Drop, charge, and lose the cords
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Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Great film-like footage in a feature-rich camera."
Pros: 24p, 30p, 60p progressive scan modes, 1080i hi-def, cmos sensors
Cons: Speed sensitive manual focus ring.
Summary: I bought this camera from Camulet for $3,800 after tons of research. I compared it to every 3 chip/cmos hi-def, progressive scan, prosumer camera available under $6,000. Needless to say, the V1U was my choice.
I do love this camera. It's light and compared to similar feature and quality cameras it is on the small side. Not to be misunderstood, this is still a big camera. It is small and light only when compared to other similarly loaded prosumer cameras.
What's great about this camera is the true film like footage in the 24p/1080i mode. I have considered getting a 35mm lens adapter (and probably still will) but it is arguably not necessary as the footage really does simulate film. The colors, depth of field and blacks look fantastic.
The lens focal length is approx. 4mm to 78mm making for a great all around lens. You can go fairly wide as well as long for depth of field effects shots. No need to throw on an expensive adapter/35mm lens combo for that depth of field boque or rack focus shot. (This is not to say that the adapter/35mm lens combo wouldn't push the film envelope even further.)
Some reviews on the V1U have stated it is a little weak in low light due to the size of the cmos sensors vs. ccd sensors. I have not found this to be necessarily true. With a touch of gain I can go into very dark settings and shoot without any problem. In fact, according to technical reviews on the V1U, the array of cmos pixels vs. ccd pixels allows for the smaller cmos sensors to perform right along with the larger ccd sensors. Also, in the diagonal pattern of cmos/diamond shaped pixels vs. the vertical/horizontal pattern of ccd/round shaped pixels, more information can be stored in the same file size making the digital extension on the zoom actually work in pro settings.
The only real complaint I have of the V1U is the manual focus ring. It is speed sensitive making it challenging to get a feel for rack focus shots done manually. I don't know what advantage this kind of focus has over a linear change in the focus ring. I'm not sure I care what Sony's rational was in choosing this type of focus mechanism since it seems a linear adjustment would be so much more precise. Considering all the camera's strong suites this complaint is really not that big of a deal. More of an annoyance than anything else.
Bottom line this camera has more to offer than most pro setups require. So far the only thing I would like from Sony is another V1U for two camera shooting!
Where to buy
Sony HVR-V1U:
$2,749.00 - $3,999.95
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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$3,399.50 | Yes |
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$3,799.00 | Yes |
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$3,229.95 | Yes |
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$3,299.00 | Yes |
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$3,849.99 | Yes |
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