XH-A1 Vs. FX1000

I agree, in the frame capture the EX-1 is far superior. That doesn't necessarily mean the video will show a great deal of difference. On a very big screen it will be more visible.

The 24p looks the same type of conversion as the Canon XH-A1. Not sure why with a single CMOS they can't capture and save on progressive. I guess it's a problem with the frame rate and internal processor of the camera not being able to keep up with full information in each frame.

@birkley

The jpegs on your website do make a clear difference between Z7 and EX1. But they are stills of non moving objects, so they reflect more of lens quality then the entire system.

Could you make the same test with some fast moving subjects?

I think this thread should be sent to the R&D divisions of Panasonic, Sony & Canon, along with the recipe for a perfect stock camcorder.

Stock footage is going to explode within the next couple of years, bringing lots of new Contributors and will become a worthwhile segment of the buying population, for camera manufacturers to target.

Norman

I'd like that camera to be on the market next week so I can purchase it :-P.

Jake, Yes I think the Sony Z7 footage is more saturated even allowing for my less than perfect white balancing on the EX1(I'm finding I am having trouble sometimes getting good white balance with that cam. . .it can be picky at times).

I have only filmed 1 wedding so far with both camera's. I changed the format on the EX1 to its SP mode which is a 25 mb/s mode that is meant to be the HDV mpeg2 capture format to make editing the 2 camera's easier on the timeline. The EX1 footage still comes out looking better than the Z7 when viewed on my monitor but then I output a SD mpeg2 from the timeline and burn to a DVD and the differences are of course not nearly so noticeable.

I realised that I should have included in the "test" pics a HDV capture from the EX1 so I took a couple of more frame grabs from the EX1 and put them online here:

http://hawkesbayweddings.videomemories.co.nz/sonyex1.html

I was interested to see if the HDV compression makes a big difference compared to the HQ compression setting on this camera. That way I could get a better idea if it is the compression that makes such a big difference compared to the footage from the Z7. Not a very scientific experiment but the differences between the 2 EX1 clips are minor compared to the HDV clip from the Z7(from the other webpage test). Seems like either the lens and/or the internals are producing a better image on the EX1 even in HDV format.

Mark

@ionescu

Would be an interesting observation but would take a bit of effort to set up(basically I'm too lazy :-). I was only interested in observing what differences there were
on a level playing field so to speak. Tests documented on the internet do show that the HDV codec suffers the most out of the high definition codecs when motion increases or the subject get challenging.
That said, I think most people wouldn't even notice the difference when watching a HDV clip on TV compared to the less compressed versions.

Mark

1 more day!!!! I Am ordering tomorrow. The decision has yet to be made :-P. Fx-1000: low lux, larger lcd with much better resolution, 3 ND filters, wider angle

xh-a1:xlr audio, i own a hv30 and am very happy with it. ccd's have more pixels vs the fx1000's cmos, older proven technology vs. new fx1000 still somewhat in a test stage, many pre set settings available for download

I guess looking at that I should go with the fx1000. Is the fx 1000 touch screen?

No, only the smaller cameras have a touch screen on the LCD.
The larger cameras have all the buttons to press.

Have a happy New Year Scott, I hope you choose wisely young jedi.
Jake

I will follow in your foot steps Daddy Jake.

Have a great New Year too! Make sure to get a stock video out of it :-P

Going to the Sony store tomorrow. I will let you know how much I love this camera within a day or 2!!!