Hi--

Thank you for your excellent reviews of the Sony VX200, etc. My husband
and I have been sleuthing exhaustively to try to find the solution to
our video camera dilemma. We shoot most frequently in the moderate to
low light conditions of a standard 60 meter dressage arena (if you're
not familiar with it, dressage is the very formal and balletic
horsemanship you see in the Olympics). Our daughter is an upper level
competitor. Often these competition arenas have walls and roofs but an
open area between them which produces a sometimes harsh backlight from
the ambient sunlight outside. These conditions have utterly overwhelmed
the capacities of my old 8mm video camera and left us with frustrating
footage that shows shadowy black horses and black clad rider against the
bright background which the camera takes as a light reading.
We understand the new technology is a vast improvement. Our research
tells us the Sony DCR TRV50 Mini-DV is an excellent compact camera for
the relative amateurs we are, but performs poorly in low light
situations, though it does have a manual aperture override in the form
of an exposure feature which can be dialed up and down (I've held and
used the features of this and the VX2000 in a store setting only and
without tape). Our videographer grandson (a talented amateur),
recommends the Sony VX2000 because it's his favorite camera and he shot
footage of our daughter in competition in the veritable gloom of one
vast, dim arena and the result was gorgeous. Our videographer son
(professional), says the VX2000 is way too much camera for us (he uses
the VX1000), and feels certain the TRV50 could handle the kind of low
light we're dealing with though he has limited exposure to that scene.
Can you shed any light, so to speak, on this conundrum? Is there
something else you might recommend? Thanks so much. Annie Beckett
annie@mcn.org

The VX2000 will show considerably more highlight (and a bit more
shadow) detail in contrasty lighting situations; both have exposure
locks which work well if the light level doesn't change; once set-up
referenced to a monitor, the 2000 eyepiece viewfinder gives a better
idea of exposure; the 2000 has "custom controls" that permit biasing
the auto exposure if there is a general trend (allowing the exposure
to remain in auto-mode); both have excellent AF (the 2000 is a little
better), but contrasty backgrounds will draw the lens focus there
(it can be locked on both); the 2000 image shows far less noise in
plain-tone areas (visible even in bright light); the VX2000 can shoot
good footage in areas where the TRV50 will fail completely.