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Post by byrnalan on Mar 12, 2006 17:32:50 GMT -5
I'd be interested in hearing from other European (or just PAL-land) owners of this cam.
For one thing, I would love to discuss how we might resolve the 30p framerate when burning to PAL DVD etc.
So far Vegas 6d seems the best option. It can import the HD1's MP4 files directly. You set preferences to HDV 720p, even though the HD1 isn't HDV. It's possible to make a HDV intermediate, so that cutting isn't slow due to the MP4 stucture and then when doing the final render easy to conform the original MP4 footage. What's more you can output as PAL 25p!
It's untrue that you need a tripod and sunny day to get anything HD-looking out of this cam. However, it can be very sensitive to light and sometimes focus range also. It overexposes very easily at times. Yet it's difficult to shoot indoors, in low-light. I guess that latter point could be made about a lot of videocameras..
The cam really benefits from having had lots of little brothers and sisters. It's really well designed.
I'm delighted with it - it's just a little temperamental with light.
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Post by Lee Smith on Mar 17, 2006 15:19:32 GMT -5
SO what are your thoughts on this HD Xacti now Byrn? You must be the first person around here with one and we are waiting on your word whether it's a worthy investment? How much did you pay and where did you get it from? Lee www.xacti.co.uk |
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Post by byrnalan on Mar 17, 2006 18:49:48 GMT -5
I bought mine on eBay, from Hong Kong.
It arrived in absolutely perfect condition, never been opened, there was an untouched seal etc and it's simply too early for it to have been a refurbished unit.
Best of all, Sanyo Ireland have checked the guarantee/serial number and given me a 12 month cover!
With a brand new 2GB SD card, the total cost including Fed-ex delivery was $898.
I love the cam for a number of reasons.
Like I said, the fact that there has been a whole Xacti line is crucial.
This might be the first Xacti HD cam, it might be the first pocket HD cam - but it ain't the first Xacti.
The build is great. There is a really mature quality to the workmanship. It's robust. It's sensible.
Funny, before the cam arrived I was looking at hundreds of different images of the thing online - and felt it's design wasn't quite as attractive (to the eye) as earlier Xactis. I strolled down the local Dixons, got them to let me look at a C5 or C6. I remember thinking: this is nothing compared to what I have coming, but it's a little prettier than what I have coming.
Well, I was wrong.
True, the HD1 is a little broader and bulkier, but it is gorgeous looking. Like an old Super 8 camera. Solid. Subtle. Easier to hold than the earlier Xacti I testdrove in the shop, to boot.
I wasted no time getting going.
The only two shooting modes I can vouch for because they are the only two I have bothered with: the best HD setting and the best photo setting. When I say best photo setting I mean the 5MP one, not the 10MP interpolated option.
I was very charmed by the 720p.
Progressive, rather than interlaced, makes for a much richer image.
It was amazing to me that it was all was emanating from a camera pretty much the same size as a digital still camera!
I was quickly struck by the fact that the camera seemed to struggle with subtle shifts in light.
I'd heard that the camera only delivered good images outdoors on a sunny day when fixed to a tripod. Untrue - but I can understand why someone might say that.
It doesn't adjust to subtle shifts in light well. If you are indoors, for instance, using the light coming in the windows because the artificial light won't cut it (the image will look crap with artificial light unless they are professional lights), if you're indoors and using the light coming in the window, the cam gets these little shocks regularly when it thinks the light has changed.
I mean, maybe the light has changed, but not enough to warrant an adjustment. It's damn well oversensitive. It will drop it's exposure or increase it. A lot.
It's almost as bad with focus.
Which is why it's good that exposure and focus can be got at very quickly: by pushing the joystick up, you can lock focus. By pushing it to the right, you get an exposure bar at 0, which you can add to or subtract by toggling...
Outdoors was far easier, but the cam still seemed a bit fickle when it came to subtle shifts in light.
So I delved into the manual controls. There are a number of options. You can control shutter and ND filter, while letting the aperture go auto. Or control ND and aperture, letting shutter go auto. Or you can control all three. Also, there's ISO settings. There's even settings for focus range and exposure range - and these latter ones helped a little with the erratic exposure and focus.
After playing for a while outdoors I had developed some settings combinations that worked. One thing I did was put the ND filter on, turn the exposure bar down low and put the shutter at 1/60. I like putting the shutter at twice the frame rate. This looked beautiful, but really contrasty. Really dark shadows. I have also shot a lot in monochrome, which the camera allows you to do and which is obviously much easier. It looks exquisite.
However, the point I'm making is - it's not a point and shoot cam.
If treated like one, it will not yield HD images - they will probaby look more SD, due to exposure and focus shortcomings.
You have to become acquainted with the manual controls.
The docking station is great - but all you Xacti heads know about that.
Vegas 6d is the perfect editor, as I said above.
It's a keeper for me.
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Post by Lee Smith on Mar 20, 2006 17:08:52 GMT -5
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Post by Alan Byrne on Mar 21, 2006 4:33:32 GMT -5
That's a very good price. I have no idea whether that seller would be reliable, obviously, though he has a better satisfaction rating than my seller did. My seller only had 97.8, which is apparently too low. However, I crosschecked my seller with a fellow enthusiast who had already bought the cam from him and who was posting clips online - so that gave me piece of mind. If I was buying it now, one month later, I'd probably buy it 100 legit at Purely Gadgets: www.pricerunner.co.uk/sound-and-vision/vision/camcorders/564870/pricesIt's more expensive, but you needn't gamble with the guarantee like I did. Of course, my gamble paid off because my local Sanyo have agreed to honour to guarantee certificate with no proper sales receipt. My sales receipt read $100 so I didn't show it to them! |
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Post by Alan Byrne on Mar 21, 2006 4:37:52 GMT -5
I paid $898, in case anyone is confused - but my sales receipt read $100 and described the cam as
[seller name] cam
Useless. So I am glad Sanyo were so cool once they had the guarantee certificate.
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