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Although, i have found that the infrared DOES NOT shoot well past 15 ft nor does it shoot through car windows(inside to out) unless outside of vehicle is exposed to light. It shoots in a max of 1080i.
It also can convert hdv to dv or keep it as HDV some other cool effects include sepia shooting, blurred shots, as well as black and white. the audio is fantastic the extra place to hook up mikes and stuff is one of the best features.
i have seen much better quality film on cheaper models. The touch screen is very nice to have, but it is nothing revolutionary.
The picture quality is just OK. Night vision is another cool feature.
So far no problems with the camera, but something that is very important that i almost overlooked is the fact that the picture in a dim area is very poor even with the exposure adjusted.
This camera is loaded with great features that are hard to find in prosumer grade miniDV / HDV, but the CMOS sensor doesn't cut it for me.Having xlr inputs as well as minijack that accepts both mic and line level signals is essential in my line of work. My only complaint about this camera is it's slow lens and noisy sensor. So is easy on the fly manual exposure and audio gain control, manual focus, long battery life and consistent white balance and last, but far from least is good image quality in less than stellar lighting conditions. The A1U did not deliver on this last criteria. The camera relies far too much on gain rather than aperture to increase exposure which adds grain, color artifact and a shift in color balance and contrast.Sony did a great job of cramming a lot of these features into a small camera while retaining an intuitive set of controls. For things like white balance and manual audio controls the LCD menus can be cumbersome to navigate, but the physical buttons and dials on the body of the camera make accessing exposure, focus, and zoom plus a custom assignable button a snap.
I don't think you want to be more than 60 ft from the subject. I am a serious hobbyist. Decide for yourself whether this is important. The dollars per cubic inch ratio is very high.Second observation: In daylight I used the cam to shoot some baby hummingbirds in their nest.
The FX-1 goes down to a deeper "blood red" which pwns the a1u's footage. I thought "no big deal", but when I reviewed the tape on a high def monitor I was stunned by how good the pic was. (I guess I never tried that shot with my FX-1).Third: in low light, like at a dance recital, the autofocus can have problems. I intended for this camera to augment my main camera (Sony FX-1) on video shoots. Try to stick with one brand of tape though. I often put it on a monopod for an overhead shot.Fifth: must be unmounted to swap a tape.
If you are shooting a recital in the dark and have to unmount the thing, swap tapes, and remount in_the_dark then maybe this camera isn't for you.Sixth: for what it's worth, the cam captures all colors pretty well except the deep reds. Before the commies start crying ;) let me say that I edit this cam's footage together with the FX-1 footage.
(No need for $10 tapes).The A1U has earned its way into my inventory. My first perception of this camera was "man it's smaller than I thought it would be".
Seventh: None of my cams have problems with tape. Also be zoomed in, that seems to take care of autofocus issues.Fourth: the mic is great for live music.
This camera excells at guerilla music shoots, where you have to move around a lot. Simply buy the tdk or sony 10 packs at Costco.
I am glad that I started with an FX-1 (heavy artillery), augmented with the A1U (when the shot is more important than the deep blood reds), and rounded out with a used FX-1 from B&H.I'd recommend a preowned FX-1 over a new A1U though.
It's weakness is low light recording, but is well worth the cost. This is a great Camcorder. I'll pick up another soon. I can't believe the size. This thing is tiny for the features.
It should be considered a pro camera instead of a consumer camera.OK; now what the camera can do. I really like the exposure lever, one strange thing is that the camera does not give exposure increments like F1.6. Some people say it's a consumer camera because it only has a one chip sensor instead of three like a CCD sensor but a CMOS sensor is a lot different then a CCD. It is all because of the CMOS sensor the camera uses.
One other thing is that this camera is quite compact and I am really amazed at the picture quality that it takes.Over all it is great camera and a good choice for any one who needs a good Hi-Def camera for a low price. I think he had problems in low light with the camera, this camera is not the best in low light. After reading about 30 customer and 20 pro reviews it was the only camera that was offered pro features and great image quality worth way more then the price. It has a touch screen which is handy but you have to keep wiping it off because it smudges easily. F2.6 it just gives you a bar.
It has some other great features and that I am not going to go in to but you can read about them on this page. A single chip CMOS sensor is three mega-pixels just like three CCD chips. The personalized menu is a great idea; you can have all your most used items at a touch away. He also had problems with the mic, there are a lot of settings for the mic and you have to set them right to get good sound.
I recently had the Canon GL1 and thought it was time to upgrade to Hi-Def. Three quarters of the bar is for exposure and the last quarter of the bar is gain which digitally brightens the picture and makes the picture real grainy. Just make sure you adjust the exposure manually in dark places and turn the gain off by not going to the last quarter of the bar. I hope this review helps and I will be adding more to this review.06/29/08I don't know what the problem was with the guy below me. The picture quality in good light is almost identical the image quality of the Sony Z1U which cost $4,000 and that's really amazing. When rewinding tapes I did not think it made a horrendous noise but it does make different pitches as you rewind it. It consumes less power, less money to produce, better image quality then CCD and does not smear light.
The camera is small, they made it compact so pros could get great images in tight places. The cineframe and cinematone features are a good idea if you want your movies to have a more professional Hollywood look to them. The low light performance is not that good, this is a downside of the CMOS sensor. The auto focus is a little slow indoors but it's a lot better in good light. If you need a good low light camera go with the Sony V1U.07/18/08Price went up $300 from when I bought it, I guess I made a good investment.
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