Sony HDR-HC7 HDV Camcorder

[Multimedia]

HC7 ProVantage Price Drop To $1124.56 With 18 In Stock

Well boys and girls, the shortage and list price days seem to be over. The ProVantage® deal for the HC7 with immediate availability is now $12 less than I paid two weeks ago. No more waiting and no more paying too much. I'm sure they're legit. Mine arrived factory sealed and in perfect condition. 🙂

 

[Crazysah]

The Amazon list price is $1,163.95. Soon going to drop to 1150...

 

[ZiggyP]

Many thanks, Multimedia

Appreciate your patience with this most basic of questions...
ZiggyP

Both recording in DV and exporting HDV in DV are possible. You were obviously speaking to an incompetent Sony "tech" hack. My recommendation is to continue recording in HDV but, for the purposes of this project, export in DV. That way you maintain your original work in HDV even though you have to export in DV at this time.

Page 60 Standard Set Menu —> i.Link Conv —> ON HDV —> DV
Pictures in HDV format are converted to DV format, and pictures in DV format are output in DV format. i.e. everything gets exported in the old DV format no matter how they were recorded.

If you feel you must record in DV, Don't feel that way. 😀. lol. As long as you can export in DV there is no logical reason to shoot in DV. Later you will be glad you got it in HDV in the first place. So I'm not even going to tell you how to switch it to DV recording cause I feel strongly you should always master in HDV. But it is there in the book.

Plus your DV export from a HDV master will look better because it's a downsample from a superior original. 🙂

 

[biteyourelbow]

HDMI Output Is Uncompressed 1920 x 1080 Rather Than 1440 x 1080 HDV

Hi Multi, I'm not sure I quite understand. Could you tell me how footage recorded with an hdv camcorder at 1440X1080 onto an hdv tape playback through the HDMI cable and blackmagic card at a full HD resolution (possibily 1920 X 1080 - by the way progressive or interlaced?). I would love to achieve that result myself, and altough I can understand this method if you are shooting live and bypassing the hdv chip, I sincerely can't understand how the opposite can be true.

Thank you for your reply and compliments for the good posts.

alan


PS: Could you tell us more on your work with FCO and the Sony HC7?

Not instead - parallel at the same time. According to Blackmagic Design, playback from the HDV deck out the HDMI port also delivers a better HD stream than what comes out the FireWire port. So TAPE will still be your backup, archive medium.

You might want to sell your old Dual 2GHz while you still can for decent money and upgrade to a Mac Pro ASAP although that window may have already closed. Once the 8 core Mac Pro ships the old slowest G5's will have a resale value of less than $1k. I bought a dual core 2GHz G5 last September at Fry's just after Mac Pros shipped for $864.26 although Apple still sells them on the refurb page for $1599.

 

[dalvin200]

Manual Page 49 CAMERA SET menu: STEADYSHOT should be ON (default) when hand held. When you can, use a tripod. Test with STEADYSHOT OFF when on the tripod.

yep.. it's ON.. i never changed it as it was the default like you say.

 

[Multimedia]

1440 Rectangular Pixels = 1920 Square Pixels

Hi Multi, I'm not sure I quite understand. Could you tell me how footage recorded with an hdv camcorder at 1440X1080 onto an hdv tape playback through the HDMI cable and blackmagic card at a full HD resolution (possibily 1920 X 1080 - by the way progressive or interlaced?). I would love to achieve that result myself, and altough I can understand this method if you are shooting live and bypassing the hdv chip, I sincerely can't understand how the opposite can be true.

PS: Could you tell us more on your work with FCP and the Sony HC7?

The 1440 comes from the rectangular pixels on the sensor which equal 1920 square pixels on your HDTV and computer monitor.

Blackmagic Design's Worldwide Business Development VP, Jeromy Young, told me that when you playback an HDV recording out the HDMI port, there's a better interpolation scheme coming off the tape out that way than can be had out component or FW. I don't claim to understand it. I was only paroting what he told me at the MacWorld Expo FCP SuperMeet in January.

So far I've only used iMovie to make the piece I linked to above. Did you overlook it? Still yet to get FCP going for this. Gotta run. Will add the above link later here again.

 

[pizzacake]

720p?

Can the HC7 do 720P or is it only SD & 1080i, thanks.

 

[ziwi]

Quick question about the transfer of data from the camera to the Mac. If the HDV uses a tape that fits in a miniDV why could one not use a regular mini DV camcorder (old one) as a deck to trasfer the data to the computer? It seems logical, but I am not sure if it is possible.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Can the HC7 do 720P or is it only SD & 1080i, thanks.

SD and 10800i only

Quick question about the transfer of data from the camera to the Mac. If the HDV uses a tape that fits in a miniDV why could one not use a regular mini DV camcorder (old one) as a deck to trasfer the data to the computer? It seems logical, but I am not sure if it is possible.

DV cameras can't read the HDV signal. Even though they use the same physical tapes, they use two very different formats during recording.



Lethal

 

[Rod Rod]

DV cameras can't read the HDV signal. Even though they use the same physical tapes, they use two very different formats during recording.

