paulpost:
Hi sjspek,
I know that might sound stupid but I'd like to know what made you buy the HC1 vs. the HC3, I know from your previous posts that you did a deep research on this matter and your input will be a good advise to us.
Thank you
Paul
Primarily what sold me on the HC1 was that last winter when I bought mine, the HC3 wasn't available yet. And though I really liked the FX1, it just seems like too much to lug around w/housing. My HC1/EVO housing fits in my roller with room to spare - I'm not a big fan of checking $4000 worth of video gear.
And though the HC3 did show up sometime after the 1st of the year, by then I had decided on the Amphibico housing, which I ordered in late Jan. but which didn't ship till March. In time for my mid-April trip.
HC3 housings at that time weren't even an option, most of the mfr's didn't even list one yet. Later in late spring/early summer they became available for shipment. I think part of the reason Amphibico was able to start shipping so soon is that they didn't have to re-tool the HC1 housing for the HC3 - afaik, it's basically the same housing for both.
I have since then seen the HC3, in both reviews online and in person and it seems that Sony dumbed down the HC1 to make the HC3. They took away a bunch of useful controls and added an "Easy" button. What is this - Staples?
pros:
The top loading tape feature is a great idea. I have to remove my camcorder from the mounting plate to change tapes.
The HDMI port is also good. It's nice to be able to output directly to an HDTV.
cons:
There's no zoom ring on the HC3. I like having it on the HC1, but I'm an old CCD-VX3 shooter so it just feels right. It's a lot faster than pushing the zoom/tele toggle on either of them. Of course I'm talking about surface shooting - I didn't buy a $1500 HD camcorder just for divetrips...
No external mic jack on the HC3. My housing has a good quality external mic and I've noticed it makes a difference. I used to have a Poly housing which used the camera mic underwater - everything was a little muffled - and you could hear the camera motor noise. I shot video at a shark feed this summer and you can hear the crunch of the bones as the shark hit the bait, that wouldn't be heard through the housing. At least not mine, since it's heavy gauge aluminum.
No extended focus or tele/macro buttons on the HC3. Although my housing doesn't support it, the EVO Pro, Gates and others do - with a manual button control.
The viewfinder on the HC3 seems awkward. No tilt. The viewfinder on the HC1 extends out a little over the camera back/battery also. The HC3 I held didn't have a battery on it, but with an extended battery like the QM71 or 91, I think you'd hit your cheek on the battery 1st. I don't know about you, but I rarely shoot using the LCD outside.
On my housing Amphibico took advantage of this by designing their mounting plate and back so that the viewfinder sits closer to the back viewport. Of course this doesn't matter if you get an external monitor, but since Amphibico gets $1500 for their non-HD version, I passed on that, I'm waiting to see what their HD monitor price will be - when they start shipping later this year. (hopefully)
So I hope this helps. Can you even buy an HC1 new anymore? Maybe from B&H or eBay.
As far as the auto-focusing delay that you're seeing - the HC1 does have a slight one also. But it's really not an issue as most of the time you're probably going to shoot in manual focus mode to keep the a/f from hunting u/w - which it will do on any little particle in front of the lens - instead of your subject, generally.
Editing/software: I'm learning Vegas Movie Studio. I bought the Platinum edition as the upgrade includes HD capture. For $120 it seemed like a good start. I don't have a computer fast enough to do HD capture, so I'm capturing and outputting in SD.
I've shown some roughs on my laptop at our club meeting and one of my buddies, who's a great photographer, commented that the resolution of my SD footage was much better than he'd ever seen from MiniDV. Although I can't output true HD yet, I'm pleased with the quality.
hth,
