SONY HDR-CX7 AVCHD flash memory camcorder

[Paul LS]

Well I finally broke down and bought a Sony HDR-CX7 (well infact the CX6 PAL version) AVCHD high definition camcorder. It is "tiny" and writes to a 8GB flash memory (Memory Stick Pro Duo)... so absolutely no moving parts. You can capture an hour of high definition video at maximum resolution to the flash card... and then drag the file to your hard drive.
I have been using the Sony HDR-HC1 HDV camcorder writing MPEG2 to DV tape up until now. This is a wonderfull camcorder with full manual control but is a little large, ageing technology, and records to DV tape. The convience of a smaller camcorder and writing to flash media finally won me over.
Anyways we will see how it goes...

[sidd finch]

Those are really nice cameras and really small too. Nice going.

But….what kind of gymnastics do you need to do to get the file ready to edit, or will that loose resolution? I have started to calculate how much Hard drive space I would need if I went to flash memory.

I have an HC1 too and I like all the manual adjustments. I was even considering an HC3 as a second camera, but that Sony HDR-CX7 looks like a really sweet camera. Would love to hear more about how it works out. Thanks for sharing.

Sidd

[Chuck Engels]

Oh No! Paul, say it isn't so

[Paul LS]

Yes, gone over to the dark side

I still have a montain of DV and HDV that needs editing, and I am sure I will still use the HDV and DV camcorders depending on the occasion. The idea of a having a small high definition camcorder writing to a flash card is very attractive for times when I dont want to carry around a camera bag. It will literally slip into your pocket.
Just hoping PE4 has AVCHD editing... but personally I dont think it will. Adobe are generally behind in supporting new formats.

[Wheat King]

I'm seriously thinking of going this route in the future as well. for the exact same reasons. Would love to hear any updates or thoughts. Post bookmarked!

[Greg mgm]

I've been thinking about this camcorder as well...wondering out it's working out for you Paul. Have you edited any video from this camera yet? Are you still happy with the camera purchase?

[Paul LS]

Yes it is a great little camcorder. Video quality is excellent and as I said earlier... because of it's small size and ease of video file manipulation/erasing I tend to take it with me more often than my larger bulkier HDV camcorder.

Editing the footage has not been much of a problem but I am using a quad-core Intel Q6600 processor. If I want to do simply cuts then I edit the AVCHD footage. If I want to do some "heavy" editing then generally I convert to an intermediate AVI codec that is less work for the processor and also maintains quality after multiple renderings.

I also have a dual-core E6600 machine and this also handles the AVCHD quite well. However playback from the timeline is a little less than full frame rate unless I use preview quality (Sony Vegas or Ulead VideoStudio 11+).

[Greg mgm]

Thanks for the reply! It's encouraging to hear you're happy with the CX7, and makes me a little closer to buying it .....A couple questions- Are you using Vegas or VS 11 (or both) to convert to AVI? I'm using PE3 for editing, and I'm fairly sure it doesn't handle AVCHD, although my computer should be OK with its duo core E6600 processor. Also, are there any focus issues with the CX7? I read a post from someone who thought it is slow to focus....whatever that means.

[Paul LS]

I use both Vegas Pro 8 (Vegas Studio also supports AVCHD and is the "Elements" version of the product) and VideoStudio 11+. Vegas allows you to convert to an intermediate codec (Cineform AVI) whereas VideoStudio has a "proxy" feature where it will generate a lower resolution "proxy" file for editing and then when you export it uses the AVCHD file. You could also convert to HDV MPEG2 with either product and edit this and then use the smart-rendering feature in both products to maintain quality.

Or you can edit the native AVCHD... the dual-core E6600 is powerfull enough. Playing back the unedited timeline is fine but preview will be jerky on edioted sections that are not rendered.

As for focus I have had no problems, neither while videoing close up or at distance. I also read of a few folks who say they have had problems, but there is also a handy snap focus feature where you touch the flip screen and it will focus to that point.