I think ziwi's question wasn't about recording or reading, but about simply transfering data which had already been recorded. Transfering data is a shade of meaning different than reading because reading denotes making sense of the signal, whereas a data transfer does not. For example, when you transfer video files from disk to disk you usually aren't watching them at the same time.

But yes, a non-HDV, miniDV camcorder cannot be used as a deck to transfer HDV material. This is because your Mac will not recognize the miniDV camcorder as an HDV device. I'd love to be proven wrong about this but as far as I know that's how it works.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I think ziwi's question wasn't about recording or reading, but about simply transfering data which had already been recorded. Transfering data is a shade of meaning different than reading because reading denotes making sense of the signal, whereas a data transfer does not. For example, when you transfer video files from disk to disk you usually aren't watching them at the same time. [/QOUTE]
Not to get caught up in semantics, but I think ziwi's Q was about playing an HDV tape back in a DV camera as a way to get the footage onto a Mac (which is a data transfer because it stays digital the whole way). 🙂

But yes, a non-HDV, miniDV camcorder cannot be used as a deck to transfer HDV material. This is because your Mac will not recognize the miniDV camcorder as an HDV device. I'd love to be proven wrong about this but as far as I know that's how it works.

It's not as much that the Mac won't recognize the camera, it's that the camera doesn't recognize the HDV format.

Lethal

 

[Rod Rod]

Not to get caught up in semantics, but I think ziwi's Q was about playing an HDV tape back in a DV camera as a way to get the footage onto a Mac (which is a data transfer because it stays digital the whole way). 🙂

Understood.. that was my point. 🙂

It's not as much that the Mac won't recognize the camera, it's that the camera doesn't recognize the HDV format.

The Mac recognizes the camera, just not as an HDV deck. Whether the camcorder can make sense of the HDV signal isn't the issue here. The issue is whether the camcorder can successfully pass along the data. The fact that the camcorder must be recognized as an HDV device in order to pass along the data is the roadblock.

I'm saying this based on error messages I've received in FCP along the lines of "HDV device not present." The way to defeat the error message is to have HDV material playing while starting up FCP. Then the HDV deck/camcorder is recognized as an HDV device and not just a DV device.

 

[ziwi]

LethalWolfe is correct in the assumption that the question was instead of killing the HDV camera when capturing, if instead it was possible to read the data in from an older miniDV cam. I acceptd his response as, no it could not be done based upon the inability to read HDV. So it is up to the camera to know this versus the software interpreting the data once it is captured. Is that clearer?

 

[LethalWolfe]

Understood.. that was my point. 🙂

It can't be your point because it was my point first... and I don't like to share. 🙂

The Mac recognizes the camera, just not as an HDV deck. Whether the camcorder can make sense of the HDV signal isn't the issue here. The issue is whether the camcorder can successfully pass along the data. The fact that the camcorder must be recognized as an HDV device in order to pass along the data is the roadblock.

Of course whether the camera can make sense of the HDV signal is the issue here. If the camera could make sense of the tape it would pass the info along, the Mac would be able to capture the feed and you'd be able to use a DV camera to playback and HDV tape. But the DV camera can't make sense of the HDV tape, so it can't pass along the signal, so the Mac can't capture the feed, so you can't use a DV camera to playback an HDV tape. 🙂


Lethal

 

[Rod Rod]

LethalWolfe is correct in the assumption that the question was instead of killing the HDV camera when capturing, if instead it was possible to read the data in from an older miniDV cam. I acceptd his response as, no it could not be done based upon the inability to read HDV. So it is up to the camera to know this versus the software interpreting the data once it is captured. Is that clearer?

Loading tapes doesn't "kill" a camera. I've read a lot of posts to that effect on forums, but I've never come across a case where a camcorder fails due to capturing video.

The distinction I made was between reading and data transfer.

Of course whether the camera can make sense of the HDV signal is the issue here. If the camera could make sense of the tape it would pass the info along, the Mac would be able to capture the feed and you'd be able to use a DV camera to playback and HDV tape. But the DV camera can't make sense of the HDV tape, so it can't pass along the signal, so the Mac can't capture the feed, so you can't use a DV camera to playback an HDV tape. 🙂

I believe the camera could pass along the signal if only the capture software allowed it. Hit play on a miniDV deck with an HDV tape and you see video confetti. It's the same zeroes and ones though. The limitation is on the computer side, not the camera. That's because the computer wants the deck to be an HDV device. The camera doesn't care. If the computer were less picky, it would pick up those zeroes and ones and properly capture them as an HDV data stream. The camcorder doesn't need to make sense of the HDV signal; that's the computer's job.

This discussion pivots on the order of operations. What I'm saying is:

1. FCP / iMovie checks that a valid HDV device is connected.
2. Capture is permitted.

Without the check in #1, a miniDV deck/camcorder should be able to transfer the data, because whether the camera can make sense of the data should have no bearing on whether the zeroes and ones can migrate from the tape across FireWire into the editing system.

