SONY SR12 or HC9E which is best for quality???

[charlieboy001]

Hi,

I have been looking all over the internet and am struggling to find an answer to my question which ultimately is will the Sony SR12 give a better quality HD recording than the Sony HC9E?

Looking at the Specs the SR12 will record into the full 1920 x 1080 resolution, compared to 1440 x 1080 on the HC9E.

Also the SR12 has a gross pixel count of 5500k where as the HC9E has 3200k.

The SR12 is an AVCHD Hard-disk camcorder and the HC9E is a HDV tape based camcorder.

Please help as I will be purchasing one soon.

I look forward to your replies.


Thanks

Charlie

[redsox_mark]

Video performance is close; close enough you will be hard pushed to tell which is best.

On balance the SR12 is getting the edge in the detailed technical review - in camcorder.info's league table the SR12 comes in just ahead of the HC9. Same on this German site; the SR12 outscores the HC9.
http://www.camcorder-test.com/camcorder.html

It's not because of the higher resolution sensor (that only helps with increased resolution stills). And not so much due to the 1920 vs 1440. And it's not an AVCHD vs. HDV thing either; it seems more down to the BIONZ image processor and Exmor technology on the SR12.

[charlieboy001]

Hey Mark,

Thats really helpfull, and definately makes sense.

I took a look at the German site, very handy indeed. Will be purchasing the SR12 now awesome:-).

The main purpose is for underwater filming for my dad, he has this brand new Stingray HD Casing with their Sunray Lights from Light & Motion in the states which is amazing! Anyone out there looking for an underwater housing for HD, use this. We tested this recently diving in the Maldives with a HC5 and results were amazing!.

Thanks

Charlie

[redsox_mark]

Sounds great.
You'll be fine and get excellent quality with either. It really comes down to the format and media then. HDV doesn't require as fast a PC as AVCHD does, so in that way is easier to edit than AVCHD (SR12). But with AVCHD you have faster access to specific clips.