Canon sx1 IS 1080p $599

This has been in Europe for a while. It uses the same 45Mb/s data compression as the 5DM2, with a smaller sensor. There is lots of footage on Vimeo.

Generally, the footage is good. The compression is better than anything in a camcorder other than AVC Intra. The lens is comparable, maybe a little better, than consumer camcorders, although a bit off prosumer ones. The small single sensor has the noise levels you'd expect.

Overall results are very good picture sharpness without the texture detail that makes the 5DM2 pop.

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_PowerShot_SX1_IS/

http://www.vimeo.com/groups/sx1/videos
 
I think the picture is better than the D90...but that's me. A bit more noise, but a lot sharper.
 
Nice. Between NAB 2009 and CES 2010 things are going to get very interesting.

Now there is no excuse for a good video mode in the next Digital Rebel and whenever they decide to do a 60D. I just hope for 24p and full manual video control. Those are the wild cards. Will they have it, or won't they? Of course, I won't argue if they also add in 720 60p as well.

EDIT: I mean no excuse for not having a good video mode in the next Digital Rebel...
 
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It has AE lock, It also has AF lock, but the 'manual focus' is electronically controlled.
 
John Caballero said:
Way better than the D90. And for the price, pretty amazing.
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Well, it is still 30p and fixed lens, but beyond than yes. Even still, I don't feel like spending $900 on the D90 to deal with all the hassles is worth it anymore.

Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but what is the point in buying a camcorder these days? I'm talking consumer grade, not something like an HMC150 or HVX. This SX1 for $599 is a much smarter buy than an HV30 which is the same price or more. Same with pretty much any AVC-HD consumer camcorder as well, except for the older models.

If the Digital Rebel and 60D hit this year, unless Canon intentionally cripples their video modes, then I don't see much reason for the HF S10 or HF S100 either.

Will we be seeing the death of the dedicated consumer camcorder this year?

If so it could be:

Consumer: hybrid pocket point-n-shoot or lower priced DSLR that does photo and HD video. All this for under $1,000. In some cases for only a couple hundred bucks.
Prosumer / Professional: depending on what comes out they'll either move toward something like a 5D mkII or stay with their EX1's HPX170's and 35mm adapters, with some spending more on EX3's and HPX300's, etc...
 
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It is very cool. We are beginning to see much better image quality in this DSLRs with movie modes. They will only get better. The GH1 will have manual controls which is a very big step forward. Keep them coming until we get the "almost perfect one".
 
Nektonic said:
If the Digital Rebel and 60D hit this year, unless Canon intentionally cripples their video modes, then I don't see much reason for the HF S10 or HF S100 either.

Will we be seeing the death of the dedicated consumer camcorder this year?

If so it could be:

Consumer: hybrid pocket point-n-shoot or lower priced DSLR that does photo and HD video. All this for under $1,000. In some cases for only a couple hundred bucks.
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But don't the hfs10 and 100 do 8mp stills? Sounds like they may be decent still cameras themselves. The only thing the video dslrs have going for them is depth of field and low light, once you start working with a video capable p&s then you don't have depth of field and in some cases you won't have very good light. Seems like if you don't mind extra bulk consumer hd cams can do a better job replacing p&s still cams then the stills cams can do of the hd ones.

Myself I'll probably grab that avchd lite p&s cam this year because my p&s is like 5 years old. I may flip my hf100 for either an hf s100 or the new consumer panny with the manual control ring(the current one has pretty bad picture quality, hopefully they improve it, if not I go for the canon). And possibly move from the canon A1 to the hmc150. If panasonic plays their cards right I may end of with a gh1 as well. So I might go from owning nothing panny right to owning everything panny and all of them being able to capture video of some sort. With all these frenetic camera choices, maybe I'll make Crank 3 lol.
 
ecking said:
But don't the hfs10 and 100 do 8mp stills? Sounds like they may be decent still cameras themselves.
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Yes, but they also retail for approx. $1,200. To the average consumer who probably wants a smaller camera anyways and will most likely shoot a ton more stills than video, the SX1 camera is a much better deal than the HF S10/100.

