Customer Reviews

Sony HVR-V1U 3-CMOS 1080i Professional HDV Camcorder with 20x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have had the chance to use this camera a few times, plus compare it to some other HD cameras out there in it's price range, and came away impressed by a few aspects, and more knowing about a few others to consider.

All in all this is a great little HD camera that takes great pictures right out of the box. It handles really nice, has a true microphone that comes with it, and the lens is great on it with it's 20x ratio. It's slow-motion, though at quality a little less than SD, looks fantastic and is great fun to play with. The camera's low light capability is not as good as the Canon XH-A1 in the same price range, or the Panasonic HVX200 (another $2k+), or as good as the older Sony Z1 (which doesn't shoot 24fps). Looking back, the Sony PD170, which was the low-light standard is about 2 stops better in very low light. But the V1u's low light performance is almost one of taste. The camera tends to give a little more fine grain in such low light, kind of like film in some ways. My guess is that this "effect" is pleasing to some people, who don't view it's low-light grainy issues as a problem. Test for yourself before buying. The display and viewfinder are very nice too. Very sharp, with great readout info, including histograms, making sure every shot is properly exposed. The camera also has a really nice automatic gain control. Much better than the Canons in it's price group. Nice focusing features too.

The camera is also part of a larger packaged idea - it doesn't come with, but works perfectly with a portable hard drive (HVR-DR60) that allows you go HDMI out, for much less compressed picture (though most people will think going to tape looks fine) and those files can be dragged and dropped right onto your computer - no more capturing! The LED light is really cool too. Again, these are extra cost.

Pros -

Gorgeous picture quality in most all lighting conditions. Doesn't require a lot of tweaking, it looks good almost all the time right out of the box. But if you want to tweak, you can. If you want to really tweak, consider the Canon line-up.

True 24fps, and true progressive chips, for filmmaking. Great film like gamma curves.

Feels great in your hand. Very well balanced.

True 20x zoom lens. The 30x digital zoom looks terrific!

Nice zoom and focus ring. I was expecting lower quality.

CMOS chips have very nice lack of smearing you see on most cameras that have CCD chips (those sharp vertical lines you see when taking footage of sunsets, for example) and the chips have a certain film like look to some more than other video cameras with 24fps features (including me).

Comes with a true microphone - while not a $500 Sennheiser, it's better than most any other on-board camera, which is a nice extra.

Slow motion, if lower quality, looks really cool (up to 240 fps!). Very usable for video going to regular DVD (not HD) or to the web.

Cool HDMI out, with other accessories (not included) such as shooting to hard drive, or a neat LED light.

Con's -

Questionable low-light capability. If you're shooting a lot of night time shots, dark indoors (horror movies, dimly lit interviews) you really need to test and compare this to other cameras before buying. If you're shooting regular footage, especially a lot of outdoor, daylight, or professionally lit work, it shouldn't be an issue at all.

Cost is about $500 more than Canon's comparable XH-A1 (which doesn't come with the microphone).

Files that go to the HVR-DR60 HD are .m2t format, which must be converted if you're using a Mac (though still usable and convertible on the Mac).

As good as the lens is, I believe the Canon is better, and has better image stabilizing capability.

In summary, this is a great little camera for most uses, with a somewhat unique picture to it. Just about anyone going into a store to shop for one can easily compare this to similar cameras and see the features and issues I speak of. They should answer your questions right away whether this camera is for you or not.


Finally, a price comparison:

For $500 less, you can buy a Canon A1, which works better in low light, has more picture control, plus a better image stabilizer. But it's a little bigger, can't go HDMI out, has no slow motion, and doesn't come with a pro microphone.

For $2k more you can buy Panasonic's HVX200, which has superior compression, and solid state capability, and slow motion in high definition (not down res'd, like the Sony).

For $3k more, you can buy Sony's new XDCAM PMW-1, which is an extremely impressive camera with a superior picture to any of these cameras.

I bought my HVR-V1U and have had it a week now. I am very impressed with the quality of video with very good light. In low light the quality of this video camera is poor. But after doing hours and hours of research I decided on this model for a few reasons.

1) Size - This camcorder is about the same size as a VX-2000 with the same feel and pretty much the same layout.
2) 24p - This camcorder can shoot film in true 24p which is great if you want to give your video that "Film look"
3) XLR - This camcorder has 2 XLR inputs to put real good microphones on it if you want and comes with a $230 microphone.
4) HDMI - This model has an HDMI out so I can quickly and easily with one cord connect it to my HDTV. The Sony HDR-FX1 doesn't have this.

I think the slow motion feature is pretty cool to experiment with. But the quality is low and of course there is no sound when you do this.
Everything on the camcorder is made very well. No cheap buttons or parts.

Disadvantages: It has a 62mm lens. The bigger the lens usually the better the low light quality since the lens can let in more light. The battery that comes with it is ok, but you definately should buy the biggest battery you can get. My extended battery lasts around 490 minutes record time or about 690 minutes on playback mode.

The extended warranty Amazon offers on this model for 4 years is only $199.99. That is a really good price for a camcorder this expensive.

Bottom line: If you want all the features of this model but want the best low light recordings possible, then purchase the Sony HVR-Z1U camcorder which is another $600 or so. The XLR is worth it because sound is usually the weakest link when watching any video recorded on a camcorder.

