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Shoot Review: Sony HVR-V1U

Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Reviewer: D.W. Leitner

Shooting with the 3-CMOS 24p HDV camcorder.

In my review of the Sony HVR-V1U camcorder last September (click here), I discussed in detail the technical features of Sony's breakthrough 3-CMOS 24p HDV camcorder. But what a person behind the viewfinder wants to know is, how does it handle? Is it simple to operate? What kind of pictures does it make?

I've used the V1 in real shoots by now, and while I'm still exploring its potential — like rival HDV and AVC HD cameras, the V1 is a complex imaging system with myriad setups and results — the broad outlines of its handling and performance have become clear to me.

In much the same way that software improves with each release or update, camcorder designs evolve. If Sony's classic DCR-VX1000 was version 1.0, then the DSR-PD150 was 2.0 and the HVR-Z1U 3.0. This makes the V1 fourth generation. Consequently, the V1 embodies significant refinements in shape, balance, layout, controls, and materials.

From the VX1000, the V1 retains a “Handycam” profile and size. From the PD150, a tape drive built into the handgrip, a shock-mounted mic holder, an XLR “pod” with audio controls at the lens end of the handle, dual focus and zoom rings, and a battery hanging off the end. And from the Z1, a generous viewfinder (large exit optic) raised to eye level at end of handle, a curved handgrip moved forward toward lens for better balance, an f/stop dial, and a lens shade with built-in barn doors instead of lens cap.

In the V1, everything is better. The XLR pod is smaller and better integrated into the handle. Despite a tighter build, the XLR pod features a row of chrome, two-position mini toggle switches for channel selection, auto/manual, and phantom power on/off instead of the PD150/170's confusing mix of two- and three-position black-on-black sliding switches. Plus, there are dual easy-to-glance-at volume dials. Well done, Sony.

The knurled iris dial no longer sticks out like a sore thumb. It's integrated into the side of the lens barrel, occupying the same third position after the focus and zoom rings — where an f/stop ring on a professional cine or video zoom would normally be. Immediately above and below the iris dial, respectively, are the auto/manual exposure button and the autofocus button. They're exactly under my index finger when hand-holding the V1. Coincidence?

The button layout is the best yet. Buttons for gain, shutter speed, white balance (all lozenge-shaped), and menu (round) are vertically grouped at the rear, to the left of the battery. It's efficient to cluster them there, under the operator's eye. (Note for next time: The center lozenge-shaped button, Shutter Speed, has a raised pimple for indentifying by touch — as do the other groups of three buttons on the V1. Which works fine for computer keyboards, but when there are more than three buttons, I get tactilely confused and end up inspecting buttons by eye. Next go-around, maybe the menu button could have a gummy rubber surface for times when you don't want to take your eye out of the viewfinder.)

Many no doubt recall the frustration of dealing with “gang of four” buttons below the cassette door of the Z1. If you didn't press all four — Iris, Gain, Shutter Speed, and White Balance — to nail the settings manually, something would always be floating. For instance, you'd manually set the iris and gain, yet the Z1 would continue to automatically adjust for exposure because you'd forgotten to secure the shutter speed too. Or you'd set the shutter speed and forget the gain, with similar results.

Anyway, the V1 tries a new approach. In the menu, you assign one of three settings to the iris dial: Exposure 1, Exposure 2, and Iris. (I'm ignoring a fourth, AE Shift, that trims autoexposure, which no pro uses.) The default iris dial setting, Exposure 1, assigns iris and gain controls to the iris dial and locks the shutter speed. In other words, as you open the iris with the iris dial (called the “Exposure/Iris” dial), you can see the f/stops changing in the viewfinder data display until the iris is completely wide open. At this point, gain takes over and proceeds up the ladder from 3db to 18dB in half-stop increments of three.

Exposure 2 mode assigns only iris control to the iris dial and locks both gain and shutter speed, which you preselect. Iris mode assigns iris control to the iris dial, but allows the gain and shutter to float automatically. This might be useful if you're obsessional about deep focus at f/11 (and don't mind the sharpness hit from diffraction) or shallow depth of field at f/1.8. (“Shallow” is relative here — we're talking about a 1/4in. micro imager with a diameter the size of a pencil eraser, a far cry from 35mm film.)

Regardless of which iris dial mode is selected or to what degree the exposure is set to in manual or automatic, the V1 displays at all times the settings for f/stop, gain, and shutter speed — even when automatically controlled. This is a first for a Sony Handycam, and a godsend to photographic control freaks like me. Also displayed along the bottom of the viewfinder image are focus distance (in feet!), white balance setting, and audio channel levels. Oh, and one more thing. An active histogram. A feature retained from CMOS camcorder version 1.0, namely Sony's HVR-A1U.

