A few months ago, when I tested my new HC1, I took it on shoot that was mainly for walk through. I shot a post-op proceedure in the hospital and compared the handling of the HC1 to that of my trusty old XL1s. Was image resolution the only thing? Long story short: The XL1s won the overall in usage.

A week later I busted the HC1 and sent it in for repairs. No big deal.

Last week one of the marketing managers approached me and informed me that the walk-through job was a 'go', and was scheduled for shooting on Oct 15th. The kicker was that they wanted to use my "test" video in the actual piece, and the shoot was for additional support!

Right away I could envision the added effort of matching HC1 material with it's unique look to that of say an Canon H1 that I've budgeted for. Ugh. I could shoot with a rented FX1 or Z1U, but you could tell the difference. The only logical solution was to get that HC1 back before next week!

For the last two weeks I've been in contact with the repair facility as to the status of the repair. Parts have been on back order for six weeks and not a word from Sony. Every excuse I gave, kid's birthdays, long wait, etc. etc. didn't work. Finally I wrote an email not from my home address, but from my business address and indicated my need to have that thing in a pro-shoot to complete the look of an unfinished job.

That was yesterday. It shipped this morning. Coincidence?

A few months ago, when I tested my new HC1, I took it on shoot that was mainly for walk through. I shot a post-op proceedure in the hospital and compared the handling of the HC1 to that of my trusty old XL1s. Was image resolution the only thing? Long story short: The XL1s won the overall in usage.

A week later I busted the HC1 and sent it in for repairs. No big deal.

Last week one of the marketing managers approached me and informed me that the walk-through job was a 'go', and was scheduled for shooting on Oct 15th. The kicker was that they wanted to use my "test" video in the actual piece, and the shoot was for additional support!

Right away I could envision the added effort of matching HC1 material with it's unique look to that of say an Canon H1 that I've budgeted for. Ugh. I could shoot with a rented FX1 or Z1U, but you could tell the difference. The only logical solution was to get that HC1 back before next week!

For the last two weeks I've been in contact with the repair facility as to the status of the repair. Parts have been on back order for six weeks and not a word from Sony. Every excuse I gave, kid's birthdays, long wait, etc. etc. didn't work. Finally I wrote an email not from my home address, but from my business address and indicated my need to have that thing in a pro-shoot to complete the look of an unfinished job.

That was yesterday. It shipped this morning. Coincidence?

Maybe or maybe not, but write any company from your home address or using your own name and you will get less attention. Write like you are from a company or even lawyer and they will give you more. It is not just Sony. Not making excuses for them, but unfortunately that is the way the world is. Hell I cannot get answers or responses from my vendors at work these days. Only way is to threaten taking away their business.

I have to admit it's a prosumer camera, and didn't expect pro service to begin with. Six weeks was getting a little long even for consumer.

The camera seems to be working like new. The tape transport/eject mech is working better than new. Gone is the slight hesitation that occured during the eject phase. In fact there are now two distinct chimes upon activation. The repair indicates replacing of the entire tape mech. Must be an improved design, it certainly looks different.

One more job to finish and it's going to the wife. I have something bigger to look forward to.

Hmmm. Another discovery, or maybe it's just me, but focus on my repaired HC1 seems to be significantly faster. In fact, it's quite useable now.