I myself am a consumer... Currently use a first gen Sony D8 and am fairly unhappy with low light quality... Very blocky...

I just came into the money needed to buy a new camcorder. Was just about to buy the Sony DCR-HC90 because of its overall quality, and because of claims of it being very good in low light conditions (which is where most of my video is shot). This was primarily in comparison to the the 3 cmos camera dcr-pc1000... Then I came acrodd the HDR-HC1 and had to take a step back... This looks like the camera to have, and it is still just barely within my budget. But is it truly the better choice over the HC90?

Now my question is very simple... Color aside... Manual controls aside... Features aside... (Because the HC1 already impresses me more so than the HC90 based on its additional controls and features, and the HD increased resolution)...... My question is which is going to put out a better quality video in low light conditions... Better quality as in better color but most importantly least blocky-ness and digital artifacts? Because I would choose the HC90 above the HC1 100% if it performs better in low light DESPITE the fact that I find a number of its features to be desirable and superior to the HC90... Price is no matter other than that the HC1 is definitely the absolute most I could spend on a camcorder. If it performs better in low light it is worth the extra $1000 (CAD) to me... But if it doesnt, the added features and resolution are not worth anything to me over the DCR-HC90.

Thank you.

No one has seen the HC1 in action yet, but just going by Sony's rating of 5 Lux for the HC90 vs 7 Lux for the HC1, it looks like the HC90 will perform better in low light situations.

I've heard that Sony tests all of their cameras the same way, so the Lux rating is useful when comparing Sony to Sony only.

-Mike

Perfect... That makes my decision then, I will wait until the HC1 is released and reviewed.. and then probably get it... And then I will also not be stuck with a couple of the things on the HC90 that I wasn't too happy with... Most importantly to me, was the cheap plasticky sort of feel/design to it..

Too bad that means I have to wait a month... I was all set up to buy the HC90 today..

Perfect... That makes my decision then, I will wait until the HC1 is released and reviewed.. and then probably get it
Adam, you're confusing me terribly. You said that low-light performance is of paramount concern. With the Lux ratings, the LOWER number is better. So the HC90's 5 Lux rating means that it is BETTER in low-light than the HC1, which has a 7 Lux rating.

I just want to make sure you didn't misinterpret my last post.

-Mike

Also, a note on low light performance..

While there may be some slight differences in low light performance between the HC90 and HC1 you might not be too thrilled with the difference compared to your current Digital8. These new megapixel burdened CCDs (and probably the CMOS sensor of the HC1) take a severe performance hit in dim lighting and while DSPs are constantly improving and reducing the amount of overall noise they are still a far cry from the cams of the past with large CCDs and low pixel counts.

I've owned quite a few of the smaller megapixel cams (single chippers and 3CCD) and while there was a slight difference in low light performance it was never enough where I felt I could use one over another without adding additional lighting. That's probably one of the main reasons I keep the VX2000 in my stable. Back in 2001 I started out with a Digital8 and was deeply disappointed with indoor footage and upgraded to the VX2000. While I still need a small cam (vacations, etc..) I won't be parting with the VX2k anytime soon. The difference is quite amazing!

Here is a link that compares the low light differences between several cams. Note that none are megapixel.

Click here (http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=8640623&selected=)

Panasonic MX5000 1/6" 3CCD 800k pixels per CCD (same as PV-DV953)
Canon GL2 1/4" 3CCD 410k pixels per CCD
Sony VX2000 1/3" 3CCD 340k pixels per CCD
Panasonic GS70 1/6" 3CCD 410k pixels per CCD