HVR-MRC1 and Z5U recording

[Julius Smith]

Hi Again..

Love this forum..soo much valuable info and you get the real facts.

In regards to the Z5U and the HVR-MRC1. I heard that in order to record on the MRC only, you have to press the record button on the unit and not the record button on the camera. Is this correct? (Even if you don't have a tape inserted).

Also, to record on the MRC1, you need to press 2 buttons at once?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

[Adam Gold]

No, if you're not recording to tape at all -- even if you have a tape in the cam -- you set EXT REC CTRL on the Z5 to EXT ONLY. Pushing the REC button on the cam then starts the MRC with nothing happening in the tape compartment.

Yes, if you decide to use the buttons on the MRC, you need to push two adjacent buttons simultaneously.

[Les Wilson]

Are there any of the irritating flakey MRC1-boots-in-wrong-mode problems like there are when that unit is used with the Firewire cradle and attached to cameras like the Canon XH-A1?

I guess I'm asking "How is the reliability of the MRC1 as an add-on versus other camcorders where the CF card mechanism is built-in?"

TIA

[Leslie Wand]

from my experience (quite heavy over the last six months - the cf/z5 has proved totally reliable.

2 caveats:

a. it takes a few seconds after turning the camera on for the cf recorder to boot up.

b. there's a few frames recorded after pressing stop on the camera.

either way, neither of them are a problem as long as you know about them....

[Les Wilson]

Leslie...I've seen you pop up in various threads...thanks for the many informative posts on the MRC1 and Z5...I'm evaluating getting a Z5 to go with my MRC1 vs cut my losses and move to one of the integrated cameras ... a couple functional questions:

1) Is there a setting so the Z5 playback controls operate the MRC1 when there is no tape?
2) Is there a way to make the timecode on the MRC1 clips act like a tape or does each clip start at 00:00:00:00?
3) I read that the proper setting for when you record HDV to tape and SD to CF, is to "crop". Is there a way to get the 16x9 HD image down converted to NTSC anamorphic instead of cropped?
4) Is there a way to transfer the files from the MRC1 using the camera instead of the cradle?

Many thanks,
Leslie :-)

[Leslie Wand]

hi LW!

1) Is there a setting so the Z5 playback controls operate the MRC1 when there is no tape?

yes. you can do what you want. ie. tape / tape +cf / cf only. all controlled by camera record button.

i usually leave my camera set to tape (which i need for client and tv) + cf. however, i simply turn off the cf unit. when i see something i might want (say, stock shot) while shooting tape, i simply turn it on, and bingo, i have tape and cf.

2) Is there a way to make the timecode on the MRC1 clips act like a tape or does each clip start at 00:00:00:00?

interestingly enough i haven't looked into that. the cf matches the tape in the camera, but i don't know if i preset camera to say 2hrs whether the cf picks it up. i can't see why not, but i really don't know. but as i said, each clip has matching tape tc.

3) I read that the proper setting for when you record HDV to tape and SD to CF, is to "crop". Is there a way to get the 16x9 HD image down converted to NTSC anamorphic instead of cropped?

again, don't know - i always shoot hd, the only time i so sd is for tv, and that's too tape. (oh and i'm PAL)

4) Is there a way to transfer the files from the MRC1 using the camera instead of the cradle?

? i simply pop out the card and use a firewire based card reader ($89aud), though any usb cf card reader will do the same job, just not as fast!

i'm one very happy camper.

there's no way i can see myself giving up tape, a. certainly not while clients demand it, and b. for simple archiving. a $2.50 tape is cheaper, more reliable, more easily identifiable, more easily storable than any hd. it also lets me sleep at night on a paying job ;-)

[Les Wilson]

Originally Posted by Leslie Wand

hi LW!

1) Is there a setting so the Z5 playback controls operate the MRC1 when there is no tape?

yes. you can do what you want. ie. tape / tape +cf / cf only. all controlled by camera record button.

i usually leave my camera set to tape (which i need for client and tv) + cf. however, i simply turn off the cf unit. when i see something i might want (say, stock shot) while shooting tape, i simply turn it on, and bingo, i have tape and cf.

I meant the playback controls not the record button. For reviewing recorded clips...can you tell the Z5 that the playback controls are for the MRC1 and not the tape transport?

Thanks for the response, beyond having the same first name and initials, seems we view the value of tape the same too.

[Leslie Wand]

true, true....

actually i really don't know.... and i don't have my camera to hand at the moment.

it's an interesting question though....

btw. read your other thread, re back focus, etc.,

all i can say is focusing is much more critical that with dv, and so far, touch wood, i haven't seen any problems - other than operator error!

i have found that at the long end focusing can be slightly problematic in as much as sorting out foreground from background, but manual sorts it out pretty quick.

[Rian Maelzer]

To record anamorphic SD select Squeeze instead of Edge Crop. Done.