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models compared on this page: Sony HVR-A1 and Panasonic AG-HSC1U

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Model

Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
Picture ?
Manufacturer Sony Information on Sony

Panasonic Information about Panasonic

Name HVR-A1AG-HSC1U
European name ?HVR-A1EAG-HSC1
US name ?HVR-A1UAG-HSC1U
lowest US price 2149 $1828 $
On the market since October 2005 March 2007
Manufacturers URL link to Sonylink to Panasonic
Test preview

[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
slashCAM rating ?Satisfactory
not yet tested
test picture 1200 Lux
Test image 12 lux auto-mode
Video

[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
Video formats ? MiniDV
HDV
DVCAM
AVCHD
Recording Medium MiniDV/HDV-Cassette
SD Card
video resolutions EU ?HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
DVCAM 720 x 576/50i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
video resolutions US ?HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
Max Bitrate ?25 Mbit/s13 Mbit/s
Compression format ? DV
MPEG2
MPEG4
on-board memory ?  
Optics
Optics Manufacturer ?Carl Zeiss
 Leica
Optical Zoom ?10 x12 x
Wide Angle 16:9 ?41 mm38,5 mm
Filter diameter ?37 mm43 mm
Image Stabilization ?electronical
optical
ND Filter ?Yes
 
Exchangable optics ?No
No
Image Sensor
Number of sensors ?13
Size of image sensor ?1/3 inch1/4 inch
image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?1983000 Pixel 520000 Pixel
Image Sensor Type ? CMOS
CCD
Controls
White Balance ?auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift
auto
manual
presets
Focus ?auto
manual
auto
manual
Minimum shutter time ?1/10.0001/8.000
Maximum shutter time ?1/31/50
Apperture control ?auto
manual
AE-Shift
 
Infrared recording ?No
 
Expanded Focus ?Yes
 
Peaking ?Yes
 
Signal Processing
Zebra ?70%
100%		 
Histogram ?Yes
 
adjustable sharpness ?Yes
 
Adjustable color ?Yes
 
Cinegamma ?Yes
 
Black Strech ?No
 
Knee ?No
 
Colorbars ?Yes
 
Misc.
Shot Transition ?Yes
 
Custom Presets ?No
 
Set Time Code ?Yes
 
Configuration

Connections
[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite		 In
 
YC ?
synonymous: S-Video		 In
Out
 
YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal		 Out
 
HDMI ?No
 Out
DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394		 In
Out
 
USB ?USB 1.1
USB 2.0
Microphone / Audio input ? XLR
Mini-jack
Headphones ?Mini-jack
 
Lanc ?Yes
 
Time-code interface ?No
 
Genlock ?No
 
Accessory shoe ? AI
 
HD-SDI ?No
No
Misc.
Weight (without battery) 1020 g430 g
Weight (with battery) 1120 g490 g
Battery type Sony NP-FM50
 
Battery capacity 1180 mAh 
Charger ?internal
 
Remote control Yes
 
Size
Height 140 mm74 mm
Width 100 mm69 mm
Depth 190 mm142 mm
Relative Size ?267
Viewfinder
Viewfinder available ?Yes
No
Color Viewfinder ?B/W and color
 
Viewfinder format ?16:9 
Viewfinder pixels ?252000 Pixel  
Display
Display available ?Yes
Yes
Color display ?Color
Color
Display size 2,7 Inch3,0 Inch
Display format ?16:916:9
Display pixels ?123200 Pixel 251000 Pixel
Touch Screen ?Yes
 
External controls
Manual Zoom ?Rocker
Ring
 
Manual Focus ? Ring
Menu
 
Manual Aperture ?Wheel
Menu
Rocker
 
Focus switcher ?Yes
 
ND Filter ?No
 
Exp Lock ?Yes
 
Gain ?No
 
White balance ?No
 
Push AF ?Yes
 
Audio Levels ?No
 
Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons		1 
Audio

[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
Audio Formats ?MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1
AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.
Microphone ?Stereo internal
external XLR
Stereo internal
Mini-jack external
Audio Control ?auto
manual
 
Audio levels ?Viewfinder
Screen
 
Still

[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
Recording Medium ?Memory Stick Duo
SD Card
Medium included ?16 MB
4 GB
Effective pixels ?2764800 Pixel  
Resolutions ?1920x1080
1440x1080
640x480		1920x1080
Standard ?JPEG Exif 2.2
JPEG Exif 2.2
Flash ?Yes
Yes
Misc.

[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
Specials  Included in delivery is a 40 GB external drive with a slot for SD cards, which can be copied on to the drive by pushing a button.
Product Shots

[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
View 1
 
View 2
 
Test results

Test pictures
[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
luminance resolution  
chrominance resolution  
lens distortion  
test small ISO image  
noise / internal microphone  
test picture 1200 Lux  
Test image 12 lux auto-mode ? 
Test image 12 lux optimized ? 
slashCAM rating
Lowlight ?Satisfactory 
Resolution ?Satisfactory 
Color performance ?Satisfactory 
subj.Picture impression ?Good 
Optical Zoom ?Sufficient 
Wide Angle ?Sufficient 
Configuration / image ?Good 
Configuration / sound ?Good 
Handling ?Satisfactory 
Portability ?Very good 
Photo function ?Sufficient 
Optics ?Good 
Dynamics ?Good 
Conclusion slashCAM
slashCAM rating ?Satisfactory
not yet tested
Total score ?
(maximal 570)		326 
Pros + good picture impression
+ portable
+ partly professionally equipped
 
Cons - color resolution only average
- DV-quality only average
 
Conclusion Like its consumer twin HC1 the Sony HVR-A1 has a very good brightness resolution, but tends sometimes to show color moirés on fine details.The color resolution is not on a HDV-level, though the CMOS sensor theoretically should have more reserves.The overall picture impression is good, partly due to the good dynamics behavior with little noise and few smear-effects.Color-wise the A1 is fairly neutral, almost somewhat low-key.The wide angle is very limited for indoors, but on the other hand there are only few lens errors.In low light situations the A1 loses color fast.Compared to the HC1 it is slightly better equipped in terms of sound and image.The handling remains only satisfactory due to the touch screen. 
More information

Reviews and Forums
[ top ]Sony HVR-A1Panasonic AG-HSC1U
slashCAM Review
HVR-A1 Review
external reviews/tests www.dv.com
www.sundancemediagroup.com
techthoughts.org
Forum posts Audio channel raise (XH A1 + Zoom H4n)
XH A1 - Recording directly to hard drive
For XH A1 do shoulder camera
XH A1 and Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 - Sound recording problem
XLR cable for XH A1 and setting with Rode NTG-1
XH A1 capture tapes with XL H1?
ABT A1 Aloha: You look at the video synonymous only to the woman?
XH A1 Anal / dv
XH A1 High Definition: Violent Noise despite presets
XH A1 Audio MONO MIC Jack?
Conclusion XH A1 vs VX2100E
Canon XH A1 for sale
XH A1 s.TV join? Help!
Panasonic AG-HSC1U test


Please consider that these data have been entered into this database by human beings.Also, the technical information provided by the manufacturers are at times contradictory, incomplete and sometimes even incorrect.Although we take great care checking all information, we can not gurantee for its correctness.Should you find this data to have some omission or error, please let us know! Mail:



update am 9.Februar 2012 - 09:25
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