freeatlast 0 #1 December 12, 2005 Ok i've read a little bit about this camera on this forum and i'm thinking of shelling out in the new year for one as i need a new camcorder, so here's my questions ... What are the differences between the A1 and HC1 - i saw a mention of the A1 as a "pro" version. I presume its more costly so what is better about it - or are the extra features suitable only for a pro-user ???? Are there any major drawbacks to using this camera (apart from costs)??? It would be great if anyone who has used this camera for a while would let me have the "dummies guide" to this new camera. Has anyone tried using Apple's Imovie HD yet ?? - is it as good and easy to use as the normal imovie software ??? Thanks for all your help James Nb I realise that some of the above questions will seem "simple" but that's me !!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #2 December 12, 2005 My biggest concern with the Sony camera is that in high-motion, it suffers from apparent compression artifacting. Considering that from a camera's perspective, skydiving is pretty "low speed" [with the exception of transitions], it may not be as much of an issue as I fear. With regards to iMovie, it's tremendously easy. Making an HD project instead of a DV project is not difficult... when you press the "new project" button, it asks you whether you're shooting DV or HD. Beyond that, it's identical to DV. Does anybody have any HD footage they've shot?I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yuri_base 1 #3 December 12, 2005 Yo! Find someone with HC-1 and watch the footage on 34-50" HDTV. You'll have no more questions. YuriAndroid+Wear/iOS/Windows apps: L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP iOS only: L/D Magic Windows only: WS Studio Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
velocityphoto 0 #4 December 12, 2005 Base 428 has one and loves it > He has the big screen hd tv to go with it A friend will bail you out of jail , a REAL friend will be sitting next to you in the cell slapping your hand saying "DUDE THAT WAS AWSUM " ................ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vid666 0 #5 December 12, 2005 QuoteBase 428 has one and loves it > He has the big screen hd tv to go with it where does he mount the TV, what kind of mount does he use, and how the hell does he carry that thing up the ladders ? :) couldn't help it ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
velocityphoto 0 #6 December 12, 2005 NICE!!!!!! LOL! A friend will bail you out of jail , a REAL friend will be sitting next to you in the cell slapping your hand saying "DUDE THAT WAS AWSUM " ................ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 73 #7 December 12, 2005 QuoteMy biggest concern with the Sony camera is that in high-motion, it suffers from apparent compression Does anybody have any HD footage they've shot? I think (Scary) Perry shoots skydiving footage with his HDV camera (HDV is NOT HD btw. Although everyone is calling it HD everywhere..it's 2 really different formats) Maybe Perry can post some stills somewhere online.. Together witha friend I've shot a short (non skydiving) film on HD, and we did everything with the camera, including chaotic running and shaking the camera, and I have not seen compression artifacts anywhere. I'll post some stills on my homepage tonight and will add the link here.JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 0 #8 December 12, 2005 QuoteQuoteDoes anybody have any HD footage they've shot? I think (Scary) Perry shoots skydiving footage with his HDV camera (HDV is NOT HD btw. Although everyone is calling it HD everywhere..it's 2 really different formats) Maybe Perry can post some stills somewhere online.. My Keys Boogie video (another shameless self promotion ) is a 50/50 mix of my footage (HC90) and Perry's (HC1). It's compressed, obviously, for the internet, but you can still tell how nice it looks. For reference, any scene with a blue and white wingsuit in it is footage from the HC1 (i.e. if I'm in frame it's not my footage). Any footage with the bright yellow suit/helmet guy (Perry) in it is from the HC90. Also, the beach swoops (both of them) are Perry's (I don't swoop). The footage definitely looks nice, but when I watch it on a normal screen I honestly can't see a huge difference between mine and his. The HC90 shoots pretty crisp footage though, IMO. I haven't seen any problems with the HC1 footage, except when Perry leaves his autofocus on. Another wingsuit flyer at Zhills, Scotty Burns, uses an HC1, and if you check out some of Omar's more recent videos (the acrobatic review, for one), Scotty's footage will