Hi, unfortunately I have to wait at least another week for my EX1 to arrive. I have a few questions to ask those of you who already have theirs. I apologise if some (or all) of these have been asked before.

1. When shooting, how long does it take for the camera to fire into record mode once you hit the button?

2. Is there a black balance function like there is on a lot of the shoulder mounted cameras. Sony recommend that you set the black balance every time you change the gain.

3. What does the centre of gravity feel like on the camera (without WA adapter). Is it very front heavy? Does the flip out LCD panel impact the C.O.G. greatly?

4. How much faster does the dedicated Sony SxS card reader export clips from a full 16Gb card versus connecting the camera directly via USB?

5. Can clips be exported via the firewire port or is this purely for exporting HDV?

6. Regarding the assign buttons, can any function be assigned to them or the restricted to a mere handful of commands?

7. Does the iris wheel affect exposure in steps or is it smooth?

Thanks in advance!

A few answers:

1 - no noticable lag between pushing the button and start of recording

2 - no, not available but you can change black level and a bunch of other settings etc. in the picture profile settings

3 - feels quite well, I have a large mattebox attached and c.o.g. is still under the hand grip

4 - not faster, both reader and camera are USB 2.0 equipped so I guess there isn't really a speed difference: only convinience... having a reader attached to a PC and an assistent to empty cards means I can continue shooting

5 - no, I did not manage to find any setting to acces the cards as storage devices via the firewire

6 - a good handful of command can be assigned, just read the pdf-manual to see which ones

7 - very smooth, there are no steps, it is a mechanical ring


regards,
Erwin

Concerning question number 4:

If you have an Express Card reader on you laptop it is a lot faster! I transfer an 8 GB-card in 3-4 minutes.

Sorry Erwin, Your answer is very nice, but I have just slightly different experiences:

3. Center of gravity : Front or back, it's balanced. But left or right, it's severly left heavy. The grip is too far to right from the center of gravity. The manual says you should use both hands to support the cam.

5. In SP mode, as you mentioned, you can use this cam just as an HDV cam. So you can 'capture' clips via the firewire port. But there is no way to download HQ mode clips via that port.

Howdy...

Couple of thoughts:

1) I have the SIIG PCIe express card reader on my MacPro, and it will also transfer at the much faster PCIe (not USB) speeds, which is great for downloading, and it was only $48 from Newegg...

One problem with the reader, however, is that it's not hot-swappable. If I boot the MacPro with the card in, it works just fine, and I can also eject the card just fine, but if I re-insert the card, it is not recognized unless I reboot...

2) DEFINITELY not a 1-handed camera. With 1 hand, your wrist will last about 1 minute.

Best,

Ben

Thanks for all the replies guys.