Sony HDR-FX1 Review

If you had told me a few years ago, that for less than three thousand dollars, I could go out and buy a pro quality High-Definition Video camera capable of shooting 1080 lines of resolution at 60 interlaced frames a second, I would have laughed in your face and laid money on the table it would never happen. I would have lost.

Sony introduced the HDR-FX1 and changed the rules for ever. And for once, the manufacturers agree on a format. The HDV spec was agreed upon as a standard by Sony, JVC, Canon, and Sharp. Thank goodness for that. No more waiting around to see which format wins. There is only one.

The HDR-FX1 includes three 1/3-inch 16:9 1.12 Megapixel gross CCDs. Each CCD measures 960 x 1080 pixels. The pixels on the CCD are not square, but oblong, which allows them to shoot 16:9 aspect ratio video. The HDR-FX1 also includes a 12x optical Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens, a 3.5-inch LCD screen, a zoom ring, focus ring, iris / aperture ring, as well as buttons for manual control of most picture functions.

In fact, the HDR-FX1 has more functions, features and controls than a space shuttle, including the ability to create a “film look” with a cinematone gamma feature enabling would-be independent film makers to achieve a professional-looking film feel by improving skin tone capabilities.

Perhaps most interestingly, both Adobe and Apple are behind the format, offering native HDV support in Final Cut and Adobe Premiere.

The Sony HDR-FX1 has consistently gotten rave reviews from film makers and consumers alike and if I was in the market for a semi-pro camera, this would be my choice. Now, where did I leave that $3,000?

Want to buy it?  Get it at amazon.com.

Already have it?  Check out this complete guide.