HD1000 vs HXR-MC2000

Bryan Daugherty · January 4th, 2011, 02:45 PM

Rod I look forward to hearing what you think of your new investment. If you have time to post some side by side footage that would be awesome!

Thanks.

Rod Pike · January 9th, 2011, 11:08 PM

3 days from UK to NZ- astonishing! now the bad news- still awaiting customs clearance baaahh! still, I am looking forward to the tapeless environment and the wide angle lens on this model. More when it arrives!

Jonathan W. Hickman · January 10th, 2011, 07:10 PM

Truth is that the real test will be low light performance from a slightly smaller (but backlit) chip.

This 50U I picked up cheap is impressive. I have used Neat Video on the footage from it, because I have the plug-in, but the native out of the camera has been very nice. Color isn't as rich as my Canon DSLR, of course, but I'm probably going to keep using it for my TV show.

But why pay the money for the 2000E/U when you could pick up something like the VG10 for almost the same money? I'll bet the performance of that camera well outshines the new "improved" 2000U.

And Rod, from someone who only shot with the 1000U for a little over a year (as my b-camera for my FX1000), I can tell you that I never what to go back to tape. The tapeless environment is great--just plan on buying a lot of harddrives! The AVCHD transcoded produces files much larger than the one from my Canon DSLR.

Bryan Daugherty · January 18th, 2011, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan W. Hickman

Truth is that the real test will be low light performance...

While I get that low-light performance is a big part of the event industry, the 1000U was far from a low-light champ. I think the real test is side by side in standard situations. Low-light comparison is nice but I would rather see optimal condition testing to see how the chips handle color, image quality, etc. For example, when I am shooting my 1000Us with my PD170, the image quality is very noticeable. The cameras see color and depth very differently. Initially, I would most likely upgrade one of my 1000U cameras and keep the other until I had enough field testing to be confident in the camera and the tapeless workflow.

In my particular circumstances, I would be looking for it more as a replacement for my 1000U if it has as good of image quality. The benefits of going tapeless are enough for me to jump ship if the image quality is as good. But for many the test would be low-light, so I can see where your statement is coming from.

I look forward to seeing some side by side with the 1000 camera and 2000 camera for real life comparison...

Rod Pike · January 18th, 2011, 02:49 PM

Hi guys, right, the HXR mc2000e is now in use and shot the first job yesterday. My observations on my trials and then the shoot are brief and only my opinion.
Likes:
Built in memory- a real godsend yesterday as the shoot was a live presentation running for 80 mins continuous so no chance of stopping for a tape change!

Low light performance leaves the 1000 in the dust. (yes I know you want to see-I will do something when the current edit is out of the way. ) In photographic terms I would say 1-2 stops although only a guess based on my photographic experience)

Wide-angle lens is superb with little barreling.

This is a clever camera! In intelligent auto the face recognition sorts out colour,exposure, focus etc.

Quality is excellent as expected.

Dislikes:
The menu system is much more involved, with some functions buried quite deep. SOny have also added a touch screen scroll bar on the left of the screen: this is very fiddly and I find it difficult to control.

The menus are smaller text to cram more in- still readable but busier somehow.

Initial conclusion: a lot of good looking camera that shoots full HD for the money. If only they would bring back switches and knobs as on my VX9000- still, that's progress I guess!

Bryan Daugherty · January 28th, 2011, 12:10 AM

Rod,
Thanks for the follow-up. You bring up some interesting points about the menus. One of the features I liked about the 1000U menus was the ability to customize the main menu layout and move the features you use most to screen 1, etc. Does this feature exist on the 2000U? With all the new menu options, is there a option for adjusting or locking the gain, or is it still controlled only through the exposure feature?

How well does the footage from the 2000U play with footage from the 1000U? Can they be edited together easily or are the color ranges noticeably different?

Thanks for your help!

Bryan

Rod Pike · January 29th, 2011, 05:53 PM

Hi Bryan,
Yes the menus are fully customisable. I have just finished a two camera shoot with the HD1000 and the HXR pc2000 and they work perfectly together. I am editing in Edius 5.51 and use their AVCHD to AVI HQ converter to convert the AVCHD files prior to editing. (I understand that AVCHD is a power hungry format to edit in its raw state,)

It also has face recognition (new to me) where it will place a small frame around any faces in your main frame- then touching any one of these will prioritise that face for focus , colour and exposure. Also, on the same theme it has spot exposure and spot exposure/focus where touching any required point of interest on the screen allows the above parameters to auto adjust without moving the camera. Another function auto set here is that you can set it to take a still photograph during shooting- amazing! Oh yes and let's not forget smile recognition when it can auto take a still when people smile . It can also select between children and adults!

The gain is interesting- I'm not fully au fait yet with this camera but where gain (I assume for low light is required) it has a low light setting which is incredible . The peculiar night shot button on the HD , and the strange nightsight look it gives is gone. Minimum illumination is now 3 lux from 5 lux. If this follows the square rule of light fall off then it makes it almost twice as sensitive- . My first evaluation indicated that it was a good 2- 3 stops better. (subjective opinion of course).

