How do modern camcorders like sony sr12 compare to the old sony vx2000 ?

Question

picture quality etc

Answer 1

Sensor size:  The vx2000 has 1/3inch sensors, 3 in fact, one for each primary clolour spectrum, so the colour quality is way beyond a single chip camcorder.  The chip on the sr12 will be no where near as big as on the vx2000 and contains many more pixels, so in low light the vx2000 has the definate edge.

Sensor format:  The vx2000 is 4:3 with a pseaudo 16:9 mode.  The SR12 will win out here.

User control:  The vx2000 has a nice big focus ring, manual settings such as manual aperture, manual shutter, manual gain so in terms of taking control the vx2000 is far better.

Image qaulity:  With bigger sensors and ND filters on the VX2000 you can really be creative with depth of field.  The aperture diaphragm will contain more blades than the sr12, so out of focus areas will appear more smooth.

User experience:  The VX2000 is a bigger camcorder, but nicer to use, it's well weighted nicebig grip, verstaile EVF.

The VX records to tape, which is cheap, instant archive, works with most software even on older pcs and macs, much more compatible than hard disc camcorders which need the latest and greatest high spec computers.

The DV compression system is less lossy than the compression system used for hard disc and HDV camcorders.

If you need 16:9 and HDV then look at the FX1.  Which has all the good points of the VX2000 but is a lot more up to date.

If you want a point and shoot then the SR12 isn't a bad camera.  The prosumer class such as the VX2000 and FX1 are more what you need if you are taking your video making more seriously

Answer 2

It depends.

The HDR-SR12 is a consumer-grade, hard drive based, camcorder that records standard definition to very highly compressed MPEG2 files or high definition to REALLY highly compressed AVCHD files that can be challenging to edit unless you have current hardware or software. As with all consumer grade camcorders, the lenses are relatively small and the imaging chips are relatively small, so low light video is generally not very good. Hard drive camcorders, in general, cannot handle vibration well (the hard drive sensors will park the heads to protect the hard drive), so recording loud audio (bands with or without amplifiers, planes, heavy machinery, race car motors, etc) is pretty much impossible. As well, hard drive camcorders need air... any high-altitude video capture above ~9500 feet won't happen.

The Sony DCR-VX2000 is a "prosumer"-grade, miniDV tape based camcorder that records standard definition to DV format. It does not do high definition. If that is a requirement, then consider the HDR-FX1. Pretty much ALL video editors can deal with the relatively lightly compressed DV format. As with most pro-sumer or low-end pro grade camcorders, the lenses and imaging chips are bigger than consumer grade camcorders and the manual controls (zoom, focus, iris, shutter, audio, etc) are easier to get to using buttons or k***s or other body-mounted controls (rather then the LCD panel controls Sony uses). Because of the bigger lens and imaging chips, low-light behavior is typically MUCH better than consumer-grade cams. MiniDV tape (and flash memory, for that matter) do not have the vibration and altitude issues hard drive camcorders suffer from.

In normal, good, daylight, the SR12 standard definition and VX2000 standard definition will likely be indistinguishable. Of course, even with the really highly compressed AVCHD high definition, the high def video of the SR12 will be a lot better than the standard def VX2000. If you were to compare the HDR-FX1 high def to the SR12, the FX1 would be superior. But we don't always shoot in normal, good, daylight. As the light gets less and less, the VX2000 (and the FX1) will be a LOT better than the SR12.

At least one other thing to consider:

If you have 3 hours of video captured to the SR12's hard drive and drop/break the SR12, you may be challenged to get that video off of the hard drive. Expect to pay some $ to a data recovery service + a new camera.

If you have 3 hours of video captured to the VX2000, you will have three miniDV tapes. Drop and break the camcorder and all you need to do is get another miniDV tape based camcorder for playback/transfer.