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(Page 1 of 3 pages for this article 1 2 3 >) Filed under: Cameras •Hardware •Production •Vendor Channels •Sony • Review: Sony HXR-MC50 1-CMOS AVCHD CamcorderLittle low-light 60i handycam with 64GB of built-in storage and a sharp, stable image.
Sony’s HXR-MC50U (US$1695 list, $1499 street price) is a fit-in-your-fist handycam shooting 1080/60i and recording AVCHD (and SD MPEG-2) to 64GB of built-in memory and/or a removable card (Memory Stick or SDHC). A back-illuminated sensor gives it great low-light capability, and infrared “NightShot” mode lets you shoot in utter darkness. Active SteadyShot adds superb stabilization, and the supplied shotgun mike offers tightly focused sound. [Update: typo: it’s 64 GB, not 64 MB!)
The camera also works as a 12 Mpixel still camera, and it even allows 8 Mpixel still capture while shooting video, with no interruption to the video recording. A built-in GPS allows geotagging of photos and video clips, with location info visible during playback or when using Sony’s Windows-only PMB software. The MC50U is the US version with GPS; there’s also an MC50N without GPS, and a 50i version for 50Hz parts of the world. The HXR-MC50 is a professionalized version of the HDR-CX550: it loses the CX550’s in-store “demo” mode, but gains both a removable lens hood and an ECM-CG1S “gun microphone” (yes, that’s what it says on the mike itself) with a camera-top shockmount. The MC50 is also warranted and serviced by Sony’s pro support group, which may make a difference should the camera need any repairs.
HXR-MC50 with supplied directional mike and lens hood.When stripped of its extras, the MC50 is set apart from the CX550 by a polished metal band around the front of the lens, different color treatments, and some reshuffled graphics on the left side; aside from that the two cameras are basically indistinguishable. Given its origins, the MC50 is big on family-friendly convenience features—touchscreen controls, gobs of scene modes, face detection, “intelligent” auto-everything—and miserly with manual controls. That miserliness, along with the absence of any progressive-mode recording, may put off those with cinematic aspirations (though the MC50 does have niche cine applications), but it’s a surprisingly versatile player in the video domain, especially if you work with its automated strengths and diminutive size instead of fighting them. Design and Controls
The HXR-MC50 isn’t much larger than my light meter.With only the battery attached, the MC50 is 5-3/4 inches (15cm) long and under 3 inches (8cm) wide and high. Add the lens hood and the package is still under 7 inches (18cm) long and 3.5 inches (9cm) wide. It’s light, too: a pound (460g) by itself, or a whopping pound and seven ounces (whopping 660g) with battery, mike, and lens hood.
Left side of HXR-MC50 with LCD closed.
Left side of HXR-MC50 with LCD and USB/HDMI door open.Flipping open the LCD reveals a cluster of buttons and connectors. In the lower left corner there’s a power button, letting you turn the machine off even with the LCD open (normally, the camera’s power is controlled by opening the LCD or by pulling out the EVF). A small hole allows access to the Reset button, should the camera’s computer ever become completely confused. A slide switch turns the built-in GPS receiver on and off; with the switch on, the GPS radio is active even when the rest of the camcorder is turned off. Above, the top left pushbutton triggers disc burning (letting you record clips in all formats other than 24Mbit/sec FX mode to a USB-connected DVD recorder). At top right, a button toggles between recording and playback modes. The NIGHTSHOT button enables NightShot mode, removing the camera’s internal infrared (IR) filter and illuminating an IR LED on the front of the camera. The iAUTO button starts Intelligent Auto mode, in which the camera tries to select face detection, the scene mode, and the SteadyShot mode most appropriate to the scene being shot. A perforated area covers the camera’s playback speaker, and a sliding cover protects the mini-USB and mini-HDMI ports. This sliding cover, like all the protective covers and doors on the MC50, uses an “over-center” spring, so the door snaps open or shut as needed. You need simply move the cover or door in the desired direction, and once you’re past the halfway point it’ll snap firmly and satisfyingly into place. On the bottom edge of the camera, wrapping around to the underside, there’s a slide switch to release the battery.
Aft view of HXR-MC50.The backside of the camera is dominated by the battery, which ejects downwards. Above it is the pull-out EVF. To the left of the EVF, two small green-backlit symbols indicate video or photo mode; to the right, a small yellow LED lights up when the photo flash is selected or when the camera’s battery is charging (the camera comes with an AC adapter / charger that charges the battery on-camera; an offboard battery charger is available separately). To the left of the battery, below the LCD’s spring catch, the word “OPEN” is printed on the body. When the LCD is closed, a small tab, visible on the lower left edge of the LCD’s housing, sits next to the “OPEN”, providing purchase for flipping the LCD open. To the right of the battery there’s the recording START/STOP trigger, and two flip-open doors.
