[adybaines]

Hi,

Im stuck trying to buy a camcorder for my usa trip next wed.. i like the HDR-SR8 with 100gb drive etc but reading all the reviews on full HD and 24/25p from the HV20 im worried i will be buying a lesser machine...

Problem is i need an underwaterhousing to go with it and cant see one for the HV20 limiting my purchase of it..?

So will the HDR-SR8 be just as good at HD video/would i even be able to tell the difference between the HV20 film and the HDR-SR8 film.....?

Sounds like 25/24p has drawnbacks too mainly motion blur on moving objects so not all positive??

many thanks

[senu]

I'm not sure what the final output of your Video footage will be, and how you intend to edit it
In a way you are not comparing like for like
Although Hi definition video , the camcorders employ differnt technology Comparing AVCHD and HDV , the differences in absolute quality are minimal ...and are not really a decider

[adybaines]

thankyou,

im just easily sold on tech stuff and when i read about the 25p hv20 it sounded great but its hdv and i want avchd on hdd and i cant find a housing for it so im going to get the sony hdr-sr8, need to find one asap and get it ordered... any ideas? best price i found is 850 purelygadgets....

does anyone know about wide angle lenses etc for the sony.. as in are they worth having/would one fit inside the sony spk-hcc housing so i can use it underwater..?

thanks again for your time

Hello I cannot make a new thread becuase there is no bootom for it, or I haven't found it in the page. But anyway my question is quite similar I want to go for a sr8 or an a1p, I want to get it to start filming, I have studied some photography and now I want to start with some cienema. So I'm not sure if a "consumer" one it's going to be enough. But the sr8 looks pretty good. If somebody can give an advice

[glesgaguyav]

Originally Posted by adybaines

thankyou,

im just easily sold on tech stuff and when i read about the 25p hv20 it sounded great but its hdv and i want avchd on hdd and i cant find a housing for it so im going to get the sony hdr-sr8, need to find one asap and get it ordered... any ideas? best price i found is 850 purelygadgets....

does anyone know about wide angle lenses etc for the sony.. as in are they worth having/would one fit inside the sony spk-hcc housing so i can use it underwater..?

thanks again for your time

If your still interested in the HV20 try this site

http://www.hv20.com/

I am sure that there's threads by users using their cams underwater

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by pedrogaris

Hello I cannot make a new thread becuase there is no bootom for it, or I haven't found it in the page. But anyway my question is quite similar I want to go for a sr8 or an a1p, I want to get it to start filming, I have studied some photography and now I want to start with some cienema. So I'm not sure if a "consumer" one it's going to be enough. But the sr8 looks pretty good. If somebody can give an advice

There won't be a huge difference in quality, but the A1 has much more manual control... if you will use those then it is worth it to get the A1.

thanks, I care about the quality, could you tell what kind of manual controls? I read that sr8 has several things to do manually, can you tell what are about the popular manual controls?

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by pedrogaris

thanks, I care about the quality, could you tell what kind of manual controls? I read that sr8 has several things to do manually, can you tell what are about the popular manual controls?

The most common manual controls are:

Focus
Exposure
Shutter Speed
White Balance

The SR8 has manual control of Focus, Exposure, and White Balance; not Shutter Speed. Also it has a small “cam control” dial which can be used for manual focus; while the A1 has a large focus ring (which makes manual focus much easier). The A1 has manual control over Shutter Speed as well.

The A1 has more manual controls and options being a “pro” model.. it would take too long to come up with a full list, but some of the controls/options on the A1 which are not on the SR8 are:

Mic input level
Color
Black Stretch
Peaking
Sharpness
Histogram
Full Scan

Thanks a lot! so it looks like having more "toys" the a1, is not posible to edit that in the pc? I just was serching videos made with the sr8 and I found some in youtube, I don't know if they loose quality for uploading it, or if with sr8 the caracter must to move in slow motion like to don't loose the image. May be is for the settings? Or they do film like that, shuter speed looks pretty important, there is something better in the same price more less? I also know that may be the youtube videos are not taken with the sr8 as they say. I'll serch now a1 videos to try to compare. What about canon gl2? Cheers!

[redsox_mark]

You can do a lot in post production (editing). E.g. you can correct the colour. But something like the shutter speed you can't change (you can change the frame rate of course).

Most consumer users won't need the additional manual features on the A1, that is why it is considered a professional camcorder.

All videos on YouTube are compressed and resolution reduced, so you won't be able to judge quality from them.

thanks because I was very disappointed with the quality. And start thinking I'll need much more money to make a "decent quality" video. If I like this first taste filming wich I think I'll like it I'll study cinema next year, do you think sr8 can be enogh for at least a cup of years? or could be better to go straight to a1... if I can find a place to buy it by the way. Im travelling in Asia and next month I'll go to Europe, and I think is sold only in Japan, Australia, South Corea may be in China... I think I could by it on the internet anyway. The sr8 has a beautiful designe, I'm just afraid to want more manual features too sun, and selling and buying another one is a part time job.

