http://lucienk.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!A4AE3FB12A26635!689.entry
Sony SR11 HD camcorder review
Here's my Sony SR11 review. I focus mainly on comparison to the Canon HV20 camcorder. Usual caveats apply and I recommend checking out the WatchImpress review as well (camcorderinfo.com review will follow).
I had considerable issues testing this camcorder properly. In my first batch of tests I had bad SR11 picture quality but pure luck I found it was first a codec issue and second a deinterlacing setup issue. I've retested all comparison shots to make sure all issues were fixed.
Introduction
The Sony SR11 is a HD camcorder that can record to internal HDD (60GB) or to memory stick (optional). Direct competitors would be the Canon HG10 (40GB HDD only) and the Canon HF10 (no HDD but internal 16 GB memory). Key SR11 points: high resolution 640x480 LCD touch-screen screen, dual recording to HDD or memorystick, support of 5.1 channel surround and ability to take 10 megapixel photo stills.
Note: HDD camcorders cannot be operated at very high elevations or low pressure (3km / 9000 feet). Also it's not suitable for recording in sudden jerky movements (like a roller coaster or rough mountain biking). Pure solid state doesn't have this problem. It's possible that the SR11 can be operated under these conditions when switching to memorystick but the manual indicates any mode. I asked Sony this question but they haven't responded yet.
General
The size is about the same as the HV20 and has about the same feel (slighty more slippery plastic:-)). It's slightly flatter but not by much. The zoom control feel is about the same as the HV20. Small and good if you have small fingers. It does have variable zoom speed similar to HV20. The zoom itself is very quiet and has many steps.
The screen has a nice typical higher resolution than what you normally see at 640x480 (the manual says 1920x480 but remember 3 pixels per color). Unfortunately the screen is touch-screen meaning for almost anything you have to use it. For instance playing back video requires you to go through the touch screen menu's. There are no dedicated buttons or an alternative way (other than remote). Over time you will get fingerprints all over it. Fortunately for recording the main adjustments like focus and exposure control can be done using a dedicated control dial/button combo in the front. I still don't understand why Sony doesn't include a simply 4-way navigation button as an alternative way for all functions. The HF10 does not have a touch-screen but 4 way directional pad.
The SR11 comes with a small docking base which is required for USB connection to your PC. I found it rather cumbersome and I don't know why this is needed. Fortunately you can recharge alternatively directly in the camcorder (in case you're on the road).
SR11 like a few other new solid-state camcorders feature a quick standby. It will go in low power consumption mode if you press the button and it's ready to record again in about 1 second.
Recording Format
The SR11 records to AVCHD and features several quality settings. The highest setting features a full 1920x1080 60i interlaced resolution at 16Mbps using the AVCHD high profile encoding. Previous Sony AVCHD camcorders supported only 1440x1080. Note however that the typical consumer HD resolution is around 600x600. Sony updated their software recently to support this new full 1920x1080 resolution. The SR11 does not support progressive formats like 30p or 24p (like the Canon HV20/HG10/HF10/HF100).
You use a 'docking station' to transfer files from HDD to computer using the USB connector. I found this to be quite cumbersome. First you have to open the LCD otherwise it won't connect. Sometimes I also had to manually touch 'connect HDD to USB' on the screen. The memorystick is the easier route. Just remove it and plug it in your ms reader. You have to buy a memory stick since it's not included (about $100 for max 8GB currently which gives you 1 hour recording at highest setting). Note that you cannot copy video from the memory stick to the HDD (only the other direction).
The supplied software is very poor and has very few features: no editor just playback and basic conversions. The basic conversions don't include WMVHD (only WMV non-HD resolution). I ran into considerable issues playing back these clips in anything other than Sony software. The first problem you will encounter is that the free standard ffdshow AVCHD codec will cause appearance of occasional broken frames. To fix this I found that the CoreAVC codec works but you have to pay a small fee for it. The second problem I found is proper deinterlacing (which is easy to run into). Make sure deinterlacing is of type 'blend'. I'm sure many people will run into these issues just like I did and they may not notice this at first. If you're not computer savvy your only save option is to buy Sony Vegas to avoid any of these issues (editions ranging from $100-$450).
Compared to HF10/HF100/HG10 I never experienced these issues. On the other hand the AVCHD codec was very good and I haven't seen any artifacts. I think it's finally on par with HV20 25Mbps MPEG2. So we can only hope more software will support this codec so you're not stuck with 1 editor. I can't understand why Sony is not making a directshow filter available.
So to summarize what which sofware will not work directly with the SR11 clips at this point: movie maker, tmpgenc Xpress, VS10/11 and pretty much any software older than 1 year. Software that should work: latest Sony Vegas 4 (platinum and pro on latest build only), Pinnacle Systems, VS11.5. I tried the latter but still ran into some issues. It could be a configuration issue on my machine.
Audio quality and features
The HDD is very silent and I haven't heard any HDD noises recorded (I only tested up to 30 seconds after that you could run into some short clicks when HDD buffer is full but I didn't checl for this). Also the zoom is very quiet so it's not picked up. Sony did a good job here. Not so good is that there's no manual recording volume adjustment and I found the recording levels a tad low. There's a low setting but only suitable for loud recordings since it will be even lower in recording volume.
