Sorry this is slightly off-topic (i just didn't think my question really warranted it's own thread..) :

Does anyone have any info (or a guess..) why on the V1 minisite :
http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Broadcastan...V1U/index.html

the "Functions" and "Design" sections are still dimmed out ?
i.e. still quoted as "Coming Soon". I cannot imagine why these sections are still delayed - i find it odd and so am thinking that *maybe* there might be a deeper reason for why that might be.

Pehaps they are still tweaking the firmware based upon feedback. I'm sure everyone who has used the V1 has provided comments.

My feedback:

1) Zoom ring switchable to iris.

2) Extended Focus auto-zooms to full Tele for focus. Second push of button, returns zoom to original position.

The only reason for the information not being available is the fact that Sony has not finalized the specifications yet. That's my guess.

Yes i tend to think it is something like this. Hardware all fixed of course, but firmware may have been modded at a late stage.

Just a fun aside regarding this cam/helmet combo, jumped it for a world record event a couple weeks ago, and got an email from a well-known network wondering if I'd shot this with a Varicam, because it looked so great, and if it was a Varicam, they wanted to know how I'd gotten out of the aircraft with the camera. :-)
Made us laugh around here, because the same broadcaster has allegedly been saying they don't like HDV. But they bought the footage, as delivered to them. It will be interesting to see how they treat it in post, if at all. ESPN and ESPN2, along with a couple of others have also already aired the footage, and both commented on how good the footage is.
As they say, ignorance is bliss. :-)

I think that is a common problem in life. People associate price with quality. In many cases, this is the case. But you can also pay for marketing. Nike shoes are probarbly the cheapest shoes to manufacture. But you are paying for all those commercials with Michael Jordan and Ronaldinho. Many A brands are made in the same production lines as C brands. A camera can perform really good in relation the price, and many people just won't accept that because they get the same quality from equipment two-times as expensive.