I certainly wouldn't spend much for one, refurbed or not. I had one for a few months. It didn't match my VX2000's, so I sold it. Overall, they're a stout little camera. But the low light specs are not good, especially when compared to the VX2000/2100's.

I now have the Sony V1U and can safely say that the best camera I have ever had was the VX1000.
I took that camera all over the world, at sea for extended periods of time. After 10 years I had to retire it (with full honors).
The picture (SD DV) is outstanding for the price. I see no difference between SD from the V1U and my old VX1000 tapes. In low light, there is no comparison, the VX1000 is better. However, that is comparing apples to oranges.

Pachanga, your exerience is the same as mine. My vx1000 is a great camera for sd video. I had hoped my v1 was going to be the same leap in picture quality as the vx1000 but not so. In sd mode you can cut between the 2 cams fairly easily. If your looking for a good sd cam for low money, I'd look at a used vx1000. jm

ditto all the above.

my original vx1000 (purchased 96) is still going strong with it's third owner. i'm sill editing footage from it, both for it's new owner, and from my archive. great little camera. built like the proverbial, and i don't know if it's ever had more than a tape cleaner put through it, but between myself and the second owner, the only problem that ever arose was with the wet vs dry tapes, and once everyone stuck to sony, all's been hunky-dory.

leslie

But here's the rub. The VX1000 / VX2000 / PD150 don't do 16:9.

If someone ever bought out a 16:9 version of any of those cameras they'd sell like hot cakes, even though they'd still be SD.

Bob.

I bought my VX-1000 in 1995 for $5,000, including metal case, and I used it every month of every year to produce commercials and stuff and I am still using it today to shoot a weekly half-hour cable TV show. I also got the first Video Toaster in 1991 and was one of the first to get Vegas 3.0. Thank good ness for Vegas. But I'm telling you, in 1995 you could hardly tell a VX-1000 picture from Betacam and you could intercut them and only an engineer would know the difference. Probably the greatest camera ever and I don't plan to get rid of mine until it dies.

They do do 16:9, but you have to take a sharpie and draw drop-down lines on the monitor you use to shot with. Then, when you bring it nto the timeline, go to pan and crop and do 16:9 - Perfect! Pretty soon you don't even need the lines on the monitor, you just see it in 16:9.

If you're buying one used or refurbished, be sure the capstans are OK. That and the mechanism which raises the MiniDV bay are what usually need replacing.

I suppose my next purchase will be an EX-1, but I'm going to wait until the bugs are out.
Burt

"They do do 16:9, but you have to take a sharpie and draw drop-down lines on the monitor you use to shot with. Then, when you bring it nto the timeline, go to pan and crop and do 16:9 - Perfect!"

You're blowing away 30% of your vertical resolution doing that.

We used to do real 16:9 on a PD150 but using a Century Optics anamorphic adaptor. Only problem was it's expensive and not zoom through.

Bob.