Review: Sony HXR-MC1 1-CMOS AVCHD POV Camcorder

Sony’s HXR-MC1 ($2800, street price) is a “POV” camcorder, an HD single-chip CMOS camera head with 10x zoom, separated from the “main body” with controls, LCD screen, and recording media, by a nine-foot umbilical cable. You can put the camera head in unusual or awkward places—on a helmet, strapped to the underside of a bike, on the deck of a skateboard, on the hood of a car—while being able to control it and view its images on its main body in a more convenient location. You can also mount the head on a boom pole (handy for reaching over the heads of crowds), a jib arm, or on a tripod in a sensitive location, while you monitor and operate it from a safe remove.

Quick Look: Panasonic AG-HPX300 1/3” 3-CMOS P2 HD camcorder

I recently had a brief hands-on session with the Panasonic AG-HPX300, courtesy of VMI Video‘s “Big Deal Day” demo with Panasonic’s Jan Livingston. While I wasn’t able to run formal tests, I did have enough time with it for some initial impressions.

MacWorldSF 2010 Free Expo Registration

The annual MacWorld Expo show soldiers on next February, despite the lack of Apple itself (so far, Apple isn’t exhibiting at CES or NAB either; apparently Apple means it when they say “we don’t need shows”). MWSF is still the best place to see new iPod—erm, Mac and other Apple-related—products all gathered in one place, plus MWSF offers several conference tracks in Mac-centric photography, video, IT, and the like. MWSF is also famous for its parties, and as a general gathering of the fanbois (guilty as charged, grin).