The SR11 also supports 5.1 channel recording. I did a 360 degree test with a fixed source. I found the channel seperation to be poor and all channels are very close. But that's better probably than having no seperation at all. See here the waveforms doing a 360 turn from a fixed sound source:
Click here for bigger picture
Video quality and features
As mentioned I ran into tremendous problems evaluating the SR11 picture quality to the HV20. I hit 2 different codec problems. One caused appearance of broken frames. This was fixed by using the CoreAVC decoder (not free). Second problem I ran into was deinterlacing which I fixed going through the codec tweak settings. You shouldn't run into the latter if you use default CoreAVC but some programs will change this setting so you have to watch out for this and it's not that easy to detect (you still have picture just with less resolution). I wonder how many people would be able to figure this out or even are be aware of it when they would run into it.
I ran first couple of indoor shots. In general the HV20 has more noise but slightly more detail in low contrast areas. The SR11 looks more pleasing with less noise but this is due to noise removal (evidence is the low contrast detail loss and some smudging when you look at my comparison near the fireplace picture). It is possible to get a similar picture with HV20 using a software post processing noise filter. However for the average person it's ideal not having to do this extra step if they want less noise. So all in all most would be pleased with it. Here's a (downconverted) indoor comparison video: indoor HV20 vs SR11.
One bad problem I ran into for indoor was focusing. Even with dim light I saw the focus hunting. I haven't experienced this with HV20 much and if it did happen, it corrected itself much faster. Here's one example video I uploaded to vimeo comparing both (shot simultaneously): http://www.vimeo.com/download/video:41967896
For the outdoor shots I had mixed results. First tests showed slightly less detail in the SR11 video. But depending on the light conditions the SR11 looked very close except for little bit more saturation and very often cool bluish cast. See example here: outdoor comparison.
In some situations the SR11 appeared to be able to pull slightly more detail. I would have preferred an adjustable (lower) saturation and contrast since I noticed this caused at times some detail loss.
I also noticed differences in white balance approach. The SR11 prefers a cooler temperature setting and the HV20 a warm temperature setting. Both had its downsides. Blue sky on HV20/HF10 can look little bit purplish at times, the SR11 can render grass and the overall picture a bit too cool/blue. There's a manual control on both cameras to change WB but most don't need to bother. Overall it's rather a matter of preference which color balance you would prefer. I like the HV20 overall better since it gives a warmer picture in most scenes. See below an example:
To see some framegrab comparisons go to the gallery: HV20 SR11 framegrab comparison
Manual control
The SR11 has very little manual control: you can choose scene setting and override exposure and white balance. Unfortunately they dropped the digital effect 'slow shutter' so you cannot control the shutter time anymore. The Canon offers aperty and shutter priority modes. Also it allows you to change contrast, color and sharpness. This allows you to get a more unprocessed picture when you want to do more post processing. With the SR11 it's what you see is what you get (you have to live with it). I found the SR11 a tad to oversaturated for my taste and the HV20 levels more natural. But most will have absolutely no problems with the overall SR11 picture.
Conclusion
Overall the SR11 is pretty close to the HV20 in terms of video quality. I think it's a great camera but many people will run into major issues finding editing software for it. Essentially you would have to buy Sony Vegas or Pinnacle to be safe which is another investiment if you already have a different editor. You may also wait a bit longer to see if your favorite editor will get support for it.
The HF10/HF100 has been reviewed by camcorderinfo.com (HF10 review) and I also would check that one out. It's smaller and cheaper but no viewfinder (I never uses it but some may prefer it). Second the HF10/HF100 also supports 30p and 24p progressive recording. Other advantages are more manual control like aperture and shutter priority modes. The HF100 is $200 cheaper and only difference is color (silver) and no 16GB internal memory. However you can buy 16GB nowadays for about $72.
Summary:
- +AVCHD compression very good and very few artifacts
- +Pleasing indoor picture with few noise (with some detail loss in low contrast)
- +Outdoor quality close to HV20 with comparable resolution (sometimes sharper, sometimes less).
- +Audio is good and the camera is fairly quiet
- +Dedicated Control dial in front for common recording adjustments like focus and exposure control
- +In case you shoot a lot of landsacpe than you appreciate the minimum focal length starts at 40mm instead of 43mm (compared to Canon HV20). I still highly recommend a wide-angle lens
- - Required touch screen operation for even basic common operations
- - Occasional slow focusing issues especially indoor and low-light (as seen before on Sony camcorders)
- - Very limited SR11 AVCHD high profile support at this moment. Sony only recently updated their software to support this
- - No basic editing software included and no free codecs for use in other non-Sony programs
- - Very little manual control. This will rule out certain professional/cineast applications where one needs to control aperture or shutter
- - No progressive modes like 24p and 30p on Canon's (I personally found 24p always too jerky for any movement so I can do without).
- - Cool bluish white balance outdoors (same may prefer this though)
- - Proprietary Memory stick: only 8GB officially supported and twice as expensive as SDHC cards
- - cumbersome HandyCam station to connect to PC over USB requiring SR11 LCD to be open to connect