Quality of the sony fx7 HD?

Question

Does the camera have a good quality image in the night time or is it just like every other digital video camera?

Answer 1

The Sony HDR-FX7 has larger lenses (which let in more light) and larger imaging chips (which capture more light) than most consumer based camcorders. As a 1080i HDV camcorder in the "prosumer" range, it does a much better job in lowlight than the lesser HDR-series consumer-grade cams. The HDR-FX1 does a little better in low-light than the FX7.

The FX7's professional sibling is the Sony HVR-V1U. The FX1's professional sibling is the HVR-Z1U. Both the V1U and Z1U have some additional capabilities that their prosumer siblings don't have - most visibly obvious is the V1U and Z1U have XLR-audio in jacks while the FX1 and FX7 use a 1/8" audio in jack.

Other differences include a series of additional menu options on the pro side that the prosumer side does not have (like 24p and some pull-down items), but the lenses and imaging chips are the same.

I got a FX1 a couple of months ago and use a BeachTek or juicedLink XLR adapter for my mic connections. It works great - and the lowlight capture is pretty impressive (especially when compared to my HDR-HC1... that has the "pro" sibling of the HVR-A1U).

So... to answer your question directly, the FX7's low light behavior is a LOT better than other consumer grade camcorders (but not as good as the FX1's).

Answer 2

The camera shoots HDV, meaning it's a compressed HD signal that's 1920x1080i.  Because more information is being captured, low light quality will be better than comparable cameras.  You still need "light" to record anything unless you have night vision on the cam..., the stuff that makes everything green...