Sony HVR-V1U

I think the HVR-V1U will take a bite out of the HVX market if the image quality is good enough. At this point it looks to me like the two major shortcomings of the HVR-V1U, in comparison to the HVX200, is the lack of true high quality variable framerates and the GOP compression of the HDV codec.

The question is, will these two features of the HVX be worth sacrifising if the image quality and dynamic range of the HVR-V1U is better than the HVX? Also for people with a tight budget, the P2 workflow of the HVX is more cost demanding than Sony's new setup.

I am thinking that the true variable framerates of the HVX, with the ability to overcrank and undercrank without loss of quality, are still going to keep it in it's own market for many potential buyers.
 
Doesn't matter how good the camera is if its format is fundamentally flawed - HDV is too compressed, too small colour space - I can't see it matching the HVX for image clarity and subtlety of colour.
Tom
 
for doc work you might see a cut out of HVX sales favoring the V1U, but those sales were prolly going to a sony product anyway...
 
DavidBeier said:
The screens from it look like crap.
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"Crap?"

What does that mean?

Sometimes it's hard to understand criticism or praise when words like "crap," "awesome," and "sucks" are used for just about everything.

Help us out. What don't you like.
 
David S. said:
"Crap?"

What does that mean?

Sometimes it's hard to understand criticism or praise when words like "crap," "awesome," and "sucks" are used for just about everything.

Help us out. What don't you like.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I'm seeing about the same amount of detail as I did with the Z1. That's not bad but it doesn't make it better than the HVX200. I'm also seeing the exact same video-ish look with very video-like colors and gamma curves.
 
Well boys and girls, I used the Small A1u at the start of the year on our first test project. A wonderful little camera, once you get it figured out and know its limitations. But with HD, it has been a very different experience than when I was working with SD back in the 90s.

And I'm here to tell you that I will take my HVX200 over Sony any day of the week. I'm sure Sony has done an awesome job with the cmos technology. I know it was great on the A1U. But there is SO much more than that for getting the pieces. I think there is going to be a lot of people that are in the Sony camp or people that prefer that style that will love it. But variable frame rates and support from our group here and how this camera performs in the field will win me over every time.

As for HDV, I do not like it one bit. Now the article said they got 4:2:2 color space, but I question what comporomises they made for that. You pay a price when you shove 15 pounds of crap into a 2 pound bag. I don't care what spin or engineer hound is unleashed on me. You don't get something for nothing, and cramming that much on a 63 minute DV format tape is going to have a price.

I saw it in my workflow and played out in my finished pieces with A1U and I know everything has got some pros/cons and employs compression. But how far is too far? My experience with HDV was not that great.

So I say, way to go Sony, wish you all the best of luck; when you make an A1U or an HC3 that can record progressive, I'll buy one for a fish/crash cam, but I'll be staying in the Panasonic house for a long time to come.
 
Flash Beaver said:
<snip>As for HDV, I do not like it one bit. Now the article said they got 4:2:2 color space, but I question what comporomises they made for that.</snip>
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I don't buy that 4:2:2 statement at all. The camera might be processing 4:2:2 internally (or even 4:4:4 for all I care), but once it commits the video to tape in HDV format, it must convert it to 4:2:0, or it isn't HDV.
 
actually what they say is exactly that it processes at 4:2:2 and lays back a pulled down 4:2:0 colorspace to the HDV tape. They don't claim 4:2:2 on the tape.

The quesion is whether their harddrive attachment can use the 4:2:2, that would make a big difference for a lot of people.
 
zoostory said:
The quesion is whether their harddrive attachment can use the 4:2:2, that would make a big difference for a lot of people.
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nope, pretty sure it just records the same .m2t transport stream that is on the tape as well.
 
I think there is no doubt that the encoding and format that is used after the signal leaves the chips on the V1 is far inferior to the HVX.

The only saving grace that the V1 could bring, that would be a considerable advantage, would be if the CMOS chips actually provided enough improvement in dynamic range and resolution to greatly effect the image quality before encoding.

It may be a matter of superior image quality being recorded to an inferior format. If that ends up being the case then there will be some serious choices to make as to where to make the sacrifice when choosing between the two.

My personal take is that, unless the V1 shows a huge improvement in image quality, the HVX would be a much better choice for the user with a bigger budget.
 
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I don't expect as many professionals to flock to this, as the HVX is still a superior and more filmic image (and you can't beat the tapeless workflow) but you can bet that you'll get a whole boat load of amateur filmmakers picking this up. For those on a tighter budget who can't afford the limitations of P2, this will be golden. I think it's probably going to do very well, and it's about time Sony finally gave users 24p.
 
I don't know. It sounds like, at the end of the day, I'd still be better off with a JVC HD100 if I wanted true progressive or the new Canon AI if I wanted a 1080 image (won't know for sure about the A1 untill we get some footage).
 
rgbuser said:
Doesn't matter how good the camera is if its format is fundamentally flawed - HDV is too compressed, too small colour space - I can't see it matching the HVX for image clarity and subtlety of colour.
Tom
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I could see the car company Kia lasting this long. S happens!
 
bluetuned said:
I don't expect as many professionals to flock to this, as the HVX is still a superior and more filmic image (and you can't beat the tapeless workflow).
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Yes you can with a tape. Beats it everytime. :) I just pop it in and 60 minutes later pop another in. It is incredible it will be the wave of the future.:thumbup:
 
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