Sony HVR A1U Camcorder - Black

I bought this camera because I wanted a high quality picture from a camcorder that was small enough to carry around. I was not disappointed.

Overall I like the camera. The sound is good, image is sharp with lots of detail when shot under conditions with good light, and the camera is small enough so it wont weigh you down or make your hand tire from carrying it.
Now for the bad... Almost all the adjustments are in the touch screen, although there are a lot of options so if you like shooting manual, you can. The steady cam (anti-shake) is just OK. My shoulder mount Sony 2000MC's Steady cam is amazing, and much better than the A1U's. It uses tape and for some reason when importing HD video into my computer, the camera seems to have a mind of its own and imports when it feels like, although it always imports standard video with no problem. But I didn't buy an HD camera to shoot standard. The lens hood will only fit without a filter. The stock battery does not last long. I bought 2 after market batteries from ebay that last for hours.

I would recommend the camera if you needed a high quality camera only if you don't mind using mini-tapes, otherwise wait just a short couple of months and you will see the internal hard drive version soon if it is not already here.

I bought this camera to be used along with 3 Sony Z1U cameras, appearing in the video as a prop camera with hopes of using the footage in the program. I was in the editing facility and was awestruck by the seamless matching and "cut in" quality of this camera's footage. Set on auto everything, even audio with the shotgun mic on top, the quality was just perfect. Even a beautiful model can make great shots without any prior knowledge or training! It works really well with manual settings, professional lighting and on a tripod. It is also the greatest mini HD camera handheld. Goes neck to neck with the SONY F900 HD as well as the Panasonic Varicam. The footage will intercut!
Totally worth the small price to pay when travelng abroad and having a back up camera on a documentary. Thank you SONY! I highly recommend this product for professionals as well as wanna bees.

I was shown various camcorders that would work with my MacBook Pro. The Sony had the most features for different functions. I can live stream using SD or switch to HD for recording video. The microphone is a higher caliber than the contemporary camcorders espcially as it pertains to live streaming. The rating of professional camcorder gives me room to advance my skills.

The Sony Hi-Def cameras are the industry standards. Built for ease of use and high quality video. You can, literally, start your own video company with one of these. Shoot wedding videos, television commercials, website video content or music videos. The compact size allows you to take it on the go very quickly. AND the biggest difference between commercial quality and consumer HD cameras is the audio quality. XLR inputs mean you can plug into boom mikes, directional mikes, and lavalier (clip) mikes and get professional quality sound that you cannot get with the consumer models.

The industry is moving to hi-def and these cameras are the affordable way to join the revolution. I love mine.

I have another equal but that broke. I bought another one for two reasons: capture miniDV already recorded and because the cost-benefit analysis of the HVR-AU is very good, although this model has some design problems: failure mechanism and break the flat cable of the LCD display .