It only has one card slot which takes SDHC 4 or better, or a Sony memory stick. Tested up to 64gb apparently. (if you could afford cards that big!) Add this to the onboard 64gb memory and you could shoot in HD FH for nearly 16hours- HDV for 30 hours or SD for about 33hrs!

Adam Gold · February 9th, 2011, 11:14 PM

I've been testing my new MC2000 side by side with the HD1000 and my initial impressions are a little different from Rod's. While I agree with everything he says about the touch-screen menu being a bit fiddly, when viewed side by side it appears to me that the HD1000 is much sharper and actually handles low light better. The Low Lux function on the MC2000 is impressive -- it kicks up gain to 24dB and lowers the shutter speed to 1/30th -- but it's really only for when you must have something, anything, rather than go home without the shot.

In nearly every lighting condition and focal length, it is noticeably softer than the HD1000. I think anyone who is hoping this would match the performance of the 500 series will be disappointed.

I have a partial review with frame grabs and side by side video posted, but it's on another forum and I don't want to promote another site here. But if anyone wants to email me I'll send you the links.

Bryan Daugherty · July 25th, 2011, 11:15 PM

Adam, if you still have that link I would be very interested or if you have the time, could you re-post a few on here? The tapeless acquisition is still a strong draw for me, but low-light problems could be an issue for me as I am often threading the narrow edge on my 1000U's exposure control to get maximum gain without grain.

Adam Gold · July 26th, 2011, 12:49 AM

Sent you an email with the link....

Michael Johnston · July 30th, 2011, 10:16 PM

I've had an HD1000U for three years and regretted buying it from the moment I turned it on. It's marketed to event/wedding videographers but, given the often low light situations on shooting those, it's the worst camera you can buy for that type of shooting. Just bought a new NX5U but tested a MC2000 first and it sucks as bad as the 1000. 2000 would have been slightly better if it was same size chip as the 1000 but with Exmor technology but, instead, Sony kills any gains from Exmor by using a smaller chip. Ridiculous. All you need to know about the 1000 or 2000 is that the minimum illumination for both is 11 LUX and anything over 1.5 LUX is WAY to high for any camera being used for professional work. Don't waste you're money. Go with a Sony Z1, Z5, AX2000, or NX5 if you're doing professional work.

Sara Jourhmane · December 16th, 2011, 03:28 PM

Excellent Advise Michael.

HVR-HD1000U is a sheep in wolf's clothing. Horrible low light performance with no manual control whatsoever.

I gave this to my 10 years old to impress kids in school.

January 4th, 2011, 02:45 PM	#16
Bryan Daugherty Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Lexington, Ky - USA Posts: 552	Rod I look forward to hearing what you think of your new investment. If you have time to post some side by side footage that would be awesome! Thanks. __________________ 3x-HD1000u - Ikan 8000HD- custom i7 PC - Vegas Pro 13 and 11 64 bit - Premiere Pro CS4 - and a whole mess of other equipment...

January 9th, 2011, 11:08 PM	#17
Rod Pike Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: new zealand Posts: 52	Update 3 days from UK to NZ- astonishing! now the bad news- still awaiting customs clearance baaahh! still, I am looking forward to the tapeless environment and the wide angle lens on this model. More when it arrives!

January 18th, 2011, 02:49 PM	#20
Rod Pike Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: new zealand Posts: 52	some more info! Hi guys, right, the HXR mc2000e is now in use and shot the first job yesterday. My observations on my trials and then the shoot are brief and only my opinion. Likes: Built in memory- a real godsend yesterday as the shoot was a live presentation running for 80 mins continuous so no chance of stopping for a tape change! Low light performance leaves the 1000 in the dust. (yes I know you want to see-I will do something when the current edit is out of the way. ) In photographic terms I would say 1-2 stops although only a guess based on my photographic experience) Wide-angle lens is superb with little barreling. This is a clever camera! In intelligent auto the face recognition sorts out colour,exposure, focus etc. Quality is excellent as expected. Dislikes: The menu system is much more involved, with some functions buried quite deep. SOny have also added a touch screen scroll bar on the left of the screen: this is very fiddly and I find it difficult to control. The menus are smaller text to cram more in- still readable but busier somehow. Initial conclusion: a lot of good looking camera that shoots full HD for the money. If only they would bring back switches and knobs as on my VX9000- still, that's progress I guess!

January 28th, 2011, 12:10 AM	#21
Bryan Daugherty Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Lexington, Ky - USA Posts: 552	Rod, Thanks for the follow-up. You bring up some interesting points about the menus. One of the features I liked about the 1000U menus was the ability to customize the main menu layout and move the features you use most to screen 1, etc. Does this feature exist on the 2000U? With all the new menu options, is there a option for adjusting or locking the gain, or is it still controlled only through the exposure feature? How well does the footage from the 2000U play with footage from the 1000U? Can they be edited together easily or are the color ranges noticeably different? Thanks for your help! Bryan __________________ 3x-HD1000u - Ikan 8000HD- custom i7 PC - Vegas Pro 13 and 11 64 bit - Premiere Pro CS4 - and a whole mess of other equipment...

