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SudsyFist

What's new with the Sony DCR-PC1000 (vs. the PC-350)

By SudsyFist, in Photography and Video

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SudsyFist    0

SudsyFist
At long last, Sony has put their PC-1000 docs online, allowing for a feature-by-feature comparison with its predecessor, the PC-350:
  • Spec Sheets


  • Manuals


  • Reviews


  • Steps Forward

    • General

      • Much, much brighter, more lifelike color
    • Hardware

      • 3-chip sensor in a PC series form factor (!!!)

      • Slightly smaller (1.77% by volume) and lighter (15oz -> 14oz)

      • Increased LCD Display size (widescreen; 2.5" -> 2.7")

      • Slightly lower power consumption, viewfinder only (3.1W -> 3.0W)

      • Assignable manual dial (focus, exposure, AE Shift, etc.)
    • Software

      • Tele Macro Function, opens aperture for macro from afar (like, wow)

      • New Pict Effect: Skintone ("Makes skin texture look more smoother [sic] and more appealing.")


  • Steps Backward

    • General

      • Higher minimum illumination (5 lux -> 7 lux)

      • No Nightshot (IR) function

      • More moved to touch-screen menu (hardly any buttons/switches left)
    • Hardware

      • Smaller, cheaper sensor (1/3" CCD -> 1/6" CMOS)

        • Lower resolution (3.31M pixels -> 0.79M pixels; impacts stills)

        • Poorer low light performance

        • Potential issues with existing add-on lenses (TBD)
      • Reduced aperture range (1.8~2.9 -> 1.8~2.4)

      • Battery Issues

        • Heavier (45g -> 50g)

        • Lower capacity (5.6wh -> 4.9wh; 15min less rec time)

        • Enclosed battery compartment: larger batteries won't fit
      • No microphone jack

      • New, proprietary accessory shoe

With the PC1000, Sony continues their trend of making great strides to keep competitive, while at the same time working against themselves with what seem to be some really asinine moves.

The single biggest plus here is that they've managed to give us a 3-chip camcorder in a PC form factor at the same cost as the PC350 ($1,299 list). The improvement in color richness is impressive, to say the least, especially when taking into account the quality of the CCD used in both the PC330 and PC350; side-by-side, video from the PC1000 makes that from the PC350 look drab and washed out -- it's that brilliant.

On the other hand, Sony has cut the cost corner by implementing CMOS sensors instead of CCD's. CMOS's can be produced en masse at a much lower cost than CCD's, but the technology is arguably not quite at the level that it can compete with CCD's video quality at this point, particularly in low light conditions. Sony has implemented some software workarounds for this (i.e., reducing overall image brightness to reduce graininess in dark shots), leaving much to be desired.

Adding insult to injury, Sony touts the lower power consumption of CMOS vs. CCD as an advantage in their product marketing (read: ruse), then completely eliminates the effective benefit by introducing yet another new battery that just so happens to reduce power capacity by over 10% (!), leaving us with fifteen minutes less recording time compared to the PC350 (90 min total, viewfinder only). How they can get away with this, *and* make the battery heavier is beyond me. And don't get me started on the enclosed compartment issue (see the camcorderinfo.com review for more info/rant).

And what's with their obsession with relocating easy-access buttons and switches from the camcorder body to deep-buried touch screen menus? Is it a style thing? Or just another way to cut costs? I have to be honest, I thoroughly enjoy shooting video with my old PC120 much more than these newer models; the LCD and viewfinder are clearer and of better quality (higher res), and I have all the camcorder's features and functions at my disposal, within finger's reach. Now, it's all about click-click-click-click-click-click, all while seeing the action framed in an LCD that makes the old Gameboy look high res.

Oh, and as I mentioned before, no more spent-the-night-in-Paris Nightshot moments... *sigh*

In short, the PC1000 contrasts its much improved color with reduced versatility, particularly with regard to light (you need a lot of it) and recording time (you ain't got much).

From a skydiver perspective, the PC1000 seems to be a good buy if you're willing to spend that kind of money for really beautiful 3-chip video coming from a PC series camcorder that goes to bed early -- the only bit of falling-down-drunk-at-the-boogie-bonfire moments you'll be capturing with this unit is the audio.

And that's if your battery even lasts that long.

Steve

PS Any corrections, comments, or other input would be much appreciated!


Other Keywords: PC 350 1000 PC-350 PC-1000 digital dv minidv mini-dv camera

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Spizzzarko    0

Spizzzarko
asinine is spelled Asignine. That is all the coments I have. Nice post. I found it to be very informative. I have a TRV DCR-85, that replace my TRV-8. I havn't jumped with it yet, as I need to buy a new helmet. Do you know of any problems with the 85?

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quade    3

quade
Nice piece of research and comparisons there Stevie!

One note on the NightShot thing though; NO 3-chip camera has this ability.

Because of the design of a 3-chip prism block, there's really no way to do it. The light gets split up into R, G & B wavelengths -before- it even hits the chip and the near IR photons (the ones you need for NightShot) simply aren't directed to any chip at all.

So, if you really want NightShot, you -must- go with a single-chip camera.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Cookie    0

Cookie
Nice report SudsyFist,

I remembered something also worth mentioning.

