Yes, this is still a big question mark. I have a mic pre-amp and can turn the mic level of the cam to -2. I hope this gives the required result. Otherwise I am screwed.
I wonder which of the better consumer cams lets you turn the agc off or even have a line in.

glad you decided on a camera! :) One of the hardest parts is getting the darn camera, an no matter what you'll always think "man, if I got camera X instead I'd be able to do this..." but it's never true anyway. :D

Yeah, I already have several mixed feelings about this cam.
Surely, the video looks outstanding. Tansferring files from the hard disk to a PC is a feast (I use a FastLynx script for that). Tape is old school as far as I am concerned.
But the handling and the functions when you are used to the DVX100...
Try using the zoom lever. Couldn't they make it any smaller? Very hard to control the zoom. Would be better if there would be a setting for fast, medium and slow zooming. And to place the lever lateraly (is that a proper word?) makes you think all the time which way to pull or push to either zoom in or out. Very bad design.
And then of course the (lacking) audio settings and LANC controller.

Shouldn't be too hard to develop a prosumer cam in te $ 1500,- to $ 2000,- range that has the functions and options one requires. Seems to me there is a big gap between this type of consumer cams and the professional models that no manufacturer is willing to fill as yet. Not that I know of anyway.

Hi,

Just to make sure that you haven't missed it!!!

SR12 HAS Lanc, but via the 10-pin AV connector... You need either an adapter, or a LANC controller with the suitable plug...

Christian

Indeed I missed that. Couldn't find it here either, on the contrary.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&productId=8198552921665291496&langId=-1

. LANC Terminal : N/A

If it is possible, it's pretty wel hidden.

Good Catch!

see this one:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/540091-REG/Sony_RM_AV2_Remote_Commander_Silver_.htmlSony RM-AV2 Remote[/link]

Thanks for pointing that out. It is indeed pretty well hidden. It's not even metioned in the SR12 manual.
Too bad JVC doesn't offer something similar.

Hi,

Yeah SR12 Lanc is well hidden, some papers and data sheets mentions it, some don't. Sloppy - I would say.

The fact that Sony did NOT bother to put there the original 2,5mm jack for Lanc, is unforgivable! There would have been room for this STANDARD Lanc connector. What did they think when omitting it and embedding this functionality in the 10-pin AV connector ?? I do not accept as an explanation that they want to sell more Lanc controllers (of the new type). Very shorthsighted - at least !!! I'll rather call it a stupid omission made by persons detached from the reality out in the field...

Christian

I totally agree. I consider a LANC (or similar) controller essential for tripod shots. Now I know that SR12 offers a weird one, but then lacks audio level meters.
My JVC has audio level meters, but no LANC input.
My perfect camera in the $ 1200,- price tag would be a combination of Sony, JVC and Canon cams. There is always a feature or function missing in one or the other.
I was als checking out the promissing Panasonic AG-HMC70/71. Guess what, no lens controller interface. I don't belief this!
Oh well, yet another cam that bites the dust.

You're way under the price range for anything vaguely approaching a "perfect" camera. At your pricepoint 99.9% of the prospective purchasers wouldn't even want to know what a LANC controller was for much less contemplate using it.

So they add a LANC controller which adds $10 to the cost. Then you want manual audio gain control and that's useless without physical knobs, adds another $20 cost. Then someone thinks, WTF, no balanced audio, that adds $50 to the cost.
Finally they have an almost "pro" camera except the lens is utter rubbish and that fixing that adds another $2K minimum.
And then none of the target market would buy it anyway because it doesn't fit in a purse!

I'm not making this up. A few years back a local Sony dealer had the superceded PC100 at a $500 discount and myself and the salesman were trying to convince a Joe Average consummer that it was a way better (and cheaper) camera than the newer model. The deal breaker was that the PC100 didn't have a USB port so he couldn't use it as a web cam. He didn't care a rats about the better optics or manual controls.

Bob.

Well Bob, I am prepared to pay $ 1500,- to $ 2000,- to replace my DVX1000, but even then there is little choice. It all stops around the $1200,- price point for a tapeless AVCHD cam. Seems like the manufacturers are concentrating on pure consumer or pure profi cams only and forget about the middle segment.
And even the Pannasonic HMC70 misses a lens controller interface as I pointed out, which is over $ 2000,-. I really do't understand this choice. If it had one, I would buy one tomorrow.
But that's the whole point. There is no adequate camera I can spend my $ 2000,- on.

What's not to understand?
Manufacturers are in business to make a profit for their shareholders just like everyone else, you think they should give away a $10,000 camera for $2,000?

I cannot understand how you don't get it. You're wanting to replace a standard definition camera that cost around $5,000 with a high definition (4 times the resolution) camera for half the price?

This has nothing to do with camera manufacturers, it's to do with your grasp of reality. Do you think you could buy a car that goes four times faster than a Ford compact for half the price, heck a car that'll go 4 times faster is around 100 times the price, why do you think cameras are any different?

Bob.

I have to disagree with you Bob.
If they can make tapeless camera's with outstanding video quality for $ 1200,-, surely they can add a couple of features for an extra $ 800,- or so.
It's not that many extra functions I need on top of the ones already offered.
I think you have to agree with me that there is quite a big gap betweeen the high quality consumer camera's that are hitting the market nowadays and the profi ones.

Other than that, the DVX100 set me back only € 2500,- two years ago and that's the amount of money I am willing to spend.

"If they can make tapeless camera's with outstanding video quality for $ 1200"

They can?
We're in the process of trialing the EX1 for shooting stage productions for delivery on BD. So far we believe that camera falls way short of the mark. The EX3 with a good lens on it might, just. Seriously thinking we'll need to spend a lot more money than $25K to get a camera / lens that delivers image quality in HD that matches what we got from the 1/2" SD cameras.

I've used plenty of the cheap cameras, on a good day with plenty of light and careful shooting they return a remarkable image for the money. For critical shooting where dollars are at stake they're just uselessly pathetic. The lenses don't pass muster as they go soft with the iris open at the long end of the lens. The encoders turn complex scenes to mush when panning etc. etc.

Which is NOT to say they you cannot make a great looking move with a cheap camera. But your needs constitute less than 0.01% of the market at that price point. That's the commercial reality. Even when you step up to the $10K cameras many shortcuts are taken to keep the sell price down.

Bob.

Bob,
Hate to sidetrack the discussion back to the $15K Sony F335 or even higher
F355, but what is your opinion on these? Continue renting or throw money to
EX1/EX3?

That's a fair summary of the camera market vs. price by Farss.

"The encoders turn complex scenes to mush when panning etc. etc." one of the main villains here at the low-end is the ccd sample speed and the lack of locking down the ccd during sampling. Sony's new sampling tech has greatly improving on this issue, then that just leaves the encoder logic and power consumption vs. manufacturing cost for the low-to-mid range cameras.