HAHA .. It warmed up today (only -7) so i may go take advantage and do some outdoor shooting. We shall see how my day unfolds.

How do you think this Sony HD1000u stacks up against the HV20 as far as picture quality. Which do you think is a better buySony HD1000u or Sony HVR-A1U or Canon HV20? New to this HD stuff and luvin every minute of it!

I would say that they all have similar video quality as they all have similar image sensors. The A1U would have the most manual control plus XLR connections, which is a big plus. The HV20 would be my next favorite as you have a fantastic amount of control over the image. But I really like the feel of the HD1000. Having a shoulder mount is so nice. Just being able to hold the camera steady for long periods is great. And with enough light the image is just as good as either of the above cameras. The one thing that i didnt like about the HV20 was the omission of the LANC controller. The HD1000u has it. So thats awesome.

Thanks for the info Greg, I appreciate your expertise with this. Right now I'm leaning on buying either one of the Sony's ... just wish I could mate that A1U to a shoulder mount somehow! BTW here in Omaha Nebraska it's like uhmmm bout 40.

you can get various shoulder braces for the hvr-a1u...one nice inexpensive one is a spiderbrace...

Thanks stopint but I just found out the hvr-a1u is a bottom loader. Gr8 for hand held and quality is great from what I'm gathering but bottom loader makes it a no go for tripod mounts. Can't be swapping tapes and removing cam from tripod in middle of shooting. Soooo looks more like the HDR HV1000u for me. Now the biggest task of them all..... convincing the minister of finance! haaa

i know the camera has its pros and cons...like many out there...but i do like the shoulder mount over using a shoulder brace...plus some of the pro/prosumer aspects of the camera...douglas spotted eagle said it's mostly an hc7 in a pro shell with a number of technical and physical improvements...a decent camera for its class...

If you like the A1U (probably because of the audio advantages), you may want to think about getting a beachtek box for the HD1000u. This is what im going to do. This way you get the benefits of a shoulder mount camera, plus XLR audio option

I like shoulder mount over brace too. Beachtek box is the way to go for XLR jacks on this cam too. Any likes or dislikes on the shotgun mic that comes w/the HD1000u?

its okay. It picks up a little more side noise then id like but its usable.

Greg,
Why is my computer monitor color is much darker/richer compared to the one in the HD1000 LCD & Viewfinder?

Thx

Greg,
Looks like you are the expert here.

Did you set the White Balance & Focus often from one place to another like from outdoor to indoor or just leave it as all Auto?

When I transfer the footage to a software, there are few format to capture. Which format should I choose? DV, AVI, Mpeg?

Thx again Greg.

Art,
Thx.

What good actually is the zebra strips?

Refer to the manual, it says "To play movies by a regular DVD player, you need to create DVD video in the SD format, the DVD video is not in the HDV format."

What this means?
thx

i saw many of the wedding clips are in slow motion. how did they do it? do they record with slow motion mode or editing that time?

thx

they are almost always slowed down in post.

anyone of you use pc instead of mac? I am having trouble with which software to edit & to burn. anyone can offer help?

thx

Hello

Is 16:9 only meant to burn to DVD?

thx

no. 16x9 is the aspect ratio of how the footage is shot. It is designed for widescreen televisions.

thx Greg

I need your expertise again.

How do you set the focus & white balance? so far I set to both Auto & the result not so good.

How about when you shoot in the dinner? Is the built-in exposure good enough?Will setting to higher or highest affect the resolution?

Will people accept the lighting condition as you shown in the testing video?

thx.