I have to stand up for Creative Video (CVP/Mitcorp) - they are one of the UK's best known and most reliable pro video gear suppliers, authorized Sony dealers etc. They are the closest the UK comes to having a B&H.

As said above, the UK prices will be much higher than the USA ones, even before tax (VAT). A US$2000 camcorder will cost pretty close to UK£2000 here before tax, whereas the exchange rate alone would suggest it should cost £1400.

Looking at the by now updated product page, I think it is pretty clear:

As the HVR-HD1000 is to the HDR-HC7/9,
So is the HXR-MC50E to the HDR-CX500/550

Except the HXR-MC50E even looks like they took a HDR-CX550, slapped a lens hood and microphone on, and called it a day. Take those two things off, and to my eye it looks exactly the same!

Exchange rates at the moment are in a bit of "flux", so I wouldn't necessarily rely on them for cross currency pricing... things ain't what they were, and they likely won't be tomorrow either!

As far as the changes to the camera, it's obviously based on the CX550V, a darn good small camera very much in the lineage of the HC1/A1U, and I'd argue significantly more useful than the HD1000 (reboxed HC7 guts). Admittedly a lens hood and shotgun mic mount do not a "pro" camera make, but that's where the firmware is going to be the big unanswered question until they finalize it.

Sony (and everyone else for that matter) have the ability to add (or at least provide accessibilty) to many "internal" features, and potentially enable "new" ones via firmware. The A1U had quite a few capabilities the HC1 consumer model did not, and it's been around quite a long time. Logically, this camera will take over that position in the Sony lineup, so it follows that the firmware will be a bit more capable and feature enhanced over the "consumer" version.

There's already been some good guesses here - audio control is a logical capability, "Cine" modes, quite possibly including 24p and 30p would certainly shut up a lot of Sony critics. The ability to more finely control various settings is almost a given. I suspect peaking and zebras could well reappear, or at least they should. Possibly other recording format options, given the prototype carrying an MPEG label rather than AVCHD... We really won't "know" until they firm up the final "firmware".

Whatever the final feature set, if the price isn't too much above the consumer version, it could prove very attractive. Once you know how to operate these little cameras, they can do a whole lot of what a "big" camera can do, and the image that you can acquire is very hard to argue with - for the price, I don't think you'll find a cleaner picture. I'm shooting the predecessors to the CX550 (XR500 and CX500), and am still impressed at how clean and sharp an image these little guys can produce. They are under-rated, and I'm looking forward to the 550 version (hands on, on Friday, with any luck!), and watching for finalized specs to come out on the MC50....

So Dave did you get the CX550 yet?

Impressions compared to the XR520 etc would be great.

thanks

Yep - in hand, only briefly played with, but so far, like it very much, will do a little "review" after I've had a bit more time with it. These are "first impressions"

Definitley has the upgraded OIS, maybe even a bit better than the CX500/520, which have significantly improved control of the "roll" axis.

Repro'd the infamous "blue dot", it's lens flare, have to see about calculating how much hodd it will take to prevent it, but zooming in a bit took care of it as well.

Liking the wide lens, long ends seems to be OK, need to do some shooting to see what the final verdict is.

It's lighter than the XR500, felt more comfortable to my hand. It's slightly longer with a FV70 battery mounted, about 1/4", but it fits in my hard case with the stock battery (FV50).

The big LCD is really nice, menu system is similar to the CX500/520 (meaning VERY different from the XR500/520). If they were to expand the capability of "my menu" function so you could do 2-3 custom screens, I could see it being possible to have all the adjustments you need on the fly be pretty quick to access... I'd like a crack at the MC50 firmware, could make for a very capable camera.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed, don't see any major "gotchas" so far, the VF is tiny, but would do in a pinch, tripod mount placement is a bit odd - very "forward" and offset (seems to be a trend in Sony cameras this year, my HX5V has HORRIBLE tripod socket placement) everything else seems well laid out, no zebras or peaking, but focus is significantly improved in speed.

That's a long "first take", but hoepfully I can add more, or if you have specific questions

I have a bad feeling I already know the answer but...

The CX550 isn't compatible with NP-FH batteries, is it?

Physically incompatible, but I may grind a bit of plastic off an FH just to see what happens <wink>.

