V1u official street price in the USA revealed
 

It is going to cost you $ 4290 for this puppy available from BH.

Obviously, the OFFICIAL WAR IS ON with the $3999 Canon XH-A1.

Yup, yup. I'm really close to buying my first HD/HDV camera and I have my eyes peeled wide open.

Good times indeed.

I hope it will be the same in Europe.

Floris - European prices have been out for a while now on the V1E. - the street-prcices were out much sooner than the V1U's street-prices.

There are firm "order now" prices of around Eur4300 from reputable European dealers. (300Euro below MSRP).
Prices *may* also drop a little from here before release date.

Interesting that the FX7 has the MAP enforced at $3499.99 but the V1 is allowed to be advertised at $500 below MSRP.
I suspect Sony may have dropped the MAP requirement or maybe even the MSRP to beat the Canon.

That is an interesting comment Drew and i think probably an accurate one. I have been wondering a little about the lack of advertised street-prices for the FX7, indeed the almost total lack of ANY advertisements for FX7.. Canon has no real competitor to the FX7, but it DOES have a competitor to the V1 ....

Sony for sure leaning on its dealers somehow with regards the FX7.
I guess they think it'll be a sure-fire sales success so they're trying to prevent street-prices falling due to dealer competition?? Maybe.

I'm not familiar with the "MAP" acronym : guessing at "Mandatory Advertised Price". Is that right Drew?

That would be minimum advertised price. They can sell it for less, but that's where you see 'CALL' or 'email me a lower price' on the various ads.

-gb-

Ah thanks Greg - got it. That makes sense - I have seen some prices for the FX7 on European websites where it says exactly that "Call for price".
It IS going to be a lower price than FX1 (obviously really), as the prices with a "strike-through" i saw, were almost exactly the same as the FX1's current street-price. It's just a question of how much lower.

Yes I found the FX7 advertised for $3149.95 at the 'other' prominent manhattan store. I had to email for a price though. So I think MAP is in effect at MSRP for the FX7.

If the Sony came onto the market this month, as the Canon is supposed to do, I might have a serious decision to make. As it is, I'm very close to popping for the Canon. Although we have bigger, better cameras at work, they're not as good a tool for the personal documentary I've been working on.

If I do this, I'm pretty sure it'll be in the next couple of weeks, so Sony missed me. I've used Sony cameras since my first one, a BVW300 I bought in 1989. All great cameras and problem-free. I thought I'd buy a Z1, but when the Canon was announced, it is a thousand bucks cheaper and does 24f, so those two items push me in that direction.

If the new Sony had 1/3" chips, I would figure out a way to wait till December, if at all possible. However, even though they say the angle thing is different and therefore the chips have the same useable area as 1/3" chips...I can't buy into that without hands-on experience. If somebody set up a test with both the V1 and any 1/3" chip HDV camera, used the exact same focal length on the lenses, both cameras at exactly the same distance from an object, then a guy could tell if that 1/4" is really 1/3" thing is really true. If the useable area of the chips are exactly the same as 1/3" chips, they should also have the same light gathering capability and low light performance should also be the same, one would think.

If the Sony came onto the market this month, as the Canon is supposed to do, I might have a serious decision to make. As it is, I'm very close to popping for the Canon. Although we have bigger, better cameras at work, they're not as good a tool for the personal documentary I've been working on.

If I do this, I'm pretty sure it'll be in the next couple of weeks, so Sony missed me. I've used Sony cameras since my first one, a BVW300 I bought in 1989. All great cameras and problem-free. I thought I'd buy a Z1, but when the Canon was announced, it is a thousand bucks cheaper and does 24f, so those two items push me in that direction.

If the new Sony had 1/3" chips, I would figure out a way to wait till December, if at all possible. However, even though they say the 45 degree angle thing is different and therefore the chips have the same useable area as 1/3" chips...I can't buy into that without hands-on experience. If somebody set up a test with both the V1 and any 1/3" chip HDV camera, used the exact same focal length on the lenses, both cameras at exactly the same distance from an object, then a guy could tell if that 1/4"-is-really-1/3" thing is really true. If the useable area of the chips is exactly the same as 1/3" chips, they should also have the same light gathering capability and low light performance should also be the same, and so would be depth of field control, one would think. And that would be revolutionary.

musings
 

I usually prefer Canon products, but I jumped into the HDV arena with a Sony FX 1 and HVR-M10U. If I can't read 24F with my deck, then I'll go with the Sony HVR-V1. The FX 1 has done everything I've asked, and at times a bit more. I'm confident the HVR-V1 will be a fine camera. This is all pending some hands on inspection, of course. I also like the integrated HDD solution, been disappointed with 3rd party products.

The new V1U has to deliver great 60i video. We know the 24p is great. Sony claims 800 lines resolution. The Canon XL-H1 already had that number in the bank so presumably will the XH-A1.

I'd be disappointed if I ditched the Z1U only to have the same 650 lines interlaced rez as before. The wide dynamic range and absence of smear are nice improvements, but the focal range also gives up some on wide end, which seems inconsistent to have a smaller cam that lets you move in closer, and a harder-to-get-steady-with long range.

These concerns along with flourite glass have me leaning toward the XH-A1 as a more assured hedge, the lower price is nice too.

If you have a Z1, I sure wouldn't trade it in for this smaller chip camera.

I wouldn't make such a statement until you see the V1. I was at the press conference and saw the footage on the 36' screen. I also saw all the added features which I wish my Z1 had. The smaller form factor is nice, it isn't a "small camera," it's like a PD-150. Sitting on the tripod you had to go right up to it to tell it wasn't a Z1. I wouldn't mind having a little more space and a little less weight in my camera bag. There was no clue from viewing the footage that this was a 1/4" chip camera. And the greater zoom range would really be helpful. I could get a wide adaptor that is smaller, lighter and cheaper than the Century 1.6x telephoto I use on the Z1.

