Not sure this is the right section to post this in.

But I recently discovered two items that could be of interest.

Sanyo has announced a palm size HD 720p camcorder which supposedly records 720p HD onto memory sticks. This camera is due out in March.

Please see this link:

http://sanyo.com/entertainment/cameracorder/index.cfm?productID=1239

and Sony just announced a 30Gig hard disk camcorder due also in March:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=dcc_comingsoon&ProductSKU=DCRSR100&TabName=feature&var2=

As a satisfied Z1U owner, I would love to know if Sony is developing a Z1U-2 with the capacity to record 1080i onto memory sticks.

- Nicholas

wow, that looks like a nice little camera. I could almost see it
as an HC1 replacement. It says it shoots MPEG2, but it doesn't say if
the format is HDV or not. Also says firewire is N/A, which could be a problem. Damn. New FX1 and Z1s with built in hard drives, wow. just bought mine not too long ago.

The Sony one would have been cool- problem is it's Mpeg-2 and Dolby sound which means no native way in FCP to edit the footage. The clips will have to be run through MpegStreamclip and again become procesed.....not a great solution to the best possible image quality. This is the same exact setup the Everio MC500 3CCD cam utilizes. Sound will go through processing as well.

The Sony is cool, but too bad it doesn't have a native recording mode. 30GB is roughly 2.3 hours of AVI, the equivalent of 2.3 MiniDV tapes. The HQ mode is the cam's best quality and it's the one that delivers 440 minutes (7+ hours) of video. The other modes deliver more time and, obviously, less quality.

On the other hand, the camera brings up the important issue of where that data gets stored. Painful as tapes may be, they make a great archival medium -- just store the tape!

Will

The sony isn't HD it's SD.

The Sony one would have been cool- problem is it's Mpeg-2 and Dolby sound which means no native way in FCP to edit the footage. The clips will have to be run through MpegStreamclip and again become procesed.....

If I understand correctly, Apple is working of m2t compatability for QuickTime, which will allow direct import into FCP. This same issue is rendering the Firestore DTE units kind of useless for HDV work and FCP, and according to Tech Support at Focus, they're waiting for the QT upgrade to upgrade their firmware for direct m2t use for FCP....