Sony HC3

[diversteve]

They don't any more.

HV10 won't work in my housing, no LANC connector.

$1158 Buy-it-Now on eBay, NIB, they've got six of them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-HDR-HC3-HD...8QQihZ019QQcategoryZ48514QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Gar]

If you are in the DC / NOVA area: I called 10 stores in VA. Every store was out except Manassas. They had 1 in a box (which I Purchased - had some gift certificates to spend) and the demo model. They may sell the demo.

 

[LowVizWiz]

Is there any reason the HC3 is better than the HDR-UX1, which records to a CD/DVD-type disk?

Well the main difference depends on what you plan to do with the video after. If you plan on editing the footage after the fact, you would not want to record to DVD then digitize it again.

 

[paulpost]

So, Ryan you say that a regular TFT 2.5" monitor can be used ?
In my previous post I was just warning of the possibility that it might not work.
Can you be more precise regarding the half circle jack? What is named like ?
I'm asking that because I have an HC1 and the jacks are on different spots on the camcorder.
Thank you
Paul

 

[drbill]

$1158 Buy-it-Now on eBay, NIB, they've got six of them.

What I meant was B&H doesn't have any more of the new HC3's.

 

[drbill]

Well the main difference depends on what you plan to do with the video after. If you plan on editing the footage after the fact, you would not want to record to DVD then digitize it again.

I believe that any time you are dealing with a lossy (vs loss-less) compression scheme (like MPEG-2), you will lose video quality upon saving it to disk (DVD in this case) or as you re-capture it, edit it and dump it back to another media type. I know I had this problem with my first mini-DV camcorder (Sony VX1000) and the early Casablanca editing device which I believed used MPEG-1.

 

[LowVizWiz]

I believe that any time you are dealing with a lossy (vs loss-less) compression scheme (like MPEG-2), you will lose video quality upon saving it to disk (DVD in this case) or as you re-capture it, edit it and dump it back to another media type. I know I had this problem with my first mini-DV camcorder (Sony VX1000) and the early Casablanca editing device which I believed used MPEG-1.

You are correct, that's why I said you would not want the camcorder that records on DVD if you plan on editing.
If you capture to miniDV even HDV you would not loose aditional quality while digitizing in a system that edits natively on DV such as Final Cut. Maybe I should have added this to my response to clarify.

If Casablanca used MPEG-1 you would absolutely have some data/quality loss in the transcoding.

 

[diversteve]

So, Ryan you say that a regular TFT 2.5" monitor can be used ?
In my previous post I was just warning of the possibility that it might not work.
Can you be more precise regarding the half circle jack? What is named like ?
I'm asking that because I have an HC1 and the jacks are on different spots on the camcorder.
Thank you
Paul

Paul,

The two similar jacks on the HC1 are the component and AV out jacks under the back port cover on the left side of the camera. Component is HD, AV is SD quality. Most small LCD monitors are going to be SD. Page 36 in the manual shows it in detail. The "half circle" SD connector is the one on the right.

Gates sells and Amphibico (soon) will sell an external HD monitor - I want one... The cable from the component(HD) out jack provides an HD signal to the monitor.

 

[diversteve]

What I meant was B&H doesn't have any more of the new HC3's.

I knew that. Just pointing out where they were still available. What are your plans now? Go with an HDD camera? Or the HVR-A1U? although it's probably discontinued now also, at least you can't find it under HDV camcorders on sonystyle.com

I hope Sony doesn't quit making a small form factor tape-based HDV camcorder. Or if they do, they need to be providing bigger storage media(removable would be nice) in their HDD models and get away from AVHCD. But I fear the trend is going the other way, witness the "Easy" button on some models now. I'm not willing to pay $3500 for either the FX1 or FX7 either, my camera and housing cost less.

 

[paulpost]

Paul,

The two similar jacks on the HC1 are the component and AV out jacks under the back port cover on the left side of the camera. Component is HD, AV is SD quality. Most small LCD monitors are going to be SD. Page 36 in the manual shows it in detail. The "half circle" SD connector is the one on the right.

Gates sells and Amphibico (soon) will sell an external HD monitor - I want one... The cable from the component(HD) out jack provides an HD signal to the monitor.

Thank you Steve for helping me figured it out. I have a 2.5" lcd monitor that I used inside the housing with my Sony trv38 but now I think there is not enough room with HC1 that is bigger. Regarding external monitors that are very expensive in my opinion I do not consider them very useful. Now let me explain why.
1). Doe to their position on the housing you have to position the housing one foot or less from your line of site that would position the housing somewhere chest level.
2).Doe to this you'll have to swim in a 45 degrees angle.
All together will increase your drag considerably. More drag, more air, less bottom time.
Please do not consider that an external monitor is not a good idea. In my case is not because unfortunately I tend to chase schools of fish, stingrays and in general any sea creature that try to run away from me, sorry, I know is wrong but when I'm down there I can't help it. The best use of an external monitor or a monitor in general is I think when you're filming macro, otherwise if you have a wide enough wide angle lens all that you have to do is just to aim at the subject and keep the housing steady with smooth moves.
I hope I didn't bore you guys to death.
Paul