Copy from Sony TRV900 to Sony HDR-HC1E

[ianh64]

I would like to copy some footage taken on my brothers Sony TRV900 (4:3) onto the end of some footage that I took on my Sony HDR-HC1E. We don't have much time to complete the transfer so do not have time to experiment and neither have done this type of thing before.

I just want to make sure that my reading of the HDR-HC1E manual is correct.

Source DV tape in TRV900
Destination tape in HDR-HC1E cued to start point/end of tape
HDR-HC1E set to DV mode in vcr/tape menu ?
Connect via 4 pin i-link cable
Set HDR-HC1E to record-pause
Start playing tape in TRV900
When we are at the right section, manually start recording on HDR-HC1E
Manually hit stop at the end

A few questions:

This all looks a bit basic to me with all the manual steps. With i-link allowing tape control I would have thought it could be a bit more automated. Is this right or can I use tape control to allow me to start/stop the units near frame perfect?

Can I record the incoming in HDV mode - I realise that it will be SD recolution only and will have side bars due to source being 4:3 but it would be nice to have continuous HDV mode on tape rather than a short section of DV mode.

Thanks

Ian

Don't think you can record it as MPEG2 HD as it's effectively an AVI source (footage through the HC1's optics is converted on camera, the route in for external sources is different)

I wouldn't recommend having HDV and DV on the same tape.

[Alan A]

Why not transfer both p[oieces of film onto your computer and use a video editing suite to make a dvd/DV tape?

[ianh64]

I would need some spare disc space for that! And it seems a bit of an overkill just to do a tape to tape copy.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by ianh64

I would need some spare disc space for that! And it seems a bit of an overkill just to do a tape to tape copy.

I take it you don't have a DVD recorder?

[ianh64]

I performed the transfer last night. Since the whole purpose of the excercise was to have two versions of the same event on the same tape I performed the basic tape to tape using the firewire/i-link connection. If it didn't work satisfactorily I would just record over the duff bits.

It was an easy thing to do, connect lead, press record/pause on destination and play on the source. When required scenes were being played I took the destination off pause and stopped it at the end. Not frame perfect but OK for the purpose of this excercise. With ilink allowing transport control I would have thought that it was possible to have one unit control the other but it would appear that an external edit controller would be required to perform this task.

HDV and DV seems to coexist quite happily side by side. There was a short transition period of blank during playback as HDV goes into DV which caused the TV to resynch from 1080i to 576i. Setting the output of the HDR-HC1E to 576i also had a short blank transition phase - it maybe that I left a few blank frames at the end of the HDV before recording the DV or there is indeed a transition whilst the HDR-HC1E processes the transition between HDV and DV. If it is the latter, it will be unacceptable for a smooth frame perfected edit but it is just fine for my purposes. As expected, small borders at the side catered for a 4:3 frame in a 16:9 format. Interestingly datacode time and exposure information were preserved during the transfer.

Being able to compare the results of the well respected Sony TRV900 and HDR-HC1E were quite interesting, especially when viewing like for like at 576i output via component on a 32" LCD display. Even at SD, the HDR-HC1E proved noticably the sharper picture. The scenes were shot inside a church with areas of low light and where the sun shone shined through the window bright spots of light. The HDR-HC1E showed no signs of grain whereas the TRV900 did - odd since in reviews of the HC1E it has been criticised of having grain in low light. Exposure wise, it was a close call. At first it looked as if the HC1E when playng at HD 1080i had over exposed by quite a bit whereas the TRV900 looked very good indeed. However, when we were looking at the results in SD 576i, the exposure of the HC1E appeared as good as the TRV900. This seems to indicate a fault in my system upstream of the HC1E when viewing HD content at 1080i. I tried to calibrate the over exposure out on the display but could not manage it. It looks like everything from about 70% - 100% IRE is compressed with little or no contrast. That will be something for me to fathom another day but will be difficult without an alternate 1080i source so check against.

Thanks all for your help

[Alan A]

Ian,
thanks for the info.
I have the TRV900E at the moment and am looking to buy (today) the HDR-HC1E
I looked at the FX1, but felt that it was too heavy to use as a hand held camcorder.
Is there anythingt missing from the HDR that the TRV 900 has? (apart from the extendable eye piece)
Can you use the L range of LiIon battereies on the hDR? I have a long use battery in "L" format.
Do you have a lens protection filter fitted? can you still use the lens hood with this on or like with the TRV does it fir to the lens hood?
Cheers

[ianh64]

Hi Alan

The TRV900 is my brothers so I am not that familiar with it but I can answer some of your questions.

The HDR-HC1E uses the M style batteries so the TRV900E ones will not fit. The HC1E also eats batteries...it is supplied with the FM50 and the info display indicates about 90 minutes use from full charge. In reality it is much much much less than this. I don't know if this is a fault in my camera but when the battery indicator gets down to about 30 minutes its only a few minutes later that its indicating low batter then powering off. Its not a battery issue as I have another FM50 and an FM70 which do the same.

I don't yet use filters but I believe that they are 37mm threads. The supplied lens hood would appear to replicate this thread so any filter would be attached to the lens hood rather than the camera. I don't think you could fit the lens hood to a camera with filter already attached to the camera, it would have to be attached to the hood. The lens hood is rather a plastic affair. I don't keep the hood on all the time as its a tight fit in my case, but I suspect that the one on the 900 is more robust. I know my brother keeps his on all the time.

As for weight, when I picked up my brothers TRV900 I was surprised how heavy it was. It is also larger. I actually feel that Sony have got the size and weight of the HDR-HC1E just right.

The TRV900 would almost certainly have a greater range of features, but the HC1E is not lacking. Im not a great fan of the touch screen - would have liked the ability to scroll through the options using say the zoom button - but you soon get use to it.

My other slight critisism with the HC1E is that it can lock onto the wrong thing when starting to shoot so the center of the screen is out of focus for a short period of time. My brother said that his TRV900 did this too and comparing the copied section of tape, he actually felt that the HC1E coped better than his TRV900 - both camera were being used by novice users and were in full auto mode. Apart from manual focus, the HC1E has a spot focus mode by pressing on the LCD viewfinder.

I hope this helps.

-Ian

[Alan A]

Thanks Ian,
Well, I went out and bought one!
£1139 with 9 months 0% Credit
plus a NP-QM91D long life battery for £100
Now, has anyone bought the 5:1 extension mic??

[ianh64]

I hope you like it. If you don't mind the size and weight the QM91 battery is a probably a good idea too.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by ianh64

I hope you like it. If you don't mind the size and weight the QM91 battery is a probably a good idea too.

yes its fine, as even with that big battery on, it weighs less than my TRV 900
Only thing is its made me find my first fault with the HRD, the fact that with it on you cannot use the eye piece in horizontal mode