A Vision of Light
After working with the HVR V1U on various projects since the beginning of this year, I have concluded that it is perhaps the finest camera an independent filmmaker could buy at a price that will not break the bank. It produces true, beautiful colors in both natural and low light settings, and is exceedingly easy to use. As with any camera, understanding cinemagraphic fundamentals is key to producing interesting, photographic compositions; but the V1U makes it almost too easy to create visual masterpieces.
It strikes the balance between visual sophistication (particularly in HD mode) and ease of operation, and a degree of experimentation will help even the novice quickly achieve a quality picture. While many might disagree, I wholeheartedly believe, based on my experiences, that what the shooter sees in the viewfinder on this camera is exactly what is intended to be shot. Any deep shadows or overexposure then becomes the responsibilty of the operator. While I would still recommend a good monitor no matter what, for those of us who cannot afford $1000 for said accessory, the viewfinder is surprisingly accurate. BTW, even in regular DV mode, the V1U shoots remarkably and flawlessly. It helps that it comes equipped with a Zeiss lens balanced for tungsten light. And there is a demonstrable, qualitative difference between run-of-the-mill CCDs and the V1U's CMOS chipset.
I augment the V1U with the Cinevate Brevis 35 digital imager and Nikon primes, and even though it loses a couple stops, the V1U still hungrily consumes light. At that point UNDERexposure becomes the responsibility of the shooter. As you can expect, the images produced are rich and indistinguishably film-like.
I love this camera, and I will be using it for years to come. It is perhaps the wisest investment I have made in film gear.
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Best pro-sumer Sony yet
I got burned on my VX-1000 with its 32K stunted audio, no firewire in and no manual zoom. The PDX-10 that followed was great- except for still missing a manual zoom. I looked really hard at the first HDV cameras- and decided to wait, and V1U was well worth it.
Bought the Sony HD- and am totally amazed at how much faster my edit process is. The picture quality is phenomenal- but, we've mostly used standard DV since clients are quite ready to pay for HD.
If you've shot with a PD-170 you'll find the form factor very familiar. Still not in love with the way Sony sets white balance- it's not really totally intuitive- but, overall- this is the best camera I've worked with. Friends who've borrowed it are gaga- and they are used to shooting with Sony pro cameras. As always- audio is the most difficult part of shooting with a prosumer camera- and the handle mounted dials are a bit tough to manipulate while shooting- but, all that aside- this camera is amazing.
Also picked up Sony's LED light- it amazes me every time I use it- great light- no heat- and forever battery life.
One thing about all the accessories- there isn't a really good solution to mount HD, Light, Wireless receiver to this small frame. We've bought a bracket off e-bay that makes it easy to mount at least the HD and wireless box to the camera- when the light is on- and the battery for the light has to be on the extension cable. Still- very hand holdable.
Only thing I miss from the VX-1000 was my Century .55x plus fisheye reversible lens- haven't seen anything like it for 16x9 aspect ratios.
If you've shot with Sony in the past- this is the camera for you.
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Outstanding, with some minor caveats
I have had the chance to use this camera a few times, plus compare it to some other HD cameras out there in it's price range, and came away impressed by a few aspects, and more knowing about a few others to consider.
All in all this is a great little HD camera that takes great pictures right out of the box. It handles really nice, has a true microphone that comes with it, and the lens is great on it with it's 20x ratio. It's slow-motion, though at quality a little less than SD, looks fantastic and is great fun to play with. The camera's low light capability is not as good as the Canon XH-A1 in the same price range, or the Panasonic HVX200 (another $2k+), or as good as the older Sony PD170, which was the low-light standard. But it's low light performance is almost one of taste. The camera tends to give a little more fine grain in such low light, kind of like film in some ways. My guess is that this "effect" is pleasing to some people, who don't view it's low-light grainy issues as a problem. Test for yourself before buying. The display and viewfinder are very nice too. Very sharp, with great readout info, including histograms, making sure every shot is properly exposed. The camera also has a really nice automatic gain control. Much better than the Canons in it's price group. Nice focusing features too.
The camera is also part of a larger packaged idea - it doesn't come with, but works perfectly with a portable hard drive (HVR-DR60) that allows you go HDMI out, for much less compressed picture (though most people will think going to tape looks fine) and those files can be dragged and dropped right onto your computer - no more capturing! The LED light is really cool too. Again, these are extra cost.
Pros -
Gorgeous picture quality in most all lighting conditions. Doesn't require a lot of tweaking, it looks good almost all the time right out of the box. But if you want to tweak, you can. If you want to really tweak, consider the Canon line-up.
True 24fps, and true progressive chips, for filmmaking. Great film like gamma curves.
Feels great in your hand. Very well balanced.
True 20x zoom lens. The 30x digital zoom looks terrific!
Nice zoom and focus ring. I was expecting lower quality.
CMOS chips have very nice lack of smearing you see on most cameras that have CCD chips (those sharp vertical lines you see when taking footage of sunsets, for example) and the chips have a certain film like look to some more than other video cameras with 24fps features (including me).
Comes with a true microphone. Really nice extra.
Slow motion, if lower quality, looks really cool (up to 240 fps!). Very usable for video going to regular DVD (not HD) or to the web.
Cool HDMI out, with other accessories (not included) such as shooting to hard drive, or a neat LED light.
Con's -
Questionable very low-light capability. If you're shooting a lot of night time shots, dark indoors (horror movies, dimly lit interviews) you really need to test and compare this to other cameras before buying. If you're shooting regular footage, especially a lot of outdoor, or professionally lit work, it shouldn't be an issue at all.
Cost is about $500 more than Canon's comparable XH-A1 (which doesn't come with the microphone).
Files that go to HD are .mt2 format, which must be converted if you're using a Mac.
As good as the lens is, I believe the Canon is better, and has better image stabilizing capability.
In summary, this is a great little camera for most uses, with a somewhat unique picture to it. Just about anyone going into a store to shop for one can easily compare this to similar cameras and see the features and issues I speak of. They should answer your questions right away whether this camera is for you or not.
Finally, a price comparison:
For $500 less, you can buy a Canon A1, which works better in low light, has more picture control, plus a better image stabilizer. But it's a little bigger, can't go HDMI out, has no slow motion, and doesn't come with a pro microphone.
For $2k more you can buy Panasonic's HVX200, which has superior compression, and solid state capability, and slow motion in high definition (not down res'd, like the Sony).
For $3k more, you can buy Sony's new XDCAM PMW-1, which is an extremely impressive camera with a superior picture to any of these cameras.
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