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The Sony PD170 is a public access favorite because it is easy to handle, sturdy and only as complicated as it really needs to be to give you the control you need. I took footage from a public access camera to a local tv station and the engineer checked it and said the quality was good enough for their broadcast, so I bought the camera. It has good manual focus which I really like, being able to manually zoom in quick, as well as creatively zoom in at the speed you like. And I like that the lens can be grabbed and zoomed by one ring and focused by an adjacent ring just like my film and old fashioned video cameras were before everything got automatic. The audio setting and microphone plug ins and settings are not for the stupid; you should have someone explain it to you. I haven't seen the manual so I have no idea how clear it explains things. It has two audio inputs with good sturdy XLR jacks, and you can set Input one to record to one or both tracks. You can set the audio sensitivity. But if you set your mics or audio wrong you won't have sound. It does have its own speaker so you can play it back after a test recording. If your local public access channel uses these cameras you can take their training course on how to use them and then do some volunteer work for them. It has three, count 'em, three record buttons, conveniently placed for the different ways you might hand hold a camera. The viewfinder and fold out view screen are clear. What I don't like is the tiny finger switch to turn it on to VCR/Camera/Memory. It is hard to press a finger to compress the little center button and twist it to just the right position. If I had a man's large fingers or were in dim light and could not see the tiny lettering it would be easy to mis-position it or not be able to move it at all. It does have a nice little, though unmarked, blocking lever to prevent yourself from going to memory instead of camera. And the power jack it hidden at the lower rear of the camera behind a smooth rubber flap just the same color as the camera body. I searched for 10 minutes before I found it even though I knew it was at the back rear. I'm not too familiar with the menu so I can't talk on that or its special effects. I am a simple operator, interested more in good signal and camerawork. But I recommend it.Read full review
I chose the Sony PD 170 because we used them at public access TV so I knew they were rugged. They have a very good lens, and manual and automatic focus and exposure. Professional quality work is possible, at least before HD became the norm. But this lens gives good crisp images that some cheap HD cameras can't match even tho they record in high resolution because of their small lenses. You have to set the audio switches correctly, but once set, you never need to change them. I like the medium weight for steady handheld recording. There is a menu system that is not complex, but PD170s often get glitchy in scrolling down the menu and it is a pain but you can still make it work. That is a repairable problem. The only other complaint I have is having to use mini-DV tape which starts to get glitchy after a few uses. That is an ongoing expense. Where these are useful is not recording in the camera but outputting through a switcher to an HD recorder. You can create a cheap studio with these, even with "broken" cameras that don't record anymore but still output an image. You can buy these used for $200-$350, or the "broken" ones for $50. I like the wide angle lens attachment for documentary or film style shooting and mount shotgun microphones. I created a studio with 4 PD170s thru a Videonics switcher, viewing camera sources on a 24 inch flat screen TV, thru a Vidbox and into a laptop computer. It was very complicated to read all those instructions and get it all set and working, but now it does work, and I have a portable studio. Read full review
Verified purchase: No
All that I expected and a little more. Works good and has a couple features I had not expected such as ability to shoot still pictures during shooting video, and also low light capability with time lapse filming. I am very pleased. Now the negative. One of the batteries was defective and could not be repaired, but I don't mind that because overall the price was a real bargain and I am not going to Kick ! Still pleased with this purchase !
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Probably still one of the best all around, SD professional video camcorders ever produced. Nice vivid colour reproduction and clarity. The Sony DSR-PD170 has been the champion in low light performance (1 lux). The construction and build quality is top notch and can be used with MRC-1 recorder for tapeless recording via the DV link port. Still useful, even today, especially if producing standard DVD productions.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Camera arrived as promised early with some extra accessories and was in the advertised condition. The Camera was a missing the eyepiece but worked fine with the LED screen. I tested it and then used it on a 3 Camera shoot and it performed like new. I know most people have switched to tapeless cameras but the image quality is very good for the low budget work that I do. I now have 3 matching Cameras in my set up. I feel it was a good deal for me.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
