Last April I linked to a press release of a new Sony flash media camcorder called the TG3 (or TG1 in the States).

And today I finally got mu grubby little mitts on one.

At the time I said:

It sounds like it beats the hell out of my little Sanyo, but I get the feeling it will be rather more expensive as well. Still brushed aluminum would look good next to my macbook Air.

Well I was right about it being better then the Sanyo, and I was right about it being expensive. I was wrong about it being brushed aluminum though - it's actually made from titanium, and yes it does look good next to a Macbook Air. I haven't had much of a chance to play with it yet, but the first impressions are very favourable. It feels very well made. Is actually slightly heaver then I expected, maybe a touch heaver then my LX3. First video has been a little mixed. It was practically dark when I got home, and indoors isn't exactly well lit. Actually its terribly lit. but it does appear that low-light shooting is not the TG3's strong point. The clips I've seen on Vimeo in daylight look much, much better. So I'm not exactly worried.

Mac Compatibility

As usual Sony excels itself by providing zero support for the Mac. Keeping up their perfect record with other Sony products I have owned - The W880i phone, the PS3 (media link) and the Reader 505 (despite using Adobe Digital Editions for DRM and loading the books - a program that functions perfectly on the Mac). However iMovie 09 recognises the camera immediately and imports the video with no problems. I could leave it there, after all the process is painless and works but there is a catch - and its a huge one. The camera uses the AVCHD codec for video, and iMovie transcodes this into the Apple Intermediary Codec. This has the effect of hugely inflating the file size of the video - and I do mean hugely.

A recording totaling 4 minutes 14 seconds, came in a ginormous 503mb - over half a gig! I've taken to converting the video using the now defunct, but still excellent, Visualhub. I convert to MP4 using H.264 and the filesize for that particular file has come down to a much more manageable 84.4mb. Whilst I can understand iMovies need to convert the original video. I do wish that it would allow me the option of choosing which codec I want to use.

I'm really looking forward to using this little beauty, and I hope it it gets me filming more in the same way that the LX3 has rekindled my passion for photography.

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