Does the Sony dcr-hc52 camcorder have good audio?

Is sony camcorder xr 500 a broadcast camcorder?

• I'm looking for a camcorder, to shoot videos of my Dad's sermon. 1. Do I need a broadcast camcorder? we're planning to produce vcd or dvd of his sermon, for fund raising 2. Is sony xr 500 camcorder a broadcast camcorder? 3. if it's not a broadcast camcorder, can anyone tell me a good product, using hardisk, but not too expensive. My Budget is around $1500. Thanks

• Answer:

  The Sony "Handycam" series are consumer-grade camcorders. The HDR-XR500 is a consumer grade camcorder. In the high definition series, the camcorder model numbers start with "HDR". There are a couple of "prosumer" camcorders (HDR-FX7, HDR-FX1000) that are the high-end of the HDR series. The Sony "professional grade" camcorders that record DV/HDV format have a model number prefix that starts with HVR. The camcorders better than these are the SDCAM, HDCAM and XDCAM series camcorders. Generally speaking internal hard disc drives are not used in professional grade camcorders. For the most part, AVCHD compression is not used in professional grade camcorders - too much compression, known issues with vibration and high altitude; poorly defined process flow - especially related to archiving and data recovery and difficulty/challenges with editing. The Focus Enhancements FireStore series of external, specialized hard drives, can be used with camcorders equipped with a DV port. Any camcorder can provide good video - if the camcorder is used in accordance with the camcorder's published specifications. In this case, the XR500 has medium sized lenses. Good lighting is an absolute must. We do not know what the lighting is like where you are planning to record... You do know that there can be file size limitations with consumer grade internal hard drive camcorders... right? Since we do not know what you are planning to edit with and on, we do not know if this will cause you issues... Last time I checked, when you press record using a consumer-grade flash memory or hard disc drive camcorder, every 2 gig, a new file is created. Make a single video file using the video editor... To answer your questions directly: Subject question: No. 1) Probably not. 2) No. 3) No. Be sure to plan on audio capture (mics or external audio field recorder), lights (if the venue is poorly lighted - especially indoors), tripod or other steadying devices and cases... Learn to use the camcorder's white balance. Besure your computer hardware (CPU, RAM hard drive space), operating system and video editor are capable of handling the video you are planninng to capture BEFORE you buy the camcorder. Or expect to be frustrated...