Thanks for that. As I'll be shooting PAL, have the issues been dealt with?

thanks bob....

crocdoc, don't think you have anything to worry about at all. i shoot race horses, both parading and in the paddock - no problems at all with cmos (rolling shutter), and the 20x is fabulous compared to the normal 12x

other than outdoors, i've found shooting with available light indoors is usually pretty ok too - however, compared to my old 170 / 150 / 2000, it can't perform anywhere near as well with 'no' light.

batteries last a damn sight longer too....

leslie

Thanks, Leslie!

Do you use the slow motion function at all?

The slow motion function is kind of fun, but while it has a very high temporal resolution, it has a very low spatial resolution. The image quality isn't really good enough to be useful for much of anything.

I purchased an HVR-V1 for use at work last May. It's an Ok camera. But...

1) Low-light is very noisy. Outside at dusk (not a problem with VX-2000) is no longer an option.
2) Supplied "shotgun" mic is a complete joke -- its usable range is 3 feet or less. I verified with Sony that this is just the way it is.
3) Footage shot with my personal camera, a $700 Canon HV20, looks just as good.

The DR-60 hard disk recorder we bought with it works well, BUT...
1) It breaks every shot (even short ones) into two files; one contains the first 1/2 second of the scene and the other file contains the rest of the scene.
2) Each shot is stored in its own folder, so 80 shots = 80 folders.
3) Vegas will only import the entire drive at once; if you shoot 20 shots and transfer them to your hard drive with Vegas, then shoot another 30 shots, Vegas will transfer all 50 (this is an issue because I don't like to delete clips from the DR-60 until my hard drive is backed up (auto-backup runs every night)

I really wanted 24p and a hard disk recorder that was well-integrated, and this works Ok, but if I had to do it again I would look very hard at the Canon A1.

I'll second the Canon A1 if you're not completely Sony and nothing else. I had an V1 for a spell and low light IMO was as bad as you could get with a camera. I was intending to use it with a 35mm adapter and that pretty much nixed that option. I personally don't think it was as good an image as I'm getting with the A1 either. Again it's all subjective but if you look around, I think you'll find twice as many happy Canon A1 owners or more than compared to Sony V1 owners.

cheno

haven't used the slow mo. any that maybe required is always done in post. nor have i used the auto trans, but i'm going to look into it on my next talking head shoot.

as for gs's comments:

1. have to agree it's not a low light camera, but then again, why would i shoot in low light, and if i did, it should look like low light - i found my 170 was pretty phenomenal in low light, but it looked like the lights were on... not much use for subtle lighting shots....

2. the mic is no different than that on the 170, et al. more a toy, or rather a look professional but sound amateur affair....

3. have to disagree. had to cut between both and i could see the difference. maybe a client might not.

cheno's;

i looked really hard at the a1 prior to buying the v1 (pal). it was like holding a brick, very uncomfortable for someone with smallish hands to operate the rocker. i thought the actual build rather 'plasticky' and cheap. i did shoot some test footage with both and felt the sharpness and colour of the v1 more pronounced. i thought both pictures though were quite remarkable after sd, and i'd have been happy enough with the a1 if not for it's ergonomcs and poor build.

can't say i know enough users of either camera to make any claims, but i see a lot more sony's on my professional travels than canon's.

good luck

leslie

The DR-60 hard disk recorder we bought with it works well, BUT...

You probably have cache enabled; when disbaled it records single file per take (albeit only up to some 4GB due to the FAT32 limitations).

I've just been doing a bit of research into the PAL 'issue' with the V1 and it appears that it's not able to shoot in 25P without producing some odd effects. Apparently Sony's firmware fixes did not solve the problem fully so they have stopped promoting its progressive scan abilities in PAL countries. This is certainly true of Australian Sony website (although the downloadable pdf manual still mentions progressive scan).

What is the 25f mode like on the Canon?

That is a total croc, there is no PAL issue.
There's a few people around who just don't understand video though.

Bob, in PAL land.

Like Bob said - there is no PAL issue with the V1. In fact, I miss my V1E sometimes, now that my expectations have been corrected by the reality with the EX1...

Piotr, in another PAL land.