HC1000 -- various questions

[Patrick Grealy]

Hello All

Looks like the 950 is being replaced by the HC1000 so I presume it is only a matter of time before our beloved PDX10 is history too.

Dealers in Europe are starting to off load the PDX10. My dealer has dropped his price by Euro500 in the last 2 days

Get them while you can!!

Regards P

[Boyd Ostroff]

Well of course this is just speculation and we try to avoid that at DVinfo. I looked at that link, and although the form factor is different I don't see many improvements over the 950, although there was some speculation that it would have the same high quality 16:9 as the PDX-10. Being able to switch between focus and zoom ring would be nice I guess. But perhaps Sony will provide some incremental improvements to the PDX-10 like they did on the PD-170? I don't know that it's a done deal that they will replace the PDX-10; for example, they haven't replaced the DSR-250.

BTW Patrick, you can make your links "clickable" by using the following technique:

[ url ] www.anywebsite.com/whatever [ /url ]

(you will need to remove the blank spaces inserted in the example above for this to work however)

[Patrick Grealy]

Hi Boyd

Will do!

Have decied that I will buy a 2nd PDX10 (at this new price) for multi-cam events (in 16:9)

Having an extra XLR mic shoe (in case the original one I own breaks) is an added advatage, even if I don;t record 4 tracks at a time.

Regards P

[Frank Granovski]

Who says this cam is replacing the PDX10? It's meant to compete with bottom-end 3-CCD cams like the Panasonsic GS70, GS120 and the GS200. The PDX has XLRs, does the HC1000 have XLRs?

[Boyd Ostroff]

Frank: Patrick was speculating that since Sony appears to be replacing the TRV-950 that a replacement for it's "big brother" the PDX-10 might be just around the corner. We'll see...

[Frank Granovski]

Thanks, Boyd! Speculation is grand. :-))

[Danny Fye]

Does anyone here have any thoughts on the new Sony HC-1000?

How does it compare to the trv950 in video qualty?

I noticed that Sony says it has 5 lux instead of the 7 lux of the 950. Can anyone verify this?

Thanks,
Danny Fye

[Kaku Ito]

Checking with my dealer if I can test HC1000 for a few days.
I'm looking into HC1000 because HC1000 can control zooming with the ring and it seems to have slow shutter speed. PDX10 is good but it lacks manual zoom ring and Panasonic NV-GS400 is also great value but lacks slower shutter speed control. HC1000 seems to have both, so I'm interested in finding out how this cam would perform.

[Boyd Ostroff]

I haven't seen one in person, so this is just my impression based on reading the specs. Maybe I would fall in love if I actually had one to play with? Compared to the TRV-950 here's what I see...

Improvements:
* high quality 16:9
* zoom/focus ring
* black finish
* price should be a bit lower than TRV-950
* slightly more light sensitivity

Downgrades:
* viewfinder only has 123,000 pixels vs 180,000 on TRV-950
* LCD only has 211,000 pixels vs 246,000 on TRV-950
* LCD is 2.5", TRV-950 has a 3.5" LCD
* uses a different type of battery which is only available in smaller sizes
* no physical manual controls, everything controlled by touch panel screen

Video quality should be the same since it has the same CCD's. It appears that the lens is the same, but Sony is paying Zeiss to add their name to it.

[Danny Fye]

Thanks for the reply,

Should I hopefully find a TRV950 and get one or should I get the new HC-1000?

I am wanting to get a good camera in this price range. The Panasonic has the combo jacks and no lanc so it is out and the new Sony, well...

I have seen messages about verticle smear on the trv950 and was wondering how much a problem it really is. Would the hc1000 have the same problem if it actually has the same lens and not what is hyped about?

Sorry 'bout all the questions and all, but it looks like Sony is making it much more difficult to consider a camera in this price range.

Others who have the camera say it is great, I don't know.

Danny Fye
www.ourmusic-avp.com


<<<-- Originally posted by Boyd Ostroff : I haven't seen one in person, so this is just my impression based on reading the specs. Maybe I would fall in love if I actually had one to play with? Compared to the TRV-950 here's what I see...