I suppose the jury's still out on the details, but unless some new terrible thing emerges I would trade my Z1 for a V1 without looking back. I don't think I can shoot footage with that much resolution and latitude with my Z1. I suppose my only concern would be low light capability for shooting performances. But for the outdoor nature stuff I do, the V1 looks like a noticeable improvement.

I find it unsettling that there is an "official" street price. I thought that in a free market economy, street price was determined by such market forces as competition and supply and demand.

Boyd, do you think the V1 will have many manual controls on the outside of the camera, like the Canon has? Or will most of the settings be in the menu's, and so will we have to do it through the LCD?

Based on my brief time with the camera, I think it's missing a couple things that the Z1 has in the way of physical controls. I don't think there's a gain switch or white balance switch like the Z1. But it has the iris wheel, menu wheel (for shutter, etc). I believe gain and WB are set using the buttons on the rear of the camera in conjunction with the menu wheel, like the PD-150.

The V1 does not have a touch screen, so no menu functions are controlled there. There are a full compliment of manual audio controls. The attached photos show most of these. It may be a little hard to see, but the HDMI connector is under the LCD along with a USB port and memory stick slot.

You get some new versatility of assigning picture profiles and some other new functions to the user buttons on the V1 also.

I can remember thinking this same thing when going to my third Sony (VX2000). I tortured between it and G1 and XL1s. Ultimately, when I looked at these closeup, held them, and looked throught the viewfinder, I always like the fit, feel, and the viewfinders best in the Sony.

The new Canon's do have a no nonsense Sony- like design, but at this late date, with the FX1, VX 2000 and now this camera all using the same batteries, my next is likely to be the Sony too.

Here's a close up of the section underneath the LCD.
http://www.dvinfo.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=693&c=47

Lawrence, there is no "official" street price. What Jason (the original poster) meant is that the posted B&H price is what we can expect to pay for the Sony V1U on the free market. Don't let your fear, uncertainty, and doubt get the better of you.

Yes there IS a gain button on the back - top of the 2 buttons. Below is a dedicated Shutter speed button and below is White Balance. These, in conjunction (i beleive) with the little wheel below them, enables fast easy change of these settings with no need for a menu system.

Floris - all this information and lots more is freely available on this site and others (official Sony info and 'unofficial but accurate ' info too) and good pics and much solid facts and specifications exist on both the FX7 and the V1 (especially the V1 : both V1E and V1U). 6 assignable buttons on cam etc. etc.

Spend 20 minutes or so at this site and others and Sony's own sites and you shuld find answers to 95% of your questions on these new models I'd think.

This isn't a bad place to start:
http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Broadcastan...V1U/index.html
http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Broadcastan...-V1U/spec.html

And here are some great hi-res pics from Sony :
http://news.sel.sony.com/images/larg...r-angle_lg.jpg

http://news.sel.sony.com/images/larg...de_view_lg.jpg

http://news.sel.sony.com/images/larg...ng_unit_lg.jpg
(Click the "expand" button at bottom right when image has loaded to see them at full-size).

I have already read all those webpages but I am more intested in practical functionality. Looking at the outside of the Sony V1 and Canon A1, the Canon seems to have more settings that you can control from the camera, so not by browsing through menu's. Furthermore, what kind of microphone does the Sony ship with? I have a Rode NT-3 and Rode NTG-2 and from my first impressions, those are better microphones as the one the Sony V1 will ship with.

Also, can the EVF be set to black and white?

Actually with Sony's Minimum Advertised Price, there is an "official" street price. Of course, they can sell it for less but they can't advertise it. This is only true for Sony authorized dealers. I expect this camera to be in demand like the HVX200 was when first introduced (albeit in larger quantities).

Yes, I realize that which is why I posted the following and the photos which show the rear of the camera.

But I was answering the question about what physical controls the V1 is missing which the Z1 has. The V1 doesn't have a manual switch like the Z1 has. I believe the WB and Gain function as you describe, by pushing the button and turning the wheel like the PD-150. That WB button on my PDX-10 and VX-2000 has bitten me a number of times which I pushed it accidently instead of the audio level button :-)

I didn't look very closely, but it sure looked the same as the mike which they provide for the PD-150, PD-170, PDX-10 and HVR-A1.

Yep, one of the smartest things Sony has done is to make those great batteries and then make them compatible with all of their pro/prosumer cams ... makes you think twice about switching brands.

Sorry Boy - my misunderstanding!

regards

Boyd and Floris - I myself wondered the same thing a week or so ago and initially thought "it looks like the same mic" as the one on the A1 etc.......
.
BUT
.
.
It's not! It's a new mic that goes on sale in October and i expect it to be a good improvment on the previous Sony mic (one with A1E/A1U), although i have no performance info. So no idea how it will compare to NTG1/2. I'm not even 100% sure IF the mic actually ships with the V1U.

Anyway, I did found out the model name and i THINK it was ECM-680. Maybe not exactly that code but something like that. I'll try to confirm..

According to the Sony specs ( http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Broadcastan...-V1U/spec.html ) the mic appears to be the ECM-NV1, which is the same as the one on the PD170. It is supplied with the camera.

I wonder what is the model number for the mic on the old Betacam SP camcorders. I heard those are actually pretty decent.

Oh.
Sorry then maybe i was wrong on that - i definitely got the info from somewhere. Maybe it's just sony coming out with a new Shotgun mic at about the same time as V1 and i mistakenly assumed it was that new mic that was coming with the V1. sorry bout that - seems NV1 it is..