Sony's HC1 HDV Camcorder Reviewed [Archive]

Philip Colmer

03-01-2006, 05:00 PM

<img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig0.jpg" /> Product Category: HDV camcorder Manufacturer: <a href="http://www.sony.com/">Sony</a> Where to Buy: <a href="http://thoughtsmedia.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=9108731/sort_type=rating">Pricegrabber Low-Price Search</a> Price: $1,258.00 - $1,999.00 USD Specifications: 1/3" 3000K pixel CMOS sensor, 10x optical zoom, 120x digital zoom, 71mm wide, 94 mm high, 88mm deep, 1lb 7oz without tape or battery. Pros:<li>High definition video at a good price point; <li>Very compact camcorder; <li>Strong I/O connectivity.Cons:<li>Bottom-loading tape bay; <li>Microphones pick up wind noise; <li>No supplied HDV editing software.Summary: The HC1 takes a lot of the features of the semi-pro FX1 and packs it into a camcorder small enough to hold in one hand. The sleek body hides a plethora of sockets and the touch-sensitve panel controls a powerful user-adjustable menu system. Read on for the full review!<!> <PAGEBREAK> The HC1 was, for me, the surprise release for 2005 from Sony. Hot on the heels of the more expensive and bigger FX1, the HC1 was the world's smallest and lightest high definition consumer camcorder. Let's take a tour around the body of the camcorder and see what this wee beastie has to offer. The Front Compared to previous Sony camcorders, the HC1 is pretty much just the lens at the front. The only addition is the IR receiver/emitter beneath the lens. In fact, most of the body follows the contour and size of the lens, giving you a very sleek camcorder. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig1.jpg" /> Figure 1: Look into my eye ... The Carl Zeiss lens is protected by a removable lens cover. Behind the lens sits a 16:9 CMOS sensor with almost 3,000K pixels gross, or 1,983,000 pixels effective in widescreen movie mode. The lens has a 10x optical zoom and 120x digital zoom. Like other Sony camcorders, the camcorder can record down to 7 lux in normal operation. Unlike the PC1000 which was also released in 2005, this model has retained the NightShot function, which is where the camcorder relies on infrared light to illuminate the setting. The Left Side Just behind the lens is a manual rotating ring. This can be used for zoom or focusing – the choice is up to you through a slider switch. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig2.jpg" /> Figure 2: Manual control at your fingertips. Beneath that switch, you've got buttons to activate:<li> Tele macro mode: allows you to shoot close-up shots by using the zoom mode and focusing down to 48cm. <li> Expanded focus: Sony realize that the LCD viewfinder & fold-out display have limitations when you are try to film in hi-definition, so pressing on this button temporarily zooms the image displayed – without affecting what is being recorded – so that you can get the focusing just right. <li> Back light: adjusts the exposure for backlit subjects.Beneath those buttons, you've got controls for manually adjusting the exposure and the playback volume. Next is the flip-out display. As seems to be the standard on Sony's 2005 models, this is a touch-sensitive display with most of the camera's controls & features accessible through the display. A benefit of the way that Sony has implemented this is that you can customise the choice of buttons that are presented to you. This means that the features you use a lot are more readily accessible and you don't have to keep on trawling through the rotating menu to find what you're looking for. The downside, though, is that it means that you can't make any changes to the settings without opening the panel up. Previous camcorders had hard buttons on the case so that you could navigate the menu system through the viewfinder. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig3.jpg" /> Figure 3: Watch and touch. The panel also has controls for zooming in & out, and recording. Unlike the PC1000, you don't have buttons for switching between 4:3 and 16:9 recordings. This is because the HC1 supports both HDV and DV recording modes – and HDV is 16:9 only. DV recordings have more options/flexibility (SP/LP, 4:3/16:9, 12/16 bit audio) and so these are set from the menu system. Behind the panel is a button to control the display information and a slider for auto-lock. If the camcorder is locked onto automatic, you cannot change the spot meter, exposure, program AE, white balance or shutter speed. Beneath the panel is the reason why the front of the camcorder is so clean – Sony has placed all of the I/O sockets (Firewire, USB, Component video out and Composite A/V) here behind well-designed flaps. The flaps have a solid feel to them and are sprung to stay open or closed, without being loose. This is a big improvement over the various bits of rubber or plastic that Sony used to use to cover the sockets. The main reason why it is such a big improvement is because the old design of flaps had them attached through one or two plastic hinges and I was always concerned that they were going to break and I'd end up without a socket cover. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig4.jpg" /> Figure 4: A plethora of interfaces! The HC1 is certainly very well endowed with connectivity. The component out socket ensures that you can easily get a high definition picture directly to a compatible display, while the A/V socket goes to an expansion cable to give you the more usual standard definition composite video & audio. One of the outstanding features of the HC1 which it inherited from the FX1, is the ability to downscale HDV recordings to DV through the Firewire connector. This means that you can start recording in HDV but, if the rest of your equipment isn't HD-ready, you can edit in DV mode. Then, when you've upgraded your equipment, recapture the clips in HDV mode and you've got a hi-def version of your projects! <PAGEBREAK> The Back <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig5.jpg" /> Figure 5: Back of the beastie. The rear of the camcorder is where the battery is held. Well done Sony for retaining the FM series of batteries used by previous camcorders – I can now carry on using the versatile separate charger I bought. Slight brickbat, though, for the positioning. I guess that Sony was always going to have a problem with where they put the battery. This really is a sleek camcorder and the rear is probably the best place for the battery. The problem, though, is that if you use the extended runtime batteries, they tend to rest against your cheek if you are using the viewfinder. Still, that's what the fold-out panel is for, isn't it :D. