Sony HDVHD1000U; too good to be true?

Randy Brown wrote on 7/10/2008, 4:30 PM
I have 2 Canon XL1S' and have been wanting to upgrade to HD for some time now (lost a few jobs due to not being HD) but haven't been able to afford to do so.
It seems this cam would be at least as good/better than the XL1S'.
My XL1S' are in mint condition and both have the MA200s attached ...I would think they could bring close to the selling price of the Sony ($1500 at B&H Photo) on Ebay.
I'd very much appreciate your opinion as I never make major purchases without this forum's input .
Thanks,
Randy

Comments

farss wrote on 7/10/2008, 4:38 PM
We have three HD1000Us. You get to pay more for a HC7 in a big mostly empty box that adds nothing to the HC7. Sony don't deny this, they designed it for film schools that couldn't afford real shoulder mount cameras.
In my opinion they did a bad job of even that. The EVF cannot be moved far away enough from the body unlike a real broadcast-ish camera. This means unless you've got a tiny head you'll be bending your neck to look into the EVF which can get very uncomfortable during an extended shoot.

Bob.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/10/2008, 10:40 PM
I have one & like it. It's good if you want a shoulder camera & can't afford one of the 2000+ ones. Doesn't have most of the features of the nicer ones either, it's like what farss said: a hand cam in a bigger body. That's what I wanted though & didn't expect more.
malowz wrote on 7/11/2008, 12:47 AM
my friend have one.

its a good camera, but require a large amount of light, and the controls of course are very "amateurish"..

but, of course.. is a "handycam in a box".. so...
JohnnyRoy wrote on 7/11/2008, 5:51 AM
Randy,

If you have a Cannon XLS1 you will not be happy with a "consumer camera in a box" even if it is HD.

If that is your budget and you want HD, I would strongly recommend that you consider getting a Sony HVR-A1U. I picked mine up at B&H for $1800 and right now they have it for $2149.95 with a $300 mail in rebate which brings the price down to $1849.95. I use this as a second camera with my Sony HVR-Z1U and they cut well together. While the Z1 is better in low light, in daylight the A1 makes an impressive showing.

The HVR-A1U also has XLR audio and phantom power so all of the microphones you've been using on your XL1S will work fine, unlike the HD1000U which uses consumer mini jacks with no phantom power. The A1U also has Zebras, CineFrame24, CineGama, Blackstretch, and other features that I don't think the HD1000U has.

Overall, I believe that the HVR-A1U is a better camera than the HVR-HD1000U for only $400 more. Your Cannon XL1S is selling used at Amazon.com right now for $1,650 so you're almost there.


~jr
richard-courtney wrote on 7/11/2008, 6:10 AM
How many jobs a year in HD do you get?

We have a rental place within 4 hours drive.

We rent F350 ($400 per day) since the purchase is far out of our reach.
Just purchase 4-5 media discs and Vegas loves the camera!
(An EX1 is $250 but we are looking at buying it.)
Jeff9329 wrote on 7/11/2008, 7:05 AM
Losing jobs because of no HD?

I capture everything in HD on Canon XH-A1s and then render the projects back to SD 99% of the time.

Staying with Canon would give you a huge familiarity from your current cameras but the XHs and H1s are probably too high a cost for your upgrade. Sony really has a heck of a lot more HD camera choices available.

Whatever you do, make sure it has XLR input and full manual controls.

Does the A1U have a M setting?
TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/11/2008, 7:11 AM
The HDVHD1000U has zebera's. Histogram too.
Randy Brown wrote on 7/11/2008, 7:38 AM
Thanks very much for all the info/advice guys....it's not what I wanted to hear but I'd rather find out now than after buying them : )
Lots of recommedations/alternatives I'll need to consider.
It's kinda scary to think that my XL1S' sold for around $5K each a few years ago but now plummeting in resell value by the day (like what happened to VHS when DV hit the market).
However none of my regular clients have complained yet so maybe I can squeeze another year out of them while I keep saving money for the transition.

RCourtney, what rental place are you renting from...must be Albuquerque?

Thanks again very much everyone, you saved me a lot of time.
Randy
I capture everything in HD on Canon XH-A1s and then render the projects back to SD 99% of the time.
That's very encouraging Jeff...maybe those two jobs I lost were just a fluke.