Tried it with the FP-FH transition, and it wouldn't work, but the tab are awfully close this time around... mighty tempting!!! I think I've got some knockoff FH50's sitting around here...

On the plus side, even the "tiny" FV50 they include with the CX550 seems to be good for around 110 minutes, the FV70 for around double that. And I noticed that the time indication was almost instantaneous, where you used to have to wait a while for the camera to figure out how long you would have. They definitely improved the "info" speed, quite noticeable. The FV packs also work in the older cams fine.

As I typed this, an uncontrollable urge came over me and I just couldn't help myself...

Sony will hate me, BUT... I modded the tabs on the aforementioned knockoff Chinese FH50 - and popped it into the CX550V....

.....


....



...


..


.

IT WORKS!!!!!!!

No nasty message, no shutoff, came right on, registered the time remaining, stayed on, did a test clip and played back...

Now to go hack a genuine FH series BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Just hacked a FH70 (needed a dremel, the genuine Sony plastic is TOUGH compared to the knockoff, X-Acto knife wasn't "cutting it", maybe with a fresh blade!)...

And it appears to work just fine! Apparently there isn't a firmware lockout like there was when they replaced the FP with the FH series...

Time to go get out the pile of batteries and "upgrade"!!!


Just thought I should add:

Don't try this at home, kids, I'm a trained perfesshunal <wink>... seriously, I'm surprised this worked, and wonder if it will work on other models that require the FV battery, but I'm happy since the FV batteries are expensive (new toys always are!), and not as available as the FH's, which I've already got laying about for the earlier XR and CX cameras! Guess this time it really WAS worth a shot, thanks for reminding me to play mad scientist!

Any chance of posting a few demo clips Dave or is it against forum rules here? I too have a number of expensive genuine FH batteries lying around. Will be more than willing to take the risk to "upgrade".

Cheers

I can probably put together some demo clips - any particular subject or condition? I'm thinking of various stuff I might shoot, based on something Chris mentioned in reference to another thread. One of the regulars has posted some nice footage of Hawaii in the AVCHD forum.

Turns out the firmware takes a while, but eventually refuses the hacked battery... PHOOEY!@#$)%(*&@!

Still like the camera though! Hoping to be able to go find something interesting to shoot...

Thanks Dave, I really appreciate the info. I have an NP-FH50, NP-FH70, and NP-FH100 battery in my kit.

As for Sony hating you(us), they'll get over it in equal measure to you(us) getting over possibly having to buy new batteries because...Sony felt like it. Sony is real proud in there advertising of 15% MORE for the new FV batteries. If I've invested in an NP-FH100, I really don't care, Sony...I'd still like to use the old battery that lasts for hours either way.

In this case I would be sure the modification works because Sony chose to maintain backward compatibility, ie my understanding is NP-FV batteries will work without modification in a NP-FH slot.

Hi Bill -

SEE MY UPDATED POST below - Sony did it again...

It's certainly frustrating to have to "upgrade" perfectly good batteries, even if they do have higher capacity or better features.

I've no doubt that the Chinese are already modifying their molds and graphics so knockoff "sony" FV batteries will be flooding eBay any day now... lots of stuff like batteries and memory sticks with "sony" logos that are just knockoffs from China, and no sign they can even slow it down. It did take the Chinese a while to get around the lockout with the FH series - for a while they just added a dongle to the DC in jack to bypass the circuit!


I'm all for "new and improved", otherwise I wouldn't even have picked up a CX550 to evaluate, the 500 series cams are certainly "good 'nuf", no real complaints about them, they have served my purposes well, I'd planned to just keep them unless the 550 is noticeably superior. Part of the equation was cost to upgrade all the batteries, if that's not a factor, the upgrade starts to make more sense (well there's a perfectly happy theory down the drain, see below...), and I do like the the 550 so far.

Lens range is my remaining "question mark"... the wide end of the CX550 makes my WA lenses "negotiable" (unless you want a "super wide"!!), and I won't complaint about not having to mount a WA "most" of the time to get the field of view I really wanted/need. The tele end seems to be workable, but I'm still nervous about losing so much on that end. They altered the "digital zoom" settings to only have one setting, a "120X" (used to have a "24x", which would equate to a 20x digital doubler on the 500/520, and a "150x"). I used to go ahead and set the 24x, since I could see the line on the indicator, and if I really need it, it was there in a pinch - now the indicator line is moved well to the left (with 120x), but if you can live with the pixellization at the long end, it's surprisingly effective - was able to read small text from clear across the room...

