Vacation of a Lifetime: HC1 or HC3 or A1?

[Tim Cool]

Originally Posted by Dennis Kane

Hi Tim
Been to Bora Bora as well as the other islands. I have the A1, just returned from Africa. First thing, you need filters. Especailly the polarizer. Get a tripod, you need to have the camera stationary and let nature do the movement. With the A1 you can use a proper microphone and get much better sound. Trust me, sound makes a big difference. Even the waves crashing on the the beaches will be more exciting with a proper mic. It appears you do not have the time to really investigate all the nuances and benifits the A1 has, so worst case put it in auto. Bora Bora is a very bright environment with lots of reflective light. Use the polarizer and a tripod with a good mic and you will be amazed.
DKane

Dennis!
What (Power) adapter do you recommend for Bora Bora?
Tim

[Dennis Kane]

Originally Posted by Tim Cool

Dennis!
What (Power) adapter do you recommend for Bora Bora?
Tim

Fortunately the A1 comes with a universal power supply, it will run on both 110, and 240. Bora Bora is French so I think it is 240, but been a long time. Do bring universal adaptor plugs. You can bring a power converter if you want (I do) but I don't think you will need it. In fact I don't think I have ever used mine.
DKane

[Tim Cool]

Originally Posted by Dennis Kane

Fortunately the A1 comes with a universal power supply, it will run on both 110, and 240. Bora Bora is French so I think it is 240, but been a long time. Do bring universal adaptor plugs. You can bring a power converter if you want (I do) but I don't think you will need it. In fact I don't think I have ever used mine.
DKane

Thanks for the info! I want to be all ready to record my vacation.
Tim

[Bruno Donnet]

Originally Posted by Dennis Kane

Bora Bora is French so I think it is 240

It's in fact 220V / 60Hz (and not 50Hz like in France or in Europe) with mainly the European (continental) type of plug (physically different from the US one): but all the Hotels propose an 110/220V with a dual European/US plug into the bathroom on which any small device, like a consumer camcorder, can be connected.

So in every cases, the power supply of the A1 will work...

[Tim Cool]

Originally Posted by Bruno Donnet

It's in fact 220V / 60Hz (and not 50Hz like in France or in Europe) with mainly the European (continental) type of plug (physically different from the US one): but all the Hotels propose an 110/220V with a dual European/US plug into the bathroom on which any small device, like a consumer camcorder, can be connected.

So in every cases, the power supply of the A1 will work...

That's excellent information, the less I have to buy/carry the better!
Tim

[Mike Gugger]

im thinking of getting either the HC3 or the A1U. I'm in 9th grade. I am kind of a hobbist. I film skate videos, short films of any kind, music videos, "fooling around with poeple & seurity guards" (pranks & the kind of stuff u see on www.ebaumsworld.com) which cam would be perfect for the types of things i film?

Right now I have a DCR-TRV103. I have been useing it for about 4 years. With the DCR-TRV103 I just finished filming a short film on the end of WWII. It came out real nice but it could have been a thousand times better. The DCR-TRV103 is very old and big. Just last night i went down town with friends and took it with me so I could film the security guards when we get into trouble. When I do those kind of things I wish i had something smaller like the HC3.

so lets say I were to get the HC3. Could I get a lens hood & high quality mic like the A1U, so that when I want to film 'prank videos' that I could just use the HC3 alone and when I want to film a big project like the WWII thing I could use the HC3 with the mic, lens hood...etc?
I also do a lot of blue/green screening.

Here is a demo trailer for the WWII film. I tested out different effects in the trailer. the quality isnt too good, b/c I had to compress it to upload it to that site.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTBSOO3Rniw
keep in mind that I made this with the DCR-TRV103, i was limited to supplies and it was a social studies project.

here is a rough draft of one of the scenes in the short film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI35bJ5SIlY
I wasn't using the tripod so its a lil shakey & in the last part i didnt add the shots for the Americans

[Tim Cool]

Hopefully some on this board can give you some info. I'm using the A1 and loving it. But it would have been out of reach for me when I was your age.
:)
Tim

[Giroud Francois]

frankly , if you want a good time there, just forget all about video, computer and so on... take your swimsuit, mask and snorkel and just have fun.
...and et your wife/friend take the pictures

[Stu Holmes]

Originally Posted by Giroud Francois

frankly , if you want a good time there, just forget all about video, computer and so on... take your swimsuit, mask and snorkel and just have fun.
...and et your wife/friend take the pictures

Err....
88.3% of good pictures/video is the person holding the equipment IMHO.
Wouldnt let wife/gf anywhere near my camcorder!
And in my experience, most ladies on a beachy island like Bora Bora will have no inclination whatsoever to do anything but sunbathe. And talk (of course). They'd take deliberately bad video just so they won't be asked again..
(just a bit of fun, tongue-in-cheek, no flames pls..)

When are you off to Bora Bora Timbo ? are you pretty happy so far with your A1? Anything spring to mind that you'd like to know before you go?

