Capture highest possible rez (1080i). Edit, then downconvert in software to DV. It's better quality than letting the camera do the down convert in hardware.

Until I get HD-DVD or Blueray, I'm rendering out back to cineform M2T and running a master back to tape via Cineform HDlink.

HC1 and using 2 mics
 

Hey everyone, for the first time I need to connect 2 mics to my HC1. I'm going to be doing interviews in a potentially noisy environment and I need a mic on both the interviewer and interviewee. I already bought a 2x mono L/R->stereo minijack adapter, so I can physically connect both mics no problem.

My question is what should I do about audio levels? The two mics put out very different sound levels. If I leave the HC1 in AGC, will it seperately adjust the L/R gain, or will it adjust until one of the channels is right and the other will be too low? If I use manual gain then I can't adjust the channels independantly, so I'm not sure what I should do... any advice? Thanks!

Get one of these!
 

Jason,

I would suggest that if you are going to use the camera for taping things other than the "home video" type that you get one of these....

A Beachtek DXA-2s

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

It works wonderfully for me when I want more than 1 mic and want to be able to control the levels individually!

Plus it gives you the great feature of having XLR inputs!!

It was worth every penny even though I don't use my camera as often as I'd like to....

There are other models from Beachtek out there that have more features but for me and my HC1!

Check out my camera here:
http://blog.helpcharliegetwell.com/

Note: (I made a cold shoe adapter for my Rode VideoMic), The Beachtek adapter is the black box on the bottom of my camera.


I hope that helps!


Charlie

Hi Charlie

good suggestion on that Beachtek unit.

does it supply phantom power? if not then aren't you a little restricted to using XLR-connection mics that have internal battery power? Whats the equivalent Beachtek box (fairly small for fitting to something like HC1) with phantom power?

thanks

HC1 setting to record drag racing
 

Hello everyone. This weekend I am going to record a drag racing event for my cousin who is racing his car. It is expected to be a bright and sunny Fall day. What settings should I use as a starting point to get the most out of my HC1?

I want to know if I should use manual white balance or the preset WB. Also, Should I change the shutter speed at all? Lastly, can I and/or should I use infinite focus so that I don't have any issues video taping from the starting line all the way to the finish line (1/4 mile)?

Anyway, thanks in advance for all the great help everyone provides on this awesome site.

-Jose

Were it me...
Manual white balance (always)
Autofocus off
No problem being set to infinity, particularly if you're on a sunny day.
You might consider a UV filter, and potentially a circular polarizer if it's really hot on the track.

Douglas,

Thank you for the prompt response. I will try your suggestions this weekend. Once I have the footage I will post a small portion of it.

Again, thank you for your timely response.

-Jose

hc1 footage
 

hc1 footage

http://www.camuser.co.kr/cam_vm/VID_...D_720p_001.wmv

Very nice footage.

What settings did you use? What did you do in post-production? What program did you use?

Hc-1
 

Hi All,

I am looking for an HC-1, either used or new. Anybody know any dealers who still sell it?

Regards,


Jack Hubbard

Jack, the only dealers which we discuss in the DVinfo forums are our sponsors. You will find the full list here: http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors/

If someone wants to recommend a non-sponsor, please do so by sending an e-mail. Thanks for your understanding.

Problem with HC1 LCD.
 

Got a HC1 about 6 months ago and it's great-except just recently the LCD screen stopped working except when the screen is rotated to just one position. I think the wire (ribbon) is bad. Any suggestions on the problem or where I can get parts?

Looks like someone else had a similar problem not too long ago.
http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=78647
You might want to look into sending it in for repairs.

same exact post as a year ago
 

Thanks Chris Harris for showing that old post. My camera has the exact same problem. Not quite sure what to do-that is why I thought this forum might help. Whatever I do, I will post the results.

Hc1
 

Hi Boyd,

Thanks for the info. For the most part, I have discovered the HC-1 is out of production and hard to find. No new ones anywhere. I finally got one on eBay, used. This is for a relative who is getting started in the business and who is on a budget. The HC-1 has been a great camera for me; I have used it or had other people shoot for me in DC, London, Turkey, and Guatemala. It is a great camera for a rookie, and brings back good usable video if you hold the camera still. There are no deals on the HC-1 that I can see on web sites. Broadway camera, for example says it is in stock; but when you go to the site it is out of stock and the want to sell you the HC-3. (My first choice, B & H is out of stock). But for basics, the HC-1 does better work and is more user friendly. It has headphone inputs, manual focus, etc. I originally asked the question because I could not find it through the sponsor channels.

Regards,

Jack

Hc1 prices
 

I am thinking of buying a used HC1, but I would like to know the price range they are going for. Ebay is not much help because most of the HC1 I saw were days away from being sold. Has anyone done some research on the HC1 used? What is a good price for it?

Hc1
 

I got one for $1174 on eBay after drawing a blank everywhere else. No dealers I know of have them. Broadway Camera advertises it on the web, and when you go to the site, they say the HC-1 is discontinued and want to sell you and H3. I have seen them sell for up to $1300 on eBay.

I didn't get a manual or a lens shade, but the camera is pristine and did come with small and medium battery. Downloaded the manual and got it bound at Kinko's for $5. Bought the camera for my son in law as a starter, and I had a lot of the extras on hand. Got an A1U lens shade from Sony for $78.

Classifieds
 

Dave

Dave Campbell has an HC-1 for sale in the Private Classifieds. Posted yesterday at $1,300.