I know for people like us, an HV30 form factor is better than a point-n-shoot form factor, but if the average consumer doesn't care and goes with the more affordable solution will Canon, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Samsung, etc... want to still make dedicated consumer camcorders beyond the next year? I'd say no. They'll fold the HD camcorders into DSLR's and push those to the consumer who wants manual control, better quality, and is willing to pay more for it.

The only thing the video dslrs have going for them is depth of field and low light, once you start working with a video capable p&s then you don't have depth of field and in some cases you won't have very good light. Seems like if you don't mind extra bulk consumer hd cams can do a better job replacing p&s still cams then the stills cams can do of the hd ones.
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That is why an HD capable Digital Rebel or 50D successor makes so much sense. $900 to $1,500 gets you better low light and interchangeable lenses. Personally, I'd rather spend on an HD DSLR than on an AVC-HD or HDV camera with a 1/3 or 1/2 sensor and fixed lens. Now if they make something like an HV30 / Digital Rebel hybrid with an APS-C sensor and EOS mount that is another story. That would make sense to me.

The more video / film oriented person would probably prefer the camcorder body version, while someone more into photography would get a Digital Rebel or higher end DSLR. The main similarities would be HD video, EOS mount, and APS-C sensor. The Rebel would have more bells and whistles in the still photo departments while the camcorder version would have more bells and whistles pertaining to video. Both users could of course buy Canon lenses for either camera.
 
In a week or so we will have HF S10 stuff on the internet captured to Cineform via HDMI. It is very closely comparable to the the SX1, although nearly double the price! However, its video capability has more options, oddly NOT including a manual mode or exposure lock.

But here are some details...

Both record 1920x1080 p30 over H.264 High Profile @ Level 4.1 from over sampled sensors. The HF S10/100 has 1/2.6 sensors with 3264x1840 photo sites; the SX1 has a 1/2.3 sensor with 3840x2160 photo sites. The SX1 has a higher factor between the Nyquist limit and the output size (2 vs. 1.7) increasing MTF at higher spatial frequencies. Photo sites are about the same size (1.7µm, much smaller that the 5DM2 at 6.4µm) implying similar noise levels. At a fixed multiple of the output, the SX1 has simpler in camera processing not requiring interpolation. Hypothesis is that may result in fewer sharpening artifacts.

The SX1 lens has a wider range (20x vs 10x) at both ends (28mm vs 43mm, 560mm vs 435mm). The HF S requires a rather expensive WA adapter for wider angles, resulting in a 30mm equivalent. The HF S lens is faster, F1.8-3.0 vs F2.8-5.7. The 20x zoom came with a price. A 10x zoom would have been fine and probably a lot faster, allowing more DOF control and less noise in low light situations (indoors is always 'low light'). I believe both take 58mm filters.

Both have face detection, manual focus and AF lock. The SX1 has AE lock. The HF S has programmed, shutter, and aperture priority modes but not an AE lock. I beleive the scene features on both operate in movie mode.

Both record MPEG4 AVCHD, the SX1 at 30fps, the HF S at 60i, 30p, and 24p. 24fps would cause chroma artifacts unless it was recorded natively which doesn't appear to be the case; earlier Canon consumer cameras have the artifacts. However, the HF S records at 24Mb/s, the Canon at 45Mb/s. That is nearly half the compression, the killer of all video. The HF S has a live HDMI output which the SX1 doesn't. So, it available, you could record uncompressed 4:2:2 video. A Cineform or XDR recording capability will cost more than the camera, as much as 3x more.

The HF S is full of video like microphone and image controls. The SX1 has photo controls. With the SX1 few will know you are taking movies, with the HF S everyone will assume you are.

If they had made one camera that combined the best parts of both: bigger sensor, fast wide lens, high bandwidth H.264 AND HDMI that would have been a great camera. Umm...with one exception (highbandwidth H.264) isn't that the GH-1?
 
Videomaker has some clips and a resolution chart. It seemed to have an MTF over 80% through 400lp/ph and still over 50% at 500lp/ph. For comparison, the EX1 starts to decline by 300lp/ph and is hammered at 500lp/ph.

Shot 1
Shot 2
 
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