[Dave Edwards]

I’ve been experimenting with this camera for a few weeks though it hasn’t been “out on the road” yet. One user reports a back focus problem but haven’t experienced this. Another describes a problem with writing to card and flash unit simultaneously,- I use only Memory Pro Duo cards and they work well. Importing files into Vegas Pro on the PC is hassle free (some users report audio issues with Final Cut on the Mac).

Picture quality is good but I was surprised that sharpness wasn’t an obvious improvement on a consumer Panasonic HDC SD100 but I’m still experimenting with such menu items as “crispness”.

I like this camera: you have good manual control but auto modes work well and I like the positioning of controls and the assignable buttons. You wouldn’t want to hand-hold it for long but it’s great on a tripod. Audio quality is really good but the switching of inputs takes a little getting used to.

[Dave Edwards]

Have you experimented with various output settings for the render? Have you checked for updates to Vegas?

[Dave Edwards]

I\’d like to support Adam\’s request.

[Dave Edwards]

John: what you say is true IF Divide Frame’s decoder really WORKS. I have yet to be convinced of this. I note that the developer shut down his forum some months ago and there is an eery silence from him..

[Dave Edwards]

Hi Bruce, I think that the holy grail for Vegas users working with AVCHD would be a Preview mode in which transitions can be previewed without rendering? I have been on this quest for some time. Divide Frame doesn’t work for me because a) it works only with 32bit Vegas but, more importantly, a crossfade or 3D transition in preview will appear as a straight cut at best. My Core i7 machine does a better job without Divide Frame’s decoder,- it can handle crossfades and gives a stuttering account of 3D transitions. It is usable.

I think the Sony software team need to look seriously at incorporating GPU support or they will lose out big time to Premiere and other competitors. I do hope I haven’t chosen Betamax again..

[Dave Edwards]

Thank you both for your comments. I did apologise for the choice of forum in the initial post but pointed out that the query is generic and aimed at more expert users than myself. I’m commenting as the result of a wide range of tests which included all three levels of ND filter in sunlight as well as other trials in artificial lighting. There has been comment elsewhere about a possible back focus issue with this camera: I have been trying to determine whether the sharpness I perceive as no better than my domestic Panasonic is a fault or unreasonable expectation. I’m aware that you pay a lot for high resolution,- the Sony cost five times more than the Panasonic hence the expectation of greater sharpness.

[Dave Edwards]

Hi Douglas,

Thanks for your response.

I’ve had keys disappear and also some arrive late. What I find odd is that this occurs only when WMV 3Mbps is used,- with a higher bitrate all is well.

I will try to make a 3Mbps version from a higher bitrate one in line with your suggestion,- thanks.

Dave Edwards

[Dave Edwards]

Thanks to both of you for your help: this seems to have been some weird one-off glitch,- I began with fresh titles and all was well. Something seems to have gone wrong when I cloned an existing title.

[Dave Edwards]

Would that it were so simple! No, drop shadow is enabled [see screen dump: ]. Something odd seems to have happened here to “freeze” the title.

Other examples seem to function normally, so it looks as though I’ll have to rework the set of titles.

[Dave Edwards]

Hi John & Steve,

John: I tried that: you’re absolutely right: the problem is indeed a PAL issue.

I should stress that this isn’t a disk problem,- it occurs at the file stage.

As an example, where the camera pans slowly across an auditorium the edges of the clothing of people seated there appear crinkled or formed from curves.

Steve: I really like my AVCHD camera and think the format is a good one, especially with the convenience of SD cards (although I wish I could afford an up-market one). As to Vegas, I like that too, and am not about to give up on it: I’m going to try to shift to an intermediate format and then to DVD. I’m wondering whether the crossover from AVCHD to DVD compression isn’t problematic, although as John has shown it seems fine in NTSC.

Dave