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Model
|
| Sony HVR-A1 | Panasonic AG-HSC1U |
| Picture ? | | |
| Manufacturer | Sony 
| Panasonic 
|
| Name | HVR-A1 | AG-HSC1U |
| European name ? | HVR-A1E | AG-HSC1 |
| US name ? | HVR-A1U | AG-HSC1U |
| lowest US price | 2149 $ | 1828 $ |
| On the market since | October 2005 | March 2007 |
| Manufacturers URL | link to Sony | link to Panasonic |
|
|
Test preview
|
| [ top ] | Sony HVR-A1 | Panasonic AG-HSC1U |
| slashCAM rating ? | Satisfactory
 | not yet tested |
| test picture 1200 Lux |  |  |
| test picture 12 Lux |  |  |
Video
|
| [ top ] | Sony HVR-A1 | Panasonic 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/s | 13 Mbit/s |
| Compression format ? | DV MPEG2
| MPEG4
|
| on-board memory ? | | |
| Optics |
| Optics Manufacturer ? | Carl Zeiss
| Leica
|
| Optical Zoom ? | 10 x | 12 x |
| Wide Angle 16:9 ? | 41 mm | 38,5 mm |
| Filter diameter ? | 37 mm | 43 mm |
| Image Stabilization ? | electronical
| optical
|
| ND Filter ? | Yes
| |
| Exchangable optics ? | No
| No
|
| Image Sensor |
| Number of sensors ? | 1 | 3 |
| Size of image sensor ? | 1/3 inch | 1/4 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 ? | 10.000 | 8.000 |
| Maximum shutter time ? | 1/3 | 1/50 |
| 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-A1 | Panasonic 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 g | 430 g |
| Weight (with battery) | 1120 g | 490 g |
| Battery type | Sony NP-FM50
| |
| Battery capacity | 1180 mAh | |
| Charger ? | internal
| |
| Remote control | Yes
| |
| Size |
| Height | 140 mm | 74 mm |
| Width | 100 mm | 69 mm |
| Depth | 190 mm | 142 mm |
| Relative Size ? | 26 | 7 |
| 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 Inch | 3,0 Inch |
| Display format ? | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| 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-A1 | Panasonic 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-A1 | Panasonic 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-A1 | Panasonic 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-A1 | Panasonic AG-HSC1U |
| View 1 | | |
| View 2 | | |
Test results
|
| Test pictures |
| [ top ] | Sony HVR-A1 | Panasonic AG-HSC1U |
| luminance resolution | |  |
| chrominance resolution | |  |
| lens distortion | |  |
| test small ISO image | |  |
| noise / internal microphone | |  |
| test picture 1200 Lux | |  |
| test picture 12 Lux | |  |
| 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-A1 | Panasonic AG-HSC1U |
| slashCAM Review | HVR-A1 Review | |
| external reviews/tests | www.dv.com
www.sundancemediagroup.com
| techthoughts.org
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| Panasonic AG-HSC1U test
|
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