Sony HDR-UX1

By Oo Gin Lee
Dec 01, 2006

Sony has been getting really aggressive with its consumer High-Definition (HD) camcorders. The HDR-UX1 claims to be the world's first HD camcorder that can record on 8cm DVD discs. At S$2,699 (US$1,943.82), this consumer camcorder is just a little pricey, but comes with plenty of features. Now, if you've always wished that you could get more HD footage onto a single tape, your solution is here. With DVD discs, it also means you can simply pass it around to friends and family who can slot it into their PC or DVD player to playback the videos. Unlike playing back MiniDV tapes, your mum won't need to mess around or even own a camcorder to play the footage back.

The UX1 is in all respects almost identical to its harddisk drive cousin, the Sony HDR-SR1 camcorder. The look and feel between the two is also identical. Both of them also make use of the new AVC (Advanced Video Coding) HD video standard instead of the traditional HDV format. Because the compression technology in AVC is more efficient (it uses MPEG-4 versus MPEG-2), you will be able to get more footage space from your DVD discs compared with using HDV-based camcorders.

However, the SR1 is more versatile as you can record both HD and Standard Definition (SD) footage on the same harddisk, but with UX1 you need to make a choice to format your DVD discs for either HD or SD. In addition, you are not able to store your still pictures into DVD discs, only into the Memory Stick DUO cards. Again, with the SR1, you can choose either the harddisk or memory card to store the images. With the UX1, though, you can share your footages much easier with the convenience of recording directly onto DVD discs.

Note, however, that traditional DVD players don't playback in HD, and you may have to record in SD to ensure playback compatibility. The UX1 is also S$200 (US$144.04) cheaper in Singapore compared with the SR1.

Recording Duration and Disc Types
The UX1 is able to record onto four different types of discs--DVD-R, DVD-R, DVD+RW and DVD+R dual-layer. It can also record in both HD and SD quality with four sub-modes in HD and three in SD. At the highest HD quality (12Mbps), you can record for 27 minutes using a DVD+R DL disc (which has about twice more capacity than the other discs), while at the lowest SD quality you can shoot non-stop for 110 minutes per disc.

	Front profile

The type of discs you choose also makes a difference to your user experience. For example, while the dual-layer discs have more capacity, they are write once only. So you cannot re-record over them like the rewritable (RW) discs.

Size and Weight
In terms of size, the UX1 is not the most compact of modern camcorders as it is about 20 percent larger than most portable tape-based HD camcorders. But it is relatively smaller if you compare it with HD camcorders of one to two years ago. Although it weighs over 700g (with battery) and 20g heavier than the SR1, it is portable and light enough to carry it around with you on long hours of shoot without straining your forearm muscles.

Easy-To-Use Touchscreen Menu
The new menu interface of the UX1 is simply excellent. It is one of the easiest menu interfaces to operate, if not the easiest, and viewing playback on the generous 3.5-inch LCD screen is fabulous. You can quickly access the various settings like program AE, white balance and telemacro with a few presses. Unlike tapes where you need to rewind or fast forward manually to find a specific footage, all your recordings are now displayed as thumbnails. Just click on one and watch Baby's birthday celebrations that are smack in the middle of the DVD.

The surface grip at the right side of the UX1 is also where the DVD cover is located. Even though your palm is essentially gripping the top of the DVD cover, you won't feel any mechanical movement or hear mechanical noises or get extreme heat emanating from the DVD disc below.

To start recording, you simply flip the power dial either to movie or picture mode. This dial is located at the top of the surface grip so you can access it with your index finger, which is naturally resting on the dial when you are gripping the camcorder with your palm. To the right of this switch is the photo button which you use to click your digital pictures. Next to that is the 10x optical zoom switch. You can choose either to use your index finger to access all three buttons and switches or you can combine your index with your middle finger.

The UX1 also has 80x digital zoom, and you can set the device to use only optical zoom or to combine both. Personally, we don't recommend digital zoom; you really shouldn't need to use digital zoom as 10x is more than enough for your close-up shots.

Your thumb is used to press the start/stop recording button, which is located right in the middle of the surface grip rear. Alternatively, you can use both hands to work the start/stop and zoom buttons located just below the LCD screen.

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