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HDV showdown: Canon HV10 vs. Sony HC3
Sony's been doing this for a while, but Canon just finally jumped into the consumer HD game with their new HV10 HDV cam. To see how they well they've managed, David Pogue over at the New York Times got ahold of the camera and pitted it against Sony's latest: the HDR-HC3. He doesn't go so far as to name a victor, but the Canon does come out looking pretty good. With the recent bouts of HD-induced nausea consumers have been experiencing lately, Canon stuffed in an extra external auto-focusing sensor for near instant focus with quick camera moves. They also threw in some optical image stabilisation, and Pogue found both features quite effective. The HV10 also includes a built-in light, and better light sensitivity than Sony's HC3, but Sony does manage an accessory shoe, night shot mode and a quite notable HDMI port that are all lacking on the Canon. Both cameras suffer from a weak wide-angle view, and neither include microphone jacks or much else for the prosumer set, but with the HV10's list price of $1,300, and the $1,500 list-priced HC3 currently hitting $1,200 online, both cameras are quite the bargain for a tape-based HDV cam.[Via HD Beat]
Web surfers to help Texas monitor border cams
Texas Governor Rick Perry has just announced a plan to leverage the eyeballs of millions of voyeuristic web surfers into a de facto army of unpaid border guards, by allowing the general public to watch live streams from video cameras trained on the Mexican border and call a toll-free number to report illegal crossings. Although the governor did not go into details on how many cameras would be installed nor how far apart they would be positioned, he did estimate the cost of the program at around five million dollars, which would buy almost 3,000 high-def HDR-HC3 camcorders even if Sony decided not to give the state a bulk discount. Leaving the whole immigration issue aside, what really stands out about this project is that it could possibly set a precedent for inner-city officials to open up their surveillance cameras to John Q. Public -- so instead of some authoritarian regime monitoring every citizen's activities, "Big Brother" will actually become all of us.[Via BBC News]
Sony's new HD camcoder: The HDR-HC3
Just when you thought you knew all the ways to get HD on your computer a new one comes out. Now smaller than ever, the Sony HDR-HC3 is geared towards the consumer. It is 26% smaller than the predecessor and cheaper with an MSRP of $1700. All it needs is a hard drive to replace the HDV tape and it would be perfect.I don't know about anyone else, but I can't wait to grab one of these. I have been waiting for a HD camcorder that looked more consumer than pro. I don't want to look like a film student when capturing all my family and friends in glorious High Definition. This combined with my new MacBook Pro (I a supposed to receive this week) will be a perfect match. I can see the story now: How to make your own HD home movies!
