On the Road with the HVR-V1U, Part 1

by Steve Mullen
Published on Dec 11, 2006 1:00 PM

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Reviews: Sony HDR-FX1


A video pro journeys to the far ends of the globe with Sony’s new HVR-V1U. Steve Mullen provides first-hand accounts of the camcorder’s features and performance exclusively for CamcorderInfo.com.

Read Part 2 ->

Part 1
A month ago, I had a chance to work with a prototype Sony HVR-V1 for a week. While I was able to shoot quite a bit of footage in Las Vegas, shooting in your home city is different from going “on the road,” for example, a month long trip that would take me to Malaysia and India.

Sony agreed that this would be a great way to gather real-world experience for my upcoming HVR-V1 review and for my soon (January 2007) to released Sony HVR-V1 and HDR-FX7 Handbook. Therefore, Bob Ott (VP of Optical and Network Systems at Sony Electronics), plus Sony’s Leigh Herman and Tom DiNome were able to get me one of the camcorders Sony showed at DV Expo in L.A. It is a prototype, but has been working flawlessly.
I have just arrived in Chennai (Madras), India after a few weeks in Malaysia. Every few days I will be sending back reports on my shooting experiences. In these reports, I am going to work my way through the camera controls giving you a view of how I am using the V1. The first reports will use screen captures from 1080/60i video I shot in Las Vegas. Then I will use shots from 1080/24p and 1080/60i video I’m now shooting. I have already shot a Hindu wedding in Malaysia. And today, I shot at a Hindu temple.
If you have not already read the excellent previews of the HDR-FX7 and HVR-V1 that are at Camcorderinfo.com, now would be a good time to do so.  
The HVR-V1 and HDR-FX7 both employ three, 1/4” CMOS sensor chips. If you really want to get the most from my series of reports, take the time to read about CMOS at:
Then go to these links to read more about Sony’s ClearVID technology:
Two of these stories are from the HDV@Work Newsletter. It is a free newsletter to which you can subscribe by clicking to:
One of the inherent advantages of CMOS is no vertical smear. Below you will find screenshots from 1080/60i video. The first two show situations that often create problems when shooting video with anything other than expensive CCD camcorders. (Remember that these are compressed JPEGs, not the original video images.)
 
Below I have closed the aperture so the flame detail is more apparent.
 
Expensive 1/2-inch and 2/3-inch CCD camcorders do not have problems with small very bright light sources because their CCDs have very high “smear suppression” technology.
Below you will see a shot from very near my house. Note the lack of vertical smear on the traffic light. (Yes, high in the sky that is a plane’s landing lights about 25 miles away.)
 
Next is an image of a parking lot, shot with no gain. You can see the police cars’ flashing lights in the distance.
 
Next are nightmare shots for low-cost SD or HD camcorders. I’ve selected two versions that show the intense red and blue, flashing lights from the Christmas Tree on the police car.
You can see the blades of the shutter imposed on the very bright headlights as well as some lens flare from the red flasher. In the background, there are the windows of a building across the street. Below, the blue flasher has been captured.
 
Now a shot from the Las Vegas Strip.
 
Note the absence of noise in this, as well as all the other shots.
In my next report, we will look at image latitude.
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Steve Mullen owns Digital Video Consulting that offers eBooks on HD production. Currently, DVC (www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c) offers two eBooks: the Sony HDV Handbook and the JVC ProHD Handbook. In January 2007, DVC will offer a new title: the Sony HVR-V1 and HDR-FX7 Handbook.

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