Hey all,

As some of you may remember, I was struggling with the decision of whether to go HD on a new camcorder. After viewing a side-by-side comparison of HD vs. SD camcorder feeds on a HDTV, am leaning strongly toward HD.

A local retailer has the HV20 along with the HDR-SR1. The latter is $150 less (buying in Canada so getting bent over either way). People have said the miniDV tapes are a good way to go, but others point out that they are not as handy to get onto a computer and hence burned to DVD. The Canon has an excellent reputation, as well.

The Sony has the HDD, HDMI output (can't recall if the HV does) and is a bit cheaper. I read a CNET review that said anything I burned to DVD from the Sony would not play in HD from a DVD player anyway. This is a big deal to me since the whole reason for getting an HD camera is to view stuff in HD, no?

What am I missing here? Which camera (or feel free to recommend an alternative) should I get?

Thanks for your help.

Hello osagedr,

I own an SR1 and just purchased the HV20. Although I am happy with the quality of the video taken with SR1, the HV20 does produce a cleaner picture. The photos taken with the SR1 have warmer colors and are 4 MP while the Canon seems to produce cleaner photos at 3 MP. As far as watching video, transferring video to computer and then to disk is easier with SR1 at least for me as the Canon doesn't come with any software to transfer video to computer. Further, the SR1 is a snap to download to computer and burn disks including blu-ray quality on DVDs which can be played back on a playstation for example which I have. But, if all you want is the ability to play back in HD and having a physical disk is not a must then all you have to do is hook to the HDMI connection of the HV20 and play the tape from the camcorder to your HD TV/projector.

I have a lot of stuff on HD taken with my SR1 (`500GB) and the only way to play it on my HD projector is to burn a disk. It is easier to just pop the tape in and watch from the camcorder. Of course, I read it is possible to download your videos from computer to SR1 for playback on HD device but I didn't get it to work.

Hope this helps.

Todd

Thanks for your advice. Sounds like either camera will be a good choice. The laptop I'm getting will have a firewire port so getting data off the HV would be relatively easy, no? I guess I'd need to get some software for that...any recommendations?

In the end...who here would buy the HV for $150 more than the SR1? I need some more opinions.

Tape storage, pop in/out, for long vacations would be a must have for me. I don't always want or have the time to pack a laptop along just to offload content. Once the drive in the SR1 is full it's full. With the HV20 just reach into your haversack and grab another tape.

The HV20 records in MPEG2, the SR1 records in MPEG4. MPEG4 software editing resources are currently limited, MPEG2 non-linear software editors are easy to find. MPEG2 also has less compression than MPEG4 so you'll have less artifacts if you convert your video footage to some other format. If you stay within MPEG4 you'll be OK. Read the reviews on video editing, there's a lot of info out there but bottom line is MPEG4 editiing is still the new kid on the block and the software content creators are still doing their homework.

Besides the IEEE port on the HV20 will also allow transfer to computer (albeit in realtime) for Blu-Ray disc creation but now that you're home again you have the time to transfer. HDMI directly from the HV20 looks great, it also supports component HD video.

Also take a look at the wide angle lens that Canon makes for the HV20, although it is kind of pricey, I put it and a Canon DM-50 mic on my camera and it turns an HV20 into a great portable HD Camera.

Enjoy

I would consider the HV-10. J&R.com has them for as low as $699.99 and are an excellent online vendor. The HV-10 does lack an HDMI but I always download the footage onto my PC anyway and create home made HD-DVD using regular DVDs. It has incredible picture quality at a very affordable price.

Best of luck.

Bought the HDR-SR1 not an hour ago. It was priced $400 under the HV-20.

They had an "open-box" HV-10 will full warranty, etc. for $250 less than the HDR-SR1 but sold it just before I went into the store.

Looking forward to enjoying the Sony--thanks to everyone for your advice!

Bought the HDR-SR1 not an hour ago. It was priced $400 under the HV-20.

