Hello,

I had received lots of usefull answer about if Ex1 is good camcorder for me. The answer was no, so I would like to know if AX2000 or NX5 is good for me.

I am looking for a camcorder with very sharp and detailed image, good and fast autofocus, fast turn on time (time needed to turn on the camcorder and start recording), good stabilisation.

As I see in the sample videos, the stabilisation is okay, but I haven't found any information in the forums and in the ax2000/nx5 manual about :

- how many seconds needed to turn on the cam and start recording (ex1: 5-10 seconds, too much for rapid recording)

- how fast and correct is the autofocus (regular cheaper handycam: 1-2 seconds, ex1: more). I am but worried about choosing ax2000 / nx5 after I had seen this video - from 00:07 YouTube - Sony HXR-NX5, HDR AX2000 unstable autofocus.MTS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TjByi-pYwo)

Also my problem is that what I see: an NX5 Pal version is 3800 usd, and a used ex1 is 4000 usd. Is NX5 really better for 'auto everything, minimal manual settings' video ?

Ok, for a short moment lets forget the better stabilisation of the ax2000 / nx5. So generally can an Ax2000 / NX5 give faster / better options, like a good handycam ? Or the af is not faster, or it also needs 5-10 seconds to 'turn on' ?

To be honest I am bit sceptical about choosing this ax2000/nxr range, because I am not really impressed about the sharpness of the video it makes.

Let me show 2 examples what I call a sharp image - sony ex1 videos - look at all the videos in full screen with hd resolution:

Sony EX1 test on Vimeo

see it in 720p mode: YouTube - Sony PMW EX1 Shooting.mov (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aXH88uVGJ4&playnext_from=TL&videos=zkaU7mKZPNw)

Now an nx5 example:

Baia del silenzio on Vimeo

There are serious difference in the sharpness of the ex1 and the nx5 videos. The nx5 video has so much '1/3 inch sensor video' resolution feeling. Maybe this is not a good description, but look at any sharp ex1 video, and the look at an nx5 video (youtube / vimeo is filled with such videos)

To be honest I don't see big difference between an 3800 usd nx5 and an 1100 usd cx550. I am not impressed by the detail and sharpness of the sample videos uploaded here in the NX5 and AX2000 Sample Clips thread (although these samples are usefull, so big thank you for the uploaders)

See this cx500 example:

Park..no Blue Dot Sony HDR-CX550V on Vimeo

Looks as sharp as nx5. So for example if i don't need all the manual controls what the nx5 or ax2000 offers, will I get sharper, more detailed picture from nx5? Maybe my eyes are wrong, but I don't see any difference here.

Don't misunderstand me, I would pay the higher price for a better cam, but for more money I want to forget the average quality of the regular 1/3 handycams, I need some seriously mindblowing sharpness video. Will NX5 give me this sharpness and details I want ? I don't see in the uploaded ax2000 / nx5 videos in the net.

Or is it possible to tweak the ax2000 / nx5 to get the same sharpness and detail like the ex1 ?

Thank you for your answers in advance.

You're essentially comparing a prosumer camera with 1/3" 960 x 1080 sensors and a professional camera with 1/2" 1920 x 1080 sensors. The EX1 will always be sharper than the NX5. Test videos don't mean all that much, because you don't know what settings they were exported in, and for the NX5 or EX1 tests you don't know what manual settings were used during shooting (so it's not really a fair test). If you want a camera to only do full-auto, then there isn't really much point in either of them because that's a lot of what they're about - full manual features.

Tans Mark, where did you find the Pal version at 3800 usd? In Europe it's about 4500 euros, including VAT. Maybe you're looking at the wrong model.

"I am looking for a camcorder with very sharp and detailed image, good and fast autofocus, fast turn on time (time needed to turn on the camcorder and start recording), good stabilisation." - if in your opinion EX1 is out of the question then I guess you're out of luck. There is no match for it. Every other camcorder has some limitations in features and/or quality. Maybe you should be more specific about what you didn't like/need on EX1.

Felix,

Thank you for the answer. Have you got NX5 ? If you have, can you tell me how many seconds needed for turning on this camera and start recording ?

Christian:

I am talking about usa price of the pal model. Of course in most european countries it is needed to pay local taxes, etc. But if you buy an used ex1, it is also needed to pay the taxes.

Then I guess you just estimate the price, because I didn't see the Pal version on the US vendors yet. But again, if NX5U is $4000 on most sites, the NX5E would be $400 or more over the price of NX5U.

The NX5 is turning on in about 5 seconds or less if I remember correctly.

The NX5 (and maybe the AX2000) has quite complex image stabilisation options on offer, and I'm pretty sure you'd be very happy in this regard. The EIS adds an extra level of stability to the already OIS stabilised image, but does so at a price - you lose some wideangle coverage and resolution. But it's impressive!

tom.

Unfortunately I don't have an NX5 quite yet (still saving up - I'm only 15 :D) but I heard it's about 4-5 seconds.

Tom, actually the Active Image Stabilisation on the NX5 is NOT EIS. It is OIS, but the lens travel range in the Active mode is so large that they have to slightly crop the image to prevent the picture from vignetting.