Sony HVR-HD1000U MiniDV 1080i High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 19.7 x 12.9 inches ; 6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 12 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0010T7J18
• Item model number: HDVHD1000U
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,275 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 28, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer

The HVR-HD1000U was created to meet the growing demand from users who are looking for mobility and professional appearance. This camcorder features a shoulder-mount design and black matte body similar to that of professional camcorders; making it perfect for weddings, corporate communications, colleges, universities, and sporting events where appearance makes a difference. Premium design characteristics and high-definition HDV1080i recording are the main features of this new one-piece shoulder camcorder, ideal for working videographers on a budget. A built-in down-converter creates DV material, perfect for standard DVD productions. Plus, a special still photo mode is ideal for producing DVD cases and making wedding photo albums. Whether you are recording weddings and corporate communications or helping students make a documentary, the HVR-HD1000U is the best choice on the market today as an entry level professional camcorder.

Sony HVR-HD1000U Highlights

High-quality Imaging System

1/2.9-inch Clear Vid CMOS Sensor The next generation of Sony imaging sensor, the ClearVid CMOS Sensor used in the HVR-HD1000U camcorder, is quite unique and different from current CMOS technology. The ClearVid CMOS Sensor uses a unique pixel layout rotated 45 degrees to provide high resolution and high sensitivity. This pixel layout technology is also used in higher end professional camcorders. The ClearVid CMOS Sensor, coupled with an Enhanced Imaging Processor (EIP), generates stunning images. Moreover, thanks to the CMOS technology, bright objects do not cause vertical smear.

Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonner T* lens with optical 10x zoom The HVR-HD1000U camcorder can adapt to a wide range of shooting situations and features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonner T* lens with 10x optical zoom, as featured on higher end professional HDV camcorders. The T* lens coating suppresses unwanted reflections and faithfully reproduces colors for professional-looking results.

Super SteadyShot (Optical) Image Stabilizer The Super SteadyShot (Optical) feature of the HVR-HD1000U is an image stabilizer using an active optical lens method that functions without any deterioration in image quality. The lens itself shifts vertically and horizontally to compensate for the polarized light axis in real time.

Professional Design

Shoulder-mount design The HVR-HD1000U is lightweight and easy to use even for beginners. It provides a professional camcorder shoulder-mount design that allows for easy balance and stable operation.

Wide Clear Photo LCD plus Monitor on Viewfinder Unit Provides Easy Viewing A large, freely rotating 2.7-inch LCD screen is located on the top of the viewfinder unit to provide easy viewing when the HVR-HD1000U camcorder is in a low-level position or on a tripod. This also makes it easy for a director or client to see what the camera operator is shooting. The LCD uses a 211,200 dots widescreen Clear Photo LCD plus device that provides proper brightness and a high level of color reproduction.

Ergonomically Designed Handle The ergonomically designed handle of the HVR-HD1000U camcorder contains a convenient record button and zoom control, essential for low position shooting. There are two cold shoes on the front and rear of the handle. You can attach two accessories like the HVL-LBP Battery Video Light and HVR-DR60 Hard Disk Recording Unit.

Camera Control Ring A special camera control ring is located on the lens unit of the HVR-HD1000U camcorder. Any one of the following functions can be assigned to the ring for easy adjustment:

• Focus (default)
• Zoom
• Brightness
• Shutter
• Video: 1/4~1/10000 sec
• Photo: 1/4~1/500 sec
• AE Shift
• WB Shift

Full Compatibility with your Current DV System The HVR-HD1000U offers benefits for SD productions, as well as HD. It is easy to use HDV recordings for your current DV editing work. The HVR-HD1000U has a down-conversion feature that outputs converted DV signals through the i.LINK connector to your current DV non-linear editing system, while retaining an HD master on the tape for future use. Furthermore, the HVR-HD1000U offers a DV recording mode (4:3 or 16:9), which can provide a recording time of approximately 120 minutes in LP mode.