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig6.jpg" /> Figure 6: Tilting the view. The viewfinder has a tilt adjustment so that you can work above the line of the camcorder. Just to the right of the viewfinder is the LANC socket for remote control of the camcorder, the mode selector (tape, memory or play/edit) and the record start/stop button. The positioning of the LANC socket is a bit strange – I would have preferred it to be on the side of the camcorder – but it isn't too much in the way since you would typically use it when the camcorder is mounted on a tripod, in which case you would probably use the fold-out panel instead of the viewfinder. The Underneath Not much to see here, except that this is a bottom-loading camcorder, meaning that you can't change the tape if the camcorder is on a tripod. The use of HDV means that you are getting full high definition footage on the same DV tape that you know and love – and the same duration of recording. There isn't, however, an LP mode as there is with DV recordings. There is a slight cautionary tale about HDV. Both DV and HDV are compressed video formats. DV has the full image stored in each frame, which means that any dropout or corruption of the recording will only last for that one frame. HDV, which is based on MPEG-2, has a full frame followed by several seconds of recording of changed pixels, followed by another full frame, and so on. That's a bit of an over simplification, but the point is that if you get dropouts in HDV, they can persist for several seconds. Now, it's important to make it clear that this is not anybody's fault, least of all Sony's. It is just an aspect of how they managed to get high definition footage squeezed into a tape that used to hold a quarter of the resolution. The advice from the various manufacturers is to stick with ONE brand of tape. Another consequence of the HDV compression method is that in this form, it is quite difficult to edit. Computers like having full frames to work on and HDV means you have to compute the frames that come between those full frames. Most editing packages will read HDV off the tape and then convert it into an intermediate format for working on. Others will edit HDV natively – and you'll need a pretty powerful computer to get good performance then. Speaking of editing software, this is where I think Sony missed an opportunity. Here they have what is currently an unchallenged market leader in the HC1 – and they don't bundle any editing software. They had an excellent chance to include a copy of Sony Vegas – even if it had some limitations compared to a full version. Sony Style in the US is now selling bundles, and that's a good way to get a copy of Vegas if you don't already have HDV-compatible editing software, but I think you ought to get some software included. The Top From front to back, we have the left & right microphones, the pop-up flash, the accessory shoe, the zoom toggle and the photo button. The mics aren't anything much to write home about – they pick up a lot of wind noise, but other than that, they do the job well enough. The flash is used if you are using the camcorder for taking photos. I'm not sure about the value in having a camcorder that can take photos. This model is better than previous Sony camcorders, in that you can dub pictures from a playing tape onto the memory card, but I don't think that photos should be the primary reason for getting this camcorder. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig7.jpg" /> Figure 7: Microphones, flash & accessory shoe. The accessory shoe is the same as the one used by other 2005 models. Apart from anything else, this means it is compatible with the surround sound microphone that I looked at recently. The good news is that if you are doing DV recordings, the camcorder supports all of the features of the surround sound microphone. If, however, you are doing HDV recordings, you can only use the stereo features of the mic. This is because HDV, unlike DV, doesn't support 4 channel audio. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig8.jpg" /> Figure 8: Zoom toggle & photo button. The zoom toggle is quite small, and doesn't travel very far. This means that it can be difficult to accurately zoom to the point you want to reach. There has been quite a bit of criticism from other users about this. That said, if accuracy is your primary concern, you can use the front ring for zoom control or an external zoom control through the LANC socket. Personally, I didn't find it a massive problem. <PAGEBREAK> The Right There isn't much left by the time you get around to this part of the camcorder :). There is the slot for the Memory Stick Duo – yes, another MS format. As I've already said, though, I don't think that photos would be a primary reason for picking this camcorder and so this slot could be largely ignored. <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-sonyhc1-fig9.jpg" /> Figure 9: The last bits & pieces. Beyond the slot, you've got sockets for an external microphone and headphones – thank you, Sony, for keeping both of those in. Above them, you've got flash control and NightShot control. Hidden Features There are a bunch of things that are turned on or off through the panel's menu interface that I wanted to quickly touch on.<li> Program AE: the usual bunch of suspects are here – spotlight, soft portrait, beach & ski, sunset & moon and landscape. <li> Spot meter: used for fixing the exposure on the subject, for when there is strong contrast between the subject and the background. <li> Spot focus: for focusing on a subject that isn't at the centre of the screen. <li> Manual control over shutter speed, from 1/10000 second to 1/3 second. <li> Zebra: displays stripes on the panel or viewfinder (not on the recording) where the image is over a given brightness threshold. <li> Histogram: displays a graph that can be an aid to correct exposure. <li> Shot transition: this is, I think, a fantastic feature to appear on prosumer camcorders. It allows you to set the focus & zoom and store them. You can then adjust either/or, and store the new settings. Finally, you can then get the camcorder to transition to each of those settings. It takes about 4 seconds to achieve the transition and can be used to powerful effect like a pull-focus shot.Conclusions If you have any intention to do high definition recordings in the future, I think this model is a no-brainer of a choice. For some, the price point might be a bit high, but it is coming down all the time and it is currently unmatched for features in this price range. Sony has done a great job of putting HDV into such a small package. The use of CMOS instead of CCD for the imaging has caused some concerns but the image quality is there, and the battery life is extended. The ability of the HC1 to downscale HDV footage to DV footage means that it is an excellent transitionary camcorder. Given Sony's history over first generation devices, the HC1 is likely to have features that may well be dropped in future models as the price comes down. Ultimately, the decision will be yours. Philip Colmer is an I.T. Manager for a global electronic publishing company. In his spare time, he enjoys researching his family history, developing his videography skills and going shopping with his wife.