HC1 or HC3 effective ASA?
 

Has anyone determined the Sony HC1 or HC3's effective ASA?

I need this information and can't find it anywhere - likely no one has bothered to figure it out yet.

If you need help knowing how to measure here's a link,

http://www.spectracine.com/Spectra_Pro_4_artical_2.html

sending back hc1 red problems
 

where did you guys send your hc1 back too to have red problems fixed. is there a site or a phone # to call.. Also got a problem on playback only when using compnent or composite outputs that every so often a scrolling horizontal line will go from the top of the screen to the bottom. it has no color is very thin and just effects the picture. but when i transfer to hard drive it is fine...any one have this problem..very strange...

output device, output format? HC1?
 

I have a Sony HC1E HDV (Pal)
Captured with HDVsplit0,75 to harddrive and got m2t file.
Open Canopus Edius 4.
When i use HDV 1080 50i nothing worked to my m2t file.
If i use output format HDV 1080 25p it worked fine. HC1 is interlaced 50i, or?
Who do I know what to use?

hc1 clip
 

hc1 clip

http://www.camuser.co.kr/cam_vm/VID_...720p_3000k.wmv

You have to check the capture settings in your capture program to see how the footage is being captured. iMovie, for example captures my HD footage in 30p instead of 60i.

exposure and apperature control on the HC1?
 

Can you control the apperature/exposure on the Hc1? I remember reading in camcorderinfo that you could not, or is that a mistake?

You can control them, but it's not in the standard f stops.
There is a chart here that gives a table matching the aperture and amount of gain for each exposure setting.


http://hdvforever.com/hdv/exposure/

Note: There are only half as many HC1 settings as with the A1U, so if the chart says 16 that is the equivalent of 8 on the HC1 exposure scale.

Effective ISO
 

I won't vouch for this link either way, though my subjective experience seems to concur with his assessment... about 100-125 ISO is effective speed of my a1u. (Hc1's big brother)
But shoot, HDV for under $2k... still a deal IMO.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=82097

Analog capture with HC1
 

A review at camcorderinfo.net claims that:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...HC1-Review.htm

"Analog to Digital Pass-Through The HDR-HC1 can convert an analog signal to a digital one, though it can only do this in DV. It can't convert an analog signal to an HDV one".

To me it seems the HC has no analog capture capability; which is why I am trying to convert my old Video8 films using a PC and canopus ADVC 110.

Did I miss out somethingon the HC1's analog capture abilities??

Yours,

. Are

It's true, there is no such feature on this camcorder unfortunately.
I ran into this problem as well.
http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=72638

hollow sound when moving the hc1 around
 

I am noticing a hollow sound when moving the HC1 around in manual audio mode. Has anyone else noticed this? It is almost like when you move a hollow tube around quickly is the closest approximation I can come to what the noise is like.

Display Guide for the HC1 - how does it work?
 

When I go through my menu system for the HC1, I hit DISP Guide. It asks me for a position for the guide. I click on the screen and it always says : NO GUIDE. What is going on with it?

Display Guide
 

Are you touching the screen where an icon appears? This option should display the meaning of any icons in the area where you touch the screen.

I have tried touching all over - and there are no icons that appear as well.

I am missing the two guide icons - the one in the upper right and the one in the middle. When I click on them it says "No Guide". IS there something I have to turn on to get these icon working?

Hi,

Could you post an audio file as an attachment. Impossible to tell without listening to the sound...

Christian

Absolutely you will hear this effect when moving the camera. The mics on the HC1 are very sensitive and very directional. As humans, our ears will help compensate for changes in audio when we move our heads. The mics on the HC1, however, will not do that. Anytime you move a microphone, you will get a different sound becuase the sound waves are striking the diaphram at different angles. You can even effect the sound on the HC1 simply by putting your hand too close when focusing, etc. There's really nothing you can do about that unless you get a seperate, stationary mic to record your audio.

Getting an HC1
 

Well, I'm jumping in and getting an HC1. I'm kind of a tech junkie and a pretty serious photographer hobbiest and I want to learn some videography just for my own personal pursuit. What kind of minimum computer specs am I gonna need to do basic editing? My PC is OK for photo editing but it's gonna need some upgrades to take on video. I'm running XP Pro and an Athlon 64 3400 processor. I only have 1GB memory and I think my MB can take up to 3GB. I plan on capturing in HDV. How much drive space and memory will I need and will the Athlon processor cut the mustard?

Dan, you have the bare minimum amount of RAM. I have a Pentium D 2.8 Ghz (Intel's short-lived first dual-core processor) and used to have 1 GB of RAM (now have 2 GB). Editing HDV on Avid Liquid was pretty smooth, but not as fast now with 2 GB. I would recommend upgrading your RAM at least another GB.

How much hard drive space do you currently have? Keep in mind that standard miniDV and 1080i HDV take up the same amount of space: approx 13 GB per hour. So, you would need enough free space for the captured video clips, and enough for renderfiles which can add up very quickly on each project you do.

Thanks John. I figured I would definitely need more memory and more disk space. 13GB per hour - I was hoping someone would tell me how much space an hour would take up. You have got me headed in the right direction now.

Hc1 pixel upconversion
 

i have played around few pixel upconversion program..and the best method was canopus codec and quicktime.


http://www.dvuser.co.kr/zboard/data/...2112051579.wmv

http://www.dvuser.co.kr/zboard/data/pds/Untitled99.wmv

It would be nice to see the before and after...
What exactly did you do?