I finally was able to write my comments on the HC1....
http://vasst.com/resource.aspx?id=bca2be14-753a-4fb8-b927-1f95b3c448da

I mounted the HC1 to the top of the Z1, shooting as close as I possibly could of the same subject at all similar modes in the two. Very impressive.
I've got the files with timecode so you can compare, but my hotel in KL won't let me get the large files up, so it will have to wait til I get back to the States late Wednesday night.

Overall, very impressed. It's not an FX 1, for sure, nor is it a Z1. But it's also not a cheap attempt at making hyping HDV.

Nicely written review, Spot, much appreciated. I guess you're not going to make it to DV Expo East in NYC this week? If I were in your shoes, coming back from the other side of the planet, all I'd want to do is go home.

Do other people have trouble clicking the 'Read' button on this site?
My screen is running 1024*768 and I can only just see a one pixel vertical line that is obviously the left edge of the read button and no horizontal scroll bar.

Is it just me?

Nice review Spot! Hey folks, can you say "Feeder deck"? The previous HDV deck was too expensive to justify, but now you can buy one of these as a feeder deck and have a nice second cam to boot. One to take to the kids ballgame and or vacation!

Do you think the footage would intercut well Spot? Would it be obvious which shot was from what camera?

For the last 18 months I've been shooting travel clips with the JVC HD-10U. It's limitations are clear. I have been carefully reading all the posts about the HC-1 and the expected GY-HD100U, which I saw at the NAB. Many differences are obvious. Late this September I will again be leaving for a unique destination that I very much want to have a good video record of. Is the upgrade to the HC-1 from the HD-10 worthwhile, or would it be necessary to wait for the JVC for there to be enough of a difference to warrant the additional costs? I edit using FCP 5.0 on a dual 2.5 Mac. I appreciate and value your suggestions.

Nice review. It cleared up some things I'd been wondering about it. Thanks for putting in the effort (once again).

Cheers.

Can't access the review. Is it my windows 95 computer?

Lynne,
Do you mean you can't find the button to take you to the full article?
The button is above and to the right of the "XXX Views" text. As mentioned I can only see the very edge of it.

Or try this direct link http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/articles/sony_hc1e/sony_hc1e_hdv_camcorder.htm

Great thanks for the write up. Was there any footage upload yet? So eager to see it compared side by side with the FX1.

Cheers

Footage of the HC1 and the Z1 is still uploading. Was still having FTP probs even when I hit stateside, but got home early in a.m. and just now getting to it. Gimme about 30 mins, I'll have the page up. Fairly short, but in a dark, highly contrasted space from a park bench.

Gotta hate that! lol Thanks Douglas. :)

http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/articles/HC1_comparison_footage.htm

I want to reiterate.....neither footage shows the cam at the best of its ability. I wanted both cams on auto for most fair comparisons.

Spot--Is it your feeling that we should jump on the C1 and not wait for the A1? Can you see any real advantage to getting the topside-mounted XLR mic mount vs. the Beachtek set-up that evidently you're using?

I can't comment on the A1 vs the HC1, because I've only seen proto A1, not the real deal. It looks like the A1 will be just like the Z1 is to the FX....so it would get my money. My bigger point is, while these smaller cams aren't the same as their bigger relatives, I'm in no way afraid of shooting them, either. They still are SO much better than DV that it's not even a point of discussion for me. I'd likely get the A1, if I wanted the more "pro" features that it has. I should have an A1 next week barring any shipping from Japan issues.

Thanks for the footage Spot.

How do you feel the HC1/ A1 would handle a well lit blue screen studio running uncompressed HD output? Clearly this is the sort of area a whole lot of people can't test out. Considering this is really the only camera in this price range to give a full 1920x1080 pixel count I always felt it would be pretty good even though it is a single chip.

I have been taking a very close look of the footage from Kaku inside of Shake and I have been very impressed. Some areas do seem to be a little softer but one thing that I really did like about the HC1 footage was the lack of edge enhancement compared to the FX1 footage. Edge ringing can be just as bad as color space issues when it comes to keying.

I didn't capture anything against green, I wish I had, because the setup was there. Damn.
I did cap uncompressed from it. It looks wonderful. The FX has a different edge ring than the Z1 does, and I can't get an explanation of why. Maybe someone else has an answer.
Looking at this footage, what did you think of the latitude? BTW, that's really the color of the area. it's not red because of lack of white balance, it's monster red marble buildings with tungsten lights in water fountains made of red marble with the sidewalk made of red marble. Everything just looks "red" in that area. Especially with the red neon and red balloons that are everywhere along Orchard Street.

In regard to capturing uncompressed component from the HC1 - I thought the 1920x1080 pixel count was in a 4:3 aspect ratio? so when shooting HD at 16:9, you'd have less res than that (not that pure pixel resolution is everything)

Anyone know?

Hey, just realized that in this particular render, I only rendered the same footage once, with the wrong title on it. I'm re-rendering. Sorry for any confusion, correct file is re-rendering now. What can I say, it was a long flight and I was tired? :-)

Hey Spot you beat me to it. I tried to check the footage and thought I was doing something wrong because they looked the same.

Kyle,
The chip is actually 1920x1440 which makes it 4:3. This is used for the highest still image mode. When shooting video only the middle 1080 of those 1440 is used. So the encoder does actually get a nice full 1920x1080 raster before it encodes it down to 1440x1080. I was hoping the analog outputs would get the full raster before it got pushed down to 1440x1080. With this tiny of a lens I doubt you would really gain that much more detail however. Still these cheap SONY HDV cameras are really the only thing on the market to have the full potential for an actually full resolution uncompressed image. The only other camera that may come close so far with be the JVC HD100 since it's uncompressed output will be the full 1280x720 at 60p. Of course these are two different HD formats.

Anyways.

Spot, which camera footage do we have right now then?

You have neither. I killed the link, because when I opened that test project back up, I found I'd left the HC1 track unmuted, and partial (2% opacity) so either clip would have been invalid. I've already re-rendered, and in the process of uploading now. I hope to get it done before bed, however jetlag is busting my butt. The East to west flights are no sweat. Those West to East flights leave me screwy for a couple days.
If I don't get them relinked tonight, they'll be relinked tomorrow first thin in the a.m. I wish i had a fatter/fasster pipe.

Hey Spot could you post a screen grab from your uncompressed capture? I don't need a video just a still image. Thanks.

Spot,
Does the HC1 export analog (or 1394) DV while recording HDV? Is it only capable of producing 16:9 DV (like the FX1) or can you select 4:3 (as only the Z1 and VTR can do). Can it play back a HDV recording and export a DV 4:3 SD signal?
Many thanks,
Ben