Do any of you have a Sony MiniDV camcorder that has the feature "True Widescreen" mode? If so, do you think you could post a screencap from some 16:9 video you've shot. I'd like to see a still image, to see how the resolution/detail compares with my older Sony PC100 camcorder. Thanks.
Hey Iain. Thanks for posting those two files. I found the MPEG video file in particular very interesting. The video quality of your new Sony camcorder, with it's True Widescreen mode, doesn't appear to be much better than my 6 year old Sony PC100. I was considering buying a new Sony camcorder, but having compared the two, I don't think there's much point. I'm not saying that the video of quality of your new camcorder is bad. It's actually very very good. But my PC100 was clearly ahead of it's time, because not many improvements have been made in those 6 years.
I actually agree with you. I replaced a Panasonic DS28 and the difference was not that great considering the DS28 was bought in 2001.
However I did want a true widescreen camera for display on a 42inch plasma and for that reason alone I'm happy with the 42E as I don't have to stretch the picture. The PQ is marginally better with much better battery life. The DS28 need a good service as well and it wasn't worth paying the £100.
I would have bought a Sony high def camcorder, the HCE1, but as you can't back up edited high def footage to DVD I decided to wait until blue-ray recorders are available next year and use the 42E as an interim measure.
i have this video camera the sony dcr hc39e the first proper mini dv camera im very pleased with the picture quality, ive uploaded some pictures to my blog at www.chemicalbrother999.blogspot.com
for if you want to look at the quality