Sony HDR-FX1000 High Definition MiniDV Handycam Camcorder Review
Having had this camera for only a few days, this review is somewhat preliminary but I have owned a couple of Sony cameras (TRV900 and FX2100)and my first impressions are generally good.
First of all, it feels good in your hand and the unit feels solid. The hi res lcd screen is good, I just wish they’d make it a 3.5″ like the TRV900. It also is not as bright which makes shooting in bright conditions a bit more difficult. The lens is great with a nice wide angle of view, it does have a bit of barrel distortion but but to have a long zoom range lens in this price range, it’s a worthwhile trade-off. The tele-extender does not go from optical zoom to digital like most zooms, it’s more like putting a tele-extender on the lens, making it more of a telephoto zoom. I was surprised by this, it seems a digital zoom beyond the regular optical one would be better since it would give you a real 30x zooming range. The left side of the camera is cluttered, more so than it needs to be. I think Sony sometimes changes things that don’t need changing, like moving the scrolling wheel to the side where it’s lost in a maze of buttons. This may sound nit picky, but when you’re in the field shooting you want simplicity, the less you have to think about the controls, the more you can concentrate on composing. I do like the iris ring on the lens barrel(one less reason to try to find that scroll wheel!). The auto focus seems a bit slower and less accurate than previous cameras but manual focus is always the best way anyway. The built in mike sounds pretty good but a Rode Video Mike would be a nice upgrade. I played with the “cinematone” stuff and the jury’s still out for me. Video does not look like film. I’ve seen too many cameras with 24p, 30p, Progressive scan, etc that just looked like jerky video, not film. I think it’s one of those marketing dept features that sells cameras but isn’t all that useful. Anytime I’ve tried to make my footage look like film, I’ve had to do each scene in post, separately.
Anyway, the low light capability is almost up to the 2100, and the resolution is stunning if you’re going to hi def for the first time. HDV is supposed to be more artifacty(my word), but I haven’t noticed any and it’s way better than broadcast stuff(which is very artifacty). Tape has it’s limitations(1hr recording, dropouts) but I haven’t had any and I’m using the regular Sony tapes not the fancy HD ones and they’re cheap! Just don’t recycle your old mini DV tapes(use new ones) and you’ll probably be fine. That’s all for now, if i have more thoughts as I go along I’ll update this review. Hope this helps.
Sony HDR-FX1000 High Definition MiniDV Handycam Camcorder Feature
- Experience high-quality, film-like motion with 24p progressive scan mode
- CinemaTone Gamma and CinemaTone Color give your footage a film-like aesthetic
- Features three 1/3-inch ClearVid CMOS image sensors with Exmor derived technology
- Includes a 29.5mm wide-angle to 590mm telephoto G-lens with 20X optical zoom
- Also comes with 3.2-inch Xtra Fine LCD and Optical SteadyShot image stabilization
Sony HDR-FX1000 High Definition MiniDV Handycam Camcorder Overview
The Sony HDR-FX1000 Handycam camcorder delivers HD-broadcast-quality moving images. With 24p Progressive Scan Mode, the HDR-FX1000′s high-quality motion lets you realize brilliant scene reproduction. CinemaTone Gamma and CinemaTone Color provide the HDR-FX1000 with the color and gamma range to give your footage an even more film-like feel.
Film-like Progressive Scan 1080/24p, 1080/30p, or 1080/60i:
In addition to 1080/60i recording, the HDR-FX1000 offers a 1080/24p and 1080/30p Progressive Scan mode that enables shooting with film-like results. Signals scanned at 24p/30p are converted to 60i (using 2-3 pulldown for 24p) and recorded on MiniDV tape, allowing footage to be played and edited using existing HDV products. In this way, progressive images can be handled in the conventional HDV editing environment.
CinemaTone Gamma and CinemaTone Color:
Users seeking extra control over image expression can use “Cinematone Gamma” to deepen the color and “Cinematone Color” to recreate film-like color tones. Cinematone Gamma allows operators to quickly set up and load a gamma curve with similar contrast characteristics to a film gamma curve.
3x 1/3″ ClearVid CMOS Sensors w/ Exmor technology:
The HDR-FX1000 features three 1/3″ ClearVid CMOS Sensors, each having 1,120K total pixels. The 3 independent CMOS sensors each handle one of the color elements – red, green, blue (RGB) – improving the color reproduction of video recordings. Dark scenes can be captured with low noise thanks to “Exmor”-derived technology that features a new column A/D converter and dual noise reduction. Sensor resolution has been optimized and the photosensitive surface area has been maximized thanks to the unique grid arrangement of the photo diode sensors, in which each is rotated by 45 degrees. This model also features the signal processing circuit, the Enhanced Imaging Processor (EIP) which uses Sony’s unique image-processing technology.
Enhanced I
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