Pany HDC-SD5/7 Or Sony HDR-CX7

[AML]

These just came out in Japan and wondering if anyone knows much about them.
Wondering which one to get.

Price wise they are both the same, (89000 yen/450 quid)

Im just wondering who has the better track record for AVCHD cams.

Also lense wise, which would be best?

I think the specs are also almost the same for both cams. The SD7 is just different in design and a little bit lighter than the SD5. So im sort of tempted to go for that.

Any advice appreaciated!

[rhubarbe]

I have an SD7. Brilliant little thing, I bought it for the form factor. SD5 same but I don't like the Handycam format.

SD7 (and SD5) not very good in low light, but if you can do manual controls then there is a big improvement.

84minutes in HG (highest) 1920x1080x60i on an 8Gb card. 120 minutes at next down.

I think (and this is just me) that the Sony HDR-CX6/7 may be slightly better in low light on auto.

Other than that it is a great little cam and I am well pleased with it so far.

Off on holiday tomorrow for two weeks with 5 x 8Gb and 1 x 4GB cards. Hope I can find something to film.

[AML]

I also like the SD7's design/form factor.
I dont like looking like a "tourist" with the cam in hand, so I guess the SD7 is a little more subtle.

I was wondering about one thing though, i read that these AVCHD cameras suffer from compression artefacts when paning and so on.
What kind of bit rates do these new models offer? Might it be better to wait for higher bit rate cams? Or are these already pretty good?

[redsox_mark]

Cx6 (and I believe CX7 is the same) has 4 bitrate/quality settings: 15, 9, 7, and 5 Mb/sec.

SD5 (and I believe SD7 is the same) has 3 settings: 13, 9, and 6 Mb/sec.

I believe the issues with AVCHD compression involves more than just increasing the bit rate... but regardless it is pretty good.

[satisian]

From the reviews looks like both these are not great in low light (which is what I will have at family birthdays and school shows!). Understand from review at camcorderinfo.com that the Canon HG10 which is out in a few weeks has best picture quality but this one is hard disk based not SD card.

On the lookout for a HD camcorder myself, leaning towards the Canon although have been tempted by the Sony's everytime I have been in Japan!

[rhubarbe]

Having just returned with 6 hours of HDC-SD7 video footage I can tell you that if you take the trouble to learn how to override the auto controls that the SD7 is quite good in low light.

It's not hard to do, either.