I have a few questions about the Sony HVR A1P. I am planning to shoot a short film and am looking to hire a good camera for a reasonably low price and so far the A1P is looking the best but there are a few things that I am unsure of.

Firstly, does this camera record onto Mini-DV tapes or DVCAM or both. It would be ideal if i could record on Mini-DV because I can get them for free whereas I have read that DVCAM tapes are quite expensive. Quality is also very important so I was wondering what the difference is in quality and other aspects between the types of tapes. I have also read that the A1P does not function well in low light, because I am planning to record large sections of my film at night relying mainly on street lighting and car lights for illumination, I was wondering if that would make this a bad choice of camera.

Any input/help much appreciated,

Thanks

Dan

Hi
The Hvr-a1 records both on mini-dv and small dvcam tapes.
The thing is that mini-dv and Dvcam, actually is the same thing, because it uses the same encoding (therefor the same datarate= 25mbit/sec).
The Dvcam standard just runs the tape 50% faster, and threfor uses more space on the tape, to reduce error and such. And Dvcam tapes, ar basicly just dv-tapes with a thicker tape and good coating. So a 40min dvcam tape gives you 60 min dv (or hdv), and a 60min dv-tape gives you 40min dvcam recording.

The A1 is not particular bad in low light, but its not as good as some of its rivals. But its ok, I think its around the same as a Pd170.
But taken that its a rather new camera, I would have expected it to be better. But its just average.