I've been meaning to post this for a bit now, but things have been a bit hectic lately. Anyway, our friend Richard Baguley over at camcorderinfo posted the results of his poll on video formats. He asked readers to vote on which format they will consider when buying their next camcorder.

The results clearly favored HDV. It seems to be a popular choice which, given the DV tape standard, seems familiar to users. Surprisingly, AVCHD, the new format from Sony and Panasonic had a strong showing. I was also glad to see almost no one is considering those damn DVD camcorders. Click READ below for the complete results.

Currently, there is no established workflow for editing AVCHD video, the latest HD format introduced by Panasonic and Sony. Proper editing software for editing raw AVCHD files will not be made available until at least March, however, resourceful reader Jake Ludington has discovered a workaround to editing the raw video produced by the Sony HDR-SR1. It's quite a complicated process and can only be accomplished on a PC due to the software that is involved, but if you need to be able to edit MT2S and cannot wait until the proper tools are released, this method might be your only solution. Be warned that is requires PowerDVD Ultra, VirtualDubMod, and AVIsynth, and a hearty helping of patience. But, there you have it! Thanks, Jake.

Lexar has two high capacity SDHC cards coming up this year, weighing in at both 4GB and 8GB under the Standard and Platinum II lines. This February, the 4GB Platinum II will hit for $100, which promises transfer speeds of 9MB per second, and the slower Standard card will cost $80. No release or pricing details for the 8GB card, but these guys will definitely be beneficial for folks interested in any of the new AVCHD camcorders that support the format, including JVC's recently announced Everio cams.

(via Engadget)

Not only does Sony have four HD-capable consumer cameras gearing up for release this year, but the new lineup spans both AVCHD and HDV formats. On the HDV side, the HDR-HC5 and the HDR-HC7 are 1080i-capable, with the HC5 making use of a 1/3" ClearVID CMOS sensor (2MP gross pixels), and the HC7 kicking it up further with a 1/2.9" ClearVID CMOS chip (3.2 MP gross pixels). The latest entries in the AVCHD realm, the HDR-UX5 and HDR-UX7 feature HD recording on DVD format. Full specs are not yet available for either cam, but check out this for some information on the new Sony lineup. Sony is definitely making a push towards HD on all fronts.

(via Engadget)

The folks at Corel have been busy bees the past couple months. They finished up the acquisition of InterVideo, completed an update to Ulead VideoStudio 10 which earned Vista certification and released an update to InterVideo DVD Copy 5 to support Tivo, Zune and iPod. What's next? Today they announced support for AVCHD in their InterVideo WinDVD 8 playback software. Future product releases of InterVideo and Ulead video and DVD products will also support AVCHD. At least we are starting to see some support for this format, hopefully other companies will be announcing support soon.

Before you buy that new HDV camcorder to go under the tree, you might want to take a look at this. Tore Nordahl over at Coax.tv says the format is dead in 2007. He goes on to explain that the new AVCHD codec is poised to slide into it's spot as the de facto HD camcorder standard.

I did a little checking, and we here at DVGuru have not always said the nicest of things about the AVC format. For starters, no editing system currently supports it. Also, in what is apparently another attempt to leverage it's format, Sony has opted to create camcorders relying exclusively on Blu-ray technology.

AVC doesn't have to be difficult though. As Nordahl points out, the format is certainly not dependent on disk media, and in fact can be recorded onto a drive, or solid state memory like Panasonic's P2 cards. In fact, he cites several models on their way, which will do just that. As for editing support, we recently reported on an AVCHD converter. I also expect major editing apps to announce support in the next revision of their software.

Nordahl makes some great points, and explains that AVC offers many of the advantages of HDV, with fewer drawbacks. There's no denying that HDV uses some gnarly compression to fit itself onto a standard DV tape. Not only is AVCHD less compressed, it doesn't have to shoehorn itself into a cassette tape.

Before you write this off as some blogger talking junk, take a look at Nordahl's resume. The guy knows his stuff, and he has seen quite a few formats come and go. I personally think he makes sense, and there are a few things I have always questioned about HDV. At this point, I'm more than willing to give AVCHD a chance.

AVCHD has been touted by Sony and Panasonic as the next step in prosumer codecs. So DV, then HDV and now, supposedly, AVCHD. Part of the initial lack of excitement was that none of the NLE's was able to support it. It was only a matter of time, that problem was to be resolved.

