Sony HDR-HC3E

uberkraaft · 06-03-2009, 11:04 AM

Play.com have Sony HDR-HC3E for around £340. Is a worthwhile purchase at that price or is there a better alternative below £450? I'm not too fussed over formats - I'm used to using DVC but it's kind of irrelevent

I'm not a high end user, it's really just for filming the kids - editing in iMovie - just stuff for posterity really.

Any thoughts/opinions gratefully received.

Cheers

Matt

uberkraaft · 06-03-2009, 11:17 PM

Kind of decided against it. I'm weighing up 4 - HMX20, HG10, SD5 & SD9 - any thoughts?

jwramsay · 07-03-2009, 7:26 PM

I have HC-3 paid around 2x that 2 years ago!

Great camcorder, brilliant results. Mini DV great for archiving your stuff too, £1 odds a tape! Reconsider!!

chrishull3 · 08-03-2009, 8:13 AM

yes hdv is a lot easier to edit i have both avchd and hdv,my sr 12 avchd cam has a fraction more resolution playing direct to a tv than my hdv cams but after edit its the other way round,probobly my software ,

uberkraaft · 08-03-2009, 9:15 AM

Thanks for the replies.

I'm more confused than ever! I was leaning towards the HG10 (at £340) although I've got misgivings about AVCHD - Is editing that bad? I'm on a new Intel Imac w/4gb Ram...

Ideally, I think I'd be happier with HDV but my budget - £450 absolute tops - is pretty restrictive...

My top priorities are image quality and good image stabilisation. Waiting a bit longer in transferring footage for editing isn't necessarily too much of a problem...

chrishull3 · 08-03-2009, 9:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uberkraaft

Thanks for the replies.

I'm more confused than ever! I was leaning towards the HG10 (at £340) although I've got misgivings about AVCHD - Is editing that bad? I'm on a new Intel Imac w/4gb Ram...

Ideally, I think I'd be happier with HDV but my budget - £450 absolute tops - is pretty restrictive...

My top priorities are image quality and good image stabilisation. Waiting a bit longer in transferring footage for editing isn't necessarily too much of a problem...

you wont get an hdv cam in your price range,but you may be luckier than me and not lose pq resolution during pc import with avchd.

uberkraaft · 08-03-2009, 10:34 AM

Yeah. I'm still contemplating getting a standard def miniDV cam...

BingoBongo275 · 08-03-2009, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uberkraaft

Yeah. I'm still contemplating getting a standard def miniDV cam...

My advice would be to go Hi-Def.

Late last year I" upgraded" my Sony TRV50 to the new (tiny) TG3 and the difference in PQ is unbelievable.

Youre correct that editing AVCHD requires a hi-spec pc (a Dell costing £600 ish should cover it) but I suppose you could still capture HD but edit in SD for the time being, and then upgrade your PC at a later date. At least your original footage would still be in HD

Cheers

Jez

uberkraaft · 08-03-2009, 1:54 PM

Yes, that's what I figured but the budget is pretty limiting I'm afraid - I've seen the HG10 and Sony SR8 within my budget but they both seem to have problems when used with Macs (rather PCs) and i'm looking for something that's pretty hassle free...

uberkraaft · 08-03-2009, 4:14 PM

Just to add - it was lack of Firewire on the SR8 that put me off.

**senu** · 08-03-2009, 4:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uberkraaft

Just to add - it was lack of Firewire on the SR8 that put me off.

USB is fine isnt it.?.

chrishull3 · 08-03-2009, 6:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by senu

USB is fine isnt it.?.

ulead studio 11 has solved the problem no loss from the files when sr 12 footage is rendered with it it was pinnacle poo

jwramsay · 08-03-2009, 7:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishull3

you wont get an hdv cam in your price range,but you may be luckier than me and not lose pq resolution during pc import with avchd.

HDV does not mean hard disk!

The Sony HC3 records in HDV rather than the newer AVCHD.
It is 1440x1080i and uses MPEG2 only to compress the signal to fit in the same bandwidth as DV video.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT ENCODES THE VIDEO IN MPEG2!!!!

The footage is stored on mini DV tapes, which is find by me, as I have a library of 50 odds sitting in a drawer - brilliant archive mechanism.

The OP has found that play.com are selling this Sony HC3 for £340, which is a TRUE bargain price.

Armed with the Sony Vegas 8.0c and DVD Architect Pro 5, I am producing AVCHD discs that play on my Sony S350 Blu Ray player. These have full AC3 5.1 and 15Mbps AVCHD Video.

This is why I say to the OP, grab that HC3 before they all go!

**senu** · 08-03-2009, 7:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDP-434HDE

HDV does not mean hard disk!

I think Chris Knows that. he has 2 HDV camcorders ( FX7 and HC1) and SR12 which is AVCHD

Quote:

The Sony HC3 records in HDV rather than the newer AVCHD.
It is 1440x1080i and uses MPEG2 only to compress the signal to fit in the same bandwidth as DV video.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT ENCODES THE VIDEO IN MPEG2!!!!

What does it encode in then?
HDV is mpeg2 1080i.. Sure it has a transport header (m2t) , differernt codec, pixel size and higher bitrate ( fixed at 25mbps than SD mpeg2 but it is mpeg2 .. such as is found in Bluray discs as well as AVC and VC1

Quote:

The footage is stored on mini DV tapes, which is find by me, as I have a library of 50 odds sitting in a drawer - brilliant archive mechanism.

I agree with this as I also have 2 HDV camcorders but the real time download and arguably great quality of newer AVCHD camcorders seems to make less of a case for HDV

Quote:

The OP has found that play.com are selling this Sony HC3 for £340, which is a TRUE bargain price.

True

Quote:

Armed with the Sony Vegas 8.0c and DVD Architect Pro 5, I am producing AVCHD discs that play on my Sony S350 Blu Ray player. These have full AC3 5.1 and 15Mbps AVCHD Video

.
HDV can be converted to AVCHD ( as you can see).. the converse is also true

Chris was reffering to loss of quality when converting

jwramsay · 08-03-2009, 9:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishull3

you wont get an hdv cam in your price range,but you may be luckier than me and not lose pq resolution during pc import with avchd.

This was the comment I was referring to Senu.

OP stated that he found the Sony HC-3 for £340.
OP suggested that his price range was £450.

As £340 < £450, so an HDV cam is in his price range.

That is why I thought that Chris was thinking HDD.

No worries Senu.

**senu** · 08-03-2009, 9:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PDP-434HDE

This was the comment I was referring to Senu.

OP stated that he found the Sony HC-3 for £340.
OP suggested that his price range was £450.

As £340 < £450, so an HDV cam is in his price range.

That is why I thought that Chris was thinking HDD.

No worries Senu.

Im chilled.. cold

flowing as we "speak"