Sony HDR-SR1

This Sony Handycam had been advertised to be available for 19 Nov 2006, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it at Futureshop (Canada) on 27 Oct. Having done my research, I snapped it up on the day it came out after a five minute test drive.

The purchase requires a leap of faith. If you are used to HD images on cable or satellite TV, camera is right up there in quality. Colours are bright and images are sharp. Rapid motion in the scene will however test the limits of the compression algorithm and is noticeable but overall the result is very good for a camera in this price range.

With a 30 GB hard drive it records up to 4 hours of video at the highest resolution (1440x1080/60i) in High Definition ( 15 Mbps at variable bit rate). Downloading the video to computer is easy and quick (with an HP Pavilion 7680n dual processor computer)

It also records in standard definition and will hold 7 to 20 hours with choices of 9 to 3 Mbps selectable). I have recorded everything at the High Definition 15 Mbps as the software will convert to MPEG2 Standard defintion- but if you choose to record initially in standard def you can't go back i.e. upvert to High def.

The leap of faith refers to the fact that the High Definition recordings are made to a new standard (variously referrd to as AVCHD, MPEG4 AVC/H.264 standard. So far the only software I've found that will manipulate video in this format comes with the camera.

While the software, Picture Motion Browser is a great video / still digital picture organizer, it can only handle very rudimentary editing of the AVCHD files. As mentioned it will convert them to MPEG2 with a significant loss of quality, and those files can be used by most video editing software eg. Sonic My DVD.

In native AVCHD format it allows you to cut trim the video and either save it to a standard DVD with a scene menu, which can be played on a computer DVD ROM with the AVCHD player included in the software package. You can also load the edited files back into the camera's hard drive and play back on a HD TV with either a composite cable (included) or HDMI cable (optional)

While the AVCHD DVD will apparently play on a blu ray player - there is a strong caution not to try it on a regular DVD player. I believe the warnings and haven't tested what happens if you do.

Got to get a Playstation 3 in November I guess, since it comes with a blu ray player.

While it's speculation, I fully expect Sonic and others to incorporate ACVHD codecs in their packages so that more sophisticated discs can be made from the camera's HD video.

There's a whole bunch of features, as far as I can tell, identical to Sony's previously released HD mini tape and DVD cameras - for example, over 30 touch screen controls to change exposure, white balance, manual/auto focus etc. It has a few gimmicks like black and white, sepia and old style movies. There is built in infrared with infrared spotlignt. The camera takes up to three stills in widescreen (even while you are capturing video) and in photo mode takes 4 megapixel jpegs which either go to the hard drive or optional duo memory card.

If you know nothing about settings, this camera is great beacuse you can take it out of the box, turn it on and start capturing High Definition video in seconds. If you want to fiddle every last parameter, you'll be frustrated unless you trade it in for the high end videocams (at 3 times the price). I like to fiddle with settings and there is enough leeway here as far as I'm concerned.

Tbe Carl Zeiss lens is a beaut with superb autofocusing, (options to spot meter) and great clarity with minimal flaring.

All in all this is the camera I've been waiting for and in all of the one week I've had it, I have yet to be disappointed.

What more interesting is what the camera doesn't do