[senu]

Ill stick my neck out and say that if for now you have any aspirations of video beyond occasional friends family work, Buy a tape based camcorder, and one with the amt of manual control you get with the A1. This is a biased statement (but meant sincerely )

Comparison of the absolute quality of the hi def out put from either camera taken in good lighting conditions ( and slow movt) is too close to call
The manual controls ( and dare I say tape format? ) in the A1 can show strengths when the conditions are not ideal and getting a watchable image is a struggle
Also, the range of editing support currently available to HDV and DV give you more flexibility in Post production options.
The Manual controls dont do away with PP, they just make you concentrate on editng the footage as taken and spend less time trying to enhance the footage: this apples to both camcorders
The SR8 , good though it may be is an attempt to move AVCHD from the consumer format it is to "prosumer levels"
The A1 is an attempt to bring "Pro level" Camcorder features to the Prosumer without the cost.
Both are good have a market but are only directly comparable as Hi def camcorders. In terms of your aspirations they are aimed at different markets
As said above, youtube videos are useless for comparing quality.. A bit like comparing CD audio quality from a radio braodcast with a little trnny on an AM braodcast

[redsox_mark]

Senu, I couldn't have said it better myself!

pedrogaris, if you have your heart set on an SR8, I'm sure you will be able to use it as part of your studies, but I agree with Senu, if you are looking to make a career out of this, it is worth getting a more pro model if you can.

So it looks better de A1, I know they are made to different markets, as I never shoot a video in fact, I don't know how far can go these menning. I studied photography and I know I canot take a picture with a poket camera. I mean I can, but I will hate to don't be able to change some settings, as I like. But with these two camcorders I don't know how far goes these, as the sr8 also have some manuals. And I also don't know how much can be worth to use them with the A1, if I can change them on the edition. I know is not the same to try to edit something pretty bad looking than something with a better base. In fact I just like more the designe and size of the sr8. But the features of the a1. I should not choose for the beatiful designe. I also read a lot of bads about the avchd format. But the hdd looks more confortable than carrying lots discs...

ok I do want to take it seriusly. So I'll try to go for the a1, can you recomend me some page to try to get it? Do you know wich is a better model? I just found the a1p, and a1u. There's a lot of diference from these to the others? Thanks for your time!

[senu]

I think the letters refer to the home market ( Europe), USA, ect the camcorder is destined for , I don't think the actual specs differ apart from TV system .(NTSC/PAL)
AS for web pages.. google is your friend

I'm trying to find the diference between the letter but I didn't find reviews for all of them and there is a lot of letters (u p e j c) and also diferent prices for them. Can refer the quality of the matirials they are made from?

[senu]

No
re read my post above, sometimes the models designated for the EU, for the UK, for Middle East, Far East, US have different letters at the end

and that could mean something of the quality too? because I found an a1j for 1300 usd. wich is even cheaper than the sr8

How is the transfer from the disc to the computer? do I need something special to do it?

[senu]

HDV, like DV is transferred ( captured as high speed steaming data,) by firewire ( I link, IEEE1394 ect)
ThiS would require a firewire interface on the PC,This may be hardwired to the mother board or a PCI card ( £8-10)
and a cable
You would need software capable of capture and editing of the download, and a big separate HDD for video

How are the tapes? can I erase them and for use them again? and I saw the cmos is not the new clearvid do you if that makes a lot of diference?

ok I just find it is U for usa J, japan, E europe, P austatralia, C china. You where right, I just still have the doubht if sony make some diference in the materials for each country... I don't think so, but... Anyway, I think I'll go for that J if I don't need to learn japanese for it, all its features are in japanese. Thanks a lot for your time!

[rhubarbe]

Well, the manual will very likely be in Japanese.

[senu]

Originally Posted by pedrogaris

How are the tapes? can I erase them and for use them again? and I saw the cmos is not the new clearvid do you if that makes a lot of diference?

Reusing tapes is false economy. they are cheap enough unless the footage is never likely to be used again ( you never know) . Also after some time reuse tapes increase the likely hood of drop-outs
CMOS , clearvid ect should not matter to you. Let the manufacturer deal with that. The Lens, image processing hardware are just as impt as the sensor and may be better than that in a cheaper "clearvid"

[rhubarbe]

Sony Premium tapes are £10.99 for ten on Amazon. Buy two packs and you get free delivery, too.

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by pedrogaris

ok I just find it is U for usa J, japan, E europe, P austatralia, C china. You where right, I just still have the doubht if sony make some diference in the materials for each country... I don't think so, but... Anyway, I think I'll go for that J if I don't need to learn japanese for it, all its features are in japanese. Thanks a lot for your time!

No difference in the materials. Europe, Australia, and China will be PAL/50i, USA and Japan NTSC/60i.

You can download manuals in various languages so that's not an issue. With the Japanese/Chinese ones you'll need to check that they have English or other languages supported.

[hmsq]

Originally Posted by pedrogaris

Hello I cannot make a new thread becuase there is no bootom for it, or I haven't found it in the page. But anyway my question is quite similar I want to go for a sr8 or an a1p, I want to get it to start filming, I have studied some photography and now I want to start with some cienema. So I'm not sure if a "consumer" one it's going to be enough. But the sr8 looks pretty good. If somebody can give an advice

Are you talking about the Sony HVR-A1E or Canon XH-A1 ?

Coz i'm also very keen in buying a few to film some sketch show, although i might rent them out which ever is the best option.

[redsox_mark]

Sony HVR-A1E

Well I'm trying to find a good deal for the hvr a1, but I couldn't find it yet, I need some store able to delibery in asia, or I'll have to wait for next month coming back in europe. So, somebody knows similars camera to view? I reed that hvr a1 is like 2 years old, so is posible to know when sony is going to droop a new camera to the market?