HVR-V1U and the HVR-DR60

Douglas Spotted Eagle · March 8th, 2007, 10:57 AM

All of the small chip camcorders fare about the same in the low light category; it's the DSP in the various cams that make one preferable over the other, but none of them are out so far as front runners that I would be comfortable using low-light ability as any sort of criteria for saying XXX is better than XXX.
It's no secret that I prefer 1080 vs 720, because it offers me more options. I have both Sony and Canon camcorders. Both have their advantages. I really like the Sony V1 for low-cost ground use, and really like the A1 for aerial work. The Z1 is an awesome camcorder as well. That said, all our long shots are accomplished with the Canon XLH1, and I just picked up a Canon A1, but haven't used it on a job yet.
You might find this article to be of use in seeing some of the ways I've used the various HDV cams.

John Cline · March 8th, 2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Rench

Thanks for the clarification. I really appreciate it. I have been tossing up the idea of the V1U or the JVC HD110. I just really like the price of the sony though. Plus Sony's camera do much better in low light. Is this camera the same in low light situations as the other sony cams Douglas?

The Sony VX2000/2100 and the Sony PD150/170 are absolutely legendary for their low light capabilities. Currently, no HDV camera can come close. My V1u is about three F-stops less sensitive than my PD150. The Z1 is ever-so-slightly better.

John

Adam Rench · March 8th, 2007, 11:17 AM

Great. Thanks again for the info and I'll check out that article.

currently, my budget allows for one camera only, (indie films). I have an XL2 so I want to upgrade to HD for my next short. I'm getting my feature funded though so my plans on that is to rent 2 PDW-F350's for it.

But to own, I'm thinking more about the sony. It's small, it's 1080p plus has the HDMI port. And it's almost half the price of the 720p JVC. Yeah, I think the chioce for a one camera only job, it's probably the sony for me.

Adam Rench · March 8th, 2007, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Cline

The Sony VX2000/2100 and the Sony PD150/170 are absolutely legendary for their low light capabilities. Currently, no HDV camera can come close. My V1u is about three F-stops less sensitive than my PD150. The Z1 is ever-so-slightly better.

John

bummer. Oh well, I'll just have to learn to light better in the dark then, haha.

Adam Rench · March 8th, 2007, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Spotted Eagle

You might find this article to be of use in seeing some of the ways I've used the various HDV cams.

Great article. Thanks! Love that that site offers a printable version too. :)

Brian S. Nelson · March 8th, 2007, 02:23 PM

Does anyone here know why Quicktime doesn't support the M2T file format? Is this a licensing issue (related to the need for the MPEG-2 Playback Component ) of some other issue? Is there any hope that these files will be supported in future versions of Quicktime? Converting these files is a pain and archiving 2 file types consumes a lot of disk space.

Ed Sharpe · March 10th, 2007, 08:09 AM

Douglas, Is the info avil in the V1 ... how do you record the HDMI?
thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Spotted Eagle

<sigh> It is not misleading at all. All INTERNAL processing is done at 4:2:2 14bit. This is not common, therefore it's well worth mentioning. Additionally (like any camera) you can get 4:2:2 from the HDMI pipe or the analog outputs in real time, so if you have a fast system, a large RAID, or an external recorder such as the Wafian et al, you can easily record 4:2:2 out of the camera.
4:2:2 ain't all it's cracked up to be if the info isn't there.
If you take a VHS tape, dub it to HDCAM, you now have 4:2:2 uncompressed video. Is it any better? Nope. Just having 4:2:2 guarantees nothing. It's a combination of imager, bitrate, and colorspace, plus speed of storage.

Chris Medico · March 10th, 2007, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed Sharpe

Douglas, Is the info avil in the V1 ... how do you record the HDMI?
thanks!

Here are a link to get you started. If you do a quick search for the blackmagic intensity card you will have plenty to read.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...hdmi+intensity

Also the manufacturer site for the intensity card is here:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/

Chris

Ed Sharpe · March 10th, 2007, 08:53 AM

I read this with great interest... although it only runs on a macand we use pc's here... would be interested to hear reviews of this....

""Live Production with On-Air 2.0
Experience the incredible excitement of filming events live. Included with Intensity is Blackmagic On-Air 2.0 which allows two Intensity boards to be plugged into an Apple Mac Pro system for live mixing between two HDV cameras. On-Air includes everything you need for a live production studio including camera monitoring, program monitoring, graphic keying and recording to disk.
""

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

Here are a link to get you started. If you do a quick search for the blackmagic intensity card you will have plenty to read.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...hdmi+intensity

Also the manufacturer site for the intensity card is here:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/

Chris

March 8th, 2007, 10:57 AM	#16
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	All of the small chip camcorders fare about the same in the low light category; it's the DSP in the various cams that make one preferable over the other, but none of them are out so far as front runners that I would be comfortable using low-light ability as any sort of criteria for saying XXX is better than XXX. It's no secret that I prefer 1080 vs 720, because it offers me more options. I have both Sony and Canon camcorders. Both have their advantages. I really like the Sony V1 for low-cost ground use, and really like the A1 for aerial work. The Z1 is an awesome camcorder as well. That said, all our long shots are accomplished with the Canon XLH1, and I just picked up a Canon A1, but haven't used it on a job yet. You might find this article to be of use in seeing some of the ways I've used the various HDV cams. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

March 8th, 2007, 11:17 AM	#18
Adam Rench Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas, USA Posts: 386	Great. Thanks again for the info and I'll check out that article. currently, my budget allows for one camera only, (indie films). I have an XL2 so I want to upgrade to HD for my next short. I'm getting my feature funded though so my plans on that is to rent 2 PDW-F350's for it. But to own, I'm thinking more about the sony. It's small, it's 1080p plus has the HDMI port. And it's almost half the price of the 720p JVC. Yeah, I think the chioce for a one camera only job, it's probably the sony for me.

March 8th, 2007, 02:23 PM	#21
Brian S. Nelson New Boot Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 24	Does anyone here know why Quicktime doesn't support the M2T file format? Is this a licensing issue (related to the need for the MPEG-2 Playback Component ) of some other issue? Is there any hope that these files will be supported in future versions of Quicktime? Converting these files is a pain and archiving 2 file types consumes a lot of disk space.