If an active, dynamic histogram was a novelty in the A1, in the V1 it is a full-fledged exposure tool, prominently placed in the viewfinder. Basically it indicates, in bar-graph form, the number of pixels found at each brightness level across the camcorder's sensitivity range, from darkest shadows to brightest highlights. As you pan the V1 from a dark corner to a bright window, you'll see a cluster of tall bars shift from left to right, from where the blacks are to where the image risks overexposure. There's even a vertical red line on the right that indicates either 70-percent or 100-percent exposure (akin to analog IRE units) depending upon which level you've chosen for zebras. (Zebra levels are selected by a hard switch located beneath the flip-out LCD screen — another pro touch.)

How useful is this information? Digital still photographers use histograms to position their exposures to include, where possible, both extremes of darkness and brightness to ensure that no shadow or highlight detail is clipped. Later they can print up (lighten) or down (darken) the result to achieve the best effect. Videographers, on the other hand, are often concerned with shot-to-shot or scene-to-scene consistency.

I spent a lot of time comparing decisions made by the V1's autoexposure mode to its histogram display. I also hooked up the V1 to an Apple Mac Pro using HDMI and Blackmagic Design's new Intensity card — the subject of my next article — in order to match the histogram to live video and waveform displays. I have to say that the V1's exposure instincts are trustworthy (within the usual limits) — fast and responsive, like its autofocus — while successful use of the histogram requires interpretation, judgment, and experience. When in doubt, in other words, momentarily toggle the autoexposure button above the iris dial to see what the camera thinks.

When it comes to histograms, I suggest the following: They should be embraced as a new, useful aid for evaluating exposure but never slavishly followed. I would instead prefer a small waveform display in the viewfinder, which would provide dynamic exposure information (luminance only) in a less-abstract form that visually echoed the image — but I digress.

Like the Z1, the V1 provides six user assignable buttons, but unlike the Z1, the primary row of three buttons is labeled 1, 2, 3 (rather than the confounding 4, 5, 6 of the Z1). My favorite arrangement of these buttons is Allscan, Peaking, and Display, in that order. Allscan toggles between underscan and overscan, useful for eyeing that intruding mic. Peaking — the center button with the pimple! — toggles the V1's excellent yellow edge detailing for focusing, which I'm unexpectedly becoming addicted to, particularly when using the LCD (the excellent color viewfinder is sharp enough not to need it). Did I mention that the V1, unlike the Z1, offers both peaking and zebras at the same time? Display cycles through several arrangements of data display, including off.

However, when the V1 is placed in the wonderful Shot Transition mode (a holdover from the Z1) for repeatable robotic zooms and focus pulls — the menu item for selecting this mode is buried at the bottom of the Assign BTN menu — the functioning of these three assignable buttons is taken over by Shot Transition. In comparison, the Z1 had three dedicated buttons for storage and execution of Shot Transition settings. The good news is that when you exit the Shot Transition mode, user-assignable buttons 1 to 3 return to their previous assignments.

The V1's own unique, gee-whiz technical innovation is Smooth Slow Recording or SMTH SLW REC (probably snappier in kanji or kana characters), made possible by the individual addressability of CMOS pixels. When this mode is engaged, the camcorder initializes an image buffer that cycles 3 seconds of low-res 640×360 video or 6 seconds or 12 seconds of 512×320 video — at 240fps! Think of this as 4X slo-mo crossed with “retro-loop” — when you press record, either the preceding 3 seconds to 12 seconds or following 3 seconds to 12 seconds are captured to DV or HDV, your choice. There is no audio, the shutter speed is fixed at 1/250 second, and the results are noisier and fuzzier — but I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor. If the V1 is Handycam version 4.0, can you imagine what version 5.0 portends?

If this review were twice as long, I'd illustrate the following observations with greater detail. The V1 powers up and switches on much faster than the Z1. The gain is low-noise — typical of Sony. Due to CMOS, power consumption is noticeably less than that of the Z1. I charged a tiny NP-F570 battery up to 144 minutes; just imagine how long a fat NP-F970 (commonly used with the Z1) would last. Also, the V1 charges its battery when powered from the wall, so those two batteries can be charged at once if you have a separate charger.

And not least, that the solidity and feel of the V1 is very satisfying — it's the first thing you notice when you pick it up (call it the “iPod effect”). I'll go out on a limb and say that overall build quality of the V1 is Sony's best ever: spring-loaded doors protecting a welter of tiny connectors; soft rubber surfaces for handle, grip, and lens rings; and a large modular eyecup for those wearing glasses (I'd like to attach it to every camera I use). Sony has every right to feel proud of this product.

In my next article about the V1, I'll discuss outputting uncompressed HD via the V1's HDMI jack and Blackmagic Design's Intensity card into a 2×3 GHz dual-core Xeon Mac Pro with Final Cut Pro 5.1.3 and striped 1.5TB Maxtor drives — and, oh yes, I'll discuss image quality. Stay tuned.

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bottomline

Company: Sony
www.sony.com/professional

Product: HVR-V1U

Assets: Fourth-generation digital Handycam design with many refinements, innovations include 3-CMOS, 24p, histogram, 240fps slo-mo, 20X optical zoom.

Caveats: Shot Transition mode takes over user-assignable buttons.

Demographic: Videographers who liked the size and handling of Sony's popular PD150/170 series.

PRICE: $4,890

© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.