HC1 auto white balance
 

hi,
please forgive this ignorant question but for all the tea in china I can not work out if the auto white balance is set every time the camera is switched on or each time recording is switched on. cheers

As soon as a camcorder is being switched on in camera mode, AWB tracking is active (lenscover removed) and stays active, also during recording. It will adapt the WB setting needed for the scene with a certain delay (about 10 seconds). Leaving yr can in rec. standby while walking with the lens pointed down towards e.g. the (yellow) sand will result in a blueish whitepoint shifts.

HC1 - Two Quick Questions
 

What is the minimum aperture of the lens? f8? f11?

In bright light, it seems to like the shutter speed of 125 (as opposed to 60), I guess because it feels that 60 will cause too much difraction with a smaller aperture?

Anyway if I choose manual shutter speed and set it myself, how can I know what aperture it has chosen? The only way I can find out is by shooting a clip and playing it with the Time Code Data displayed. But it is cumbersome...

Thanks.

At f11 (available?) diffraction will introduce reduced resolution with those small CCD structures. Especially when component HDV is being played it will be visible. A higher shutterspeed will introduce some more strobing which can be different (breakups?) with CMOS readout .

How to edit DV to HDV on HC1
 

I'm looking for edit software to transfer the mini DV tapes that I have from my previous Sony TR-20 to HDV on my HC1, and how to do it.I don't know if it's possible.
Thanks in advance for any help and Happy New Year.

If Sony TR-20 is DV-tape then HC1 can play them back. I have played back DV-tape from a Canon XL-2 with no problems. It might be possible to transfer by using firewire directly to the HC1.

HC1 model differences?
 

I see some folks here have a HC1E model.

I have a HC1K.

Does anyone know what kinds of differences are made between these lettered revisions?

Hc1e
 

The letter "E" added to the HC1 denotes that it is the european version which is a pal version. The Japanese version is the HC1J. I haven't seen the "K" yet, but I would assume it refers to the intended country of use.

Per this thread
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=48466

It seems the HC-1K models are "international versions", with multiple language support.

Mark

a-ha. good to know. thanks.

Best Price HC1
 

Okay, ready to buy and HC1. Where is the best price from a place that is not gray? PCandPlasma has it for 1099, but after seeing there "storefront", na.

Thanks

Dave

B&H $1499 free shipping in usa ..macworld show price good till Jan. 27-06 ..
call em and ask for show price ... 800 686 0955

or

www.bhphotovideo.com/mac06

Wow, I just checked that link and they've got the XL-H1 for $8,499. I thought it was still under Canon's "price lockdown".

Cinema Effect / Cineframe mode on the HC1?
 

I'm an FX1 user and have found the Cineframe modes (both 30 and 24) useful in my productions. I've been asked by an HC1 user for workflow suggestions, and I'm trying to figure out if any of the Cineframe modes exist in the HC1, and if so, which ones they are.

I also downloaded the manual and read through it, but it's remarkably subtle as to what it's "cinema effect" is.

Anyone know for sure?

Thanks,
-Steve

See the following: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=56590

HC1 vs. A1, Battery Life, other questions
 

I've been looking at both the HC1 and the A1, and from what i've seen, it looks like they're pretty similar. There are just a couple of questions that i have:

1) Does the HVR-A1 have better battery life than the HC1? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the HC1's battery life is horrible, but is the A1's any better?

2) Is the A1's hot shoe still the "proprietary" version of the HC1? And, if it is, is it possible to put a standard hot shoe mount onto this shoe?

3) Is the included mike with the A1 any good, or would it have to be replaced?

1) No, of course not. The A1 IS the HC1 with many improvements. Increasing battery life would require a total re-design internally. However, I don't know where you heard that the HC1's battery life is poor. It is on-par with other camcorders; especially SONY ones. Sure, the included battery life blows, but what camcorder that you have purchased had a good battery life included? Just get the 71D battery from SONY ($37 on eBay) and you can get over 3.5 hours of shooting.

