Compare Hdr Camcorders
Wich hdv format camcorder can be compared with the sony HDR-CX12?
i was thinking of purchasing a Sony HDR-CX12 AVCHD camcorder but after some research i found that the AVCHD format can be quite difficult to work with but i really like the quality of this camcorder and the options are great especially the multi functional ring on the front. so is there an HDV format camcorder out there that has the same quality and the same options? also why does sony make so many AVCHD camcorders and so little HDV? and if i do decide to buy the CX12. wil converting to DV-AVI hurt the quality or resolution of my footage?
All of the consumer camcorders with the “HD” marketing label will use the same format(s). All are compressed to H264 or worse.
There are a few remaining MiniDv consumer cameras, and if you are looking for video quality, you owe it to yourself to explore why this 720 X 480 format CAN produce a superior image to the 1920 X 1080 HD frame (Compression and data rate!)
If, like most consumers, you don’t want to work with the tapes, then any HD camera in this price range will have similar or better features. From under $300 to $1800 they all use the same compression codecs. The difference will be in lens quality, zoom, battery technology and life, lights and microphone.
With the CX12 and any of the resulting h264, MPEG2, MPEG4 formats, not sure why you would want to convert to DV-AVI. You can not improve the quality by changing formats, but you can sure increase the file size. At a minimum, you will increase file size by a factor of 10 (with no increase in quality). But doing so will not harm the quality enough to notice (unless you incorporate further compression in the process).
Incidentally, the reverse is why footage captured with a standard DV (MiniDV tape) retains its quality when up-converted to one of the HD format 1920 or 1640 X 1080. Even when up-converted, there is less overall “apparent compression” than the native H264.
Sorry, want true HDV, you will have to deal with the same MiniDV tapes (or external video drives) and a starting price of about $4000.
SONY HDR-CX11 HD Camcorder: First Look Review