They had an "open-box" HV-10 will full warranty, etc. for $250 less than the HDR-SR1 but sold it just before I went into the store.

Looking forward to enjoying the Sony--thanks to everyone for your advice!

I thought I got a good deal at Circuit City for 829 less 10% AAA coupon.

Where did you find your SD1 at that price?

I just bought a Sony Handycam® HDR-SR5 as my first ever camcorder and love it so far. It doesn't have the viewfinder, just the LCD screen and has a 40 gig HD and HDMI output. It does have electronic image stabilization unlike the more expensive models that have optical stabilization (Which is supposed to be better but to my untrained eye looks the same).

The picture on my Samsung 1080p LCD TV is outstanding.

We will see if I keep it. A friend of mine who is a camera guru is going to look at it tomorrow and give me his opinion.

I thought I got a good deal at Circuit City for 829 less 10% AAA coupon.

Where did you find your SD1 at that price?

The HDR-SR1 certainly was not $400, it was $400 less than the HV-20. Up in Canada we get bent over on electronics. Seriously bent over. So I paid $999 plus tax, the HV-20 was $1399 and the open-box HV-10 was $749. I was reasonably happy with the price we paid. It was at a Future Shop up here in Winnipeg, Canada.

First impressions: I like the camcorder; it's very ergonomic and easy to use. Pretty good HD picture quality in ideal lighting conditions. Low light PQ is not good, but there may be something I'm supposed to do but haven't figured out yet. In general the colours are off just a bit IMO. Very easy to get to know, easy to connect to my Pio 5070 HDTV, great menu, nice sized LCD screen.

The HDR-SR1 certainly was not $400, it was $400 less than the HV-20. Up in Canada we get bent over on electronics. Seriously bent over. So I paid $999 plus tax, the HV-20 was $1399 and the open-box HV-10 was $749. I was reasonably happy with the price we paid. It was at a Future Shop up here in Winnipeg, Canada.

I did not know you are in Canada . I know the HV20 sells for $1099 in the U.S. Therefore, I figured you purchased for $699 or less in the U.S.

I haven't done enough shooting to give an evaluation one way or the other. However, just playing with the SD1 I think I will be more than happy with the video quality.

I wanted an AVCHD device because it can be recorded directly to a standard dvd and be played on a blu-ray player.

I will have to upgrade my computer to do editing. But, since my desktop is 5 years old, it is time to upgrade anyway.

I wanted an AVCHD device because it can be recorded directly to a standard dvd and be played on a blu-ray player.

This is very good for archiving. Have you done this yet?
Does one 4 gig card equal a DVD?

Can the camera take larger cards? How would you backup a card with more than one DVD worth of info?


This is the camera I would like to get but I need certain backup and editing capability.

Any reports you can give about camera usage are appreciated.

EDIT: HERE (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/panasonic_hdc-sd1.html) is a review of the SD1.

I have only had my camera 1 day.

I do not own a blu-ray player yet.

I only have 4GB cards.

Read the threads here and at http://www.pana3ccduser.com/index.php for more help.

Thanks, I'll read the link. And I've followed most pertinent threads here at AVS.
I was hoping the backup would be for archiving the full content. Playback would be nice, too. But I need to be able to edit the material and keep the originals in pristine, safe condition.

It may be that an AVCHD device is not quite ready for primetime yet. :)

I just bought an SR5, i didnt take a close look at it in the store, but when I got home I went to hook it up via HDMI and the connector on the camera seems to be a "mini" hdmi port. does anyone know where I can get a HDMI to mini HDMI adapter? I searched Sony's web site and mono price and did a quick google but came up with nothing. I am sorta mad that i just spent almost 1,400 on a camera (with accessories) and it dont even come with all the proper cables.

so far its not that bad of a camera, i was shooting in low lighting and there were a few artifacts on the screen via component but I can live with it. It is certanly better than a regular SD camera.

Also how do you get this thing in 16X9 mode? I cant find that information either.

Thank you for any information.

James