2) The A1 has both, the SONY AIS hot shoe and a traditional cold shoe. The audio module that you see attached to it, is attached via this cold shoe. However, SONY's genius team has placed an additional cold shoe on top of the audio module so that you still have a cold shoe available, even when the audio module is in place.

3) I am quite happy with the A1 microphone. However, most users seem to dislike it. The Rode NTG1 ($230) seems to be the most common choice for a replacement.

HC1 Question
 

Ok, I'm about to purchase a new camera and I would very much like for it to be an HC1. My question is if my computer can play an HD stream flawlessly fullscreen.....or as full screen as letterboxed gets...Does that mean it can handle editing HDV? I know it's a bit of a stretch but I'm hearing people who have half the resources I do being able to edit. A P4 with 3 gigs of RAM and an unGodly amount of Hard Drive space. This is really the only thing standing between me and the camera. Of course I understand the need for extra software added on to Premiere to be able to process HDV more efficiently.

Does anyone know if Newegg will allow you to pay with 2 different types of payment on one order? Yeah not the best place to ask this question but that's where I'll be getting the HC1 from so I thought I'd ask.

Thanks

OK a couple of things .. first, ability to play back an HD fullscreen depends a lot on the file type. For example, I can't playback fullscreen uncompressed (hard drive is too slow). Fullscreen MPEG2 is less taxing on a processor than MPEG4, and M-JPEG is less taxing again.

Second, the ultimate show-stopper for HDV is inability to capture footage from the camera. For example, using PremierePro with Cineform, I could capture OK with a P4 2.8GHz, but not with an AthlonXP2600+.

Once the footage was into te computer, either computer could edit the footage - just tediously slowly in the case of the 2600+....

Generally, Cineforms products (ConnectHD for Vegas or AspectHD for Premiere) facilitate the lowest-spec computers to do feasible editing, and the minimum recommended processor for Aspect HD is a 2.8GHz P4.

Well I have a P4 3 Ghz so I think I'm ok on that end. I've got a total of 460 gigs of Sata drive space totally dedicated to capturing video and a seperate 160 gigs for capturing audio. I really think my computer can handle it.

Strange though. I've noticed when I start up Premiere it says Multi-Processor Detected. I don't believe I have dual cores or anything like that. Strange.

Now if I can just get Newegg to cooperate with me I can have this camera in plenty of time to learn it.

I think Premiere is detecting that you have a Hyperthreading-capable processor.

HC1 vs. A1 - Picture Quality
 

I'm in the market for a HDV camcorder and at first I was just going to buy the HDR-HC1. Then I found the 'pro' version of that camera and it has been interesting me since. Clearly the audio feature is very nice, and I like that it can record onto DVCAM.

So honestly, which has better image quality? If the A1 looks better is it easily noticable?

I am definitely swaying towards the A1, I'm just curious as to what you guys think. The Black stretch is looking appealing, so does the CineGamma. I wish I could see the 24p setting in motion. I haven't been able to find a clip of that. Does anyone have a clip? (I'll take it in any format, but if you have it in Quicktime that runs best on my G5.)

Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate any response.

Of these, Black Stretch may be the most valuable. All the Sony HDV camcorders are "biased" (not in a bad sense of the word) to not overexpose the highlights in very high-contrast situations.

Unfortunately, if the details in the shadow areas are important -- they may or may not be -- they will go nearly full black. BS lightens these areas and restores the content of the shadows -- before they are lost forever.

CG and "24fps" are of dubious value -- see the thread on CinemaMode to learn about what the HC1 offers.

Also, consider the price difference between an A1 and an FX1. Maybe its worth it to YOU to go the FX1.

It would be worth it to me, but I really don't feel like spending that much more for the FX1. I can't find one from a reliable place for less than $3,200. It's too big a price jump when I factor in the $500 mail-in-rebate.

