pana sd1 or sony cx6 avchd cam

[Jane Snijders]

I am about to get me a small avchd cam. I want it to be as small as possible. so recording to memorycard/stick is the medium.
Ar first my aim was the sony cx6 which will soon be available here. But i~ just noticed that pana has the sd1 as a competitor.
Any users out there working with these cams and final cut pro 6.01?

let me know your thoughts....

kind regards

jane

[Milan Stojakovic]

I booked first pana sd1, then sx6 and now I have, since two weeks Sony HDR-SR8. With 100 GB HDD there's no need for another player. Sony allows you to edit AVCHD clips on your PC and to move back the edited movie to the HDD. So, I will have several hours of movies to watch on my 46" full HD LCD TV.
BTW - both Sony HDRs and Pana SD1 are 1440x1080, declared as full HD. Only the Pana SD3 (in Japan) is 1920x1080. However, Sony indicates that the clips resolution is 2240 Mpixels???
BTW - 2: my first clips are great. (after Sanyo HD1).

[Jane Snijders]

thnx for tipping me about the sd3. After googling about this model I discovered the sd1 and sd3 are already discontinued! SD5 will be released in august!
I suppose the development of avchd cams is fast because of the competition between sony and pana.
Since you got rid of the sd 1 ...what was the reason. Is the qulity of the sony better?

I mainly use a sony hdv z1 with a brevis 35mm adapter and nikon lenses.
The quality of the avchd cams has to match the hdv material.
Is this a reasonable expectation?

[Guy Bruner]

The quality of the avchd cams has to match the hdv material.
Is this a reasonable expectation?

Not at the moment, IMO. The SD1 comes close to HDV quality but falls short of the quality of video made with my Canon HV20. Posted video from the SD3 doesn't improve much on the SD1. At least, not enough to make it a superior choice given the current pricing of the SD1.

If you are currently comfortable with an HDV workflow, I would resist adding AVCHD into it as it is very difficult to edit right now. I don't think Premiere has included it yet...although you can get Pinnacle Studio 11 which will edit it. Of course, there are conversion programs out there that will transcode AVCHD to MPEG2 or some other format (like lossless Lagarith) for editing. But unless you are currently using an intermediate codec like Cineform CFHD, it will add another step to your workflow.

[Ian Sturtivant]

While I take on board all this stuff about difficulty editing, I plan(ned) to buy a CX6 and transfer the clips to my PC using the MS reader on the front of my (Sony) laptop.

Now, I am not sure what format these files will be in after they are transferred, but my plan is to just play them on my HDTV using a TViX SH-4100 HD media player, sequentially, and without any editing. Or, I suppose a PS3 would do the same job equally well.

Tell me I have got it all wrong if I have, please.

[Ron Evans]

With the Sony Motion Browser software on your laptop you will be able to play them as AVCHD files with the Sony AVCHD player. I have a SR7 and after transfer to my PC with the Sony Motion Browser software will play just fine. Your files will be the same format. The motion browser software is not the greatest but keeps the same menuing system as on the camcorder logging clips by date and time for searches etc and works for stills and videos so is very convenient. I expect the software will deal with the memory stick files in the same way. Check the spec of your laptop to make sure it is powerful enough to play these files.

Ron Evans

[Ian Sturtivant]

I was hoping that the TViX SH-4100P HD media player would handle the AVCHD files (it claims that it does on the DVico web site). if that's the case I think it'll just play them on the HDTV.

Now, if I can find a storage tank and a cheap source of 8GB Memory Stick Duo Pro...

[Guy Bruner]

My SH4100 plays Panasonic AVCHD files just fine. I don't know about Sony's version of AVCHD, though. Sony is pretty proprietary. Sony Vegas won't edit Panasonic AVCHD. I suspect you can't even view Sony AVCHD on anything but a Bravia ;-).

[Ian Sturtivant]

LOL. :)

Thanks Guy, at least that's a start. I don't really want to go down the Sony route at all on this in truth. I had a lovely little SDR-S150 but sold it to raise funds to go HD. I'd prefer another Pana but the HDC-SD1 seems discontinued and its replacement is an unknown quantity. Plus the Sony CX6/7 is much smaller and lighter...

The SDR-S150 has come down in price so much now that I could buy another one at what I sold my original one for, and that remains another option while AVCHD gets over the hump.

[Guy Bruner]

The price on the SD1 is around what you would pay for a new S150. Unless Panasonic showed something spectacular yesterday at their press event in NYC, I doubt you will find a higher quality AVCHD cam. The SD1 is pretty close in quality to the Canon HV20 (I have both). The only real sticky point with AVCHD right now is the editing. However, if you don't mind an intermediate (which I think is necessary for editing both HDV and AVCHD), using Cineform is a real quality option. It will capture both HDV and AVCHD and convert them on the fly to CFHD intermediate. Then, you can edit with just about any software. Anyway, I think the SD1 is a good choice if you like small point and shoot HD cams with limited control features.

[Ian Sturtivant]

I can get an S150 for £350, and the SD1 is at £525 best I can get.

I don't bother with editing, Guy. I just run the clips through the M4100P one after the other and it looks like a movie. I like taking movies but editing isn't something I am interested at all. They are mainly only holiday clips of my wife walking down a hill, up a hill, or eating at a restaurant, or eating at another restaurant. HD will show me how she likes her steaks cooked. ;)

Only thing puts me off the SD1 is the weight at 430g compared to the sony CX6/7 at 340g. The S150 was only 250g (8oz) so I am a bit spoiled by that.