HVR-MRC1 Memory Recording for fx1000

[Zach Love]

Originally Posted by Dror Levi

What will be the procedure if you wanted to record to the memory card only without tape in the camera?

Check the menus, should be something like: FireWire IEEE 1394 Control: EXT ONLY

There could also be SYNC, FOLLOW...

Originally Posted by Marcus Martell

Zach, how does it work with the Sony Z1?

thx a lot

Exactly the same way it works with the Z7. Only difference is you have to find a place to put it on or near the Z1, where it snaps onto the back of the Z7.

Either camera you have to have the settings correct, there are only a few options so it isn't hard to toggle through them to see what works best for you.


As for transferring, I use FCP & a Lexar FW800 reader. I had a 21min clip shot in SD that transferred into FCP in about 3min! HDV is more about 3-4min of footage in FCP in 1min. But a lot of that depends on your card speed, card reader, hard drive, software & processor.

[Paul Osborne]

Originally Posted by Zach Love

Exactly the same way it works with the Z7. Only difference is you have to find a place to put it on or near the Z1, where it snaps onto the back of the Z7.

Well to be accurate it works with a Z1 the same as a Z7 EXCEPT with a Z1 you can't record to CF cards in isolation. You must have the tape recording too. .... OR you run without tape but press the MRC1 dual button instead. This is a real issue in that I shoot fast moving sport on cache mode, and use a pan bar with remote run stop.... great with the Z7, but doing ti with the Z1 means taking fingers off the tripod to pump the MRC1 buttons during the shot (in cache mode you record the 14 seconds preceeding the pressing of run button and then finish the shot at the end of the goal etc.) This is then instant reviewed to a videowall -hence I can't record the whole game.

I was thinking of buying a FX1000 to replace the Z1 but if the previous posts are correct, it has no more CF functionality than the Z1.... unless someone can assure me there is a workaround and I can use the Fx1000's run stop button without tape?

PS -the manual does not mention the External Control function.
PS does the relay work? and if it does not, why is it in the menu options?

[Adam Gold]

Originally Posted by Paul Osborne

.... unless someone can assure me there is a workaround and I can use the Fx1000's run stop button without tape?

As both Ron and I pointed out above, you can't.

Originally Posted by Paul Osborne

-the manual does not mention the External Control function.?

Page 9-10 of the MRC manual and page 47 of the Z1E manual. As there is no EXT REC CTRL function with the FX1000, as we pointed out above, it's not in that manual.

Originally Posted by Paul Osborne

... does the relay work? and if it does not, why is it in the menu options?

If your cam supports EXT REC CTRL, as the Z1 does, RELAY is in the menus and should work. If not, as in the FX1000, there's no RELAY mode anywhere.

[Paul Osborne]

Originally Posted by Adam Gold

As both Ron and I pointed out above, you can't.
Page 9-10 of the MRC manual and page 47 of the Z1E manual. As there is no EXT REC CTRL function with the FX1000, as we pointed out above, it's not in that manual.If your cam supports EXT REC CTRL, as the Z1 does, RELAY is in the menus and should work. If not, as in the FX1000, there's no RELAY mode anywhere.

Thanks for the clarification. The FX1000 ought to perform the same as the Z1... sony.biz site says it is compatible, whilst it implies older cameras are not, yet if it does not mention External Control in the FX1000 manual, and you say it is not in the menus, so the FX1000 is as compatible as connecting any firewire camera to it. So I would get less functionality going from a Z1 to a FX1000.

I have also tried to work out the difference between FOLLOW and SYNCHRO in the MRC1 menus. When connected to the Z1 it appears to make no difference. They both enable the camera run button... but both with tape running synchronously. How can FOLLOW trigger the MRC1 from a Non-ext. control camera? If it can't..what is it for? If it can... what is the difference between no-ext control and ext. control?

[Adam Gold]

Originally Posted by Paul Osborne

The FX1000 ought to perform the same as the Z1...

No, it oughtn't. The Z1 is pro while the FX is prosumer. It's the Z5 that ought to perform the same as the Z1, and it does, only better.

Originally Posted by Paul Osborne

How can FOLLOW trigger the MRC1 from a Non-ext. control camera?

Firewire is a two-way street. The MRC checks every couple of seconds to see if the cam is running, and if it is, it turns itself on in FOLLOW mode with a non- EXT REC CTRL cam. It's all in the manual.

The difference is that with a cam that can do EXT REC CTRL, it sends the REC signal immediately to the external unit, and enables other functions, like RELAY. With a cam like the Z1/5, there probably isn't a point to FOLLOW mode, but it has to be there for all the other cams.