Baby version of EX1 planned?

[Justin Benn]

Originally Posted by Dom Stevenson

"It's (audio) 60% of the picture quality"

Indeed. I always tell people about the Blair Witch Project.

A 20'000 dollar DV movie with a Million dollar soundmix.

Few people would have paid to sit in a cinema to watch it without the expensive audio.
.

"Sound before Picture, Content before Camera" has become my mantra. Following it is another matter...

[Steve Mullen]

Originally Posted by Matt Daviss

The Canon HV20 is a lovely little thing that I love to bits. When filming stuff under that great big nuclear day-ball, it's amazing. Struggles a bit under lesser lamps.

But let's get this straight: 24/25 fps isn't quite perfect. You have to do things to make it work.

Well said Matt -- time for a nap.

I've been waiting for the A1 to come down to a reasonable (cheap) price but now Sony's EXMOR-based camcorders make it an unwise investment.

I'm doing a book on the Sony SR series (there will soon be 3) and because it lacks so many neat Canon features I was not prepared to like it all that much. But, it does shoot great video! And, in low light it is VERY good!.

The SRs' downside is AVCHD which gives one not a single benefit over MPEG-2 recorded to disk. And, the other downside for many is no 24p, 25p, or 30p. However, shooting P with a tiny camera waving in the wind by those with no film experience isn't likely to yield smooth video. Better for these people to shoot 50p or 60p which today means 720p and a big expensive camcorder. (Hint to JVC!)

So we're back to the SR or a Canon AVCHD unit without a VF or one of the older consumer Canon HDV camcorders. However, assuming you want max video quality under most all conditions, brings us back to the SR.

PS: I'm not sure that anyone but Sony -- in the short-term -- is going to give us low-noise low-light video because Sony's EXMOR is such a step forward. But, let's see what CES 2009 brings from Canon.

[Robert Young]

Steve- I'm glad to hear your impressions of the Sony SRs.
I picked one up on spec, looking to replace my beat up Sony A1U. I've been pretty amazed at the color, image quality, low light/low noise performance. The manual focus and exposure are quick and easy to use. Also the built in Gamma curve (Cine sort of curve, it seems) provides pretty good dynamic range.
I've done casual comparisons of edited HD footage against the Sony HC7 HDV, Sony A1U, V1, and EX. To my eye, the SR is in the range of the V1 for overall image quality, and seems to beat out all the tiny cams. The EX is in a class of it's own- no comparison, no surprise.
I'll keep an eye out for your new book