On Mon, 01 Apr 2002 17:41:52 GMT, "Jim Harvey" wrote:

[...]
>To suggest that ANY video camera is going to deliver a still that
>will surpass a quality dedicated still camera is to show a vast ignorance of
>picture quality (don't jump up and down, I said ignorance, not stupidity).
>You do yourself a disservice making statements like that and it shoots your
>credibility to hell.

Within the 640x480 limit (a considerable limit!!! ;-), what
the writer says is true - the 3-CCD stills-optimized (thet'z
wat th' PS-mode iz fer onna 2000...;-) VX2000 still images
are excellent - and though too small to print very well,
are good for web images... (Several examples are at
www.nikonlinks.com/ruether - all shot with the VX2000
with the .7X Canon WD-58 on the lens...)

> Which brings me to the low light capability: it's better
>> than my own eyes.

>How unfortunate that you have such poor eyesight.

Well, it can "out shoot" me, too, in terms of brightness
of image and what I can see through the camera vs.
what I can see directly (+18db, lens widest, f1.6, 1/4-second).

[...]
>I doubt that even David Ruether would ascribe the qualities
>to the 2000 that you have. Go up and read his reports, while not the
>difinitive last word on the subject,. they DO offer some real world
>descriptions.
[...]

Why, thank you...!
That was truly unexpected...;-)
(The VX2000/PD150 review URL is:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/sony_dcr-vx2000.htm.)
I think the writer was simply surprised that the VX2000 is
as good as it is, for the money, and as much better than the
excellent TRV900 as it is... A bit o' hype now and again
about the VX2000 may therefore be excused, I think, upon
purchase and early trials...;-) We all know video is FAR
from an ideal medium when it comes to sheer image
resolution, smoothness, and tonality, but within this very
poor-quality medium, and around its not-too-immodest price,
the VX2000 does stand out a bit...;-) BTW, I'm working today
on a sort of "glossary" of picture attributes (with
examples), which may help people in judging video camcorder
picture quality - I hope to get it up on my site by
tomorrow... (look for "Video Image Characteristics", under
"I babble" at the URL below). Holler if you have
suggestions/additions...