How is it editing HD? I've only ever edited in standard definition. I'm aware that you need a fast hard drive for HD. I have a Dual 2 Ghz G5, 2.5Gbs of Ram, and 2 X 160 HDD's. I'd be using FCP 5. Would editing be somewhat smooth with this system?

Thank you for your response. It does help me out. Thanks again.

I bought the A1U, but I think the innards are very similiar on the two cams. You get the XLR audio inputs and some other things, black-stretch as explained above. Plus, it's in bad-ass BLACK!

I use FCP5 on my G5, dual 2.7, 3.5 gigs ram, standard hard drive, it seems fine - all through late January I've been messing with HDV footage, in HD projects as well as using HD shots in SD projects. The images look great, and the HD shots dragged into SD sequences allow you to crop your shot a little or pan-and-scan if you want, or you can letterbox it. You need to render those shots in your timeline, of course, as they won't play otherwise unless your whole project is HD.

And you can always transfer the shots in as SD DV if you want, the camera will convert the HDV to a DV stream and output it over firewire.

I think I've typed that same paragraph three times today!

hc1 Stablization
 

i found that stablization off was better pic quality.
any tired canopus hq codec? is it better than cineform?

i shot this few days ago in seoul...

http://citv.dip.jp/hd06/light.wmv

Wow, really impressed. Footage pans definetely seem a lot smoother without stabilization turned ON; especially when using such low bitrates like you did.

I have some questions though:

1. What settings did you use? Was the camcorder using full AUTO? Somehow noise looks incredibly low.

2. Was this footage handheld? I know that some parts obviously weren't, but the beginning downward pan on the statue, was that handheld? I'm trying to get a feel of how shaky footage will be with stabilization set to OFF.

Thanks for another great video. :)

That video is very nice, I'm sorry I missed your previous video.

I too would like to know how you shot those, I didn't like the low light footage that I had taken.

I can't comment on the codec choices, because I don't know much about either.

HDV capture has stopped working on my HC1
 

About a month ago I bought a Sony HDR HC1E. I captured HDV footage from it via firewire (I-link) to my Win XP sp2 PC via Adobe Premiere and Aspect HD with no problems initially.

However, I am now unable to capture any HDV footage at all. If I set the i.link CONV to ON HDV->DV then I can capture in mini DV format with no problem. However, reverting to i.link CONV OFF tehn I cannot capture the HDV footage.

The touchscreen is showing HDV1080i in the top left hand corner.

I have tried rebooting the PC. I have tried turning off and on the camcorder. I have tried restoring the factory default settings using "reset" with a paper clip in the hole beneath the autolock switch.

The camcorder is in PLAY/EDIT mode.

One thing that confuses me is that on the upper right of the screen it says "HDVin iLINK". I would have thought that should say "HDVout" if I want to capture. But the only way I can change it to saying HDVout is by setting the camcorder mode to "camera - tape" and if I try and capture in that mode, HDLink (a part of Aspect HD) tells me that the camcorder is in camera mode.

In HDLink, on the computer, clicking on the PLAY, FORWARD and REVERSE buttons does cause the tape in the camcorder to play forward and reverse.

So the Firewire/iLink connection seems to be OK.

I womder if I am missing a setting somewhere or whether I need to be returning my HC1 to the Sony Centre from where it was bought?

Any suggestions/help gratefully received.

Thank you.

(oh yes - I am in the UK and it is a PAL version)

Variable Frame Rates on HC1 - '1080P'
 

You read correctly;

Dial up the Flash Motion effect and you have variable frame rates from standard to very low 1fps (or maybe smaller I haven't counted) , ok you loose some vertical rez but it looks great at '1080P'

what is more - you can choose any shutter speed from 1/50s upwards (HC1E)
---
Fed up with not being able to control sharpness and exposure with CineFrame?

Easy - just dial up Flash Motion and you have '25P' (HC1E), (first click from the left) - but the great thing is you can change exposure; sharpness and shutter speed etc at a vertical rez which is the same as CineFrame - but you loose the gamma change that CF gives you. Nevertheless a lot more useful huh?