I have mounted WA and tele adapters, the WA you get just a tad of vignetting (and you get to see the OIS "work"!) at the widest settings, but it's tolerable. A Sony VCL-HG2037x (High grade lens) was pretty heavy on the vignette (you can see the "insides" if the lens!), but worked, as did a strange old VCL-2037K I have laying about (regular grade lens). One interesting note is that when I switched on the "conversion lens/teleconverter" feature, the camera was able to noticeably alter the OIS to take out the typical small "twitches" that plague the use of the long end of the range.


Part of any camera purchase/upgrade is evaluating the necessary accessories for a full kit. Sony keeping a 37mm thread on the lens helps, got lots of filters and lenses, batteries are a big expense, and IF they were compatible it would help. LANC controller remaining standard helps (A/V interface), as does compatibility with the Sport Packs and any rigs I use (have to modify the sleds/mounts some because of the peculiar tripod hole placement...). The addition of the SDHC slot in the 550s helps a little bit, but I already had quite a few memory sticks (still need to test for speed with the 24 Mbps - should require "fast" memory).

Bad news upon further testing...
 

Finally got a chance to run some other tests on MS Duos, so I was running the camera for longer clips...

There IS a firmware lockout on the FH batteries... unlike earlier cameras that announced it right away, this one kicks in after a couple minutes (that'll teach me not to run longer term tests when I've got a busy weekend!!). So the camera "works" with the FH batteries after the mods, but only for a couple minutes, then even if you're recording or playing back a clip, it says "cannot use this battery in the camcorder", and shuts 'er down.

SO, yep, once again Sony wants us to go buy all new batteries... and the "upgrade" begins to favor keeping the older cameras. GRRR...

My apologies for the premature reports on the hack <sound of head hitting desk>

It's obvious the camera WILL run on the FH batttery just fine (records and plays back short clips), and all they did was disable the functionality.

I did get to test the reported battery life, and the FV70 reported aproximately 230 minutes vs. 195 for the FH70, so you do get more run time for the "upgrade". I'm suspicious of the 100+ minutes the stock FV50 reports though. Will have to test that some more...

Don't worry about it. To my way of thinking it's piss poor on Sony's part to give you enough time to get cranked up & doing something and then pull the rug out from under your feet. And it really gives the lie to them not being able to run on the older battery.

I wish they understood that this sort of nonsense is hell on customers brand loyalty. Or maybe they don't care. I'm looking real hard at the Canon HF-S200. I've got a Wishlist of camera+accessories already prepared at B&H just begging to be turned into an order.

Well, I still like the camera overall, probably will replace my other XR500 when the opportunity arises, but won't be in a hurry to replace the CX500's that seem to be a pretty good match performance wise - they suffice for C/D cameras. Honestly the XR500 does feel a bit "dated" when put alongside the CX550, but it still is a workhorse, nothing to complain about.

The 550s big 3.5" LCD is easy to love, and the camera somehow feels more comfortable to me, but those wouldn't be "gotta upgrade" things for most people - last years cameras deliver the same image quailty for the most part (as they should with the same sensor block and general guts).

There's some tradeoff, as I think I can trim down the WA lens collection... I think that as often as I had to mount a WA on the 500's, I can live with the new lens range for most purposes, though I still wish they had left the 2x digital tele button in there - it's pretty easy to cross the "digital line" and slip off into the noisy range when the 120x is set.

Dave - i have a WA lens quiestion for you when using it with your new cam.
a what point in the focal-length range does the recorded image vignette? Can you make an estimate please?

I am particularly interested in at what point it vignettes with a 0.7x WA converter. if you can give an estimate or a sense of how far from the max.wideangle end of the optical zoom you are when it STARTS to vignette that would be great.
I guess that, like most SLRs, the observed vignette in the LCD screen (viewfinder on SLR) is not necessairly 100% of the image, so i suppose it's possible that any vignette'ing that appears (when going towards the max. wideangle end) will appear in the recorded image slightly *before* the image seen on the LCD?

