Can the XLR box on the top of the A1 be removed? If so, does it have the 1/8 mic input that the HC1 has?

This sounds stupid, but I am thinking of situations where one needs a smaller form factor and doesn't care much about sound.

Buddy

Hey Buddy,

The XLR box can be removed and the A1U has a 1/8" mic input and headphone out.

You can grab the brochure (PDF) from Sony's DVCAM site.

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/docs/brochures/hvra1u_broch.pdf

moreover, the sound quality of the duel on-board mics is quite acceptable, when a smaller form factor is desired.

That is one of the things I love about my A1: take off the XLR box and it looks like a regular home video camera.

With the XLR box removed, are there any differences between the A1U and the HC1?

With the XLR box removed, are there any differences between the A1U and the HC1?Yes quite a few functionality differences. Most of them in the firm-ware, but there are small physical differences too like the A1 has a physical button on the body that is assignable to change different functions etc. But most of the differences are contained in the features avaialble via the menu system.