The other day a Sony HXR-MC2000 camcorder, came into my hands through a
company I have done some work through and like always I jumped at the opportunity
to create a short test video.
The camera is certainly not 'Pro' in the usual sense of the term, with its tiny
resistive touch screen display, awkward multi function lens ring and
frustratingly few buttons. But then again professionals who demand complete
control are not the professionals Sony were targeting with this model. No the
target buyer of this model are enthusiasts and a specific type of professional,
an individual that must run a production by themselves and therefore depend
upon a cameras automatic aids, durability, versatility and reliability.
The automatic functions, which frustrated me so when shooting this test
film, are a blessing in disguise. They are the biggest factor in my cons list
for this camera, simply because they refuse to relinquish their control, the
manual controls through the sloppy lens ring and fiddly touch screen are a
nightmare. However the automatic mode when left to its own devices works very
well in most situations, and if shooting a live event where you need such
automation, there'd be no need to attempt the manual controls anyway.
The camera works:
It has an internal 90GB hard disk which you'll have a hard time filling up,
even at the highest bit rate recording setting, and even if you do storage is
expandable through inexpensive SD memory cards.
It uses Sony's infolithium L-series batteries, and with such a low power
draw, it's entirely possible to do a whole days shoot on a single NP-970
battery.
Fantastic plastic, the camera body is entirely plastic and on the most part
it feels quite hollow making it feel very light, but not flimsy. I must say the
impression it gives me is that it could easily survive falling down a flight of
stairs (Not tested of course). The price and build quality of this camera
combine to form a very 'tough and ready' feeling product.
Sony's optical image stabilisation which features in the MC2000, performs
very well. In fact the majority of the images featured in my test video were
shot without a tripod. This feature makes the camera very usable handheld or on
the shoulder in almost any situation.
It has an impressive low light performance, considering it only has a single
1/4 Cmos chip, the footage captured with minimal street lighting, or on a
crowded dance floor, is entirely usable for most live event productions.
Some drawbacks:
As I have said, if you want manual control from your camera, look elsewhere.
This drove me crazy.
16 minute clip length. For whatever reason the camera insists upon using the
FAT file structure, and therefore has a cap on the maximum size per file. this
equates to roughly 16 minutes of recoding before the camera makes a new file.
It wouldn't be so much of an issue if the camera didn't drop 2 whole frames
between switching, making shooting long takes and synchronising multiple
cameras a bit difficult.
The eyepiece viewfinder is pathetic. You may as well tear it off and save
yourself some weight, it's so small my eye takes a moment to re-focus as I
squint to make out the image. Stick to the 2 inch LCD or buy an external
monitor is my recommendation.
Zooming can be an issue if you're recording a critical moment and you want a
very slow and controllable zoom. Both the rockers featured on this can be a bit
tricky, you'll be gradually applying more and more pressure whilst nothing's
happening, then suddenly the servo will wake up and jolt your frame forward
ruining your shot.
So there we have it, a sometimes frustrating yet decent camera for a
specific purpose. You can see my test video shot with the MC2000 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPOU1BESHQE