On Thu, 12 Jul 2001 06:16:26 GMT, "joe" wrote:

>While reading the manuals for both cameras
>http://www.dvinfo.net/sony/resource.htm
>I see that the VX2000 can manually adjust "exposure" with one dial. It
>says that "as you turn the dial, the iris value changes between OPEN and
>CLOSE and the gain value changes between 0 db and 18db." I assume that this
>means that as you turn the dial, first the iris opens until it is fully open
>and then the gain starts to kick in. Is this right?

Yes, but the aperture jumps in rather large increments,
making this control useless during taping.

>I also see that the PD150 has a separate adjustment for iris and another one
>for gain. Is this a significant difference/advantage?
>They both have adjustments for shutter speed.

In the "custom controls" of the VX-2000 you can limit
the gain rise to +18, +12, +6, and 0 (as I recall...),
giving you some independent control of gain...
These camcorders are primarily auto-control devices
(and the auto functions are excellent; the manual ones
are "klunky") - I find more useful using AE-A or AE-S
and specifying aperture or shutter speed if I want
(or just AE), and adjusting AE-bias with the "CP"
controls - it gets me the best of both worlds, and I
still have the "lock-and-shift" control available, if
needed (rarely...), or the useless "backlight" button.
If you are coming from a pro gear background and are
used to manual control of the camera, I would consider
looking elsewhere; if you are coming from the other
direction, you will appreciate auto controls that
really work well on the VX-2000/PD150, and you can
bias and override them as necessary...