I can store Illustrator files on my iPod. The iPod doesn't care to make sense of that data. It's just data. I can deliver a Chinese language newspaper without knowing the language.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Loading tapes doesn't "kill" a camera. I've read a lot of posts to that effect on forums, but I've never come across a case where a camcorder fails due to capturing video.

The more you use a camera though the faster the moving parts will wear out and start to fail.

I believe the camera could pass along the signal if only the capture software allowed it. Hit play on a miniDV deck with an HDV tape and you see video confetti. It's the same zeroes and ones though. The limitation is on the computer side, not the camera. That's because the computer wants the deck to be an HDV device. The camera doesn't care. If the computer were less picky, it would pick up those zeroes and ones and properly capture them as an HDV data stream. The camcorder doesn't need to make sense of the HDV signal; that's the computer's job.

This discussion pivots on the order of operations. What I'm saying is:

1. FCP / iMovie checks that a valid HDV device is connected.
2. Capture is permitted.

Without the check in #1, a miniDV deck/camcorder should be able to transfer the data, because whether the camera can make sense of the data should have no bearing on whether the zeroes and ones can migrate from the tape across FireWire into the editing system.

I can store Illustrator files on my iPod. The iPod doesn't care to make sense of that data. It's just data.

The camera does need to be able to read the signal though. It can't pass the data along via firewire because the data on the tape is stored in a language it doesn't understand. It's akin to putting a DVD into a CD-ROM or hooking a Mac formated drive (like an iPod) up to a Windows computer. If tape cameras mounted like external HDDs then it would be a different story. The computer could just "take" the info off the device. But they don't mount like external drives. The camera has to be able to send the data and the computer has to be able to receive it.

I can deliver a Chinese language newspaper without knowing the language.

But can you read a Chinese language newspaper to someone over the phone w/o knowing the language? 😉


Lethal

 

[Crazysah]

Listen up guys and girls... The price on AMAZON has come down again!

It is now : $1,158.95

 

[Rod Rod]

The more you use a camera though the faster the moving parts will wear out and start to fail.

I understand the theory but in practice I've never seen such a failure happen, and it's never happened to anyone I know.

The camera has to be able to send the data and the computer has to be able to receive it.

That's true in the analog world. However, as it's digital I contend that the camera can send the data without being able to make sense of it.

Otherwise, DV Backup could not function.

A developer could probably make a utility to facilitate using (non-HDV) miniDV decks for capturing and writing HDV streams. That may be worth $50. 🙂

 

[adamzapple]

Upgrading from Sony HDR-HC1 to the HC7

Multimedia-I bought my HDR-HC1 for my business, and now I want to get the HDR-HC7. Too bad I guess. The HC1 is still a very impressive HD camera, and I am happy with the results. Of course, I am pining for the HC7, until the HC8 comes out.🙄 .

 

[Multimedia]

TechOnWeb.com Finally Delivered My NP-FH100 Batteries + AC-VQH10 Quick Charger

So I finally got my two much less expensive super long life NP-FH100 batteries today from TechOnWeb.com today. Turns out they were in stock for weeks but someone dropped the ball on back orders so I wound up getting 2nd day shipping FREE. After charging both in only about 4 hours with the new AC-VHQ10 QuickCharger and putting each one in my HC7 I am getting feedback that says they will each last almost 9 hours - 530 minutes to be exact. I have a gig shooting a friend's BDay party tonight almost all the time for 8 hours so I'll let you know if that's really true.

Am also ready with the Bluetooth mic although I don't think the HC7 can record surround sound. But that's OK, the Bluetooth mic still looks to be a bargain for what it does. Was less than $150 at J&R. How's everyone else doing with theirs? 🙂

 

[FF_productions]

Hey Multi, not sure if I missed this yet, but do you have any footage of the HDR-HC7, I'm curious about the quality of the footage. I've seen very little footage of it, not enough to judge its quality.

 

[Multimedia]

Links To footage Are Posted Above

Hey Multi, not sure if I missed this yet, but do you have any footage of the HDR-HC7, I'm curious about the quality of the footage. I've seen very little footage of it, not enough to judge its quality.

One of the members here in this thread lives right near you. Go back and read through all this and you will find him. PM him and get together. I'm sure he's love to share with you. There are examples of footage with links posted above.

I'll have a lot more in 24 hours after I shoot my friend's BDay party at Temple SF and the end of the Digital Be-In in San Francisco tonight non-stop for 8 hours. So I'll try to post some next week.

 

[Crazysah]

I also ordered the Sony HDR-HC7!

 

[KDR]

1394b (Firewire 800)

For background, I've never seen a 1394b connection. Is the HC7 capable of benefiting from the extra speed of a 1394b connection? Is a special cable required?

 

[traven]

Sony HDR-HC7 and ECM-MS908C Mic

Hi all/multimedia

I bought a Sony HDR-HC7 recently and a ECM-MS908C mic for it.
Unfortunately i made a mistake because this mic doesn't seem to fit on the hc7 shoe. Now Í need a discreet adapter for it or something else.

Please, any ideas of what to buy and where exactly?