The VX 2000 is a good all round camera, it is easy to use and has many features
which would encourage someone to use it. From the outside we see that the camera
has a focusing ring and a zoom ring, both accesible at the same time unlike with
other camera models. The focus ring is fairly easy to use although it takes a
little bit of time to become fully proficient. The zoom can be controled by
servo or manually at different speeds, when the zoom is controlled manually
though the motor is taking feedback from your fingers for speed rather than
being applied directly to the lens. With the lens we find incorporated two neutral density filters giving us a choice
between three options, first one is without filter letting all light fo through
the lens to the three chips, second setting is a neutral density filter to take
away some contrast. We then arrive at ND2 which is a stronger neutral density
filter which is normaly used during full daylight. In order to control exposure
there is a button on the left which needs to be pressed in order to go into
manual iris, there is a wheel below where the aperture can be controlled. There are three chips to capture the light information rather than a single chip thus
improving the look of the image. If we find that we are in a dark room then we
can boost the gain if we want but if someone does not want to use the gain then
it is possible to take the shutter from 1/10 000 of a second to 1/3rd of a
second . The shutter speed is controled from the back of the camera via pressing
the shutter speed button on the back and turning the wheel below for the correct
speed. This greatly increases the light coming into the lens. As an illustration
I have shot scenes with light far too low for cameras such as the Canon XL-1 to
cope with and the most spectacular part is how little noise shows up on screen
afterwards. For
sound we have an onboard mic which is good for ambiance sound and it is possible
to plug in a mic with a 3.5mm plug. We have two settings for the microphone,
either as microphone (plug in power) or as line in. Once the microphone is
selected we can check the sound levels through preswsing the audio level at the
back which will display the sound. Through the menu it is possible to choose
between automatic or manual. By selecting manual the level may be adjusted with
the db meter in camera showing -30 -20 -12 -8 -4 0 etc. so that the sound
engineer may get the correct level for recording. The
centre of gravity is well placed on the tripod so that it lies at the same place
as the mounting plate making it easier to use on a tripod. The tape compartment
is accesible at all times closing in two stages, firstly getting the mechanical
part in place, tape winded and ready to shoot followed by shutting the door to
avoid dust coming in. With there being two record buttons, one close tothe front
right of the camera and the other in the normal position there is a greater
variety of shots possible. An
interesting feature with this camera is the possibility of creating an edit
decision list within the camera so that it can behave as an edit controler to
dub scenes onto a second device. It is dv enabled thereby allowing to copy
material from one dv tape to an other. Included with this is the possibility to
play from any device directly into the camera for copying tapes etc. onto a dv
tape. Other sections Order
it now from Amazon.com: VX
2000
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