Great camera but not perfect

Author's Rating:

Pros: camera recording quality. Lot of options.

Cons: reliability, sound hiss on some cameras, and weight distribution

The Bottom Line: 
Check it out. It might be for you.

Author's Review
I was one of the first to buy this camera, and it was revolutionary when it came out.
Today there are way better cameras on the market.
I have a bad history with Sony. I have bought many of their products and have always suffered dearly whenever I had any problem and needed customer support.
I would recommend to anyone interested in DV cameras to check out the Panasonic. Seems like people are much happier with them.

That said, for all fairness, one must give Sony credit for having lots of bells and whistles in this camera. It also has the DVCAM format, which some consider the best format in the DV world.

This camera is a decent workhorse that can produce high quality images.

As of the writing of this review, it seems like the HD and miniHD world are in total chaos. There are a billion formats and seems like it'll take another year or so until it all settles down and one or maximum two formats will become the true winners, and everyone can buy a camera with a format that will last some time.
In the meantime for those who don't want to gamble on a HD format that might not last, this is indeed a camera to consider.

This camera was a breakthrough when it came out.
It had XLR plugs which allowed the camera to connect to professional microphones.
It was the first true prosumer camera that could really be considered pro.
The DVCAM also allowed quality that was , in my humble opinion way better than the competition.
What I was told is that Canon had better lenses, but Sony had a better recording system. Maybe that's true. I went with the recording system. I'm happy with my decision.

As for the bad.
SONY RELIABILITY.
Rumours had it that they recalled lots of PD 150's because of sound problems. It had major hissing problems.
I bought one that isn't on the Sony recall list, but still had the same sound problem.

It's a pity that their customer support, customer service and their reliability isn't as good as their design and their engineering.
This camera has given me its share of grief in terms of mechanical problems. Its visited camera shops for repair.
But on the overall feel I have, I've shot several documentaries with this camera that travelled to film festivals around the world.
When this camera works- it works and delivers great quality.

As for the biggest problem with this camera. SOUND. This is my experience with this camera :

I was one of the first to buy it when it just came out. I bought this camera to shoot a documentary feature. The first camera had such a bad sound hissing problem I called Sony and they agreed to send me a new camera after I told them I discovered they had sound problems with this model.

The second camera unfortunetaly wasn't much better. I hired professional sound people to work with me. They added a mixer and connected professional microphones. Very expensive microphones. Top of the line ones. I worked with 3 soundmen that each brought his own equipment.
Still, the final result was full of hiss and cost a fortune to take out in sound editing.
Most of the problem was solved in the editing suite, but not all of it.

I called Sony technical service. They checked my camera's number and told me I'm not on the list of cameras that would have been fixed for free. Fixing the sound problem was expensive.

I took my camera to a large company that fixes digital cameras in Los Angeles. They knew this camera's sound problems. They told me they had fixed many cameras like mine, which all had the same problem.

So before buying this camera, check the sound problem. If you hear a hiss in recording, it'll cost you several hundreds of dollars to fix.

I've shot hundreds of hours with this camera. Here's a list of the camera's problems :

1. Sound problem - I've talked above.

2. Focus. The focus is hard to do manually. There's no numbers on the ring, and since they use LCD screens, it's hard to know if the picture is in focus or not. The best way to do it is to press the focus button. Still many times the focus is a little soft.

3. Weight distribution. This camera has a problem distributing the weight, and so it's hard to hold in the hand. I've gotten used to it, but many people haven't. The front of the camera is much heavier than the back, and so it tends to tilt forward.

4. At low light, you have to make sure the image stabilizer is off or the picture will come out truly grainy.

5. low light- this camera films better than others, but still picture comes out grainy.

Today everyone is moving on to HD. But if you decide to buy a cameera in the mean time or a used camera, this is indeed a camera to consider. Just check the sound, or it'll cost you in the long run both in price and in grief.

As for the pluses of this camera.
Amazing image quality.
Time code
XLR
Easy to control sound from the camera
Rather light, compared to the competiton, even the Panasonic.

Has a focus button that is very handy, as the focus wheel is so awful.