I wonder if folks with the NTSC version can choose a Flash Motion speed close to '24P' - try it and report back here

It looks like the HC1 gives 30P at 1/60th (or faster) at the first notch on the bar.

I admit I havent actually looked at footage shot with it set to the next notch down in an NLE, but my guess is it will still be 30P, but with some frames being repeats. Likely pairs of such frames, giving a pseudo 15P?

i did a side by side comparison of 1/30th shutter and one-click flash motion. 1/30th is definetly smoother, whereas one-click has this sort of ghosting motion to it. really weird.

HDV in/out on HC1 - what does your say?
 

I wonder if people with an HDR HC1 could check something for me please. On mine when I connect the i-Link cable to it and a PC, in PLAY/EDIT mode, in the top right side of the screen it says for just a fraction of a second, HDVout but this then changes to HDVin, and I am unable to capture HDV footage.

Do other people's say HDVin or HDVout in this scenario?

Thank you.

yes the flash mode does create an odd ghosting effect like both fields are being blended together as a single progressive frame.

I think mine says HDV in (can't be certain though) but it still captures

Most peculiar.

I changed to a different tape and still wouldn't work. So I reinstalled Aspect HD and it is now capturing HDV properly (and shows HDVout on the screen when doing so).

HC1 HDV Capture
 

Mine says HDVin, until I click on the "PLAY" button in Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinium, when it switches to HDVout.

I however, cannot get the HDV capture to work on two different computers. The control buttons work (PLAY, REWIND etc), however, once I select PLAY, the video starts playing on the camera, the timer starts on the Vegas software, but I don't see any video preview whatsoever (even though I can see it on the HC1 LCD screen). The software on both test computers are fresh installs of Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinium v6.0.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Michelle

I use Premiere Pro - I'm not familiar with Vegas. But shouldn't there be a button for "reocrd" or "capture" rather than "play"?

Lens Magnification in HC1 and HC3
 

I've calculated the lens magnification that is found in the Sony HC1 and HC3 HDV camcorders. Although they have different diameter lenses, they both provide 10X zoom range.
The actual effective magnification is a different factor than the zoom range. Based on the focal lengths posted by Sony for the video and still picture modes, I came up with these figures:

The two models have focal lengths, both at the wide and tight ends, that are almost identical. The 35mm film equivalent focal lengths of the HC3 are 594mm at the tight end for video and 370mm for still pictures. This difference is due to the EIS margins taking up 41% of the diagonal measurement of the 1/3-inch CMOS, in video mode. So I figured the magnification effect to be 13.75X at full zoom in video mode and only 8.1X in still mode. When the EIS is shut off for still mode, the whole CMOS is used and this lowers the magnification effect.

Many people assume that the X-power of the zoom range indicates the magnification as well, but this is not always true and is coincidental when it happens. The 13.75X magnification is based on a comparison with other camcorders that use the 35mm film equivalent as their base. This is a nice magnification power for such small models, but a major part of it comes from the reduced active CMOS area, due to the EIS margins. If you add a highgrade Sony 2X telextender, you get 27.5X magnification in video mode and 16.2X in still mode. A drawback is that only about half of the CMOS pixels are active in video mode. If you could only turn off the EIS and have the whole CMOS become active, as it does in still mode, video quality would likely be increased. Maybe some control trick could be devised to accomplish this, as so many hidden features in these camcorders have been enabled.

Revision to Still-Picture Mode Magnification Figure
 

I re-calculated the figure in an improved way, for the image magnification in still-picture mode, that is given in the message above. At full-zoom, the still-mode of the HC1 and HC3 gives 8.57X (17.14X with a 2X telextender). The video mode magnification, calculated to include the effect of the EIS pixel margins, is the same as stated above for the HC3 and just slightly different for the HC1. It is 13.7X (HC1) and 13.75X (HC3). It becomes 27.4X (HC1) and 27.5X (HC3), with a 2X telextender.