Sony officially launched the new HXR-MC1P at BIRTV. Initially seen in prototype form at IBC these new POV type camera will find many uses. The small camera head is connected to a solid state recorder via a 3m cable. The recorder unit is dominated by a touch screen lcd. It is not unlike the old CVX cameras that could be attached to the old Hi8 portable VTR's. The Hi8 units were the mainstay of many mini-cam specialists for years and when they went out of production there was nothing else quite like it to replace them. I have been fitting mini-cams to cars, planes, boats, skiers etc for 20 years. For the last 5 years I have been searching for a good HD minicam system at a reasonable cost. I've tried Sanyo Xacti's, Panasonic SD9's and Sony TG3's. They have worked but not been without problems, the main one being that they are still fairly large. The MC1P finally offers an excellent HD minicam option.

http://tech.sina.com.cn/e/2008-11-05/13122558342.shtml

It's up on the Sony UK website now with full tech spec.

http://www.sony.co.uk/biz/view/ShowProduct.action?product=HXR-MC1P&site=biz_en_GB&pageType=Overview&imageType=Main&category=MultipurposeCameras

I have to confess that I have been playing with a couple of them in a 3D rig. There is a thread in the Stereoscopic section.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/3d-stereoscopic-production-delivery/136487-stereoscopic-off-road-experiment.html

It's a great little camera. The picture quality is very good, not up to the standards of my EX3 but perfectly acceptable for a mini-cam. The user controls work very well and offer the kinds of offsets that are really useful in in-car type applications. I'll be posting a full review in due course.

That would make a really nice headcam for skiing etc. Hope there is an NTSC version announced that isn't too expensive since it looks like a repackaging of the 1/5" CMOS products in the AVCHD line that are the lowest cost in that consumer lineup.

Ron Evans

I can see no reason why there won't be an NTSC version. I have not seen any pricing information but have been led to believe that it will be a fairly low cost product. It would be a great skiing head cam!

Looking at the specs it seems to be the HDRTG1 repackaged. Will have to look at the manual controls as it might fit the bill for other applications too.

Ron Evans

I think you are probably correct Ron. Certainly the picture quality is very similar and the menus are largely the same. You can manually set exposure, white balance and focus but there are no independent settings for gain or shutter. You can also add + or - exposure offsets to the auto exposure which is really useful for in-car type applications.

Reality shows will definitively want this.

And who knows, this might replace some of the crash cams out there. (Like say... Mythbusters?)

I want this!

Will be definitely be keeping an eye on this, very interested in price.

I was told by Sony at the BIRTV show that it will be out in 3 months. Here are some snaps for your viewing pleasure.

Dan

Here's a video from that show:
YouTube - HXR-MC1P@BIRTV2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwY5TErQu_s)

So has anyone heard anything about when this will be released in North America? My HV 20 looks like it has just died, & i have some stuff i need to do that this little cam would be perfect for.
Thanks,
Bryce

So has anyone heard anything about when this will be released in North America? My HV 20 looks like it has just died, & i have some stuff i need to do that this little cam would be perfect for.
Thanks,
Bryce

Looks cool, and it looks like the HXR-MC1 will be showing up in North America at the same time as the MC1P in Europe: sometime in February.

No reports had an official price, except for one dealer that was quoting a list price in UK of 1,300 pounds and you had to email for actual price. If I had to guess, somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000 here?

Sony's compact HD HXR-MC1 POV camera provides oodles of mobility - Engadget HD (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/11/14/sonys-compact-hd-hxr-mc1-pov-camera-provides-oodles-of-mobility/)

Thanks Michael,
I figured it would be around that price. Unfortunately i won't be able to wait until February though, so will be ordering a VIO POV1 to get the work done that i need to do. From all reports it is a great POV camera, so i don't think i will be dissapointed. Sure the HI Def version from Sony would be nice, but the price tag i think is a bit over the top! From the results i have had uprezzing some pretty ordinary footage taken from the video of a couple of point & shoot cameras, i'm sure i can uprez the footage from the VIO POV1 & it will look fantastic!

Bryce

I want one !!!
But about £2000 ?

Sony HXR-MC1P MiniCam System - Proactive (http://www.proav.co.uk/Cameras-Camcorders/AVCHD-Camcorders/p19332_sc773.aspx)

Paul.

Ouch! Still going to get one though