Anyone knows if the Canon A1/ G1 will interface and work with Sony's upcoming HVR-DR60 external Firewire HDD recorder? This would be a killer combination!

http://www.schweizervideo.ch/vorlage_mail/pict/september/hvr-dr60(brch).pdf

It should work in theory but some of the special features such as viewing clip info on the lcd off of the drive will not work on non-sony hardware.

The HVR-DR60 can be used to record video from a variety of devices, the question is which of the 3 recording modes will be available to users of non-Sony camcorders/devices.

Self recording mode: looks like it will work with any device. The downside is that it's not an intelligent mode, and cannot detect when you start/stop recording on the cam.


Follow camcorder mode: periodically polls the camcorder's status every second, but it remains to be seen if this mode can be used with a non-Sony camcorder. Per Sony this mode works with the Sony A1 and PD170. One hopeful note, Sony's website does mention that "The HVR-DR60 can be used with existing HDV/DVCAM camcorders equipped with an i.LINK interface", but we'll have to wait until someone can try it.


Synchronization mode: camcorder and DR60 act as one unit. Press rec on the cam, and the DR60 starts recording in-sync with the cam. Per Sony this works with the Sony V1, Z1, and DSR-250 or any device with an "External Rec. Control function".


FYI: Being able to see the HDD status/rec display on the camcorder LCD is a feature unique to the Sony HVR-V1.

Looks like this question is going to have to wait until someone can actually try it.

According to the data sheet, it mentions that it supports recording DV, or HDV 1080i data streams. Which means there's no mention of support for JVC HDV, and no Sony product has yet supported 1080/24F or 1080/30F so if the DR60 does, that would be a first. I certainly wouldn't count on it until someone tries it.

There's also no mention of Quicktime support, only .m2t for HDV and .avi for DV (both PC formats). The drive is FAT32 so Mac OS could read it, but I don't know if FCP supports .m2t files, does it?