Sony HD from Z to A
Like many traditional photographers who made the transition to digital, Arizona Republic photographer Dave Seibert migrated from 35mm film to digital stills and is now moving into motion digital. A few nights ago, Dave brought out his digital video tool, the Sony HVR-A1U. A phenomenally compact camera (only 1.5 lbs), it very much resembles its big brother, the much bulkier HVR-Z1U. At MCC, we have the Z1U and it's a great HD camera with native 16:9, Carl Zeiss lens and terrific fidelity in tough light situations.
I love the camera and it is what we're using for the Zambian feature BAD T!MING because of the superior quality. In spite of that, I was quite impressed with Dave's little wonder. It had TWO high-quality XLR sound inputs, 3CCD CMOS Sensor, Carl Zeiss lens, HD with a 2.97 megapixel resolution. The only disappointment is that it can't do 16:9 native, only 4:3. Still, to be able to capture images of that quality from such a tiny camera was very appealing ... especially if one were to be carrying that camera around for hours, as often happens in documentary filmmaking.
I think of how great it would be to have a few of those to train with and leave behind in Zambia. That would really help build the film industry and encourage production.