According to this Press release in Japanese, and then translated at Digital Camcorder News, Canopus "will be releasing a new AVCHD converter product that will convert your footage into an editable format. However, because of the fact that it converts it into the 'Canopus HQ Codec,' it is unlikely that the files will be usable outside of Canopus' Edius NLE systems." Sadly, I am not aware of any Mac Canopus products and I am guessing that is not going to change but this is the first step of many that will bring AVCHD to the fold.

The most exciting thing about AVCHD is that it fixes my biggest complaint with HDV, the mpeg-2 sound compression. So here is hoping this starts a trend by NLE's to support AVCHD.

A month or so ago, Sheila brought word on Panasonic's two newest AVCHD camcorders, the HDC-SD1 and the HDC-DX1. Both cameras are capable of recording 1080i, with the SD1 using SD/SDHC cards for storage, and the DX1 using 8cm DVD media. They will hit the US in March for $1499 (SD1) and $1399 (DX1). Camcorderinfo has more information on the announcement here.

I find myself shooting more video on my digital still camera than my video camera. Mainly because my still camera is always on my waist holster. The Aigo P706 photo & video viewer is made for someone like me. It stores 180GB of movies and photos. It supports most image codecs (RAW, TIFF, AVI and MPEG4) but it did not list any audio codecs in its press release. Hard to imagine someone not supporting mp3's. The screen size is adequate: 3.6-inches and 16 millions colors. There are slots for SD, MMC, Memory Stick, and CF card formats. But all this comes at a cost of $1,248, it is currently only available in China.

If that is too expensive, you can always check out the Epson P-5000 or Canon's M80. When AVCHD gathers steam, these products will be interesting to keep an eye on.

CamcorderInfo.com got their hands on a HDR-SR1 and you know what that means? Uber thorough review! Now in case you forgot, the SR1 is a high definition AVCHD cam with a built in 30Gb hard drive. And according to CamcorderInfo, it is the best HDD camcorder currently out there. As far as I'm concerned, tape and optical DVD media are on their way out for the convenience of hard drives. Let's see, I could use the 30Gb hard drive in the camera to record up to 4 hours on the highest quality HD setting or bring a gazzilion discs which hold 15-30 minutes (depending on single or double layer) of the same quality. Sounds like a no-brainer to me. If you want to know about all of the intricacies, then read through this info-packed review.

Recently unveiled at CEATEC, Panasonic's latest prototype SD card format AVCHD camcorder can be viewed in action in this video clip. And yes, there is definitely no viewfinder. However, the design is fairly sleek and unsurprisingly small. Panasonic claims that the camcorder will be made available by the end of this year, so expect more details down the line.

(via Camcorderinfo)

As a kid, I always loved to look at exploded diagrams. Maybe it was my curiosity about the way things work, or my love of organized destruction, but there was just something about seeing all those parts torn asunder. It's only been in the last decade or so, that companies would forgo the diagram, and explode actual products themselves. Wow!

Apparently our friends over at camcorderinfo.com share my love of exploded stuff, because they just posted several pics of some new AVCHD cams with their insides showing. The format is receiving much attention these days, being praised for it's ability to shoot tapelessly, and berated for it's inability to be edited.

Click READ below to see the mayhem.

Panasonic has unveiled their latest AVCHD camcorder prototype, which captures 1080i video to SD/SDHC cards. This sleek and somewhat unconventional 3CCD camera features a Leica DICOMAR lens with 12x optical zoom, image processing LSI, and HDMI out, but it seems to lack a proper viewfinder. Hrm. No word on pricing or a possible release date just yet.

(via Engadget)

Camcorderinfo.com has posted an extensive review of Sony's first AVCHD camcorder for your reading pleasure. I'll cover the highlights and if you are still craving more, go check out the review.

Pros

• Bright colors
• Even saturation
• Improved menu system
• Multi-function ring on the front of the lens
• HDMI-out
• Mic and headphone jack
  

Cons

• Noisy low-light and bright-light performance.
• Lack of editing support
• Lack of manual image control
  

Tech Specs

• Single 1/3" CMOS sensor
• 3.5" LCD
• 10x Optical zoom
• 4 channel mic that fills out 5.1 surround
• 4MP still function
• Supports DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+R DL (Dual Layer)
• 3" x 3 5/8" x 6 1/2"
• 1 lb. 10 oz.