Rear of HXR-MC50 with A/V and DC doors closed, EVF retracted.
Rear of HXR-MC50 with A/V and DC doors open, EVF extended.The upper door gives access to a Sony-proprietary A/V connector. The camera comes with two 55 inch (140cm) cables for this port: one supplies composite video and stereo audio, the other offers analog component video and stereo audio. An optional cable provides composite, Y/C (S-Video), and stereo audio. All these cables terminate in RCA plugs (and a 4-pin Y/C plug on the optional cable). There is no recording input through these cables; they’re for output only. The lower door covers the DC IN port, where the supplied AC adapter / battery charger plugs in.
Right side of HXR-MC50 with mic/phones door closed.The right side of the camera is mostly handgrip, though there’s a diopter adjustment on the side of the EVF, and a sliding door at the front of the camera covering the microphone and headphone jacks.
Mic and headphone jacks sit behind a sliding door on the right front corner.The front of the camera is dominated by its lens hood. Pulling it off reveals a few details.
HXR-MC50 with lens hood on and LCD opened.
HXR-MC50 with lens hood off and LCD opened.
HXR-MC50 with lens hood off and LCD closed; powered off.The 10x optical zoom lens has an integral shutter which closes whenever the camera is not in recording mode. The camera has a 37mm filter thread, into which the lens hood screws. The hood has a small socket extending rearwards that fits over a pin on the camera, keeping the hood straight and level. It may be possible to use both the hood atop a low-profile filter without vignetting (I haven’t tried this, however), but you’d have to align the hood manually. The hood itself is not threaded for filters. The lower left corner of the camera is an IR window, behind which lie the receiver for the wireless IR remote, and the IR LED used in NightShot mode. There’s also a tiny red LED tally lamp. None of these are visible / usable with the lens hood in place. Above the lens there’s a tiny flash, also unusable with the lens hood in place, which is ideally placed to generate red-eye in photos (though on a camera this small, there really isn’t anywhere better for it to go, unless it were to pop up from the top).
The HXR-MC50’s “Manual” control dial encircles its pushbutton.The lower right of the camera has the chrome control dial with integral pushbutton, which affords the operator with the only real-time manual control he or she will get with the MC50.
Top of HXR-MC50 with both LCD and EVF extended.The top of the camera has a mic capsule capable of capturing 5.1 audio. Behind it is the sliding cover over the active accessory shoe, into which the supplied microphone mount is fitted when desired. The active accessory shoe has its own spring-loaded sliding cover over a 17-pin electrical connector, none of which are used by the mic shockmount. Behind that there’s a side-to-side zoom rocker, and a PHOTO button for grabbing stills, usable in both photo and video modes.
Underside of HXR-MC50.Down below, there’s a 1/4x20 tripod socket, offset laterally from the camera’s centerline, and a socket for a tripod plate’s anti-rotation pin. Two inches (5cm) behind the socket’s center there’s a flip-down door for the single card slot, accepting Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, SD, and SDHC cards; and the slide switch for the battery, wrapped around from the side of the camera and accessible even when the LCD is closed—a nice touch.
Memory Sticks or SDHC cards load in through this bottom hatch.The camera has generated some negative press for its bottom-loading card slot and downward ejecting battery, based on people’s experiences with similar downward-ejecting DV and HDV cameras, but that’s a bum rap: even at highest quality, the camera will record six hours of video in its internal 64GB memory, and another three on a 32GB memory card. How often do you really need to eject a card? Even then, I had the camera on a Manfrotto 394 quick-release plate, which gave ample room for getting at the card slot and the battery; I also put the camera on a Miller Super8 fluid head and still had unobstructed access to the card slot. True, if you hard-mount the MC50 to a massive O’Connor 120ex cine head or a Vinten broadcast pedestal, you may have problems… but why would you do such a thing?
Left side of HXR-MC50 with supplied microphone attached.Adding the supplied “gun” microphone bulks up the package considerably. The mike mount has a foot with a locking collar underneath a rubber shroud; it’s easy to attach and remove, once you get the shroud peeled back out of the way and convince it to stay peeled back. The mike itself clamps into the holder on top of the shockmount with a simple flip latch, and the mike has a bump on its base that fits into a corresponding slot in the mount, so the orientation of the mike is never in doubt. The mike clamp uses four squishable rubber feet to grasp the mike, and the clamp is itself mounted on a rubber isolator, so there are two stages of isolation between the mike and the camera, as is common on Sony’s external mike mounts.
The mike plugs into the 3.5mm miniplug port on the side of the camera.The mike and its foam windscreen look just like those used on other Sony pro handycams, except that it uses a 3.5mm miniplug instead of an XLR connector. The mike cable is 12 inches (30 cm) long and the miniplug uses a right-angle connector, so the cable dresses neatly and stays out of the way. Next: Operation and Handling…
(Page 1 of 3 pages for this article 1 2 3 >) 
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