lionel@eiffel.DEC (Steve Lionel) (04/25/85)
I had the opportunity to try the new Sony BMC-550 Betamovie yesterday, and was quite pleased with it. The major advances of the BMC-550 are: 1. CCD image sensor 2. Records in SuperBeta! 3. Can superimpose date, time and counter on image Features also on the BMC-220K are digital auto-focus (which seemed to work very well), automatic white balance (AWB), and power zoom. The advantages of the CCD image sensor are: lower power consumption - you can now record 90 minutes on one battery charge rather than 60 on the older units, better low light sensitivity and better color reproduction. I tried the unit in the store and, based on my experiences with the older BMC-110 and BMC-220 units, the low-light sensitivity did seem to be improved. The color is still fantastic - I couldn't see much room for improvement. My major concern was the backward-compatibility of SuperBeta with existing Beta decks. I played the tape I made on a SL-HF300 VCR and the picture looked crisp and clear - if nothing else, even better than BMC-220 tapes play on my SL-2700. The salesman said that there were no problems with the tapes when played on Beta decks made in "the last 7-8 years", but as that includes just about all Beta VCRs ever, I think that maybe 2-3 years is more reasonable. There is no switch to turn off the SuperBeta, and I don't think it is needed. The physical design of the unit is strikingly different from its ancestors. It is more rectangular; longer and shorter. The controls have been improved quite a bit; the power switch is now a slide switch on the grip that, when slid to the on position, uncovers the record button. So, it is no longer possible to accidentally turn on the power when putting the camera in a case, as had happened to me a few times. The controls are very easy to find without looking. The grip does not appear to swivel; it is horizontal and you put your hand up through the strap, much like the JVC VideoMovie. I found it comfortable and well balanced. The viewfinder, still optical, is even clearer and supposedly can be reversed for lefties. (Personally, I prefer an optical viewfinder - it makes it more obvious to me what I am shooting.) There is an LCD display that can show the date, time and a tape counter (also a battery status). The date, time and counter can be superimposed on the recorded image, if desired. The one control I couldn't completely figure out was that for white balance. On the older units, there was a two-position switch for daylight/indcandescent, and a button you pushed to set the white balance exactly. Now there are three positions to the switch, with the third represented by a legend I could not interpret. Sliding the switch past the third position goes to a momentary fourth position, which seemed to be equivalent to the button on the earlier models. I tried assuming that that was how to set the AWB, and found that the colors recorded were perfect. (The salesman told me that I was the first customer to have set that correctly. I assume that if I could have seen the manual that all would have been explained.) The store was selling the BMC-550 for $1399, which is $100 less than others being advertised, but the price is typical of new Betamovie models - the BMC-220K can now be had for under $1000. I was quite pleased with the BMC-550 and, if I can scrape up the $$$, will likely purchase one. Steve Lionel