DV Info Net - HVR-DR60 review

I have been following the Sony HVR-MRC1 topics for some time now because I needed a backup solution for my xh-a1 as I lost one hour of important footage recently due to dirt on the tapeheads.

The only thing I was worried about with the HVR-MRC1 was that some users reported problems in recognizing the camera wrong, as it decides by itself if it is connected to a camera or a pc and if it thinks your camera is a pc this is something you don't want to happen if time is critical.

I have had my share of problems with my xh-a1 since i got it a few months ago and I didn't want to take any risk so i went for the HVR-DR60, basicly the same unit, only with the harddrive. The biggest advantage this unit has over the HVR-MRC1 is that you can force the unit to see a camera or a pc by using a switch which is located on the side.

I know there are people that don't want to rely on harddrive technology but since Sony gives 2 years primesupport on this unit it seems that they are quite confident about it's reliability.

When i was looking to find userreviews of this unit I hardly found anything, think that Sony made a mistake by pricing it way to high compared to their competitors and not many were inclined to buy it.

Only now the prizes, at least in Europe, are very interesting, a HVR-MRC1 including 64gb worth of CF cards costs between 200 to 600 euro more then a HVR-DR60 (with it's 60gb disk) depending on what quality of CFD cards you buy.

ofcourse the next years CF media will continue to be cheaper so above price comparison will eventually be in favor of the HVR-MRC1 but by that time I most probably will have switched to a full tapeless camera.

The reason why I write all this here is that because I hardly could find any info about this unit I decided to write a small review myself in case others might be interested in buying it and want to have some info about it. It's on a Dutch blog but I started writing some English posts as well on topics that I found interesting enough to share with a wider base of users.

It's not a very detailed review and i am not covering every single function, just the ones I find most important in my daily job. Please take into consideration that English is not my native language so if you don't understand something feel free to ask.

Part one, unboxing and functions
Sony HVR-DR60, unboxing and functions|videograffiti
Part two, the HVR-DR60 in action
Sony HVR-DR60 in action|videograffiti