I got burned on my VX-1000 with its 32K stunted audio, no firewire in and no manual zoom. The PDX-10 that followed was great- except for still missing a manual zoom. I looked really hard at the first HDV cameras- and decided to wait, and V1U was well worth it.
Bought the Sony HD- and am totally amazed at how much faster my edit process is. The picture quality is phenomenal- but, we've mostly used standard DV since clients are quite ready to pay for HD.
If you've shot with a PD-170 you'll find the form factor very familiar. Still not in love with the way Sony sets white balance- it's not really totally intuitive- but, overall- this is the best camera I've worked with. Friends who've borrowed it are gaga- and they are used to shooting with Sony pro cameras. As always- audio is the most difficult part of shooting with a prosumer camera- and the handle mounted dials are a bit tough to manipulate while shooting- but, all that aside- this camera is amazing.
Also picked up Sony's LED light- it amazes me every time I use it- great light- no heat- and forever battery life.
One thing about all the accessories- there isn't a really good solution to mount HD, Light, Wireless receiver to this small frame. We've bought a bracket off e-bay that makes it easy to mount at least the HD and wireless box to the camera- when the light is on- and the battery for the light has to be on the extension cable. Still- very hand holdable.
Only thing I miss from the VX-1000 was my Century .55x plus fisheye reversible lens- haven't seen anything like it for 16x9 aspect ratios.
If you've shot with Sony in the past- this is the camera for you.

We use this camera in a controlled environment, 5.5kw of incandescent light, and the images are sooo nice...
The camera has been setup to shoot 24p all the time, and the color tweaked by me and a colorist, and the results are amazing.

Our casting company uses it about 90% of the time, we record to a Focus FS 4 and to tape simultaneously.

The Optical stabilization works amazing when hand held, the mic is not so good, but at least it's there.

Wish it would have another accessory shoe, one is just not enough.

All in all, the camera works great, the images are very cinematographic, stabilization is very useful, can be tweaked a lot, its as reliable as the sunrise.

I like the new Z7, but for what we do, the V1 works like a charm

f3

I love this camera the picture quality and audio quality is good!! having XRL imputs is a very important plus. The only downside is white balance feature. Its not true white balace, just two presets, one for outside one for inside. But other than that, for the price you are getting great quality!! I would recomend this highly!!

Bought the camera sight unseen, which was a mistake. I shoot in a lot of low light situations, which this camera DOES NOT do well in (my old digital 8 camera blows this away). I've had to boost to hyper gain which is an extremely grainy picture.

Generally I do like this camcorder, however if you expect to shoot indoors (or out) with less than a 60 watt bulb within 1 foot of the subject....not 2 feet mind you.... all you will get is "grainy" video. Very poor at early morning or late evening shots outdoors. Sony claims a 4 lux rating.....more like 40. I'm looking for a light now, but not sure if the outdoor shots will ever work. I film wildlife in low light......will probably have to trade this camera in.

However.....with a 60 watt (or greater) bulb close, the picture quality is exceptional. Same outdoors in full sunlight. The built-in filters work very well, and the programming features are easy to use(very much styled after 10 year old Sony cameras.....very few changes which allowed me to use this camera with little manual reference). I do love the fact that my 10 year old handycam batteries interchange with this camera....Kudos to Sony. Also Kudos for using 3 mediums for recording......tape(which only cost about $2 each at present, a few bucks more for HDV), Memory stick (4 gig max) or the optional hard drive. The remote from my old handycam has more features than the new one supplied....but crazy enough...the new programming supports the old remote.....another kudo.

Photos are very respectable, and clarity from the Carl Zeiss lens is legendary and many extra lens' are available(I bought a wide angle and 2X for about $75 as an experiment/starter, but the quality was soooo much better than I expected that unless I shoot for TV....I'm not planning to upgrade anytime soon) About 300 photos per gig of memory card will store. The camera shoots stills and video simultaneously or seperate(still shots at a higher quality) The supplied mic is adequite, but I believe there are upgrades in my future soon.

My only real issue is the light requirement. Good luck. captn

11/20/09 updated..

I've since noticed the 20X zoom on this camera seemed to be a little short of what I was after, so I purchased a 2X telephoto lens for this camera and didn't notice a difference in distance magnification. Thinking the lens was defective, I purchased a second telephoto lens this time 4.5X. Still no difference except picture quality was decreased. Both lenses claimed to be for camcorders.

I checked the distance at 75 yards with a 26X rifle scope against this camera's 30X boost and found the camera was considerably short of magnification to the target....as in about half the magnification as the scope.

Basically, I guess I'm saying that long distance filming of over 200 yards is very compromised. Actually, if you want to zoom in on a critter's eyes at over 50 yards, you may be disapointed.

I also tried a 1X wide angle lens which worked very well....just no telephoto improvement.

If there is information out there from someone who has increased the power of magnification on this camera, I'd like the info. Thanks captn

This camera is very Easy to use. It shoots great quality video. Perfect for shooting sport videos. Perfect for weddings. Extremely versatile. Awesome shape and size.

Smooth pictures in every type of frames (30p, 24p...). The camera is perfect weight (not to heavy to get tired too fast, but not to light so it won't shake much when recording).

Amazing Picture, Perfect Zoom, EXCELLENT handling of low light. Super happy with my purchase!