HD Video on the ST?

[100MPG]

Ok, call me crazy. You wont be the first. Buit for my first video camera ever, not including the sony digital still that has video, I am thinking of this.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=HDRSR1&Dept=cameras&CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_HighDefinitionVideo

I might have posted this in another thread but only god and the mods know where it is.
What do you think? Is HD video worth it on a bike?

[STill Fiddlin]

You want to look at frame rate if you are looking for high quality video. That's going to cost money $$$ because digital encoding (i.e., creating high quality, high-def digital content) still a pretty esoteric technology. Having a processor that can encode lots of rapidly changing content and keep up with the incoming stream costs even more.

I'd have to see the difference of a pair of recordings on an HD TV to say it's worth the difference over standard def. I've seen lots of HD-DVDs that were only marginally better. Like the TVs, I think mainstream HD is still a couple of years off for the vast majority of us.

[Don-STOC237]

I picked up a Toshiba Gigashot R60 (60gb drive) a couple months ago and really love it. You can put a ton of standard video on a 30gb drive, not sure about High Def though, obviously the storage requirments are much higher. The hard drive on the R60 can store 13 1/2 hours of video on highest resolution, 55 hours on a lower (but still great) resolution. Resolution on the standard video is good even at the lower levels, so I don't think (for me, personally) that HD would be worth the price or the storage requirements.

Haven't tried the R60 on the bike yet. I'm a little concerned about if the HD drive will stand up to the shock experienced on the bike. It has drop protection that senses velocity changes and parks the hard drive before the thing hits the floor, so I'm wondering how that would react on a bike. Guess the only way to find out is to try it.

Things that are great about the Gigashot are that you plug it into it's docking station on the computer and it instantly becomes a hard drive on your computer, or, like in our case, on our home LAN. The files are already mpeg so no conversion needed, you just manipulate the files like any other mpeg files, watch them right off the camera, burn, etc. Unit comes with some nice dvd creation software included. Still pics you take with it are stored in jpg format so same there.

Good luck on your decision! Just remember, whatever you buy, it'll be half the price within a year. :D

[EagleSix]

...looks like a nice camera. They are however a little short on the spec's I would be most interested in. If I were considering this camcorder, here are some things, of the cuff, I would be interested in....

- How is the vibration of my bike going to effect the life of the hard drive.

- How am I going to view the videos? If direct to a HD TV, you should get good results dependent on your TV HD capability. For authoring and burning to a DVD, how can I get HD out of the DVD through the player for projection. The DVD's I prodcue go to various people, none of which have equipment for playback which support 1000 line plus HD.

- How long do the batteries last, I couldn't find it in their specs?

- I have found camcorders over 14 ounces, pickup a lot of engine vibration and require an special mount to keep vinbrations to a minimum. Most bike videos are taken using Bullet Cameras or Helmet Cameras (plugged into a recorder) and these provide standard viewing areas (4:3) and maximum resolution I have seen is 560 lines with a Sony chip. Makes no difference, because they require analog input which this camera appears not to have, and if it did, the HD would be wasted.

- What type of authoring/editting/splicing/special effects are available in the camera? I couldn't find any information on in-camera prodcution software.

- Do they offer an extended warranty plan which includes common physical handling damage, not likely, most don't, and this is a pricy camera to sacrifice? Vehicle mounted camera equipment takes on some pretty rough treatment. Of course the location of the mount has a lot to do with it getting beaten around.

No doubt Sony is a leader in camcorder chip design and this camera should takes some really fine home videos. For my money HD is off another 18 months to 2 years before I start to convert. Until then I will stick with the 3-CCD variety. Gook Luck with it....

.

[Zilly]

You may want to consider the Sanyo HD1, it's pretty much the smallest, lightest, and cheapest HD video cam you can buy. It records on SD cards (up to 4 gig), so there's no hard drive to destroy from vibration.

There's an in-depth interview here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/hd1.html

My friend just bought one, and says the picture is awesome. I plan on picking one up later this year, most likely.

[Rob Hephner]

HD on a bike is not going to hold up.

I am sure someone will post up that they have one and it works without problem but as a guy that has been using digital professionally for about 8 years now I can tell you it just takes one odd vibration with a HD and it is all over.

The problem is it never happens when you first start out, it always happens when the drive is about full.

I have a JVC HD based vid unit and even though the ST is smooth I have not considered putting it on the bike.

I would suggest a unit that is flash based as you are far less likely to have a problem.

[Rob Hephner]

Take a look at this unit as well, it comes with an additional lens that would be good for on bike footage.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product_Id=4082621&JRSource=googlebase.datafeed.SAM+SCX210L

[Fore Stroke]

Whew! For a minute there you had me going. I couldn't image why the hell Harley Davidson would be doing an ST video (other than the never-ending queST for continual product improvement...)(I'm allowed - I used to own one.)

:D

[gnorts]

Did some web research on the Samsung X210L. Video quality is reportedly lousy, especially with the external lens.

[Peter]

You may want to consider the Sanyo HD1, it's pretty much the smallest, lightest, and cheapest HD video cam you can buy. It records on SD cards (up to 4 gig), so there's no hard drive to destroy from vibration.

There's an in-depth interview here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/hd1.html

My friend just bought one, and says the picture is awesome. I plan on picking one up later this year, most likely.

I have the previous version of the Sanyo called a C1 think and have found it works well on the bike but then I have a pillion that hand holds the camera which I prefer

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0000E3GWN.02._SS400_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

If anything ever happens to it then I would buy the latest version for sure

one advantage is that it fits in the pocket as its so slim which is great if you need to take a quick picture which the C1 does. In fact if the HD version is the same as mine you can even take a picture while you are filming

All the videos taken on my site apart for the Glencoe one were taken using a C1

BritSToc Videos (http://www.putfile.com/britstoc/media)

Peter