be in there, though it may be hard to tell which footage is which if there were 3-4 cameras mixed throughout the whole video.www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 73 #9 December 12, 2005 I think both small HDV cameras have the same CCD chip. We shot some greenscreen footage on the FX1 and A1E (PAL version of the HC1) and got quite a good chance to compare em on a good monitor. The bigger ones (FX1/Z1) have a slightly bigger/better (3 chip) CCD, and actually show quite a difference in quality. This is also for a large part due to the bigger/better lens on the big camera's. But HDV REALLY shines when you watch in on a HD monitor or project it at a higher resolution. But even if you finish your project on normal DV/Broadcast resolution, the quality still surpasses most consumer cameras in terms of clarity/sharpness and color. I'll post one or two (uncompressed) stills from the FX1 as soon as I'm home tonight..JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
highfly 0 #10 December 13, 2005 Wait at least 6 months James. You will notice a drop in price soon as new models come out. Ill keep an eye out here for cheaper parallell imports. Some are coming in as Cheap as $2500 Kiwi. Just let me know www.myspace.com/durtymac Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #11 December 13, 2005 QuoteHDV is NOT HD btw.I should've been more specific... has anybody actually shot HDCAM? QuoteI'll post one or two (uncompressed) stills from the FX1 as soon as I'm home tonight.. Is there a chance of you posting some carefully compressed [think h.264 Quicktime] footage from the thing? If you don't have space to host it, I can help you out with that. I'd just love to see what freefall footage looks like from the camera at its native resolution... all I've ever shot is stuff on the ground with it.I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 73 #12 December 13, 2005 As promised, some stills from the HDR FX1 (PAL) at native format (1440x1080i) in square pixel aspect ration (1920x1080p) The final film wil be output to 35mm (film) http://www.airrebels.com/hdrfx1_mccordia_01.bmp Opening shot, http://www.airrebels.com/hdrfx1_mccordia_02.bmp Running shot, lots of camera movement. No sign of compression artifacts anywhere. A lot of this depends on how you capture the footage, and which intermediate codec you use for editing. http://www.airrebels.com/hdrfx1_mccordia_03.bmp Soldiers walking through the streets I've also used a HDV (both A1E as FX1) for greenscreen/bluescreen shoots, and the extra resolution and sharpness compared to normal DV/DV-Cam is definately a blessing, and gets you incredible results. All shots ©AirRebelsJC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newshooter12 0 #13 December 13, 2005 out of curiosity i looked at a place i buy from and the camera that perry is using is going for Price : $ 1,595.00 US now... that's depressing considering i picked up my PC350 for nearly $1500 with an extra battery after tax 14 months ago. here's the link matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #14 December 13, 2005 Quotehttp://www.airrebels.com/hdrfx1_mccordia_02.bmp Running shot, lots of camera movement. No sign of compression artifacts anywhere. A lot of this depends on how you capture the footage, and which intermediate codec you use for editing. Heheh, I must be spoiled. I'll admit that the artifacting isn't as bad as I remembered it, but it's still apparent. I generally capture using DVCPRO HD, but I'm used to using legit HD cams. I'd love to see one strapped to somebody's flat-top, though. I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
borgy 0 #15 December 14, 2005 Why is it that The HDV is not actual HD? It records in 1080i by definition it is High defenition, you could say that there is a quality diffenence between Mini hdcam and Hd cam but that is more a matter of whether it is broadcast quality, not whether it is true HD.I only trust two people in this world, one of them is me and the other one aint you. Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe in "Con Air" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 73 #16 December 14, 2005 QuoteWhy is it that The HDV is not actual HD? It records in 1080i by definition it is High defenition, you could say that there is a quality diffenence between Mini hdcam and Hd cam but that is more a matter of whether it is broadcast quality, not whether it is true HD. Because HDV is the name of the standard. HDV records at 1440x1080 in fields, but only giving you 720 lines of image when using progressive scan. So 1440x720 res for the 'advertised' 1920x1080 resolution. And compression on top of that (be it barely noticable) HD (when talking about 2K recorders) records at full resolution (no non-square pixels) and is not interlaced (so full frames and not losing half your res. when deinterlacing, like HDV) And true HD cameras cost about 6 times as much and use damn expensive tapes instead of the normal DV (or special high grade HDV tapes)JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #17 December 14, 2005 QuoteAnd true HD cameras cost about 6 times as muchIf only they were so inexpensive I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 73 #18 December 14, 2005 QuoteQuoteAnd true HD cameras cost about 6 times as muchIf only they were so inexpensive There are some options in HD starting at 25.000 euros...but the really cool toys (like that IMAX res digital HD camera) wil cost more then any of us will ever earn in a lifetime hehe And even if you have a true HD camera...you can not just firewire it over to your home PC and start editing...more expensive toys needed...JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #19 December 14, 2005 Quote And even if you have a true HD camera...you can not just firewire it over to your home PC and start editing...more expensive toys needed... I should post a picture of my PowerMac G5... hooked to a D5 and a 14TB RAID. If only it was set up like that all the time, not just when I bring the computer to the studio. Now what I really want to see is somebody strap an Arri D-20 to their head with Arri's Ultra Prime 8R [rectilinear 8mm] on there... that'd be some freakin' amazing footage.I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 0 #20 December 14, 2005 Wow, that 8R picture makes my head spin! www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeatlast 0 #21 December 14, 2005 Hi Jarno Thanks for posting those shots ... I think it's safe to say that these camera's will do more than i need for the foreseeable future ... so i guess it's just a question of getting the $'s together !!! Back to the original question though - which one would you reccomend to buy? the pro version of the HC1 or the "normal" version ??? Money will be a factor but will i miss out on anything major by buying the cheaper version ??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newshooter12 0 #22 December 15, 2005 if you are going to use it for skydiving... take a look at the more expensive one and tell me that you don't think "snagadelic" all those parts that look like they will grab lines make me think of the smaller, lighter, less expensive and far less snagg happpy version. matt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 73 #23 December 15, 2005 Quoteif you are going to use it for skydiving... take a look at the more expensive one and tell me that you don't think "snagadelic" all those parts that look like they will grab lines make me think of the smaller, lighter, less expensive and far less snagg happpy version. matt All the snagadelic parts on the slighly more espensive cam (A1E in EU) such as the XLR audio block and sun-hood are seperate pieces that can be attached/detached without problems, so in terms of body the cameras arent that different.. As far as the CCD goes, both the small cams have the same one. Only difference is the extra parts you get along with it, and for a large part the software on the camera. The cheep version allows HDV/DV output, but DV output only in widescreen. While the A1E has some extra option in exporting (when going for a DV signal, such as 16:9 squashed, 16:9 with bars, 4:3 cropped and 4:3 cropped/deinterlaced if I remember correctly) and it has a ton of other options (most in color/whiteballance/audio etc) But for most people the 'baby' HDV wil do just fine....unless you do stuff like tandemvideo, and want to be able to output standard 4:3 DV signal for realtime dubbing (16:9 dv works fine with the baby-cam btw, so only an issue if you dont like 16:9)....then the more advanced (a1e) brother might be a better option...JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newshooter12 0 #24 December 16, 2005 very valid arguement... though i guess i should have been more specific. one guy i work with has the FX series with the XLR connectors, the big screen, handle, microphone and such that stick out especially up top. the output options you mentioned are pretty key for people doing double or even triple purposing with their video work. sony HDV @ sonystyle.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
herminiocordido 0 #25 December 19, 2005 Hey Guys, Check out this one! http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/hvx200/index.asp Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