Stu -
I'll try to pop off some stills and upload them so you can see for yourself - I also want to play with the OIS settings, as I suspect that may reduce the vignette a bit as well. You can definitely see the OIS at work when in "active" mode.

From what I saw in my brief tests, the corners showed just a bit - outside the "safe area" brackets on the LCD if you turn on the gridlines, so not too bad. It was a bit worse with an HG0737C than with the Y version of the same lens, but it looked like the ".7" was lighlty wider with the C... have to revisit, I was just quick swapping glass to see what the general results were. You will of course get some barrelling mounting a WA on top of the already wide stock lens.

My reservations on the new lens range are fading, and you can go some way into the digital zoom before significant image degradation (they claim to have improved it, and looks like they might have). As I've thought about how often I HAD to mount a WA adapter, I'm seeing the value.

According to the Sony Pro Website, which now finally has the camera on their site, the HXR-MC50 has a 1/2.88" Exmor R sensor.

Sony Product Detail Page - HXRMC50U


Ozzy

IOW, it's a CX550V in fancy clothes... I'm not seeing any other firmware "feature adds" from that limited site listing, unless there's more to the story before the official release.

The CX550 is nice, to be sure, but a hood is $10-20, a good mic isn't terribly expensive, and you should have the FH70 battery anyway. IMO, gonna need a more convincing "package" for that extra $500.

And a bit more info from Sony UK:

Sony : HXR-MC50E (HXRMC50E) : Product Overview : United Kingdom

More info Sony Product Detail Page - HXRMC50U Brochure too.

Ron Evans

Ron -
Did you actually get the .pdf? Link seems to be broken for me, get the 404 page...

I'm still curious as to what if any features will be added in firmware. From the product page, I'm not seeing anything the CX550 doesn't have (other than the hood, mic, and bigger battery standard).

The CX550V is turning out to be a pretty good little balanced package by itself, the stock FV50 battery isn't half bad, got a couple cheap, and the FH70... I'm going to get a lens hood (whopping $10 on eBay from HK seller), although I'm not having any lens flare issues worth worrying about so far.

Yes I got the pdf. Doesn't say very much though. I was hoping for zebra or gain control but it seems it is a CX550 in a different colour with larger battery, lens hood and mic. Will wait and see if there are actually any differences.

Ron Evans

It's available for sale...
 

I noticed it at B & H here:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/707153-REG/Sony_HXR_MC50U_HXR_MC50U_Ultra_Compact_Pro.html

I don't think it received any features over and above the HDR-CX550. What I find funny is this thing being grouped with the HXR product line and the AX2000 being grouped with the HDR product line.

I'm really puzzled by the MC50 - usually they'd add at least a FEW features in firmware... yet there's been no indication that they did anything beyond a hood, mic, and making the FV70 big battery standard instead of the FV50 that comes with the CX550V.

Has anyone actually gotten hands on one of these to dig through the menus and see if there's any "goodies" hidden in there? Can't find any reviews so far, at least none that were accurate enough to be trustworthy, and none reporting any "added features".

I'm trying to find out if they added zebras. Even my SR11 has zebras. Is that somehow not considered a pro feature by Sony anymore???

I have just purchased the MC50E and can 100% confirm that the firmware is exactly the same as the 550, no more no less, no problem for me as I want to use it for multi cam work with my XR550

The lens hood by the way screws into the filter thread and locks onto a stud on the left hand side to stop it spinning around, very neat but no way of attaching a filter, the whole thing with the mic attached is a well balanced go anywhere package.

So the MC50E is a CX550 with lens hood, larger battery, mic and in a different colour?

Ron Evans

Um, wow... well, I spent less than 10 bucks to put a hood on my CX550 and picked up a couple FV70 batteries from "return" sellers on eBay for cheap. Guess that works...

Sometimes I really wonder what logic Sony uses when making some of the design decisions. Although I do like the CX550 overall, I stil want to know who put the tripod socket completely off center...

And it wouldn't have killed 'em to put zebras, alternate frame rates and maybe a few other pro features in the menus.

Saw your post last week, had a delay in registering to post a reply.

