Product Details

Sony HVR-V1U Reviews

Not for low light!!!!!
by captn from CA, 2009-09-03

Generally I do like this camcorder, however if you expect to shoot indoors (or out) with less than a 60 watt bulb within 1 foot of the subject....not 2 feet mind you.... all you will get is "grainy" video. Very poor at early morning or late evening shots outdoors. Sony claims a 4 lux rating.....more like 40. I'm looking for a light now, but not sure if the outdoor shots will ever work. I film wildlife in low light......will probably have to trade this camera in.

However.....with a 60 watt (or greater) bulb close, the picture quality is exceptional. Same outdoors in full sunlight. The built-in filters work very well, and the programming features are easy to use(very much styled after 10 year old Sony cameras.....very few changes which allowed me to use this camera with little manual reference). I do love the fact that my 10 year old handycam batteries interchange with this camera....Kudos to Sony. Also Kudos for using 3 mediums for recording......tape(which only cost about $2 each at present, a few bucks more for HDV), Memory stick (4 gig max) or the optional hard drive. The remote from my old handycam has more features than the new one supplied....but crazy enough...the new programming supports the old remote.....another kudo.

Photos are very respectable, and clarity from the Carl Zeiss lens is legendary and many extra lens' are available(I bought a wide angle and 2X for about $75 as an experiment/starter, but the quality was soooo much better than I expected that unless I shoot for TV....I'm not planning to upgrade anytime soon) About 300 photos per gig of memory card will store. The camera shoots stills and video simultaneously or seperate(still shots at a higher quality) The supplied mic is adequite, but I believe there are upgrades in my future soon.

My only real issue is the light requirement. Good luck. captn

11/20/09 updated..

I've since noticed the 20X zoom on this camera seemed to be a little short of what I was after, so I purchased a 2X telephoto lens for this camera and didn't notice a difference in distance magnification. Thinking the lens was defective, I purchased a second telephoto lens this time 4.5X. Still no difference except picture quality was decreased. Both lenses claimed to be for camcorders.

I checked the distance at 75 yards with a 26X rifle scope against this camera's 30X boost and found the camera was considerably short of magnification to the target....as in about half the magnification as the scope.

Basically, I guess I'm saying that long distance filming of over 200 yards is very compromised. Actually, if you want to zoom in on a critter's eyes at over 50 yards, you may be disapointed.

I also tried a 1X wide angle lens which worked very well....just no telephoto improvement.

If there is information out there from someone who has increased the power of magnification on this camera, I'd like the info. Thanks captn

camera model is fake.
by Francis K. Muiruri , 2009-03-28

the model of this camera is not a true as described. It is not worthy the monet it is costing. The model HVR_V1U is 1080p but this is HVR_V1U 1080i. Sony company do have such camera. I can't recommend anyone to buy this camera. It is better to use ordinary camcorder.

Everything I Expected!
by Joaqun Abreu from Venezuela, 2009-01-24

Smooth pictures in every type of frames (30p, 24p...). The camera is perfect weight (not to heavy to get tired too fast, but not to light so it won't shake much when recording).

well...
by z from Altamont, CA, 2008-09-04

Bought the camera sight unseen, which was a mistake. I shoot in a lot of low light situations, which this camera DOES NOT do well in (my old digital 8 camera blows this away). I've had to boost to hyper gain which is an extremely grainy picture.

Studio Use
by Fernando Guerrero from Miami, FL USA, 2008-08-06

We use this camera in a controlled environment, 5.5kw of incandescent light, and the images are sooo nice...
The camera has been setup to shoot 24p all the time, and the color tweaked by me and a colorist, and the results are amazing.

Our casting company uses it about 90% of the time, we record to a Focus FS 4 and to tape simultaneously.

The Optical stabilization works amazing when hand held, the mic is not so good, but at least it's there.

Wish it would have another accessory shoe, one is just not enough.

All in all, the camera works great, the images are very cinematographic, stabilization is very useful, can be tweaked a lot, its as reliable as the sunrise.

I like the new Z7, but for what we do, the V1 works like a charm

f3

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