On Fri, 12 Feb 1999 01:02:28 GMT, npoese@fone.net (Neil Poese) wrote:

> Thanks for the in-depth report. Would you mind posting the
>model number of the Kenko WA lens? I believe that they make a .5 and
>a .65? Do you know anything about how they compare?

There are at least four Kenko .5X converters... (I have
not tried the .65X.) The VC-050Hi comes in two versions,
a large-front (the one you want for the VX-1000, and it is
better in the corners than the new small one made for the
TRV-900 - though the 80+mm front covers the mic nicely...),
and a small-front one (same name, alas...). There is also
a "pro" version (80+mm also, but flatter), unknown quality,
and the small one (which snaps onto a retaining ring that
screws into the lens front threads). The Sony .6X made for
the Mavica also works well, though it is not "zoom-through".

> I'm surprised that you found no noise on the 900 audio, as
>this has frequently been mentioned as the camera's Achilles heel. I
>just received a 900 (although the vendor can't supply the tape for it
>so it just sits and looks pretty) for our multimedia lab, and due to
>the poor reports on audio was planning on getting a couple of VX1000,
>particularly due to the availability of the Beachtek 3 pin adapter for
>them, but if the colors don't match well between the two cameras
>without tweaking, I'd be better off getting another couple 900s.

You can check it with earphones - if you hear mostly
ambient sound in a quiet room, with little camera whine
or zoom/focus noise relative to the background, you have
a good one. People report different results, but two
TRV-900's I have heard tape playback from have been dead
quiet, and they make the unusually quiet VX-1000 sound
relatively noisy in the audio pickup of camera noise...
The TRV-9 is so noisy, you can clearly hear the camera
whine even over traffic noise - this is more typical
of the level of noise pickup of the compact mini-DV
camcorders. BTW, unless you already own XLR mics, adding
the XLR adapter makes little sense (and can be added to
both camcorders...) since you are not bypassing the
mini-plug, and the mini-plug is still single-sided
[balanced-line mics are needed only with long cable
runs, I would think...]).
[TRV-900 - VX-1000 comparison deleted...]