Sony HVR-A1E Camcorder Review

by Nigel Cooper

First impressions
When I took delivery of Sony?s brand new HVR-A1E HDV camcorder I wasn?t sure what to expect, as all I knew about this camcorder was that it records in the HDV format and it is small. After stripping away all the packaging and opening the box I was presented with one very smart looking camcorder; in fact I would go so far as to say that the HVR-A1E is one of the sexiest looking camcorders I have ever seen.

Finished in black, the HVR-A1E is a very compact design, but not too compact that you can?t comfortably hold it and operate all the controls without the aid of a pair of tweezers like some other compact camcorders. I have relatively large hands, but I found the A1E a very ergonomically friendly design that fits in the hand nicely with it?s well thought out curves; no sharp edges here to leave a painful imprint on the palm of your hand.

Controls
The A1E is menu based for the most part, but the few buttons and switches that are on the exterior of the camera work very well. Firstly there is the zoom rocker switch. Personally I?ve never been a big fan of the smaller one-finger operated rocker switch designs, I prefer the larger zoom rocker switches that you control with two fingers, like those found on the camcorders such as the PD170, VX2100 and Z1. However, although the A1E?s zoom rocker switch is not what I am accustomed to, it is the first one of its type that actually works. The rocker switch is slightly bigger than usual, which makes it very easy for people with larger hands. I found it very easy to control the zoom in/out speeds without getting any horrible jump-starts to the shot.

The record button is nicely placed and falls naturally under your right thumb. The on/off switch also has a toggle up feature to switch the camera from record mode to playback mode with a memory stick mode also. Other external controls include various audio switches for 2 balanced XLR microphones and the removable mic that comes with the camera. There is a manual focus feature with the usual ?Infinity Focus? switch. Also on the lens on the opposite side is a ?Night Vision? switch that kicks into affect when you are shooting in virtually pitch black saturations, this is similar to what wildlife videographers use for shooting badgers at night or the ?Sniper Scope? effect like in the movies. There is a manual exposure switch that allows you to adjust the iris manually, an ?Auto lock? switch, as well as a wide and tele zoom control on the actual 2.7-inch flip-out LCD screen.

The flip-out LCD screen works very well, even outdoors in the sun it was still surprisingly usable, which brings me to the menus.

As this review sample is one of the first in the country there was no instruction manual as Sony haven?t actually printed them yet. After looking all over the camcorder for some sort of menu switch and another five minutes of head-scratching I had to make a quick phone call to my man at Sony to ask him how I accessed the menus, ?Simple? he said, ?it works by touch-screen technology?. Well, silly me, why didn?t I think of that? Well I am used to Sony?s professional high-end shoulder mounted models, at least that?s my excuse.

So after putting the phone down and grabbing the A1E and folding out the screen, there it was ?Menu? written in the bottom right hand corner of the LCD, so I lightly touched it with my fingertip and ?Hey Presto? the menus appear, and what nice menus they are to.

This review sample didn?t come with an instruction manual and I have to tell you that even though yours will, you simply won?t have to bother reading it. This camcorder is just so self explanatory and easy to use, especially the menus. Once you touch the ?Menu? on the screen the camera quickly opens up the menu screen. The first menu screen to appear contains the thing that you are most likely to need to get your hands (or should I say fingertip) on straight away, such as white balance; these most often used features are simply a word such as ?White Balance? in a bordered box. Each word is self explanatory like ?Exposure?, ?Zebra (usual 70/100 settings)? for example. Then there is another box containing the word ?Menu?, which brings up the more advanced and less used features such as shooting formats, audio settings, date/time settings, sharpness and a whole array more. You won?t have any problem navigating your way around the menus as each screen has a ?Back? touch button and an ?Exit Menu? button. What?s more, I found that after 10 minutes of finger-tapping menu exploring there was not a single fingerprint on the screen, and I have pretty oily skin too.

The A1E just like the Z1E also includes assignable buttons on the side of the camera. These are used as 'short cuts' for the more frequently used menu features. For example, White balance, shutter speed and gamma. This is another feature that helps make the A1E a very user-friendly piece of kit.

In use
The first thing I had to do before I could shoot anything was attach the 2 x XLR adaptor to the hot shoe on top of the camera, this is securely locked into place via a wheel. Then it was simply a case of securing the microphone into the mount and away I went.

I immediately felt at home with this little camcorder, even though I?m used to high-end shoulder mounted affairs. One feature that I really liked was the A1E?s ability to switch the viewfinder from colour to black and white. I found this helps with focusing, as you don?t have colour to get in the way, though for most of my test shooting I was using the auto-focus setting, then switching to manual once the camera had found focus for me. For those who are happy to gamble with auto-focus mode, you won?t be disappointed. I spent considerable time using the A1E in auto-focus mode as I suspect this is where it will be set with a lot of end users. The camera thinks intelligently here and doesn?t hunt all over the place at every given opportunity like some other branded camcorders I could mention.

