Sony HXR-MC50U - Ultra Compact AVCHD Camcorder

I have had this cam right now for about 3 weeks. I was one of the first to buy it. Being a "pro" user (I have the PMW-EX3), I found a good niche for this cam. The real plus is the size and image quality you obtain for such a small form factor in this camcorder.

Pros:

Small SIze

Lightweight

Great video quality

Still mage quality better but still not as good as a DSLR

Steady shot is fabulous (makes many handheld shots look near or almost tripod steady! Best stabilization I have seen to date!)

Shotgun mic, directional picks up well

Touch screen LCD, 3" large

Has EVF (not great but i has one)

64GB internal memory over 300mins at max quality of shooting time

External mic jack

Ext headphone jack

"nightshot" IR mode and cam has IR light illuminator

HDMI out (HDMI mini)

Great optics

Full HD chip

Cons:

Manual Control very limited and menu based

Audio adjustment is just 2 positions attenuated and normal

No audio metering

LCD is fingerprint prone and needs to be wiped down after a few uses

EVF very small, cannot be used for focus adjustments

no progressive video

Many have wrote to me and said the HXR-MC50U is very similar to the CX550. I never used one so I can't say.

This cam is great for "run and gun" work, ENG, filmmakers, and news shooting. It should never be considered for your "primary" cam, but its a great derringer cam ready to be with you whenever.

And if your a still photo person, the still quality is the best I have seen for a camcorder, but it won't replace a full JPG shot with w DSLR like a Canon or Nikon.

Over all this cam gets 5 stars since it works great for what I use it for...run and gun, it stealth and works great for it's size.

Thanks

We just returned from a 19 day safari to Botswana and Zambia (Victoria Falls). Like the user above, I too have a SONY PMW-EX3, which is an incredible professional camera, but it was too large to carry on the bush flights within Africa, where weight is very limited! This little camera did everything SONY said it would and could do, and more. Carrying a laptop computer with me, I was able to transfer the day's video clips each day on to the computer with ease using the SONY PMB program which comes with the camera. and the videos were of the highest poossible resolution, full 1920 hi def. With very little study, and an available user's manual, I was able to master the lengthy menus which covered everything I needed to do to get great video in 793 clips. I also found it to be very sturdy and easy to handle under the most adverse of conditions, although it would be nice if SONY offered a rain cover to custom fit the camera, as the generic Petro case. which purports to fit this camera, was virtually impossible to use, especially at the end of the rainy season when you are likely to run into heavy showers, not to mention the massive clouds of spray at Victoria Falls. In my opinion, it was money well spent!

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Yes, I'm using one of these cameras, no I didn't buy it. Someone at work bought it that doesn't know much of anything about shooting video.

The pros are:

* Compact camera, easy to hold

* Big fold-out screen

* Lens hood

* Nice, sharp lens

* Battery lasts a long time

* Takes SDHC instead of just stupid Memory Sticks

* Has huge internal memory of 64GB

The cons are:

* Expensive considering the lack of features.

* No progressive modes (no 24p, no 30p)

* Poor low-light capability (just shot a night parade, and video came out pretty dark in non-nightshot mode)

* Many menu commands are buried deep and it's hard to drill down to the command you want (you can set-up a favorites menu but it still sucks)

* In high humidity conditions the touchscreen controls don't work properly, will often register a wrong choice.

* The 'shotgun' mic isn't very good or directional. I have a Rode VideoMic which really outperforms the Sony mic

* Only one manual control knob so you can have it do manual focus or exposure compensation but not both, bad placement for when the camera is on a tripod unless you have tiny long fingers.

* Using the touchscreen means you'll be jarring the camera while shooting.

* No hotshoe for accessories

The lack of a progressive mode is a real deal-killer. Do you want your videos to look like a weekend video guy or a filmmaker pro?

4/30/2013 UPDATE

A serious design flaw is apparent with this camcorder. The way the tripod socket is designed is incredibly weak. If a tripod screw is over-tightened it will bend the socket which cracks the bottom plastic cover plate. Now the screw-down tab of the tripod socket part has broken-off. The part is obviously made of cast aluminum which means it's weak, the socket is held in by a small screw (think slightly larger than eyeglass screw size)...only ONE screw to take all the force of being attached to the internal metal chassis. The bottom plastic plate obviously provides a little bit of hold-down force.

If you use this camera, absolutely do not tighten the tripod screw too much as it will break the tripod socket which is a custom socket. Sony ProParts says the 'Cabinet' replacement is $75. That's seventy-five bucks for what looks like a 25 cent cheap cast aluminum part.

I run a media center and we have like a dozen of these cameras and I can't be watching over everyone using them telling them to not overtighten. We tell clients to not overtighten but let's face it, I've got no control over them out in the field.

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This is a great little camera, the image quality is very nice. I've seen some complaints that it doesn't handle low lights well which is true unless you turn the auto focus off and adjust it manually.

This camera is lightwieght camera and great for me as a film student because I can easily take it with me anywhere and it handles well and at the same time delivers nice looking footage.

The only beef I had with it when I first got it is that to upload your footage you need a special program (which does come with the camera) that only works on PCs. I'm sure their are ways to get around this, just a heads up though.

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Sony HXR-MC50U Camcorder High Definition professional widescreen 6.6 Mpix optical zoom: 10 x supported memory: SD, MS PRO Duo, SDHC flash card I do a lot of shootings at demonstrations/protest type of events. Recently, I was at a rally in front of the White House. I was very pleased with the results. The video quality is first-rate and the mic/sound is more than adequate. In fact, for some of my scenes, I was placed, via crowd control, pretty far away from the focus of the action. Yet, the zoom on the camcorder did its job in a remarkable fashion. I found this camcorder very easy to use even for a first time right out of the box user. Kudos to Sony!