On Wed, 15 Sep 1999 12:05:06 +1000, "GB" wrote:

>David, an excellent report.
>Thank you for taking the time.
>I agree almost totally with your comments re TRV9, PC1, EZ30 and TRV900,
>having used all of these for some time.
>In particular I agree with your findings on the EZ-30 - the best sound by
>far, especially as far as stereo separation goes, The TRV900 by comparison
>has very little separation (onboard mics) and quite a lot of hiss, although
>none of the motor noise pickup of the TRV9 - the noisiest model on the
>market IMHO.
>(whilst the EZ-30 has excellent sound recording it also picks up some
>auto-focus and zoom noise in very quiet conditions, but not head whine)
>I sold my EZ-30 for a TRV900 and in most respects do not regret the move,
>however, direct comparisons between the two for a few weeks showed the
>focus problem of the EZ-30 that you refer to.
>On certain shots it seems that the autofocus does not work and focuses on
>the background rather than the subject.
>The TRV900 focus is excellent IMO it is very hard to 'catch out'.
>Another problem I had with the EZ-30 was the auto white balance would vary
>wildly - from one extreme to the other, causing a very noticeable change in
>hue if you happened to be recording at the time.
>Most of the time I used manual WB, not a bad idea with most cams and
>something that does improve the blue tinge of the TRV900.....
>I also agree that once the EZ-30 WB is set, the image quality is simply
>superb - just the right hue balance, at least IMHO.....
>Pity about it's crummy image stabiliser though - the TRV900's is excellent
>in comparison, probably the one main feature that sold me on the '900 over
>the EZ-30.
>GB

Thanks for the comments.
They reminded me of the WB wander I also noticed with the EZ30U (but forgot to mention - I will add it to the piece
when it eventually goes on my web page...). When shooting
outdoors, I lock WB on the daylight setting (otherwise a
shot into the sun can cause a severe blue shift). I also
didn't notice the focus/zoom noise with the EZ30U since I
lock-down the AF (the AF on the EZ30U doesn't work well
with the WA converters I use to get around the lack of a
useable stabilizer) - and I don't zoom (the WA converters
I use with the EZ30U aren't zoom-through, and the lack of
a good stabilizer makes long-end zooming undesireable
anyway). With all its faults, one may wonder why I like
the EZ30U. Reasons: I prefer WA to all else; I like the
image and sound quality (especially since they come in
such a portable package - which fits with all needed
accessories in a very tiny bag, perfect for grabbing on
the way out the door). Used as a manual-control camcorder
(in shutter-priority mode, shutter often locked at 1/125th
second for outdoor use, with the aperture locked
occasionally to avoid the "klunk-klunk-klunk" exposure
shift...;-), the image and sound are better than from
anything else near its small size and weight that
I have tried (the things one will put up with for
portability!!!;-)