First Video with New HDR-HC7

[marshallkarp]

Sadly, not dive video, but if you want to check out the picture quality, bear in mind that is compressed into flash format, go to my blog at Marshall Karp's Blog.

So, I got my camera right away when we were opening presents Christmas morning. Out of the box set-up was real easy, just popped the battery in, plugged the camera into the wall, put a DV tape in and started taking 1080i video. Shot about 15 minutes of us opening gifts and good family Christmas time memories.

Later, I downloaded the trial version of Sony Vegas, then downloaded the footage onto my external hard drive. Lastly (I did no editing due to time constraints), I rendered to H.263 (only cause I could not find the H.264 compression, which by the way, is AVC in Vegas) and uploaded to Vimeo. Rendering took about an hour on my three year old Compaq Presario AMD Athlon 64 with 1 gig.

Observations

I like Vegas and will buy the full version and leave Pinnacle Studio. Also, I see what some of you were talking about with using the HDR-HC7 in low light. Sadly, my wide angle lens off my DCR-TRV33 does not fit the HDR-HC7, so I have to get a new wide angle lens. These camcorder should really come with this lens to start with anyway.

The real plus is when I used the HDMI cable from the HDR-HC7 and plugged it into the Olevia HD LCD TV. Just not 16:9 picture, but HD picture. Truly stunning to do this kind of picture quality on your own. There is no excuse for any TV show or station not to go HD with this quality of consumer electronic gear.

 

[ronscuba]

Hey Marshall, congratulations. Wait till you get that baby in the water and watch your UW scuba footage on HD.

Even non divers will be impressed. With my old SD cam, my non diving friends and relatives would sit bored watching my vids. Now that it is in HD, I get WOW's from them.

 

[RiverRat]

Just amazing HD cams are out now. It must be kind of a bummer for folks with high end big $ cams that someone can now walk in and buy a consumer HD cam that will blow it away. I'm gonna wait a bit for the prices to drop.

 

[drbill]

Glad you are enjoying your HC-7, Marshall. Will look forward to hearing how it performs UW!

 

[PerroneFord]

Just amazing HD cams are out now. It must be kind of a bummer for folks with high end big $ cams that someone can now walk in and buy a consumer HD cam that will blow it away. I'm gonna wait a bit for the prices to drop.

REAL big money cams still blow HDV away in nearly every category outside resolution. The glass and the sensors add a LOT to the quality and the price. And color space and light gathering are important to folks that shoot in demanding scenarios.

And honestly, nearly everyone is chasing film anyway. Only the 4k guys like Dalsa and Red are there.

 

[livewire]

Tremendously exciting Marshall, can't wait to see your results when you put that bad boy in the water. I've seen some other UW HD videos, but not from the HC7, which is a camera that I've had my eye on. Thanks for posting and be sure to tell us what you house it with when your next feature film becomes available!

 

[ScubaBob92651]

Tremendously exciting Marshall, can't wait to see your results when you put that bad boy in the water. I've seen some other UW HD videos, but not from the HC7, which is a camera that I've had my eye on. Thanks for posting and be sure to tell us what you house it with when your next feature film becomes available!

Livewire - take a look around. Myself and others have posted quite a few U/W HC7 Vids on this site, wetpixel, and other places. I also have several videos here:

DiveBlog

 

[DaFireMedic]

REAL big money cams still blow HDV away in nearly every category outside resolution. The glass and the sensors add a LOT to the quality and the price. And color space and light gathering are important to folks that shoot in demanding scenarios.

And honestly, nearly everyone is chasing film anyway. Only the 4k guys like Dalsa and Red are there.

You are correct, there is a gap between consumer and prosumer camcorders, and another gap between prosumer and true professional camcorders. But still, never before has the consumer had access to the kind of image quality that the new HD camcorders are putting out and unless you are getting paid to shoot video, you really don't need anything more.

 

[mntdiver]

Hi Marshall,

I now have an HC7 as well. Santa was good this year. What housing are you looking to put it in? I'm considering the L&M Stingray HD. Mainly because I already have the lights ( I have a Stingray II now), but also the forward compatibility to other similar cameras in the future. What have you researched?

 

[WannaLaguna]

Hi Marshall,

I now have an HC7 as well. Santa was good this year. What housing are you looking to put it in? I'm considering the L&M Stingray HD. Mainly because I already have the lights ( I have a Stingray II now), but also the forward compatibility to other similar cameras in the future. What have you researched?

Congrats on your xmas presents guys! I too have the HC7. I decided to get the Amphibico EVO HD Elite housing with the discovery 10W HID. The lights themselves are about 850 each..so kinda steep. What I ended up doing was using 2 UK Light cannon's as fill lights. I purchased custom mounts and buoyancy arms from Ultralight systems.

here's a pic: http://www.divecaster.com/images/wannalaguna/amphibicoHousing.jpg

The unit is very comfortable in the water being almost neutral. The housing has a 3.5 inch monitor on the back which makes viewing what you are shooting much easier! I love this housing.

Now the real test for this rig will be this Feb when I'm in Grand Cayman for 10 glorious days of shooting. I will post a ton for everyone to see. Up here in Canada at the moment all I could show you are some green fish and some brown fish in about 3-5' of viz.

enjoy your new toy!