Opinions! V1 vs the world! Help!

[Andrew Smith]

Granted, though I don't think I will ever sell my V1U.

If anything, I'd be inclined to purchase yet another Sony camera so that I can dial up the same colour and gamma settings and hence it's a no-brainer to use the V1U as a second camera.

Andrew

[James J. Lee]

I wouldn't buy a V1u new, but if you can find a good second hand model at a great price, I'd say go for it. Aside from low light work, the image quality is still superb and you'll be using lights anyway right? There's always gonna be something later & greater and recording to tape is still a viable method of archiving footage.
IMHO, there are so many other things that will have a greater effect on your final production than the capture device(aka: camera), like tripods, lights, audio gear, processing equipment, etc. I'd save money on the camera and put it towards these less sexy items that will have a greater result in the end. The final production is what counts and no one will care how you got there.

[John Wiley]

Andrew, I don't think i'll ever sell my FX7 either!

Apart from the emotional attachement to an object that has paid my bills for the past two years, I'll need it so I can still re-capture my old HDV tapes when I upgrade to a solid state cam.

[D.J. Ammons]

Thomas,

If you are on a budget and going to flim the things you mentioned I would highly recommend a Spiderbrace mount. It was the best $60-$70 I ever spent on video production.

It is a shoulder mount that makes cameras like the V1 very stable. You can use it on your shoulder for steady shots and then whip it down and hold the cam by the top handle for low shots. We film music acts in clubs and my shooter loves it.

Aluminum versions of this cost hundreds of dollars. The Spiderbrace is made out of PVC so you have to be careful when transporting it. However being made out of PVC means it is extraordinarily light which is great.

I think the mount for the V1 is now about $69 bucks and worth a lot more.

home

[Garry Moore]

I would check into one of the NX cams if I were chosing now, but I don't feel cheated with my V1. It has been a awesome camera for me and the image quality, I believe is still not utilized yet. Most people are happy with DVD quality- (SD) Standard definition, so its image is very acceptable. And where light is lacking, well I make more light if possible.
I guess alot depends on your budget, personally any pro camera V1/Z5 will resell better later, but will cost more. Latest technology says NX Cam or if your really serious go EX baby !!

[Sherif Choudhry]

I too love my V1. For me there isnt much in it between the different HDV cameras except for operational considerations eg, zoom range, handling, ease of focusing - after all they all output interlaced HDV, though V1 has 25p progressive as well. As Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) said there is no reason why a great short/event cant be made on an HDV camera, and there have been). There are considerable fans of the Panasonic codec of course.

For me there would be 3 considerations to move away from the V1
a) better compression than HDV, and the jury seems out on AVCHD(?? Ive heard both sides on strengths of this medium); XDCAM looks really good but is much more cost;
b) better focusing capability - i still find my V1 focus a little difficult now and then, especially in low light; and i havent made the leap to an external viewfinder as it adds bulk
c) simultaneous recording to card - tape is such a pain now, but a good archive medium as its so cheap. but you cant beat taking a flashcard out of the camera and putting it in your laptop for ingest

I have a Canon 7D with 1080i but frankly I find it operationally clunky to use compared to my V1 - I use it as a 2nd cam to get that depth of field, but unless you're a wedding/event videographer, then based on my use I couldnt recommend it as a film-makers 1st camera to create stuff on (yeah i know many would....)

Funnily enough, I cant seem to find any bargain V1s on ebay, they all seem to retain high 2nd hand values - because for £1500 or less I'd by another one!

good luck!

[David Johns]

Originally Posted by Sherif Choudhry

c) simultaneous recording to card - tape is such a pain now, but a good archive medium as its so cheap. but you cant beat taking a flashcard out of the camera and putting it in your laptop for ingest

You do know you can add the Sony MRC-1K compact flash recorder to the V1? Yes, it has to sit on a bracket, with a wire to it from the V1's firewire port but it works very well (with one caveat: adding the MRC-1K stops the 'expanded view' working when focussing. Don't ask me why, it's a documented 'feature')

Regards
David

[Victor Wilcox]

I have a good guess why. I discovered while recording to Adobe OnLocation from my FX7, that expanded focus causes the output from iLink to expand.