/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Sony

JVC

Name

HDR-FX1

GS-TD1BE (3D-Modus)

European name ?

HDR-FX1

GS-TD1BE

US name ?

HDR-FX1

GS-TD1

lowest US price

1299 $

On the market since

January 2005

April 2011

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Satisfactory

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV

AVCHD
MVC 3D

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

SDHC card
built-in flash memory
SDXC card

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
MP4 2 x 1920 x1080

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

34 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Carl Zeiss

JVC HD

Optical Zoom ?

12 x

5 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

32,5 mm

42 mm

Filter diameter ?

72 mm

- mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

optically and electronically

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/3 inch

1/4,1 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

1070000 Pixel

2070000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CCD

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/10.000

1/4000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/3

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
manual
AE-Shift

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70-100%

Histogram ?

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Yes

Custom Presets ?

Yes

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

In
Out

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

In
Out

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0 OUT

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

1990 g

590 g

Weight (with battery)

2178 g

676 g

Battery type

Sony F570

JVC BNVF815U

Battery capacity

2200 mAh

1460 mAh

Charger ?

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

139 mm

102 mm

Width

182 mm

64 mm

Depth

360 mm

186 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

252000 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

250880 Pixel

920000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Ring

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

Ring
Menu

Manual Aperture ?

Wheel

assignable custom key

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exp Lock ?

Yes

Gain ?

Yes

White balance ?

Yes

Push AF ?

Yes

Audio Levels ?

Yes

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto
5 steps

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen

Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

built-in flash memory
SDHC card
SDXC card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

Resolutions ?

1920 x 1080 3D

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Misc.

Specials

autostereoscopic display

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

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 ?

Good

Resolution ?

Satisfactory

Good

Color performance ?

Satisfactory

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Good

Optical Zoom ?

Sufficient

Poor

Wide Angle ?

Very good

Sufficient

Configuration / image ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Good

Satisfactory

Handling ?

Good

Satisfactory

Portability ?

Satisfactory

Good

Photo function ?

Poor

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Satisfactory

Dynamics ?

Very good

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Good

Satisfactory

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

374

307

Pros

+ Very good image quality impression
+ Wide optics
+ handling well-conceived
+ Very well equipped

+ More manual 3D control than its direct competitors

Cons

- No full HDV-resolution
- DV-quality only average

- operation concept
- Image characteristics can not be changed

Conclusion

The Sony FX1 lacks CCDs with full HDV-resolution, which is visible at least in the horizontal resolution.Nevertheless, the subjective image impression is still very good due to the very good dynamic behavior with extremely little noise and the consistent color reproduction.Despite the comparatively large wide-angle, optical errors are within limits, only little distortion and chromatic aberrations can be detected.In low light situations the FX1 is just about good -- here too the low noise a plus point.

In terms of image quality, handling and also the display the JVC is not quite on par with the HDR-TD10.Though the TD1 in return offers a little more manual control, this is partly hidden by an unnecessarily complicated operation.Also the non-changeable, rather extreme color settings are certainly not for everyone.A firmware update could address these criticisms, however, and make the camera much more attractive.Hopefully the standards-compliant MVC implementation will be adopted by more software makers over time.

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