Quote: "The footage definitely looks a little more awe inspiring directly from camera HDMI to HDTV, but the 720 Flash gives some idea of what the CX550 can do".

Thank you for posting this sample footage, Robert. It shows detail in shadowed areas and remarkable steadiness in what I guess are the handheld shots.

Have you seen the footage projected by a good video projector onto a medium-sized screen? I am just wondering whether a small-theatre audience would accept the quality in a documentary film. Like the surfing films, underwater films and skiing films of years ago, shot on 16-mm film and projected by the film-maker in various town-hall theatrettes to a paying audience of people interested in these sports, or in documentary subjects such as model aircraft or airshows.

Look forward to seeing your low-light sample footage.

Andrew Gyles

This camcorder gives amazing footage. Over the years I have attended the Banff film festival, featuring mountain adventure and mountain culture films. Many of these films are shot with camcorders that can not capture what the CX550 can do, and the audiences love them. What counts at these types of screening is presenting footage and a story that the audience cares about. Having said that, you will not have to make any apologies to the audience for the footage from the CX550.

Thanks for your reply, David. It confirmed my feeling that enthusiast audiences watching a documentary do not expect to see the same level of picture quality as audiences in a commercial theatre.

I'll look at the CX550, and also at the Canon HF-S21 if it is released soon.

Andrew Gyles

Dam, wish I would have waited... but couldn't pass up the CX500v at B&H for the 7 C notes.

Your CX500 should produce video that is extremely close to that of the 550 with only a few exceptions:

1. 550 focal lengths favor wide angle, 500s less so. I suspect that using the appropriate wide-angle or telephoto converters on either cam to emulate the other make this difference academic unless you never use converters. That is, I think this is a matter of convenience as opposed to quality.

2. The "filming while walking" stabilization on the 550 may be a notch better than that on the 500, but all other stabilizations should be the same. The CX500 was the pioneer in this area so it's where the true improvements kicked in.

3. Some fast-moving subjects filmed at the higher bitrate may look better than ones done on either cam at the 16/17 Mbs bitrate. I personally have never really been able to see the difference in example clips posted online but I'll credit that it might be there in some clips for some people.

4. The iAuto mode on the 550 may outperform the auto settings on the 500 but I suspect this will be a very limited difference that has been somewhat overhyped in the marketing. That is, I think the scenarios where this might be true are many fewer than the advertising implies. The auto settings on the 500 have seemed highly effective to me.

Otherwise, these two cams are far more alike than different in terms of actual performance.

I agree.
I have the XR 520 and the CX 550- Tom's right on target.

I wonder if something like the JuicedLink DT454 would work. It is meant for DSLR camera's and is supposed to be able to turn off the AGC.

Test footage - CX550 love
 

Hey folks - I am really happy to be posting here, the site is a bastion of good information and I'm starting to get my filming and production wings on a few small jobs.

I've got a Sony CX550ve and am adding the LetusMini and canon FD lenses to see what I can come up with image wise (ordered today so hopefully by next week).

I had a play with the nightshot and it was pretty funky, but not used it in a 'film a story' mode or similar yet - YouTube - Nightshot on off on off zooming at tree alien | CX550 test

Also done an active stability test Cycling one-handed in the rain, some shots at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a bit of shooting in the rain which I thought looked nice > YouTube - Aliens at the National Gallery of Victoria, heavy rain and trams | Sony CX550

I've learnt a lot already reading the board so heres to many years of knowledge and capturing some good stories :) Always up for a coffee so if you're in Melbourne say hello, otherwise I might just get to Burning Man in the US come September :)

Just about to press the button on Mr Jobs and get a macbookpro with finalcut.. mmm a lifetime of PC use.. yell out if I should cease and desist, working with AVCHD etc