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.
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.
Buy Sony HVR-HD1000U MiniDV 1080i High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom Now
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.I purchased this camera mainly to have a professional look when shooting weddings and events. I felt like I could produce a decent video using a normal consumer camera that would satisfy the customer just fine, but because most consumer cameras are so small the customer might not feel they were receiving a quality product. This camera with it's professional look came to my rescue. People are now treating me much more seriously with respect because of my "high-end" camera look.Because this was a sub $2,000 camera I wasn't expecting a whole lot. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to a $10,000 or $20,000 camera, which I think some people were trying to do, especially with the poor reviews for low light conditions, plastic construction, and poor audio performance.
I was pleasently suprised with the performance of this camera, it out-performed all of my expectations. I left everything in the default HDV settings and turned it on to shoot my kids playing indoors under bedroom light conditions. I was amazed with how smooth and clear everything appeared, especially with the low reviews I read about in low light, it blew my other camera (Canon Optura 50) out of the water.
It also exceeded my expectations with audio, from what I read the shot-gun mic on this camera isn't the best, but I was greatly satisfied with it's performance. I could hear the subject speaking clear with little motor or background noise.
This camera looks and feels great, there were some reviews bashing it's construction, but whenever I take it out of the bag, people are impressed.
This is a great camera if your looking for a camera like this one (which I was) or an affordable professional looking camera with good quality this camera is great when comparing it with other consumer cameras.
If you're used to working with industrial high-end expensive cameras, you'll probably be disapointed with this camera as it is limited in manual controls (no manual iris, xlr outputs etc...) and only has one 1/2.9 single-chip cmos censor, but that's one reason why it's thousands of dollars cheaper.
I don't regret purchasing this camera one bit and I feel this will satisfy most all of my production free-lance needs
Want Sony HVR-HD1000U MiniDV 1080i High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom Discount?
For its price, this one gets close.This is my first entry level prosumer camera. I have just began writing, shooting, and producing indie films, this camera gets the job done and is just what the doctor ordered. I'm not going to stick to the specs. But what you get out of this camera is beauty, precision and quality for a reasonable price.
*UPDATE: It is now March and I bought this in July, no complaints whatsoever! I did however make a user error and messed up the firewire port i don't know how or what happened but I believe I have a 1 year warranty on it so fixing it will be no problem.
Honestly if you don't need a shoulder mount camera then don't get this, I could have and should have bought a smaller camera but as far as productivity and quality, this camera blows the door down!
It's affordable, light weight for its class and it is possibly the best darn camera you could buy.
This is coming from a noob in the higher end camera market!
Get this camera you will not be disappointed at all!
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