Why Sony MRC1K doesn't work with my Sony FX1?

[Edgar Vasiluk]

Ijust bought yesterday Sony Z5 with MRC1K unit and wanted to use it on my Sony FX1, but I could't work out why it's not working with it? Please, I need some help here. I really love my FX1.

[Tom Mussatto]

As long as your firewire port is still good It should work, but you will have to use the start/stop buttons on the MRC1 rather than the cams to record. The only other cam I've tried the unit on where the cam controls the MRC1 other than the Z5 is Panasonic DVX100b.

[Edgar Vasiluk]

Thank Tom for reply.

My firewire port works fine, as I connect it regularly to PC for transferring video. What about settings? Or steps of connecting and switching. Did anyone else experienced this problem?

[Tom Mussatto]

No settings required. Just turn the MRC1 on and when you want to record you hit the dual record buttons on the unit instead of the start button on your cam, and hit the stop button on the MRC1 to stop recording. Of course if you want to also record to tape at same time you need to hit your record button on cam. Not as slick as using the unit with a Z5, Z7, or DVX100b but it does work fine.

[Zach Love]

I've used a MRC1 with a Sony Z7, Panasonic DVX100 & HVX200 (tape mode only, obviously) & they all work well.

I think any camera that sends timecode through the FW cable, you can probably sync the MRC1K to record when the camera is recording, but I could be wrong on this. At the very least, you'll have to do as mentioned before & just hit record on the camera AND recorder every time you start / stop.

The only thing that I can think of that would cause it not to work is if you have a bad cable.

Try using the MRC1K on the Z5, but not attached to the back of the Z5, use the MRC1K with a FW cable, dock & battery. If you can get it to work with the Z5, it should work the same with the FX1. This should help narrow down if it is a problem with the recorder, cable, or camera.

[Les Wilson]

@Edgar
I recommend getting the instruction manual out to understand the different modes of the MRC1K. It would be helpful to tell us with more precision what you mean by "not working". Does it power on? Does it display the "I'm connected to a Computer" icon instead of the camera one? Is the format mode of the MRC1K set properly for what the camera's recording format is? I found older cameras like the XL1s and TRV-900 would only trigger the MRC1K if it was in the Polling mode. It would not work in the Sync mode (see instruction manual).

[Chris Barcellos]

Remember when you push record to manually start, you have to push both buttons in the indented record button area. I have FX1 and it works fine with the camera.

[Edgar Vasiluk]

Thanks for your advice's. I'll try later....

[Adam Gold]

Just set the MRC to FOLLOW mode, not SYNCHRO. It works fine and you do not have to use the buttons on the MRC at all. It's all in the manual. But you must have a tape in the cam. If you are recording to card only without a tape, then yes, you use the buttons on the MRC.

[Edgar Vasiluk]

Thank you Adam and everyone! When I changed to FOLLOW it start working! Reason I asked you, because I don't have User Manual.

[Les Wilson]

The first result of a Google search using the terms "sony mrc1k manual" is a link to SOny's site where you can download the manual on the "Resources" tab:
Sony Product Detail Page HVRMRC1K