Sony Mavica CD1000Sony packs a 156 megabyte CD-R into a 2 megapixel Mavica. (Wow!)<<Image Storage & Interface :(Previous) | (Next): Test Results & Conclusion>> Page 11:Video, Power, SoftwareReview First Posted: 7/17/2000 |
Video OutAn audio/video output jack on the base of the lens barrel (just beneath the Focus and Steady-Shot controls) allows you to connect the camera to a television set. Through the capture menu, you can select NTSC or PAL formats. US and Japanese models come with the necessary NTSC cables, while European models come with PAL connectors. All the same image playback capabilities are available when connected to the TV, and you have the added ability to record images to video tape.
PowerThe MVC-CD1000 comes with a Sony InfoLITHIUM, NP-F550 rechargeable battery to accommodate the higher power drain of the CD-R drive. InfoLITHIUM means that the battery communicates with the camera to let you know how much power is left (displayed on the LCD panel in minutes as well as with a battery icon). If you need to run the camera for longer periods than the battery pack will allow, the supplied AC adapter should do the trick. There's also an auto power-off function which shuts down the camera after three minutes of inactivity. The AC adapter also acts as the battery charger. You simply leave the battery in the camera and plug in the AC adapter. If the camera is switched off, the "Charge" LED will light up (located directly over the power switch).
We love the InfoLITHIUM battery technology, because you know very shortly after turning the camera on exactly how much charge/operating time is left. Overall battery capacity is quite good, and the NP-F550 battery gives very good operating life. Finally, the lithium-ion technology used in the InfoLITHIUM cells means that the batteries don't "self-discharge," holding their full charge when not in use, for months at a time. Sony estimates that a fully charged NP-F550 will provide approximately 90 minutes of continuous recording time and about 110 minutes of continuous playback. These are good operating times, and better than we had expected, given the power-hungry tendencies of CD-R mechanisms. (Having fairly powerful DC motors and high-current write lasers.) We did note that the CD1000 uses the much higher capacity NP-F550 battery, as compared to the NP-F330 that ships in the FD95. For a lark (ok, we admit that counting trying different batteries as a "lark" is a little strange), we tried an NP-F330 in the CD1000 camera. Apparently a major difference between the F330 and F550 batteries is the latter's ability to handle much higher current drains comfortably: The CD1000 worked reasonably well in playback mode with the lower-capacity battery, but died quite quickly when the CD1000 was recording more or less continuously. (We didn't time it, but it was noteworthy that the high power drain of record mode also fooled the InfoLITHIUM system of the F330, since the battery ran out of juice a lot quicker than it expected to. - We thus strongly recommend against using less-expensive, lower-capacity InfoLITHIUM batteries in the CD1000: You'll get a lot less operating time than you'd be led to expect by the time-remaining readout!)
Included Software
Included with the MVC-CD1000 are three software CDs loaded with Sony's PictureGear Lite, MGI's PhotoSuite and VideoWave, as well as a selection of drivers, all compatible with Windows 95, 98 and NT as well as Mac OS 7.5 and higher (with the exception of Picture Gear, which is for PC users only). The Picture Gear software basically provides a way to manage and organize images and includes functions for creating labels and 360 degree panoramas. The PhotoSuite software comes in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese versions and provides image correction capabilities as well as a number of creative options for enhancing your images, including fun filters and templates. VideoWave works along similar lines, giving you basic editing tools that allow you to add music and text to your captured movies.
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