HDV Hits Its Stride

Event DV by Anthony Burokas More cameras, more features, more choices--here’s a recap of how we got from a one-camera HDV market to a wealth of choices, and a breakdown of how the models differ from one another and the features of each that serve the event videographer best. The days of HDV being a one-horse race are long behind us. It's been less than two years since Sony launched the HDR-FX1 and made HDV viable for videographers, but the days when JVC's GR-HD1 was the only game in town—and a single-CCD, losing game at that—seem like eons ago. The hot handheld market just received a new batch of HD camcorders with the slew of IBC announcements, and, with one more on the way from Panasonic, the selection of prosumer HD camcorders has become quite bountiful. Try to think all the way back to the summer of 2006, when we had only about five different models of HDV and prosumer HD camcorders. We had the venerable Sony HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1U; the flexible Panasonic AG-HVX200; the diminutive and consumerish Sony HDR-HC1 and HVR-A1U; and two much bigger models, the Canon XL H1 and JVC's GY-HD100U. read more...