The camera is native 16:9 widescreen, but if you wish to shoot for 4:3 format there is a menu function that puts 4:3 guide markers on the screen to help you compose your shots. The A1E also has many of the Z1?s picture enhancement features such as ATW Sensitivity, Black Stretch, Cinematone Gamma and Skintone Detail.

Although the A1E is a HDV camcorder, like other Sony HDV models, you can switch to DVCAM or even standard Mini DV modes. hough if you intend shooting in HDV mode I would highly recommend using Sony?s special HDV Digital Master series tapes, simply because this is a superior tape stock that will virtually eliminate the chances of dropout with the HDV format. As you may or may not know, the HDV format uses the MPEG-2 compression method similar to that used on standard domestic DVDs. Because of the way the Group of Pictures (GOP) works if you were to be unlucky enough to get a drop-out, it could affect several frames and not just a single frame as with standard DV formats; using Sony?s Digital Master series tapes will be a good insurance policy against drop-outs from ever happening.

Overall the A1E works like a dream, nicely balanced with a comfortable ergonomic shape, easy to operate the various switches nd controls with clear menu readouts.

Build quality
I said earlier that this is one of the sexiest little camcorders I have ever seen, but it is ?Lara Croft Tough Sexy? and not ?Gwyneth Paltro Sexy? if you know what I mean. What I?m saying is this, the HVR-A1E is one tough little camera. Although it?s small, curvy and cute, it is very solid with a reassuring weight to it. Nothing about this camera feels flimsy or plasticy. Overall the A1E is up to Sony?s usual build quality standards and does not disappoint in this area.

Picture quality:
Just like the HVR-Z1E the HVR-A1E uses the same high quality HDV 1080i lines format so even though the A1E is a much smaller single CMOS sensor camcorder, I was still expecting something a little bit special. I shot around 30 minutes of mixed footage, both outdoors and indoors. The single CMOS sensor is a first for Sony, up until now camcorders such as the PD170, VX2100 and the new HVR-Z1E have all used 3-chip CCD models so this was an interesting time for me and I couldn?t wait to view the footage.

I didn?t bother getting into any computer editing with the A1E, instead I simply plugged the camcorder straight into a Sony HD flat panel monitor; model LMD-232W, which Sony kindly loaned me. I operated the A1E?s playback controls via the included remote control for convenience. I sat back, hit play and waited eagerly with anticipation for the HDV pictures to be transmitted from the A1E to the Sony HD monitor. Up until this point the camcorder had pleased me in almost every way. After the very brief moment it took the A1E?s mechanism to spin up, the pictures started to roll. The quality of the pictures that were produced from this little gem really impressed me, and then some. I have to admit, I didn?t really know what to expect from the single CMOS sensor, but it did not disappoint; considering the price of this little camcorder, it really is truly remarkable that these stunning images could be produced. The A1E is going to retail at around the ?1,740 mark and I seriously doubt that you could find any camcorder in the world at this price that will produce pictures as sharp and nicely saturated as this little beauty.

Even with the camera set in full auto mode, it dealt with the exposure very nicely; some cameras have a tendency to overexpose slightly in auto mode, but not this one. Everything seemed to be exposed incredibly well and even though I was shooting outdoors in mid-day sun (not the most ideal shooting situation when the sun is high in the sky), there were no untoward signs of hot spots in the footage. The white clouds against the blue sky had plenty of punch and 3-D imagery. The A1E handles indoor footage under domestic household lights better than any other camcorder I have tried in this class. The low light capabilities are simply excellent. In a dimly lit room with the curtains drawn there was no sign of the gain kicking in, which retained an overall nice crisp image. The auto white balance judged the indoor lighting very well and reproduced them more than adequately, though the A1E did tend to lean towards the ?Warm? end of the colour spectrum, but this was only slight and better than most camcorders I have tested in this price range.

Uses
So who is the HVR-A1E aimed at? Well, that?s a difficult one, but from what I have seen during the single day I had it on loan from Sony I would say that the A1E would be one serious hobbyist camcorder, but because of it?s compact size and HDV 1080i lines image quality it could quite easily be used in those broadcast situations where something small and lightweight is required. Think Roger Cook and the Cook Report, where his cameramen might have to throw a camcorder in the bushes as they run away from a villain they are investigating (of course they will come back for the camera later), or those bungee jumpers or skateboarders who film their stunts. Better still, think ?Jackass?, those crazy dudes from across the pond use cams like this one all the time. If you are a professional wedding videographer you could do a lot worse than buy one of these to toss in your kit as a second camera.

The HVR-A1E is the unofficial replacement for the PDX10 (now deleted) and I suspect this new HDV incarnation will be used in similar shooting situations including: weddings, corporate, news, documentaries, reality TV, independent filmmakers, wildlife to name a few; the list is endless. Pretty much any application where size and weight is important such as extreme conditions, underwater, aircraft footage, etc. Even big-time Hollywood directors will end up using it on their feature films for the dvd extras.

Socketry includes the usual analogue component output, audio, iLink (FireWire) as well as a USB output.

The HVR-A1E will be available in September 2005 with a suggested retail price of ?1,740.