Not sure where to post this.

I am waiting for my new Sony XR520 to arrive and was wondering if anyone knew if you still have to convert any mpegs from the cam?

in my Sony 201e you had to use imagemixer program to convert the mpg files to mpg within the program so that you could use other programmes to edit/play etc...

Sony used to put some sort of proprietary coding in the file on the cam but do they still do this now?

Hi Russell -
Check the AVCHD area of DVinfo - that's where you'll find discussion of this and other cameras.

The short of it is that for short clips, most modern NLE's will handle them, as will numerous playback options. For clips that exceed aprox 2G in file size (around 15-20 minutes length), you'll need to use the included software to stitch the smaller pieces together into the long clip.

AVCHD is a "standard" so is fairly well supported, albeit it's a horsepower hog.