Buying the FX1 then what

[Greg Harris]

So lets say i go out and purchase this camera in mid Oct., and I filmed a whole weekend and wanted to put my work onto a DVD. Thats not possible is it? Because HD DVDs aren't out yet? So its pretty much pointless for me to buy this camera right now right, and just wait for the HD DVD burners to come out?

[Mike Gannon]

You can burn to a DVD once you downconvert to SD. The big question IMO is how the downconverted image will compare with other sub $5000 SD cameras currently available.

[Mark Kubat]

Oh my God! What was Sony thinking?

I mean, who would really want to be able to capture 1080i on 3 CCDs with 3 lux rating on mini-dv cassettes? The notion almost seems preposterous!

I mean, one would have to down-rez and then it would still be quite tough trying to get as poor an image as the XL2...

You know, the more I read here in this forum, the more I'm convinced that Sony are absolute dullards for releasing this camera now. I mean, surely this will be the final nail in Sony's coffin - the HDR-FX1 will prove once and for all that HDV is just a load of B.S. and we should should keep on shooting 525 lines for the next decade. On interchangeable lenses at that. With 24p, of course.

Can't everyone here see that OBVIOUSLY according to the specs that the HDR-FX1 is gonna go the way of micromv?

I know some people at IBC etc. have seen footage and they claim it's amazing - if they weren't on Sony's payroll, they were obviously tricked!

Come on, the idea that anybody is gonna fall for such an obvious gimmick as the FX1? I mean, so what if you can shoot high-definition quality and blow it up to the big screen - it doesn't have 24p! Sony, ohmigosh, what were you thinking! And you forgot to put XLR inputs on the cam, for goodness sake! The most important feature! Besides having interchangeable lenses and being able to shoot 24p! Huh! What a bunch of amateurs, those people over at Sony!

The real deal-breaker for me is that the FX1 doesn't seem to have any sort of "night-shot" mode or any still-capture ability to some sort of memory-stick type media. What a bummer. I mean, all we will be able to do with this thing is film tremendous video! That just bites.

There seem to be a vast array of options and manual features and settings on the forthcoming HDR-FX1 but tell me... does it have a "Sand-and-Snow" preset? Does it?

And gosh darn it, right now at this moment there doesn't seem to be any software that can really handle editing the HDR-FX1 stuff easily, is there? I mean, companies like Apple and Adobe and Ulead among others are promising to one day introduce such capability, but the reputations of these companies precedes them, no? I mean, does anybody really think think this HDV fad is gonna catch on?

Excuse me as I have to go back to the living room and adjust the bunny ears on my black-and-white t.v. - oh gosh darn, there goes the eight-track again...

[Ben Gurvich]

IT looks like BETA-SP, I agree without 24/25p forget it.

[Heath McKnight]

Mark,

A few things for you to think about after I read your post...

1. The FX-1 is being marketed as a consumer camera. There will be a pro version out next year for around $7000.

2. JVC will have a $20,000 or so HDV camera that does 24p.

3. You can take 1080i footage, convert it to 24p and transfer to 35mm film. For more on that, visit DVFilm.

4. No one who is talking about the FX-1 is on Sony's payroll.

5. Sarcasm dully noted, but why?

heath

[Rob Lohman]

Just to let everybody know, Vegas can edit HDV... now.

[Ben Gurvich]

HDV will takeover,and theres nothing wrong with it.
I think they just havnt bought out good cam with 24p.

If the dvx100 came in HDV,and performed like the dvx youd buy it for the rez factor.

We cant expect too much yet, b/c if they bring out the top of the line cam first, where does that leave them in 2 years?

MiniDV has probably reahced it pinnacle in 2002 with the dvx100, like 6? years after it came out.

[John Jay]

For the record,and just comparing retail price , for $5k you have the choice (if you can call it that) between

one Canon XL2

or



one HDV-FX1 plus one PC-350 (with $1 change)

the latter combination will cater for just about any shooting scenario you can think of in this price range

the abilty to pull focus , aperture and zoom at the flick of a button over a defined time line makes the FX1 even at SD resolution more Filmlook capable that 24p ever will - your production quality and resolution will improve dramatically.

[Greg Harris]

none of my questions were answered.

[Heath McKnight]

you can make HD DVDs right now using Windows Media 9. You can also shoot projects to try and sell to Voom! or HDNet.

hwm

[Paul Henley]

<<<-- Originally posted by Greg Harris : So lets say i go out and purchase this camera in mid Oct., and I filmed a whole weekend and wanted to put my work onto a DVD. Thats not possible is it? Because HD DVDs aren't out yet? So its pretty much pointless for me to buy this camera right now right, and just wait for the HD DVD burners to come out? -->>>

Greg, it's not possible to store HDV content on standard DVD (at least that I am aware of). Until the release of HD-DVD (or Blu-Ray) to the average consumer, HDV content will have to be converted to SD prior to being recorded on DVD. Note: There are other options besides DVD though. As Heath mentioned, there is WM-9 as well as D-VHS that will record and play back HD content.

Is it pointless to get the FX1? I don't think so, but until its release it's too early to tell. The prevailing wisdom out there is that "dumb down" HDV to SD will inherently look better because of the higher resolution, than if the footage was originally shot on SD to begin with.

So what seems like the smarter option? Buying an SD camera that will never have the ability to go HDV? Or buy an HDV camera that can shoot SD as well as HDV (on a true 16:9 CCD)? Sure, HDV output will not be viable to the average consumer for several years, but at least there is a camera now with future compatibility in mind. Until that moment arrives, record to SD now and archive your HD footage for later. Eventually, you can pull out your old HDV tapes and like George Lucas compose your masterpiece the way it was originally meant to be.

Just my two cents...

[Heath McKnight]

Paul is right on.

hwm

[Mark Kubat]

so go to circuit city or best buy, get a flat panel lcd hdtv-ready 15" monitor on the cheap and hook it up to your pc to watch wmvhd and you should be happy. You can "dumb-down" to 720p from the HDR-FX1 out to disc via Sony Vegas 5.0b if your computer can't handle the 1080i (sometimes recommended for machines 3.0 GHz and up). In time, buy the DVD set-top that plays wmvhd.

The future is now.

[Bill Ravens]

To my knowledge, there is NO NO NO set top WMV-HD player. Vinc is working on one, but, it hasn'r been released.

[Heath McKnight]

X-Mas 2004 is what I heard for the WM9HD DVD player.

Otherwise, the standard is H.264 for HD DVDs.

hwm