Comments

jrazz wrote on 1/8/2006, 8:18 PM
What do you want to use it for? What will you be shooting? Indoors? Outdoors? Do you need interchangeable lenses? Do you need to hook up external mics? What type of image stabilization do you want/need- optical or digital?
Basically, what are you going to use it for? Second- I doubt you will find many, if any used hi-def cams out there as they are new and I don't think anybody really has a reason to get rid of one.

j razz
johnmeyer wrote on 1/8/2006, 10:48 PM
There are LOTS of posts about this. Do a search and you will, in five minutes, get 10x the number of answers that you'll get in one post. I just got an FX1, after reading many of the posts. I don't need to interface with film or broadcast, so 24p and film stuff doesn't interest me.

I've only had it for a few days and the only big disappointment that no one told me about is how long this camera takes from the moment you turn it on until it is ready to shoot. Not a good camera if you need to be ready to go quickly. Even more aggravating is the delay between when you press the record button until it starts shooting. My old (1980's) cameras were like this, but my trusty Sony TRV-11 (the first DV camera I owned) is ready to go almost instantly and there is virtually no delay between when you press the record button until you are filming. I shoot lots of events, and this has save me dozens of times.

Other than that one item, so far the FX1 has been very good. I'll know more in a few weeks ...

[Edit] See my later post. Delay isn't a problem.

Spot|DSE wrote on 1/9/2006, 7:42 AM
The Z1 has QuickRec, which eliminates the time lag, I thought the FX1 had this as well?
johnmeyer wrote on 1/9/2006, 8:57 AM
I had already downloaded the FX1 manual, so I did a search for "quick" and "quickrec". No hits.
MH_Stevens wrote on 1/9/2006, 8:59 AM
John:
My FX1 takes 3 seconds from cold in the box to on, once on I just tested it for time to go from standby to record and I noticed a funny thing. The time is not constant. The most common is that the STBY embalm flashes three times before REC shows, which is about a second, but sometimes the camera starts to record instantly. I'll do some more testing for you John.

Michael.
johnmeyer wrote on 1/9/2006, 9:15 AM
MH,

Your information is VERY useful. Thank you.

It definitely duplicates what I've seen. I just did some tests. I pointed the camera at my digital wall clock and pressed the REC button when the seconds reached zero. In playback, I got a least 1/2 second with the zero showing. That's very little time lag and makes me totally happy.

However, I don't think I imagined the slowness before. You mentioned the STBY emblem flashing, and that jogged my memory. What I can't remember is how I got to that point. I was doing some test filming at my son's basketball game, just a few hours after I got the camera. Perhaps it was when I started the camera after a long pause, like a time out. The camera had not gone into full standby (the viewfinder was still on), but perhaps there are levels of standby where the tape transport is unspooled (couldn't hear that in a noisy gym).

Anyway, I'll figure that out. Every camera is going to have a few quirks that drive you nuts, but so far, like my old Sony TRV-11 and like my Nikon D70, this is a real winner. Whether or not I use it much for HDV, I am totally happy with it and think Sony did a fantastic job.
lotus wrote on 1/9/2006, 9:51 AM
what about the sony fx1 or z1u
JJKizak wrote on 1/9/2006, 10:49 AM
I think the Z1 is wonderfull.

JJK
apit34356 wrote on 1/9/2006, 11:14 AM
Don't forgot about the A-1, it's the better $$ value with its options. The FX1 is a very nice camera and the D70 is a good companion camera, now its price is down, for these camera's. If you used the v2000/v2100, you'll love the FX1. But take a serious look at the A-1, its so small, you can capture a few angle shots that were not possible before, ie, in airplanes, "tunnels", caves, swamps.....
mbryant wrote on 1/10/2006, 12:54 AM
I have the HC-1, and it also has this delay behavior when going from standby to record. And it is inconsistant. Sometimes very fast, sometimes flashes for 2 or 3 seconds (or at least it seems like this long - I havent' done detailed timing) before recording. I thought this had something to do with the GOP structure, but sometimes it is longer than one would expect from that. I haven't yet figured out the pattern for why sometimes the delay is longer than other times. Maybe it a random depending on where the drum has stopped.

The HC-1 doesn't have a "Quick Rec" mode.. the A1 does. On the A1:

"Off: It takes some time to restart recording from the state that the drum has stopped rotating, but the transition from the last recorded scene is smooth.

On: The time shortens slightly until recording restarts from the state that the drum has stopped rotating, but the transition from the last recorded scene may not be smooth. Select this when you do not want to miss a recording chance".

Mark