New Sony sub-$2000 HDV camcorders
 

Sony has introduced two new single-chip, 1080i HDV camcorders. One is a consumer model, the other is a "pro" model.

www.camcorderinfo.com

http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/5930

John

HDR-HC1 new Sony HDV announcement
 

I just saw this today! I may re-evaluate buying the HDR-FX1 for now. I did not see any posts on this yet so I apologize if this was already discussed.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-Announces-Under-$2000-HDV-HDR-HC1-High-Def-1080i-Camcorder-.htm

me too, i was just about to order the jvc hd1 which costs 2000$

Pretty cool. I wonder if the floodgates are about to open and if we'll see other companies follow suit with low cost HDV cameras? Will be interesting to see how well these sell.

Look in classifieds if you want my hd1 for a decent used price, but if you have the dough, I would wait for this one. I am a bad salesman by the way.

Woah. That is an awesome little beast! Talk about bang for the buck! Won't replace my FX1, or make me sell it - but I'll be very interested to see what the video coming off it looks like. Sounds like it has a 1920x1440 4:3 chip. I assume "Cinematic mode" is Cineframe24 or Cineframe30. I wish they'd say.

This is exactly what the market needs - something to bring the price of HDV workflow down by increasing the user base.

Technically I can't imagine the performance though - the lens is small, and they don't state the chip size. I imagine it must be a 1/3" style or bigger - because I'd question the tiny lens will resolving the full 1920x1440 resolution.

-Steve

Sony HDR-HC1
 

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/59601

What's this? A smaller/cheaper FX1?

Apparently, it uses a 1/3" chip, so you'll have a lot of depth of field, whether you want it or not :)

Also, it uses a CMOS chip, which have traditionally been pretty noisy, but the article claims that they have thrown a lot of engineering resources at the problem.

John

thanks but i live in greece

See the press release for the pro model: http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/5925

Evidently the sensor is 1/3" and 4:3 like you say, and you can shoot stills to memory at that resolution. Basically they are doing something pretty similar to the HC-1000 but at higher resolution. I wonder if it will move the manual controls to the touch screen like the HC-1000 also?

so there isnt a 16:9 aspect ratio? a 2000$ camcorder with no wide screen videos?

No - it shoots native widescreen 1440x1080i HDV. The chip is 1/3" 4:3 CMOS with 1920x1440 resolution for taking stills to memory stick.

Other reasons why either this and it's big brother are awesome:

B-cam for FX1 and Z1U owners!
Cheap HDV deck!

-Steve

Doubt it: I'm not sure of the difference between CMOS imagers and CCDs, but it only has one, so presumably it won't produce an image as good as the FX1.

Sony are normally pretty good at compartmentalising their products so they don't compete with each other :).

Boyd, take a look at the high-rez PR images, specifically this side shot:
http://news.sel.sony.com/digitalimag.../32/177032.jpg

Notice that the rear looks SMOOTH, with no protruding buttons or select/click wheel. And also notice that near the front, there's a rocker switch labeled "EXPOSURE/VOLUME".

Hmm...

Looks cool!

I imagine this would make a nice outdoor-adventure camera as a companion to the FX1/Z1 series. Hiking, biking, snowboarding, etc. Or just anywhere you want to get b-roll where large cameras are frowned upon (traveling Europe?)

I think in 2 years every camera on the shelf will be HD. Which is good for the workflow, but does take away some of the *mystique* of shooting HD :)