sony HDR-SR5E - is it worth buying?

J

jimmy73

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the camcoder records in AVCHD format, and normal home dvd players don't play this format, then how are the dvds supposed to work?

do you have to hook the cam to the pc to record onto dvd?

what file format does the cam record in and how much can you onto a dvd?

do you see the AVCHD format staying or dying? and will 1080i be beaten?
 
1. how is the footage put onto dvd or blue ray discs and is the footage recompressed when you put onto either dvd or blue ray discs?

You can copy the clips directly (no recompression) to an ordinary red laser DVD blank in high def, which will play on a blu-ray player or PS3.

I believe you can do the same onto a blu-ray disc if you have a blu-ray writer, but these and the discs are expensive currently.

2. do you need a blue ray player or high def v to view in the full 1080i resolution?

Not sure what "high def v" means... but the answer is no. You can view the full resolution direct from the camcorder, by playing the files on a PC, or using a number of media players. As mentioned above a PS3 or blu-ray player is also an option.

3. whats the quality of the video recording like, is it beta than canon hv20?

It is good, though the HV20 is better. Generally the AVCHD cams at a given price don't quite match the quality of HDV tape based ones; though the differences are small.
 
the camcoder records in AVCHD format, and normal home dvd players don't play this format, then how are the dvds supposed to work?

do you have to hook the cam to the pc to record onto dvd?

what file format does the cam record in and how much can you onto a dvd?
 
Mark's answered your questions but you have edited the original question so that now his answers don't make sense.

The very simple answer is that if you don't have an HDTV, and are not thinking of buying one in the near future, then no, the HDR-SR5E isn't worth your buying right now.
 
the camcoder records in AVCHD format, and normal home dvd players don't play this format, then how are the dvds supposed to work?

You can't play the high def format on a "normal" standard def DVD player. You can play them on a blu-ray or PS3 as I said.

do you have to hook the cam to the pc to record onto dvd?

Either that or a DVD recorder of some type.

what file format does the cam record in and how much can you onto a dvd?

The camera records in AVCHD (MPEG4 based format). When you are talking about dvd, are you talking about your original question (where you put the high def files on a DVD), or are you talking standard def DVD video? In the first case it is something like 30 mins, but depends on the quality setting used. In the second case (creating a standard def DVD), you will need to convert the footage (e.g. in software) to standard def DVD... then it becomes just like any other standard def DVD; you can fit about an hour at best quality; more if you drop the quality settings.
 
what fornmt is the footage recorded in as you mention it can't be played on normal dvd players, is the format mtvs or mts?

whats the point in recompressing the footage in order to play on normal dvd players, its going to lose quality

can this cam recorder in mpeg?
 
As I said it records in AVCHD (MPEG4 based format). The container for this is a .mst file, but that doesn't matter... an ordinary DVD player won't be designed to support the high definition or the AVCHD codec.

whats the point in recompressing the footage in order to play on normal dvd players, its going to lose quality

The only point would be so you could play it on a normal DVD player.

The camcorder can record standard definition MPEG2 which you could put on DVD, but that defeats the purpose of getting a HD camcorder.
 
If you want to make "normal" DVD videos of camcorder footage ,
the video file off anything you record from will need to be converted to mpeg2 ( DVD standard)

A standard definition Tape model records DV AVI
A Standard definition HDD model, mpeg2 ( which may not need reeencoding for DVD)
Hi definition Tape ;HDV records a variant of mpeg2 but as m2t .. on the PC: mpeg2 1080i/50
Hi definition HDD records AVCHD ..

Normal DVD players will simply not play anything else apart from Mpeg2 ( not the hi def variety) , although many now play divx ( mpeg4) in the same way as they read jpeg files and mp3s

If you want to record in Hi def and play it as such
You need one of
1) A PS3
2) An HD DVD player and software to turn the AVCHD to a "mini "HD DVD
3) Xbox360 HD DVD add on .. If you can convert the files to WMV HD you can play them
or
One of several media players which can play Hi def files as such
and
Certainly You can play to your TV off an HTPC ( Home theatre PC) with capability to play hi def media and files
rhubarbe Knows about these things:)

do you see the AVCHD format staying or dying? and will 1080i be beaten?
See
"]THESE POSTS
AVCHD is an advanced mpeg4 format which was designed to get Hi def without big size and reliance on tape

Is it for you? Only you can answer that Some ideas to make you decide lie somewhere in Marks answers and this one
If you did buy an HDR -SR5E it can still record in SD quite well but don't expect to watch your Hi def off a "normal " DVD
 
You know, a year ago a 2GB SD card cost forty odd quid, and you'd think yourself a king to be able to slide three or four of them into your bag to go with your SD card based camcorder.

Now, when an 8GB SDHC card costs about the same, and 16 or 32GB cards will be the same this time next year as an 8GB card is today, it does make you wonder whether HDV on SD card might be a better choice than AVCHD. Two and a half hours of HDV on a 32GB card; and who regularly shoots more than 2 1/2 hours in a day, thus requiring more than one of these cards to be bought?

OTOH, Moore's Law dictates that AVCHD will be small potatoes to the standard PC in twelve months' time.

Interesting times ahead.

EDIT: Does anybody know why the Sony DCR-PC1000 changes hands for such huge sums over on eBay?
 
Yes... as the storage becomes larger/cheaper, the need for greater compression becomes less, so we could see less compressed formats on SD memory or HDD. (To date, only JVC has done this with the HD7).
 
It does make you wonder if AVCHD is a blind alley. I suppose though that since broadcasting is going mpeg4 for bandwidth purposes, rather than for storage, if the energy produced by that industry will drive the codecs, de facto , down a route that for our purposes isn't really the right one.

Manufacturers will always want to be able to boast how much recording time you can get on the measly card that they ship with the camcorder (we're talking here about card based camcorders), so there is a line of least resistance there too.

I suppose that if HDV hadn't been a compromise in the first place things might be different.
 

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