Improvements:
* high quality 16:9
* zoom/focus ring
* black finish
* price should be a bit lower than TRV-950
* slightly more light sensitivity

Downgrades:
* viewfinder only has 123,000 pixels vs 180,000 on TRV-950
* LCD only has 211,000 pixels vs 246,000 on TRV-950
* LCD is 2.5", TRV-950 has a 3.5" LCD
* uses a different type of battery which is only available in smaller sizes
* no physical manual controls, everything controlled by touch panel screen

Video quality should be the same since it has the same CCD's. It appears that the lens is the same, but Sony is paying Zeiss to add their name to it. -->>>

[Boyd Ostroff]

I think the main attraction of the HC-1000 vs the TRV-950 would be it's higher resolution 16:9, which evidently matches the PDX-10. How important is 16:9 to you?

[Danny Fye]

Being that I want it as a backup camera for my VX2000 I am not sure. The 16:9 on the VX2000 is not all that good or is it? I haven't had anything to really compare it to but I tried it and all it seems to do is scrunch the video a bit so it would possibly look right on a tv with 16:9, but I noticed a loss of vertical image.

I am not familiar with the PDX-10 and how it does 16:9 so I don't know if it would be a match to my VX2000 or not.

When I do weddings and Church services, the 16:9 may not matter all that much, but when I do plays, I need more width than height then it would matter.

Thanks,
Danny Fye

<<<-- Originally posted by Boyd Ostroff : I think the main attraction of the HC-1000 vs the TRV-950 would be it's higher resolution 16:9, which evidently matches the PDX-10. How important is 16:9 to you? -->>>

[Boyd Ostroff]

The PDX-10 uses the same CCD's and lens as the TRV-950, but the firmware allows it to shoot better 16:9 that has full vertical resolution and a wider field of view by using the megapixel chips. I also have a VX-2000 and it doesn't even come close to the 16:9 quality of the PDX-10 http://www.greenmist.com/dv/16x9. From what Sony says, the HC-1000 should also shoot 16:9 at this quality level.

Now in 4:3 mode the VX-2000 has a little nicer image and is about two and a half f-stops faster than the PDX-10 or TRV-950. Don't really know what to expect from the HC-1000.

To me, the biggest disappointments in the HC-1000 are the smaller batteries (especially bad for shooting performances) and moving manual controls to the touch screen. If you like the VX-2000 I'm guessing you may be disappointed by this camera, unless you want something smaller, lighter and more consumer oriented. Maybe you can find a dealer that has one in stock so you can play around with it a bit?

There are some more comparisons between the PDX-10 and VX-2000 here http://www.greenmist.com/dv

[Mike Sanchez]

My local dealer has an HC-1000 and let me spend about 30 minutes with it last Saturday. It is positively TINY compared to my TRV-950. All plastic exterior, very, very light weight. Feels like something I would be able to get at Best Buy assuming I could manage the 5 minute discussion with an aggressive teenager who knows nothing about the camera. The LCD display, compared to the TRV-950 display, is a big step down for indoor shooting. Impossible to manual focus with it.....not enough resolution. No PUSH AUTO focus button......which I think is a phenomenal feature of the TRV-950. With the TRV-950 I quick zoom in....push auto with focus in manual....release and have the best possible focus......

All of the manual adjustments are in the LCD which some others need PROZAC to deal with. For me it would not be too bad since I set my camera up for a particular shoot.....and usually do not change on the fly while handholding. So.....the in LCD manual controls are not a disaster.....

But.....as a "replacement" for the TRV-950....it is not. The TRV-950 was a better camcorder for individuals with a good photographic background, an extra $125 dollars to get an Azden SGM-X (the on-board mics are simply horrific sound), and willing to perform parameter optimization for image content. However, I do think Sony had some difficulty at the price point the TRV-950 sat at. For not much more a GL-2 could be had......my local dealer told me they sold 4 times as many GL-2 as they did TRV-950.

The new price point probably makes it more profitable than the TRV-950 and, honestly, they will probably sell more units than they sold with the TRV-950.

[Samuel Birkan]

Here is a link to an extensive review of the HC1000
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-DCR-HC1000-Camcorder-Review.htm