Feb. 9, 2008
The Sanyo Xacti HD1000
I first bought the Canon HV20, but I found it to work intensive and unpractical, so I returned it. I found producing videos with the HV20 to be just to cumbersome and time-consuming with the tapes and all. Taking it on the road would be even worse than in a studio.
I therefore went looking for the most easy to use camera class I could find and bought what seems to be the current top model in the consumer class the Sanyo Xacti 1000 (at around USD $700).
So far I am very happy.
The camera records to regular SanDisk cards. I have a 4GB card, and you can get 8GB, so space really is not an issue anymore as it used to be.
Just aim and shoot.
On one productive day I was able to shoot 5 workable videos in a few hours. And uploading to YouTube is a breeze; I even uploaded them in the raw, straight from the card.
You just aim, shoot, take out a card, put in another card, and upload the video while you are shooting the next sequence. I love it!
The Xacti HD 1000 has three recording "modes", one is for web, one for tv and one HDTV.
I am still early, so I have so far only shot with web mode, and uploaded to YouTube - works great. I assume I can progress to HDTV mode later.
This video is taken that way, just aim and shoot, uploading the vid in the raw to YouTube. Poor lighting, regular home lights, as I have not yet bought pro lights.
Video has been watched 8500 times and has good YouTube ratings.
Had I done this with the Canon HV20, using Sony Vegas etc - it would have taken me hours. It probably would not have happened.
Better aim and shoot, just get it done, than working hours to get it marginally better quality is my philosophy.
You can see some other of my videos here:
I have 47,000 views on YouTube; after two months, and 234 subscribers, not amazing, but I am pretty happy with that so far.
I have not yet worked out the HDTV setup, that will be a future step.
For extras I have a Sony ECM-MS907 external Microphone that plugs right in. I am about to buy a Kaiser LED light to fit on the shoe mount:
I also plan to buy a spare full Xacti 1000 camera on eBay as soon as one becomes available second hand for cheap.
Mine is far from the most professional setup there is.
It is more of a guerrilla style, get the job done there and then, fast, way of working video, especially on the road.
With a helping hand I can shoot, pull out a card that someone else will upload, and continue shooting. The first 10 minutes of a 50 minute interview can be online on YouTube before the interview is over.
So far, it seems to work fine for me, and I see that I can grow with this setup as I need. Full HDTV recording and editing is the goal.
I have also found a guy in the Philippines that will produce videos for me. He's rate is USD 5 an hour.
I just ftp up the raw file to my server, he takes it down and produces the video, then uploads it back.
I can then upload it to YouTube. Turnaround time should be less than 24 hours.
That's it really.
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