It is kind of strange that there's no high end counterpart to this camera. From the HC1 through the FX1 and FX7, there have been "pro' models with XLR inputs and other goodies the pro crowd demands.

I think a lot of the criticism of this camera should probably be held off until a sheet of actual specifications is released. This camera looks to have a much larger lens than the HC7, which should allow a lot more light in for the all-important low light needs of event videographers. If it has full manual controls, good low light performance, and the same image quality the HC series has, it will be a real hit. No, it's not going to be usable for broadcast, but that's not it's intended purpose (although I bet a lot of local cable TV commercials will be shot with this thing).

I can see a definite place for this new camera (like, in my hands), but I can see how a few additional features would make this camera competitive with the lower end pro units.

You mean, no high end counterpart *yet.* See earlier posts in this thread, specifically from Barry Green. If they had released these cameras in the opposite order, somebody would have said "it's kind of strange that there's no low end counterpart to this camera."

Point taken - but maybe the Z1 should have been designed as shouldermount from the outset, given it's size/weight? It seems a little silly that we now have fairly heavy prosumer cameras that shouldermounting would well suit (Z1, HVX200), whilst it appears a technical package quite appropiate for consumer styling is being given a bigger than necessary form.

And yet, there was that still camera they released a few years back that accepted... wait for it... Compact Flash. Kind of shocked everyone with that move. But the simple fact then was CF was of much higher capacity than MS and with higher pixel count sensors, they had to do something to maintain image quality. Ah, but I digress.

-gb-

Yes, for motion analysis. Sports comes to mind. Things like golf swings, etc that can be analyzed with this type of motion capture are an instructor's dream.

Here's a favorite Youtube video of mine showing it in action. Forget the resolution, it's what you can see that makes it usable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29nj7oLc9g8

-gb-

Wow 4 pages about a camera that was announced yesterday and won't be available till december. Rather than try to second guess what this camera will be like why don't we all just wait for an actual review. The a1u is a single chip cmos camera and most people praise it except for low light performance. I think this camera has potential, like most event videographers I would welcome a larger more stable shooting platform that shoulder mount camera provides.
P.S. In reading Sony's release the imply that the image quality is better than the hc7. At least thats how I read it.

It's already happened - look at http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProd...y=VN+TZ+Series and scroll down to 'Interfaces'.

Most of the current Sony Vaio range now supports SD cards - this model is fairly typical with slots for SD, ExpressCard and (of course) MemoryStick.

I don't know when the policy changed, I'm only glad it has.

How about that. Guess I shouldn't mention how much I love being proved wrong. Thanks for the clarification -- much appreciated,

Peter you've been a member here since 2004, and this comes as a surprise to you? Ha!

Because if we didn't second-guess it, then some other internet message board would do it anyway, and probably get most of it wrong.

Looks pretty similar to a Panny Camera...

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp...Model=AG-DVC20

Our school has the older models of these cams.

The following information supplied by Sony to Kevin Cook of the IOV in the UK may be of interest:

The above camcorder was introduced this week at the BIRTV show in China. It is a low cost DV/HDV camcorder targeted for wedding videography and education in developing markets.
We have decided not to promote this product in our region (Europe) as we feel that it does not offer the full functionality that our UK customers require, however, it will be available for sale if a customer deems it suitable and accepts the limitations.

Tentative SRP on the HVR-HD1000E camcorder is £1200.00 and availability is December 07.

For professional users there are the following limitations:

- No DVCAM capability (despite the USA release)
- Mini Jack for Audio
-No Timecode preset
-Mini Cassette only

All out efforts will be put behind the other shoulder mount camcorder with interchangeable lenses which is due in March 08. We will be showing a prototye of this at IBC. Further details of this model will be provided in due course.

---------------

Mike, tahnks for the info. DVCAM deosn't bother me a whole lot. But, as I figured, the unit will not offer XLR inputs for audio. For me that's a deal breaker, end of story.

Hmmmm.... Does this mean there will be a shoulder mounted Z1U/V1U-esque HDV camera or are they referring to something in the XDCAM line?

Looks like Sony is going after the market that Panasonic's been catering to for a while. I myself have a DVC60, which looks just like this camera, only not HDV, 3 CCDs, and with XLRs on the back. It's a lovely camera, and a lot of the shooters I work with who are used to full-sized ENG cameras really like it, compared to the typical prosumer camera. For me, I was trained to shoot events and sports on Sony DVCAM setups, so I love the design, as it's light, easy to hold, and yet harkens back to the big ENG rigs in many good ways (if only it had a manual lens, then I'd be in heaven!).

Panasonic's coming out soon with an AVCHD shoulder mount camera, that will hopefully be based around the DVC60, so that should be nice, and certainly, if Sony can put together a beautiful lightweight shoulder mount camera with HDV, that'll be a great option too.

Yes -- see http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....4&postcount=26