HDV - the Accessible HD Recording Format HD can be recorded on DigitalMaster professional tape as well as consumer MiniDV. video and television technology, as well as viewer preferences, are moving from standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD) - just like black and white television moved to color in the past. HD has almost twice the number of scanning lines available with SD. This means you can see much sharper detail and finer image quality when your work is viewed on an HD display monitor. The HVR-HD1000U adopts the HDV format for HD recording. The HDV format allows you to shoot approximately 63 minutes of HD video on a miniDV cassette tape. There are two standards of HDV format; One is HDV720p and the other is HDV1080i,which has 1,080 scanning lines and is used by most broadcasters already using HD. Sony has adopted the HDV1080i standard for all its HDV products.

HVR-DR60 Brings HDV to IT Workflows The optional external HVR-DR60 hard disk recording unit gives you a hybrid operation,where video and audio are recorded simultaneously to hard disk drive (HDD) and tape. The HDV or DV images are recorded as movie files in the HDD for quick nonlinear editing, enabling the operator to archive the source tape as soon as the shoot is finished.

Other Features

Super NightShot The Super NightShot function of the HVR-HD1000U camcorder uses a built-in infrared light emitter that allows you to record an object in zero lux light levels. It also enables night-time monitoring and surveillance.

Long Operating Time With infoLITHIUM L Series Battery The HVR-HD1000U camcorder uses standard infoLITHIUM L series batteries, like the DSR-PD170, HVR-Z1U, and HVR-V1U. With the NP-F970, a maximum operating time of approximately 10 hours can be achieved thanks to the power management system and low power consumption of the ClearVid CMOS sensor.

Smooth Slow Rec The Smooth Slow Rec function of the HVR-HD1000U camcorder enables slow-motion playback by capturing images at four times faster than the normal field rate (240 fields/s). In this mode, quad-speed images are captured for three seconds, stored in the built-in buffer memory, and then recorded to tape (in either HDV or DV format) as slow-motion pictures lasting 12 seconds.

Diverse Range of Photo-creation Functions

While the HVR-HD1000U doesn’t contain all the features you’d find in higher end professional camcorders, such as DVCAM recording/playback, XLR audio connectors, and TC preset menu, it does boast a diverse range of photo-creation functions. These photo-creation functions are available at the touch of a button. You can store high-quality still images on Memory Stick Duo media, and then use them to design DVD cases,website content, news, etc.

Workflow Using HDV Shooting and Photo Data Creation For working videographers starting out with a limited budget, the HVR-HD1000U camcorder provides flexibility and an amazing selection of features like HDV shooting and photo data creation. Even if you are still using SD for your projects, HD is the way of the future. Down-conversion allows you to shoot in HD to create a high-quality master tape and still use your existing DV nonlinear editing system and SD display monitor for playback and viewing.

Photo Mode In Photo mode of the HVR-HD1000U camcorder, you can take 6.1-megapixel, 2848 x 2136-quality, 4:3-aspect images.

Dual Rec You can take 4.6-megapixel (16:9-aspect) photos while you are shooting HDV video simply by pressing the photo button.

Capturing from Recorded Video In case you missed the perfect timing for your still photo while videotaping, you can capture and save still frames from recorded video by just pressing the photo button of the HVR-HD1000U camcorder during playback. HDV footage will give you a 1.2-megapixel, 1440 x 810 pixel still image of that magic moment.

Product Description

The HVR-HD1000U was created to meet the growing demand from users who are looking for mobility and professional appearance. This camcorder features a shoulder-mount design and black matte body similar to that of professional camcorders; making it perfect for weddings, corporate communications, colleges, universities, and sporting events where appearance makes a difference. Premium design characteristics and high-definition HDV1080i recording are the main features of this new one-piece shoulder camcorder, ideal for working videographers on a budget. A built-in down-converter creates DV material, perfect for standard DVD productions. Plus, a special still photo mode is ideal for producing DVD cases and making wedding photo albums. Whether you are recording weddings and corporate communications or helping students make a documentary, the HVR-HD1000U is the best choice on the market today as an entry level professional camcorder.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly nice!, September 29, 2008

By 

J. Tyler "Wicked Techie" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony HVR-HD1000U MiniDV 1080i High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

Look, this thing feels cheap. It's lightweight and plasticky feeling. It looks a lot like a really old VHS tape camcorder. It feels like a toy.

