As another one of the projects for the Sony Dads project we were loaned a Sony HDR-XR500V to create a “heritage time machine” that would capture a family story. There were no more guidelines and each of us was left to go with it as we saw fit.
The storyteller in me went into high gear and I realized that I wanted to sit down with my father and my father-in-law and get them on camera. Neither of them were all that excited about getting in front of the camera, but I hope they are happy with how it turned out. Since this site is about Dads I wanted to hear them talk about being a Grandfather, a father and about my son. I made sure to get Dylan into the mix as well. Here is my story.
The camera performed as advertised. I’m really happy with how all the footage turned out. This was all shot with natural light indoors and outdoors. The auto focus is faster then others I have seen and the camera has a built in hard drive so you can record hours of footage without worry. It is a bit bulkier and heavier then my Canon HF11 but still performed awesome. i was worried about the placement of the microphone on top of the camcorder, but I was satisfied with the results.
On the video front, it was something that I’m very proud of. It is the first thing in a long time that I’ve conceived from start to finish. Having been on plenty of sets in my Random Foo Pictures days, this really sparked the old bug that has been hibernating for a long time. I even did all the editing and music myself as well which was a huge confidence boost since neither of these are things I’m very good at.
Watching the playback for the first time I got very emotional. I wasn’t ready for that to happen, but it reminded me that I captured the story I wanted to tell. I dedicated the story to my grandfathers who are no longer with us.
I hope you enjoy the story and I’d love to hear what you think.
This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDads Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear. If you want to know more about this project, head on over to the Sony Electronics Community.
