On Mon, 22 Jan 2001 09:45:55 GMT, nujuko@utu.REMOVE.fi (Nuutti Koskinen) wrote:

> Hi, I'm considering the Sony VX2000 PAL camcorder but still need to
>confirm a few things... First, is it true that at lower shutter speeds
>(like 1/25s-1/4s on a PAL machine) the resolution is reduced? I've
>read somewhere that the camera deinterlaces and interpolates the
>picture if you set the shutter speed lower than 1/50. The lower
>shutter speeds would be great for special effects, low-action night
>shooting and (namely the 1/25s mode) mimicking the motion artifacts of
>progressive scan. But if the resolution is compromised, I don't think
>they have much serious use...

Yes, alternate scan lines are dropped, with more
"stair-stepping" and lower resolution resulting
(all camcorders do this with speeds slower than
60th-50th second...?). In side-by-side comparisons,
you can see the losses, but in practice, the better
picture color that may result in VERY low light is
worth it. The VX-2000 is very sensitive, though, and
this trade-off is less often necessary in low light
than with other camcorders. At least the VX-2000
has the slow-speed option available - several other
camcorders don't, and it is occasionally useful...

> Also, how does the VX2000's exposure control work in full manual
>mode? Does it adjust only aperture or both aperture and gain? Is there
>a way to adjust gain independently? I know you can at least set the
>maximum amount of automatic gain in custom presets menu, but only to
>+18, +12 or +6 dB. Does the camera always try to compensate for low
>light by rising gain? What if you want to shoot in low light with 0dB?
>I really don't want the gain to pump if I pan the camera from a
>well-lit scene to a darker one.

I have never observed this to be a problem, and it
would show in my type of work, if it were a problem.
You can, as you said, limit the gain rise. You can
also use the "lock-and-shift" control, which opens
the diaphragm until it runs out of range, then
increases gain (you can shift to a lower shutter
speed to delay that, but even at +12db, the VX-2000
picture is very good - I would not worry about this...).
You can also use AE-A (aperture-priority auto), and
widen the aperture to force the gain down (and
shutter speed higher...). I have found, though, that
in auto mode not only is the VX-2000 AF outstanding,
but its AE is also outstanding, and only occasionally
can I improve on either manually (I use AE-bias to
shift the AE for particular circumstances, like
shooting a speaker yesterday against a white wall
with a window behind - and with cloud-sun changes
in the light level, ME would have been a nightmare;
with AE and AE-bias, it was easy to keep the
exposure good).