Sony introduced a new HDV (High-Def on miniDV) camcorder this model year at a relatively low price of $1600. It only has one chip, but it’s a CMOS instead of a CCD, which means that it’s less susceptible to inter-pixel distortion. DV Guru has a short review of the HDR-HC1 and finds that the camera performs well in good light, but suffers from increased noise in low light, compared to a 3-CCD cam. They also decry the HDR-HC1’s bottom tape loading, which I would hate, too.
At this moment in time, if I were looking to buy a new prosumer camcorder, I would definitely go with an HDV model from Sony or Panasonic. But I don’t think I’d get the HDR-HC1 for anything other than use as a backup. In fact, at work, we’ll probably get at least one new HDV cam this summer–I’m thinking it’ll be a Sony HVR-Z1U 3-CCD cam.
While most anything you’ll produce for TV will have to be standard-def NTSC for the time being (hi-def DVDs and videotapes aren’t really here yet), the extra quality won’t hurt if you want to return to your footage later, or if you’re producing for the web, since Windows Media, Real Video and Quicktime/MPEG-4 all support hi-def right now.
None of these cams are as small and pocket-sized as the Sanyo Xacti XD1, and they do use tape. But they also generate higher-quality audio and video using a proven platform, and so both these Sonys would be a good choice for any indy videographer looking to jump up to HD right now.
[…] Yes, I do think this will be the year that hi-def video recording becomes mainstream for advanced amateurs and independent videomakers. Sony just announced a small palm-sized HDV camcorder with a retail price around $1700, the HDR-HC3E. It’s a single CMOS chip cam, like the HDR-HC1 I blogged about on Monday, only the new one is smaller and lighter. […]