[Tim Cool]

Originally Posted by Stu Holmes

Err....
88.3% of good pictures/video is the person holding the equipment IMHO.
Wouldnt let wife/gf anywhere near my camcorder!
And in my experience, most ladies on a beachy island like Bora Bora will have no inclination whatsoever to do anything but sunbathe. And talk (of course). They'd take deliberately bad video just so they won't be asked again..
(just a bit of fun, tongue-in-cheek, no flames pls..)

When are you off to Bora Bora Timbo ? are you pretty happy so far with your A1? Anything spring to mind that you'd like to know before you go?

I tend to agree. My wife will take pictures (TONS of them) but the camcorder is my baby.
I go in late July. Dreaming about it!
I do have a question: I was shooting some test footage with a circular polarizer and the Sony wide angle.
1 - I noticed when I was zoomed in you can see the corners of the lens.
2- While panning-even slowly-there's distortion in vertical lines such as light poles etc.

I think I have it set up correctly: first the polarizer then the wide angle. It's tricky getting it snug since the circ want's to turn.
Thanks for all the help!
Tim

[Stu Holmes]

Bit surprised you're getting slight vignetting with a polarizer and WA lens.
It will vignette slightly in photo mode but this is the first time i've heard of an A1 vignetting in tape mode when using a pol and a WA lens.

the distortion of vertical objects is probably due to the rolling shutter uses on that cam. Generally it's not that noticeable apparently.

On the pol and WA lens thing - i recommend putting the pol filter on the camera and then putting a rubber band round the pol filter, as this will give something to grip with the tips of your fingers when you screw on the WA lens. - without, like you say, the pol filter rotates, so really you need to squeeze a finger or two in there and stop it rotating so that you can screw on the WA lens. Be careful to make sure the WA lens really is screwed properly onto the pol filter as you do NOT want it to fall off the camera. Obviously with a pol filter, it's often that you're rotating the whole affair to get a different polarizing effect, so unless the WA lens is screwed firmly onto the pol filter, you may be actually *unscrewing* the lens and it might fall off = bad news.
- just a heads up.

Does anyone else who has an A1 or an HC1 have any vignetting at all *in tape mode* when using a WA lens (VCL-HG0737Y?) on their camera with a circular polarizer filter?

[Tim Cool]

Originally Posted by Stu Holmes

Bit surprised you're getting slight vignetting with a polarizer and WA lens.
It will vignette slightly in photo mode but this is the first time i've heard of an A1 vignetting in tape mode when using a pol and a WA lens.

the distortion of vertical objects is probably due to the rolling shutter uses on that cam. Generally it's not that noticeable apparently.

On the pol and WA lens thing - i recommend putting the pol filter on the camera and then putting a rubber band round the pol filter, as this will give something to grip with the tips of your fingers when you screw on the WA lens. - without, like you say, the pol filter rotates, so really you need to squeeze a finger or two in there and stop it rotating so that you can screw on the WA lens. Be careful to make sure the WA lens really is screwed properly onto the pol filter as you do NOT want it to fall off the camera. Obviously with a pol filter, it's often that you're rotating the whole affair to get a different polarizing effect, so unless the WA lens is screwed firmly onto the pol filter, you may be actually *unscrewing* the lens and it might fall off = bad news.
- just a heads up.

Does anyone else who has an A1 or an HC1 have any vignetting at all *in tape mode* when using a WA lens (VCL-HG0737Y?) on their camera with a circular polarizer filter?

Thanks for the tips, I think that should help. I'll try and post an example later today.

[Warren Ix]

Originally Posted by Mike Gugger:
"so lets say I were to get the HC3. Could I get a lens hood & high quality mic like the A1U, so that when I want to film 'prank videos' that I could just use the HC3 alone and when I want to film a big project like the WWII thing I could use the HC3 with the mic, lens hood...etc?
I also do a lot of blue/green screening."


Mike, you should get a professional tool. It's never too early to learn using the right tools. The A1U is perfect for your "dual purpose" use. It can be a professional looking/working setup with the external mic attached, or with the mic removed, it becomes "stealth."

The HC3 does NOT have an external mic input (maybe with the hotshoe?) or manual controls that you would want for filmmaking. The HC1 is nice, but the A1U has many pro features that you will want to explore sooner or later. There is a lot of menu (good for greenscreen tweeking) color and gamma adjustment that is disabled in the HC1 and, of course, never abled to begin with in the HC3. The HC3 does NOT have filter threads, while the A1U/HC1 will allow you to use wide angle conversion lenses, even the Century Optics Extreme Fisheye! Perfect for skate videos.

The HC3 is fine if you need the absolute smallest HDV camera available currently ;-) but is not a professional tool, while even the HC1 has manual control and mic/lens options.

Alas, price is often a factor, so get the best tool you can afford.

Is the HC1 discontinued?

[Stu Holmes]

Originally Posted by Warren Ix

Is the HC1 discontinued?

Yes.
It's no longer being manufactured, it's been removed from sony.com, but some bigger stores still have stock. $1349 at B&Hphoto.

[Warren Ix]

The HC3 DOES have filter threads, so wide angle adapters would be possible with all three cameras: HC1/A1U and HC3. The HC3 has 30mm threads vs. 37mm for the HC1/A1U.

My goof :-\