I screwed one of our Liquid Lenses on the front of the PC1000 and found that the auto focus did not work with the lens.
On closer inspection there is a tiny switch that protrudes into the thread section where you screw the lens. So when the wide angle is screw on it pushes this tiny switch towards the back of the thread assembly disabling the auto focus.
The small wheel set for default manual focus does all the necessary focusing when the wide angle is fitted.

Cheers
Cookie
www.cookiecomposites.com

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Todd_Jacobsen    0

Todd_Jacobsen
HC-1000 was a dismal failure as an upgrade to the TRV-950. In fact, most stores don't even carry it anymore.

The PC-1000 is just it's twin cousin. I would be surprised, at the least, as to it's performance enhancements above the HC-1000.

The majority of the complaints behind the HC-1000 were primarily design vs function - but most reviews will tell you to stick with the TRV-950.

And no, none of the reviews - for either the TRV-950 or HC-1000 take into consideration a skydiving environment.

Sounds like a good Skydive Mag review...comparison to the TRV-950 would be worthy (HC-1000 was skydiver "unfriendly").

EDIT: PC-1000 tests need to include freefly positions against a blue background (vs earth), or headdown to catch a tandem or tandem exits.

TRV-950 jitter problems were more prevalent with blue background than anything else. Earth backgrounds (RW) did not present the same jitter symptons as consistently.

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chris    0

chris
Just wanted chime in and say that I purchased this camera and have put it through its paces in freefall. Bottom line: I LOVE this camera No problems with any type of "floating iris" issue as found on some other 3 chip cameras.

I also carved head down around someone while the sun was approx 45 degrees off the horizon so the camera had extreme backlight with the sun in the lens and with the sun behind the camera and all points in between. The autoexposure exceeded my expectations keeping well saturated colors while the sun was directly in front of the lens without darkening the shadow side of my subject. The exposure system also did a great job at maintaining a balanced image throughout the carve and did NOT "hunt" around by overexposing and then underexposing as some other video cameras I've used in the past.

The only complaint I have about the camera is the AV and LANC port are on the right side of the viewfinder (opposite the LCD) which makes them virtually inaccessible if you side mount the camera. I've found though that a Cam Eye II right angle LANC plug does just fit in the port with it side mounted for my setup but I have to unmount it to remove the plug. Your results may vary.

I can live without a firewire port on the camera. It's only available on the docking station.

I'm also impressed with the new BlackBox that Cookie Composites is manufacturing for this unit: http://www.cookiecomposites.com/proddetail.php?prod=1BB1000
- Chris Norton
Vivid Views: Thousands of skydiving pictures online

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WeakMindedFool    0

WeakMindedFool
Nice...I will say that the internal battery and time on the battery doesn't bother me, I just got two and swap them when I need to. I got a charger for them and when I take one out I start a charge on the other. As for the low light thing, I like to do my home porn with the lights on;). The touch screen works great for me as the only time I really use it is on the ride to alti. I can't speak to what a working camera flyer needs, but if your a typical freeflying jackass like myself, the camera has no equal. The vid I have got off it is...breathtaking.
Your review is killer by the way...could you do the HC90 next?
Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for lost faith in ourselves.
-Eric Hoffer -
Check out these Videos

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SudsyFist    0

SudsyFist
Quote

Quote

Hi guys, I'm jumping the pc1000, with a cookie liquid wide angle lence. which fokus setting would you recouldment? auto focus, manual fokus?



Manual focus, set to infinity..

Autofocus doesnt make for very good results with video cameras.



Some lenses do better with a fixed focus (at your expected distance from the subject), rather than infinity. You do this on the ground by setting the camera on autofocus, frame a subject at a distance where you expect to be in freefall, let autofocus set the correct focus, then switch back to manual focus to keep the setting.

I believe the Royal Lens line comes with such a recommendation, but I'm not sure about the Cookie lenses. Perhaps you can try both and see what ends up with crisper images for your setup.

For ground shooting, though, I leave it on auto.

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Miami    0

Miami
Quote

There is the floating iris problem on opening shock where is zooms out of focus then back in.



That's not a floating iris problem, lots of cameras do it...happens more often on harder openings though. I am using 6 pc-1000's and they do that no more than my trv-17 or pc-110. I have had zero floating iris problems with the pc-1000's.
Hope this helps...
Miami

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skydiveoc    0

skydiveoc
Quote

Quote

There is the floating iris problem on opening shock where is zooms out of focus then back in.



That's not a floating iris problem, lots of cameras do it...happens more often on harder openings though. I am using 6 pc-1000's and they do that no more than my trv-17 or pc-110. I have had zero floating iris problems with the pc-1000's.
Hope this helps...



What mode do you use for the fastest shutter speed ? (except for progressive rec) I cant find a sport mode.

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Maxim    0

Maxim
Yeah i found the same situation..

I have the PC1000 with a cookie .5 lens
and infinity setting is blurry so i manualy played around with my focas till i found a setting that was crisp at the distance i was normally filming.

only thing i have found with it.. when i film swoopers landing they are out of focus when they start their 270's then come into focus during the dive which kinda sucks.

Everyone told me to use infinity but it just didnt seem to work for me.

Life is Great. Even Greater what we do with it.

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SudsyFist    0

SudsyFist
Quote

only thing i have found with it.. when i film swoopers landing they are out of focus when they start their 270's then come into focus during the dive which kinda sucks.



Are you zooming in at that point? Does the Cookie .5 support the camera's full range of zoom? That could be your issue.

Also, for ground shooting, even with a wide attached, I usually just leave it on autofocus.

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