Did try to buy one but the last one of the first batch was demoing in Scotland! I'd just left!
The lens cap opens the cover when the camcorder is powered up, it has better cosmetics and the accessotries include the lead to connnect to an HD, a mini USB A male to USB A female, not included with the cx550. (All apart from the fancy cap available seperately).
As far as I can see no zebras and no timelapse, this was available on my old pdx10, but not my A1, do I go with Panasonic 700 which has it?
Is it worth £250 more, well there is that 2 year guarantee in the UK, I'll keep thinking for now.
Nick

I still don't see the big advantage of the MC50U over the CX550V, when they are effectively the same camera. Yes, you should have the big battery, that's a given, multiple batteries... the FV50 included with the CX550 isn't bad... just add a FV70.

Finding a lens hood that doesn't show up on the side edges of the wide end of the lens isn't easy - I did have to modify my sub $10 hoods... but they do the trick.

So that leaves the mic and the warranty, and apparently a couple cables. I'd rather have seen zebras, and some other features in the firmware to make it compelling.

And if you already have a decent mic, which you would expect at this market price level, and most of us do, that leaves the warranty and a couple of cables. Not what I would call a compelling sales pitch.

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E
 

does this only film in interlaced?
also for editing in a PPC mac with FC 6.0.6 i guess i would need to transcode to prores? would mpegstreamclip do the job?
would this edit well with my canon7D which is progressive? i guess i'd need to convert to progressive?
can anyone help?

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E versus CX700V
 

Hi Andrew,

You might want to look at this newer, cheaper, and I suspect potentially better alternative...and it can shoot in a great progressive format too!

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-...camcorder.html

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E
 

Your better off with the new CX700 since it adds native 24p and 60p. The MC50 only shoots interlaced.

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E
 

thanks for the replies.
what exactly is the point of the HXR-MC50E when the HDR CX700 seems to offer more? here in spain they are the same price! the HDR CX700 doesn't come with a mic nor hood but i guess the image and sound are the same (bar the progressive on the HDR CX700). would that be right? will the low light ability be the same?

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E
 

It also have zebras that I believe the MC50 doesn't have. Since it's newer, their could also be other manual features the MC50 doesn't have. From reading the specs, it appears to have a different higher resolution sensor as well so in broad daylight the CX700 may actually have better colors and sharpness than the CX550 or MC50 when shooting in 1080 50i/60i. The low light capabilities might be the same but it's too early to tell.

I'd say get either the CX700 or the TM900 and forgot about the MC50. Not everybody is ready for 1080 50p/60p yet but the picture quality out of it is incredible. 60i/50i is getting less and less popular as time moves on so it's definitely better to get a camcorder with progressive modes.

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E
 

If you wait a little bit, at NAB, Sony is unveiling a new ultra-compact camcorder in the NXCAM line, alonside their new 35mm NXCAM and a new 3-D NXCAM-

Sony?s Big (NAB Show) Reveal ? Part I

You may want to check out the new camera to see if it fits your needs in a way the MC50 and CX700 might not.

Ozzy

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E
 

I expect its base on the CX700 just like the MC50 was a CX550. I have had my CX700 now for 2 days and am still working through all the features and how they are selected.
It does have zebra ( 70 and 100), peaking ( three colour choices), expanded focus assist ( if manual focus is selected it works while focusing and then reverts back to normal view when control wheel is released), has tracking focus ( will track the focus of a selected item if it moves in the scene)

Low light is a little better than my XR500 and in low lux is a lot better than my NX5U!!! Looking at data code gain now goes to 21db all my other Sony's stop at 18db, noise even at this level is minimal and usable.

Downside is all controls are buried in menus with only the control wheel parameters and nightshot being available easily. Maybe Sony will bring all these to better manaul controls on this new camera and charge another $2000 !!!!

Ron Evans

Re: Sony HXR-MC50E
 

I would hope they do something more along the lines of the new Canon, or something large enough to provide physical access to the functions. I'd like something just a bit larger (maybe VG10 size?), but with real access and menu-ing to allow fast easy control. IMO the loss of the "My Menu" capability between the C550 and the CX700 is a gigantic epic fail... that feature at least made it easy to access six functions you use all the time in 2-3 touches... not too bad.

I thought the price jump between the CX550 and the MC50 was rather high for a hood and a mic and no apparent firmware upgrades - not that it's "bad", I've got a pretty similar setup for my 550... looks plenty serious as cameras go. But to ask over $2K for the new "compact" weatherized NX would be REALLY stretching if based on the CX700...