BUT... I'll be dipped if this thing doesn't shoot some fine video! It's really crisp and vibrant stuff! I shoot professional MMA cage matches. I use multiple cameras. The light weight of this thing turned out to be a blessing as I sometimes need to hold this camera way out, with fully extended arms to be able to capture some of my over-the-top-of-the-cage shots. I still get a full-body workout, but thank god it's not as heavy as a more expensive camera of the same size.

It's not the greatest in low light situations, but really, what digital video camera is that doesn't cost half an arm? I've never seen one with stellar low-light performance.

Also, it tends to go slightly out of focus when using the maximum zoom speed. I mean, if you were zoomed way in and wanted to zoom out as fast as possible, you will notice a little bit of a focus issue DURING the zoom process. You don't see it if you zoom more slowly.

The sound this camera captures is also quite surprising. I expected the mic that came with it to need replacing, but I haven't yet because it actually sounds pretty darn good.

All in all, it's my favorite camera for its results. I think I want to go get another one, or maybe two of these. They are great beaters to use on extreme sport gigs like this.

Don't expect to use any high-end wireless units on this camera. It's not set up with the standard stuff that the high-end cameras have to adapt wireless video.

Really though, if you're shooting weddings, or sporting events, or other gigs like this, this is a decent cam for a decent price. You won't kick yourself.

Note: You'll want a case for this thing and they are VERY hard to find in the size you will need (over 19 inches). You can find them out there, but you'll pay about helf the price of the camera just for the bag. I went to Home Depot and bought the FAT MAX roll-around tool case. I made some padding for the lower drawer of the tool case and this camera fit inside perfectly. Then the other two drawers hold the accessories, tapes, etc. It fits perfectly and only costs about 60 some-odd bucks. I like it because it rolls around and takes a beating. Just a tip. Hope it helps.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid but lacking, February 7, 2009

By 

N. HALL "Video Editor" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony HVR-HD1000U MiniDV 1080i High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I don't know what that other guy was saying but this camera feels solid and looks just like Sony's high end line of pro cameras. This is NOT the same as Panasonics puffed plastic cameras (dvc-7 dvc-15)

This camera was designed by Sony's broadcast unit not it's consumer unit.

The image quality is great, I didn't believe that 1 CMOS could look this good compared to a 3ccd setup but it is.

The down sides are that allot of the controls are in the touch screen menu, which makes it a pain till you get used to using the "manual button" to quickly switch controls over to the ring. Once you get used to controlling your settings with the ring, it really starts to feel great. The other bad thing is that it does not have XLR so you have to get a beachtek box or something.

For the money you can't beat this camera, clients love seeing you walk in with a big pro looking camera and not some tiny little handycam. The shoulder mount really helps get you steady shots when you can't use a tripod.

The camera also has lots of outputs Firewire, Component, HDMI, S-video, Composite, USB, Memory stick (for stills) and it does all the downconversion to HD to SD on the fly.

If they ever introduce another one with XLR inputs and a extra lens ring I will purchase it in a heart beat.

This makes a great budget cam or a backup camera.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Documenting Camera, November 25, 2008

By 

Wesley Gunder (Grand Prairie, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony HVR-HD1000U MiniDV 1080i High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

The Sony HVR-HD1000U is a Entry level Professinal HDV Camera with some prosumer elements added to it. For example this camera does not have any video inputs other than shooting the video yourself. Second its audio input is a simple balanced mini sterio jack. That being said it does include a whole array of composite, componet, and HDMI out. It also uses Sony standard LanC port for tripod remote control. To me personally I do not feel this camera is cheap at all, it is made mostly of plastic and does not have a heavy weight to it. the first thing you have ask yourself before buying this camera is do you want a heavy back braking metal montrosity, useally the answear is no you don't. One more thing to think about when purchasing this camera if you want agood documenting camera this will work, if you want a good studio camera you are going to have to spend a lot more money. Now I work for a local production company and we use 2 of these in Tangent with the popular HVR-Z1U ( our compact camera ), 1 HVR-S270U with ENG lens and have achived great results at broadcast grade quality production.