Few questions regarding the HC1 & HC3 cam's

[Johneb]

right then, a bit of a novice so if im talkin crap just ignore it...

Going on holiday soon (Florida) with the family - and I want a decent camcorder...

Now I've been looking at the HC1 & 3 - I have a 37" HD LCD and a decent PC - well, its a few year old now.
anyway, im abit stuck on storage - i.s. when im out there I dont want to keep swapping HD tapes over every 2 seconds & memory sticks as well. Cause I will be shooting quite abit of footage.

I would like HD film to make use of my TV, but its not essential. So I have been looking at the Sony HDD DCR SR90. Just wondering if its any good? less hastle if you dont want to carry a million tapes around.

Also, do the cam's have a HDMI socket?
I guess you can plug the DCR SR90 cam straight into the TV, to view your film from the HDD on the cam?

Are there any other camcorder recommendations you can offer me?

Thanks for your patience

Johneb

[laser]

Originally Posted by Johneb

right then, a bit of a novice so if im talkin crap just ignore it...

Going on holiday soon (Florida) with the family - and I want a decent camcorder...

Now I've been looking at the HC1 & 3 - I have a 37" HD LCD and a decent PC - well, its a few year old now.
anyway, im abit stuck on storage - i.s. when im out there I dont want to keep swapping HD tapes over every 2 seconds & memory sticks as well. Cause I will be shooting quite abit of footage.

I would like HD film to make use of my TV, but its not essential. So I have been looking at the Sony HDD DCR SR90. Just wondering if its any good? less hastle if you dont want to carry a million tapes around.

Also, do the cam's have a HDMI socket?
I guess you can plug the DCR SR90 cam straight into the TV, to view your film from the HDD on the cam?

Are there any other camcorder recommendations you can offer me?

Thanks for your patience

Johneb

Sony's Hi Def camcorders record the same amount of time to mini DV tapes i.e. 60 minutes or 90 minutes (for the longer tapes) as recording SD footage.

The HC3 has a HDMI output but the HC1 has component and both will output HD footahe to a PC via i-link.

The HC1 has or is about to be discontinued.

I think the general consenus is the HC1 has a slightly sharper image than the HC3 and has more pixels than the HC3.

The HC3 is better in low light conditions but has less pixels than the HC1 and uses interpolation to make up the hi-def image.

However, the sample videos I've downloaded show the differences are small and the initial comments people have been making on the quality of the HC3 image and pretty much unfounded, other than for the comments made aboce. However check out the following site to see for yourself:

http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/

If you simply want to point and shoot in high-def go for the HC3. If you want manual control over recordings and like to experiment with exposure level, manual focus etc then consider the HC1.

I'd say the HC1 is more of a semi-pro camcorder whereas the HC3 is aimed more at the consumer end of market for people wanting high-def camcorders.

[fcat]

The HDD DCR SR90 is obviously a hard disc camcorder and once youve filled up the hard disk youll have to find a way of dumping the footage off it to be able to record more on it.
If your using it on the high quality mode you'll only have 7 hours available, you say your gonna be shooting a lot of footage, is it more than 7 hours worth ? if so then how you gonna dump the footage off ?

If you go for th HC1 you wont be changing tapes every 2 seconds, just every 60 minutes

Im not sure if its the same on the HC3 but on the HC1 there is no long play in HD mode the camera records 63 minutes onto a 60 minute tape, thats all.

[Johneb]

Thanks for the replies guys...

If I had the HDD cam then I would just copy it to my PC and maybe sling them to DVD somehow...

Does anyone know the cheapest place to buy the HC3 from?

[Johneb]

simple question - do you have to use High Def DV tapes to get HD quality on the HC3 camcorder. Or can you just use normal DV Mini tapes?

eg
http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/prodp...id=181&begin=0


Best Cameras have this HC3 cam with 2 free tapes. Im assuming the tapes are standard and not HD.
http://www.bestcameras.co.uk/shop/ac...amera_732.html

[laser]

I use normal mini dv tapes. After reading lots of postings to various forums I use Sony Premium Mini DV tapes, costing £1.59 each (aprmedia.com)

Sony's High Def tapes, ranging in price from £8.00 to £13.00 per tape will offer no better picture quality. What they supposably offer are fewer dropouts.

From the recording I've done so far on my HC1E, I've had no dropouts with the cheaper Sony Premium tapes. However I only ever use a tape once and keep it as the original master, although the tapes maybe played many times to the TV or into the PC for capture.

[Johneb]

Thanks mate...

So the Premium tapes produce the same HD qaulity has the Sony High Def tapes???

[laser]

Yes. The premium tapes produce the same PQ as the high def tapes. This is one advantage of recording digitally.

[Johneb]

So, just to clarify - Premium tapes (when used) film in HD quality? the only reason HD tapes are so expensive is because they dont dropout so much

[redsox_mark]

Yes.

The reason for them creating these "HD" tapes (apart from money!) is that with HDV, due to the GOP format, if you get a dropout you could lose a whole GOP (something like 15 frames) rather than just a single one. So they would be more noticable than with DV. The HD tapes are made to a higher quality spec, so less prone to dropouts (according to Sony).

With a good tape like the "Premium", if you use new tapes dropouts seem rare. If you are worried and it is critical footage, you could use a HD tape. Or you could just use Sony Premium, and only switch if you ever see a problem.


Mark

[fcat]

Ive used over 60 Sony Premium DVM60 tapes and havent had a single drop out to date

[Johneb]

Originally Posted by fcat

Ive used over 60 Sony Premium DVM60 tapes and havent had a single drop out to date

On a HD camcorder?