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 :)

Another model to consider : HVR-A1U (http://news.sel.sony.com/digitalimag...hoto_id=176995

Yeah, I saw that. Looks like you can choose zoom or focus for the ring though. I wonder what's under the two snap-down covers on the bottom of the left side? Connectors? At least it isn't crippled with a small internal battery like the HC-1000.

Never thought of that but which really plays a bigger role in DOF, lens size or chip size? There is a 37mm lens on this vs. 72mm for the FX1 and 52mm for the JVCs.

Chip size. Lens size will vary the DOF a fair amount, but will not overcome the inherent wide DOF of such a small chip unless you're at a *massive* telephoto, which besides being virtually impossible to use for anything other than a locked-off shot this camera won't have anyway...

How interesting...

Only a single chip but it does sound like it has more native pixels for detail. This is of course assuming SONY will be using all of those pixels to record HDV. Since the chip uses square pixels it would almost have to use all of the pixels. Of course it will still end up 1440 x 1080 instead of 1920 x 1080 because of HDV but it is usually better to start with more and go down opposed to only starting with 960 pixels and using pixel shift to jump up. In a very well lit VFX environment this camera may actually be better than a Z1.

it is truly a consumer cam as it a bottom loader


http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Product/...iew/index.html

Ugh - bottom loading. Do you have to take it off the tripod?

Bryan: While I'm sure it's true that the FX-1 has a larger lens, don't confuse lens diameter with filter thread diameter. The lens is generally smaller than the filter threads (quite a bit on some cameras), making it hard to draw conclusions.

This will make HD1/10 sales to zero, unless they'll drop price down a lot.

I want one as second camera to my FX1E.

Sony introduced today PS3, it has 1080p output.

Radek

PS

Sony said FX/Z1 will be in middle of their HDV line. Will larger HDV camera be introduced soon?

Sony also said 1080i will get 90% HDV business. Does it mean that Canon and Sharp will also use 1080i?

R.

I think they should've used that new Sigma 3 layer single CCD or something, that could get the big and bulky 3CCD cams a run for their money.

Make an HDV consumer cam with a street price of $1000 and I'll be in.

I guess this would be a step in that direction however, considering it is the first truly consumer hdv camera.

I originally posted that it uses a 1/6" chip, apparently that is incorrect. It uses a single 1/3" chip.

John

so now is the turn of jvc and panasonic to release a competitive model to HC1, we must wait and i was just ready to buy the jvc hd1.

Which makes me even more certain (?) that when Canon introduces an HDV camera, it's more than likely to be a consumer model - like the XM2...
Interesting times guys...

Robin

You're lucky that you didn't order the HD1. :) The new Sony cam performs much better in low light and records better video (in terms of color fidelity, lattitude, etc...)

Have you used one, or is this just speculation? I didn't think they were available yet.