February 9th, 2011, 11:14 PM	#23
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	I've been testing my new MC2000 side by side with the HD1000 and my initial impressions are a little different from Rod's. While I agree with everything he says about the touch-screen menu being a bit fiddly, when viewed side by side it appears to me that the HD1000 is much sharper and actually handles low light better. The Low Lux function on the MC2000 is impressive -- it kicks up gain to 24dB and lowers the shutter speed to 1/30th -- but it's really only for when you must have something, anything, rather than go home without the shot. In nearly every lighting condition and focal length, it is noticeably softer than the HD1000. I think anyone who is hoping this would match the performance of the 500 series will be disappointed. I have a partial review with frame grabs and side by side video posted, but it's on another forum and I don't want to promote another site here. But if anyone wants to email me I'll send you the links. __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

January 10th, 2011, 07:10 PM	#18
Jonathan W. Hickman Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: United States Posts: 81	Truth is that the real test will be low light performance from a slightly smaller (but backlit) chip. This 50U I picked up cheap is impressive. I have used Neat Video on the footage from it, because I have the plug-in, but the native out of the camera has been very nice. Color isn't as rich as my Canon DSLR, of course, but I'm probably going to keep using it for my TV show. But why pay the money for the 2000E/U when you could pick up something like the VG10 for almost the same money? I'll bet the performance of that camera well outshines the new "improved" 2000U. And Rod, from someone who only shot with the 1000U for a little over a year (as my b-camera for my FX1000), I can tell you that I never what to go back to tape. The tapeless environment is great--just plan on buying a lot of harddrives! The AVCHD transcoded produces files much larger than the one from my Canon DSLR.

January 29th, 2011, 05:53 PM	#22
Rod Pike Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: new zealand Posts: 52	Hi Bryan, Yes the menus are fully customisable. I have just finished a two camera shoot with the HD1000 and the HXR pc2000 and they work perfectly together. I am editing in Edius 5.51 and use their AVCHD to AVI HQ converter to convert the AVCHD files prior to editing. (I understand that AVCHD is a power hungry format to edit in its raw state,) It also has face recognition (new to me) where it will place a small frame around any faces in your main frame- then touching any one of these will prioritise that face for focus , colour and exposure. Also, on the same theme it has spot exposure and spot exposure/focus where touching any required point of interest on the screen allows the above parameters to auto adjust without moving the camera. Another function auto set here is that you can set it to take a still photograph during shooting- amazing! Oh yes and let's not forget smile recognition when it can auto take a still when people smile . It can also select between children and adults! The gain is interesting- I'm not fully au fait yet with this camera but where gain (I assume for low light is required) it has a low light setting which is incredible . The peculiar night shot button on the HD , and the strange nightsight look it gives is gone. Minimum illumination is now 3 lux from 5 lux. If this follows the square rule of light fall off then it makes it almost twice as sensitive- . My first evaluation indicated that it was a good 2- 3 stops better. (subjective opinion of course). It only has one card slot which takes SDHC 4 or better, or a Sony memory stick. Tested up to 64gb apparently. (if you could afford cards that big!) Add this to the onboard 64gb memory and you could shoot in HD FH for nearly 16hours- HDV for 30 hours or SD for about 33hrs!

July 25th, 2011, 11:15 PM	#24
Bryan Daugherty Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Lexington, Ky - USA Posts: 552	Re: HD1000 vs HXR-MC2000 Adam, if you still have that link I would be very interested or if you have the time, could you re-post a few on here? The tapeless acquisition is still a strong draw for me, but low-light problems could be an issue for me as I am often threading the narrow edge on my 1000U's exposure control to get maximum gain without grain. __________________ 3x-HD1000u - Ikan 8000HD- custom i7 PC - Vegas Pro 13 and 11 64 bit - Premiere Pro CS4 - and a whole mess of other equipment...

July 26th, 2011, 12:49 AM	#25
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	Re: HD1000 vs HXR-MC2000 Sent you an email with the link.... __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

July 30th, 2011, 10:16 PM	#26
Michael Johnston Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 130	Re: HD1000 vs HXR-MC2000 I've had an HD1000U for three years and regretted buying it from the moment I turned it on. It's marketed to event/wedding videographers but, given the often low light situations on shooting those, it's the worst camera you can buy for that type of shooting. Just bought a new NX5U but tested a MC2000 first and it sucks as bad as the 1000. 2000 would have been slightly better if it was same size chip as the 1000 but with Exmor technology but, instead, Sony kills any gains from Exmor by using a smaller chip. Ridiculous. All you need to know about the 1000 or 2000 is that the minimum illumination for both is 11 LUX and anything over 1.5 LUX is WAY to high for any camera being used for professional work. Don't waste you're money. Go with a Sony Z1, Z5, AX2000, or NX5 if you're doing professional work.

December 16th, 2011, 03:28 PM	#27
Sara Jourhmane Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: New York City Posts: 37	Re: HD1000 vs HXR-MC2000 Excellent Advise Michael. HVR-HD1000U is a sheep in wolf's clothing. Horrible low light performance with no manual control whatsoever. I gave this to my 10 years old to impress kids in school.