What easier for editing: 1440x1080 MP4 or 1920x1080 AVCHD?

[Dave2ic]

I have a Sony NEX-F3 and currently capture video in the 1440x1080 MP4 12Mbps format. It's fine for me quality-wise and the file sizes are a bit more manageable than the 1920x1080 AVCHD 17Mbps mode. It is only family videos I take, and at around 90MB/min even this 1440x1080 MP4 mode starts to quickly fill up a hard drive.

However, there are a couple of issues I see with recording in 1440x1080 as it has non-square pixels, and I would appreciate some advice. One is a slight annoyance - media players like VLC treat the video as having square pixels so it displays 'squashed up'. You have to keep telling it to display in 16:9 - is there any way around having to do this all the time?.

The other issue is mixing the anamorphic video with other video I have with square pixels (e.g. 1280x720). Do video editors have a problem mixing the two? i.e. Will I have to convert the 1440x1080 video to a square pixel ratio before mixing the two?These issues make me wonder if I am better off just recording at 1920x1080 instead - even if it does mean filling up my hard drive at a faster rate.

Thanks for any advice.

[aedipuss]

editing programs like vegas don't have much trouble working with anamorphic mixed with square pixel video. as long as you have a decent computer and lots of hard drive space. it makes more sense to shoot 1920x1080 square pixel if quality is important. better source will end up with better end result video.