Re: Sony Night SHot Digital VideoCams

[Russ Rosener <rrosener@xxxxxxxxxx>]

 Mark W. Johnson wrote:

> danzig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> > Hi guys ;')
> >
> > I'm asking about the Sony DCR-TRV310V. I was just wondering. In
> > general is this camera a good buy ? ...
>
> I had a chance to play with a TRV310 this weekend, and learned alot more
> than the marketing literature tells you.  The NightShot mode is more of
> a special purpose low light level mode.  But the camera works very well
> for IR in the regular modes.
>
> In general, CCDs are sensitive to red, green, blue, and near-IR, but the
> manufacturers place color pixel masks over the CCD so that certain
> pixels are sensitive to only red, or green, or blue, and in general the
> IR sensitivity is masked.  I'm speculating now, but I believe that Sony
> probably has some pixels that are red, some green, some blue, and some
> with no mask, which give much better low-light performance, as well as
> allowing IR through.
>
> The electronics of the TRV310 seem to take everything in and process all
> the pixels electronically, and automatically switch between modes.  I
> set the camera to normal mode (not NightShot) aimed the camera outdoors,
> and got a normal color image.  When I placed a black piece of slide film
> (an unexposed picture from the end of the roll, which is an excellent
> IR-pass, visible light blocking filter, and is very inexpensive) the
> camera automatically switched to a colorless (gray) IR image.  Verrrry
> Cool.
>
> Mark W. Johnson
>
> P.S.  I think the only reason people use red filters rather than IR
> filters is that humans can see through them.  I suspect that if you
> place a red filter over the TRV310, you would probably see a blend of
> the red and IR images.  Since the video camera can see perfectly well
> through the IR filter, the red filter just partially defeats the IR
> effect.

On the Sony TR 917 I bought last year you can turn the Nightshot on during
the day if you want. I heard they were going to build in some kind of "
PG-13 Safety Feature" aftter the reports of Nightshot being able to see
through certain tyoes of fabric. Maybe you have this new one? On mine the
Nightshot IR is manual only.
I'll have to try the processed unexposed E-6, as I've been looking for a
cheap, disposable IR filter for video work.

Russ Rosener

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