in lens cap), a remote control and an analog audio/video cable. The camera can shoot still images and record them onto an optional Memory Stick, which does not come with the PD170, so I did not test this feature.

Anyone familiar with a professional or consumer camcorder can use the DSR-PD170 in seconds. It takes only about three seconds to fire up the PD170 (assuming a tape is loaded)—the camera does a creditable job of finding the correct exposure and white-balance if left in the auto mode.

Two things about the lens on the PD170 impressed me, particularly when compared with other small camcorders I've used from Sony and other manufacturers. The lens on the PD170 is the first to let me do a manual focus move with repeatable precision. In fact, I did quite a nice rack-focus between two different objects that worked well in a little sequence I shot.

The other nice thing about the lens on this camcorder is the beautiful chunk of glass that Sony supplies for the 0.7x wide-angle adapter. The big lens was distortion-free and made a noticeably wider shot when it was installed. It does add some weight, however.

I was less impressed by the new controls that Sony put on top of the handle for zoom and tape start/stop. The zoom control has two preset speeds that worked fine and presented no problem. But I always had to fumble to use the start/stop switch, causing shaking in the image during handheld shots. Since these top-of-the-handle controls are intended to be used for low-angle handheld shots, I felt that fumbling to find the switch defeated the purpose of what should be a convenient operation.

The 2.5-inch viewfinder that the PD170 shares with its predecessor, the DSR-PD150, also disappointed me. It's a nice 2.5-inch viewfinder but its little brother, the DSR-PDX10, has a 3.5-inch viewfinder that's a real beauty -- it deserves to be on the PD170.

The DSR-PD170 does have Steady Shot, an effective shake reducer. Although Sony implies that there is a performance penalty with Steady Shot turned on, I did not see any difference in the quality of the images.

The most impressive thing about the DSR-PD170's image quality was its excellent low-light capability. I shot a very wide range of images in all kinds of lighting and was continually surprised at the natural, noise-free pictures that I got from available light that would sink a lesser product. Sony claims that improved low-light capability is one of the big improvements with the PD170, and I can vouch that it is a big improvement, indeed.

The contrast range of the images was very good, too, enabling me to pull detail out of shadows where some other cameras in this same class just fade into dark noise. Performance in daylight was good as well, but you expect a camera to make good images in daylight. It's the low-light performance of this camcorder that really impressed me.

Loading footage from the PD170 into an editing system was a snap. Using an IEEE-1394 (FireWire) cable, I plugged the camcorder into my computer and immediately had control of the transport from within Adobe Premier Pro. Transferring/logging images and sound was glitch-free.

The Sony DSR-PD170 has a number of things going for it, including an excellent wide-angle adapter, a manual focus control that actually lets you do focus effects, a wide range of manual iris control and switchable 16:9 and 4:3 operation. The biggest thing that the camera offers is its terrific capability in low light, which is exceptional in my experience with this class of camera.

This is a very good camera for TV news stringers, as well as event (wedding), government, educational and corporate video operations, particularly if you need to shoot in less-than-optimum lighting situations. Small, lightweight and easy to use, the DSR-PD170 has a boatload of useful features, makes professional-quality pictures and sound -- and is at its best in marginal conditions.

Note: This review, which I wrote, appeared in July 7, 2004 issue of TV Technology magazine. I had the use of the camera for two months, on loan from Sony for the purpose of writing this review.