SONY HXR-MC50E High Definition Camcorder

I have had this camera for about a month, I didn't buy it off Amazon because they weren't the best on price. However, at the time I made my decision to buy I took a bit of a risk as there are not many reviews on this item, and I want now to get a review on for those who may be thinking of buying one.

My overall first impression when I first saw it was... Is that all it is? Is that all I get for my 1300 quid? It really is tiny for a semi pro camera. Some may argue that it is not semi pro at all but merely a tarted up consumer camera, that is until you turn it on and use it. All I can say is it is brilliant! The picture quality is superb with good contrast and bright colours that dont bleed. It performs more than adequately in low light, and it has to be quite low before you begin to see grain in the picture. The 12 megapixel stills are almost slr quality if taken whilst not shooting video, the best I have ever seen from a camcorder. Battery life is good, almost 3 hrs on the battery that came with it, and it fits very nicely in my big hands. The eyepiece is a tiny bit squinty and could have been made a tad bigger, but I always prefer using an eyepiece rather than a screen so it doesnt bother me much.

A couple of negatives would be that the clip on mic, although giving good results, does get in the way of your fingers when holding it, so I tend to only use it if I mount the camera on a tripod. The internal mic gives excellent results anyway. And the second point is that fast moving objects coming across your field of vision and towards you have a tendency to jerk a bit. I'm not sure of the cause of this other than it could be because the frame rate is 25ps. I didnt get this on my old mini dv cameras whose frame rate was 30ps. Perhaps this is where a more expensive camera steps in... but then I just aviod those situations.

I have been using small cameras like this for weddings for the last 18 years because they are less obtrusive that walking around with a suitcase on you shoulder, and they are not as tiring. Purists may argue otherwise but I always think the star of a wedding should be the bride, and not the video cameraman. The MC50e up to now has performed fantasticly and my customers are well pleased with the results which testifies to me you dont need a big camera to do some good work. Yes, a 5 grand camera would give better results in the more extreme conditions, but then you would expect it to, or you'd want some mony back. But social photography lies generally within the basic conditions you are likely to encounter, and this camera with cope with it. You wouldnt choose the MC50e to film lions in Kenya at midnight! If you want to do some social video photography you could do a lot worse than use the MC50e. I've seen reviews from some video gurus advising to use the MC50e as a second camera because it doesnt have the manual settings of a more expensive camera. I think that is rubbish. The auto settings on this camera do what they are supposed to and allow you to concentrate on the art of photography instead of the technicalities. What is the point in having a dog and barking yourself, this camera is meant to be used on auto. It wont cope with everything, but then if you get to know its limitations you will learn to work around them - the same as any camera. Dont think of it as a second camera, I havent, and I am well pleased with it - and will be for some time to come.