Camcorder Info

[W00DY]

Hi All,

Not sure how many of you are into video editing as well as still photography but I am looking for some info / advise.

I am about to buy a camcorder and I really don't know anything about them. I have been thinking about the Sony HDRSR1 (http://www.sony.com.au/dis/dis/catalog/ ... ?id=HDRSR1), it is a High def camera with HDD.

I will be editing on a MacBook Pro using Final Cut HD Express ( I also have a HD LCD 34'' TV to play back on).

Is there anything I need to know about this camera or combination of camera,mac & software?

Am I best to go High Def at this stage or stick to normal camcorders?

Appreciate any help you can offer.

Cheers,
Andrew

[jammy2]

Hi All,

Not sure how many of you are into video editing as well as still photography but I am looking for some info / advise.

I am about to buy a camcorder and I really don't know anything about them. I have been thinking about the Sony HDRSR1 (http://www.sony.com.au/dis/dis/catalog/ ... ?id=HDRSR1), it is a High def camera with HDD.

I will be editing on a MacBook Pro using Final Cut HD Express ( I also have a HD LCD 34'' TV to play back on).

Is there anything I need to know about this camera or combination of camera,mac & software?

Am I best to go High Def at this stage or stick to normal camcorders?

Appreciate any help you can offer.

Cheers,
Andrew

I've used the Panasonic dvx-100a and gs-400 previously and have not used the new HD camcorders yet. However if given a choice I would go for the Sony HC3 (tape version) rather than the SR1 (HDD version) or UX1 (DVD version). The compression on the SR1 and UX1 and the use of the new AVCHD codec seems to degrade image quality which may or may not be offset by the easier/faster transfer of footage to your computer.

Here's a preview of the SR-1, pay attention to the part on compression.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/So ... Review.htm

Here is a review of the UX1 which is useful for comparison as it uses the same AVCHD codec as the SR1 though at 12mbps rather than 14mbps. (HC3 uses HDV codec at 25mbps but is less efficient compressor)

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/So ... Review.htm

Your software and hardware should be well setup to edit HDV footage from HC3 but final cut pro HD does not support AVCHD yet I believe so you will not be able to edit footage from the SR1 on your setup. Release date for final cut pro support of AVCHD is expected sometime 2007. The SR1 will most probably come with some editing software but not sure of the type, could be a version of Sony Vegas?

[W00DY]

Hi Jammy,

Thanks heaps for the info. Image quality is obviuosly important so your point on the tape version is very valid.

I'll check out that camcorder site a little more as well.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Underload]

I like the idea with the 'standard' video cameras (DV), that if you fill up a tape, then just pop another one in. They're cheap, and they seem (in my experience) to be a reasonably stable type of media.

With a hard drive based unit, I'd be concerned that the internal hard drive might be subject to damage - just from day to day use, accidental drops, bouncing it around.

Also, what happens if you're recording something and you run out of space? I guess you're pretty stuffed then At least with the DV tapes, it's a minute or two downtime, and then you can resume.

Just the way I see it anyway. HTH.

[daniel_r]

Andrew,

If you're looking at using the HD capabilities of Final Cut Express, I'd highly recommend getting yourself a LaCie Big Disk Extreme Triple interface Firewire 800/400 + USB 2 external disk. I have the 500GB version connected to my powerbook over firewire 800.

The internal standard issue 2.5" notebook hard disk inside the MacBook Pro isn't optimal as a ingest volume (notebook hd's aren't really optimised for this). All of my users I support who edit HD with FCP 5 use one of these LaCie disks (it has 2x250GB 3.5" ATA disks in a RAID 0 Stripe, and can write at 60MB+ sustained). This minimises the risk dropping frames during ingest from the camera.

Camera wise, I only have basic familiarity with the Canon XL-H1 (which is quite a machine). The Final Cut Express camera compatiblity chart is Here - PDF

More RAM... the better!

[W00DY]

Andrew,

If you're looking at using the HD capabilities of Final Cut Express, I'd highly recommend getting yourself a LaCie Big Disk Extreme Triple interface Firewire 800/400 + USB 2 external disk. I have the 500GB version connected to my powerbook over firewire 800.

The internal standard issue 2.5" notebook hard disk inside the MacBook Pro isn't optimal as a ingest volume (notebook hd's aren't really optimised for this). All of my users I support who edit HD with FCP 5 use one of these LaCie disks (it has 2x250GB 3.5" ATA disks in a RAID 0 Stripe, and can write at 60MB+ sustained). This minimises the risk dropping frames during ingest from the camera.

Camera wise, I only have basic familiarity with the Canon XL-H1 (which is quite a machine). The Final Cut Express camera compatiblity chart is Here - PDF

More RAM... the better!

Thanks Daniel... I think I understood at least half of your post

Interesting thing though is none of the Sony HD camcorders (HDRSR1, HDRHC3 or HDRUX1) appear on the FCE HD compatibility PDF you linked to... Does that mean I will not be able to edit footage from these cameras using FCE HD?

I'll have to check out those disks.

Cheers.

[Mal]

Woody, there are many fun issues when it comes to editing on your computer. Camera, Capture Cards etc are the first basic ones.
I use Premier Pro and have been dabbling with HD stuff for a while now, but our capture card has "issues" with the HD software.
IMHO the best thing to do is get the Sony guys to show you their camera working on Final Cut and then dumping the footage out into a usable format for viewing.
If this works then go for it. HD is just so sweet!

[W00DY]

IMHO the best thing to do is get the Sony guys to show you their camera working on Final Cut and then dumping the footage out into a usable format for viewing.
If this works then go for it. HD is just so sweet!

This is what I plan to do... Trying to find somewhere that will let me bring my laptop in, use the camera in the store and then import the footage straight away so i can see the enitre process.

Might need to call the sony store and see if they will do it.

Cheers.