LouDiamond 1 #1 February 14, 2006 Just heard an interesting rumor about Sony's LANC ports. According to what I have heard, Sony is going to phase the LANC port out of its new line of cameras. Anyone else heard any grumblings about this?"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dunesurfer 0 #2 February 14, 2006 As per the info on Sony Style, it has already been omitted from the HC26,HC36,HC46. However the HC96 does have a lanc port. It also appears the PC1000 is discontinued as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nate_1979 9 #3 February 15, 2006 they just f***ing this shit all up now arnt they Glad I've got my PC350 and PC1000, they should do me good for awhile FGF #??? I miss the sky... There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diverds 0 #4 February 15, 2006 I just bought a second TRV-30 to have as a spare. Maybe I should get a third. I wonder if there is any way to build a cameye like device that works through the firewire port? Skydive Radio Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gulaz 1 #5 February 15, 2006 QuoteI wonder if there is any way to build a cameye like device that works through the firewire port? Possible? Yes... but difficult. The current Cameye works through the lanc port, which uses a really simple protocol that a cheap micro can use. Firewire needs a whole lot more. I dont think that a simple microprocessor could do it... You would assume that they would still put something for external control devices. Maybe... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dumpster 0 #6 February 15, 2006 Anybody have any connections with Sony at all? I'm sure they are very unaware of the niche market they have with skydivers. The biggest reason we buy Sony is for the LANC jack, otherwise, we'd be buying other brands, right? Easy Does It Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brabzzz 0 #7 February 15, 2006 I assumed it was the build quality? Maybe they'll bring out a firewire HUD monocle that shows all the cool details, height, range and a little crosshair and some useless numbers that rapidly scroll as you look around? I'd get one! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EXTremeWade 0 #8 February 15, 2006 Quote It also appears the PC1000 is discontinued as well. There is a lanc port on the PC 1000.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EXTremeWade 0 #9 February 15, 2006 I spoke wiht one of the " Techies" at Sony and they said that they felt this is starting to become an obsolete feature..I mentioned this concerning skydivers, and he said we dont taylor to just one genre of film producers, obviously so ofcourse..no dice for skydivers..He didnt say anything about what was to replace the lanc with a simple feature, except that there will remain a firewire. As for Pro Film guru's, they already use RF firewire remotes, but that will never fit on any camera, well..if you wont that bulky thing there, its just the inconvience of something simple like LANC that is being phased out..so..well just have to wait and see? Anybody else, here heard more? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #10 February 16, 2006 QuoteThe biggest reason we buy Sony is for the LANC jack, otherwise, we'd be buying other brands, right? Nope. The primary reason is the quality of the camera. I've had several (now cameraflyer) friends who started with whatever video camera they had and they quickly switched to Sony after seeing what crap their cameras produced. The LANC port is a very nice feature, and I hope they continue it on at least some models. However, we all may have to go back to the old way of hooking up an indicator (like I used to do)....with a connection taped over the 'record light' on the front of the camera. Worked for stand-by and record....just couldn't activate the camera for you like a Cam-Eye can. ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StefB 0 #11 February 16, 2006 Maybe they put the LANC control feature in the intelligent accessory shoe? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nate_1979 9 #12 February 17, 2006 QuoteMaybe they put the LANC control feature in the intelligent accessory shoe? Yea, thats it FGF #??? I miss the sky... There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #13 February 17, 2006 I took the time to write to Skytools (maker of the Cam-Eye) and received this response (with permission to post it here). ltdiver Quote Hi Lori, Well rumours are ... rumours and as such difficult to comment on, they might be true and yet again not true or somewhere in-between :-). The facts as we know them are that: 1) Sony usually release a range of models at each release occasion. Not all of those models have the LANC port. This is nothing new. High-end (meaning feature rich, not necessarily image quality rich) consumer models are equipped with LANC while low-end models are not. This might play a role in why rumours start. It's difficult to keep up with all new models, even for us here at SkyTools, and one could wrongly assume that Sony has stopped (or will) using LANC. 2) Sony is a very large company and designs their camcorders mainly in Japan, so what a Sony sales or tech rep in the rest of the world tells you might not necessarily be accurate. We have contacts within Sony Europe which we use on occasions when we need to solve a technical problem. They have not indicated to us that LANC will be stopped. 3) LANC is an old remote standard. Sony describes it in a publication back in 1986... It's not the state of art but works well and serves a good purpose. The fact hat they have not discontinued it or replaced it yet with something new is that there is a very large number of accessories (like CamEye II) which uses LANC on the market. Our guess is therefore that its kept for compatibility reasons. Don't forget that Sony also makes a large range of LANC remotes which I assume they would like to continue to sell. 4) "No smoke without fire?" Well we are not in direct contact with the Sony camcorder design decision makers so we can not be 100% sure. From our side we have not smelled any "factual" smoke yet. :-) This is the info I can share with you for now. Please feel free to post it as a reply to the forum. Best regards, Claes Hallberg SkyTools AB, Sweden Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 0 #14 February 17, 2006 Hmm. Thanks for posting that, but they (Skytools) didn't really address the one thing I'd like hear from them. If the LANC did disappear, would there be a viable (equally convenient to the camera flyer) alternative?www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #15 February 17, 2006 QuoteHmm. Thanks for posting that, but they (Skytools) didn't really address the one thing I'd like hear from them. If the LANC did disappear, would there be a viable (equally convenient to the camera flyer) alternative? I asked them that and they'll address it if the rumours turn out to be true. Until then, they are only rumours. ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pcalandra 0 #16 February 17, 2006 For what it's worth I work for a company that sells professional AV products from Sony Broadcast on down to the consumer level. I can tell you from experience that Sony in general and especially on the consumer side are not very responsive to requests or suggestions to their products features. They really could care less about our Skydiving business, it's minuscule in the big picture. As mentioned above the consumer products design are driven by Japan, Sony US is simply a separate company that buys product from Sony Japan. We could write letters, send e-mails and request that keep the LANC feature be kept on all models but I doubt that they will change their product plan based on the sale of a few hundred camcorders at best! It's unfortunate that it appears that the Lanc feature is going the way of the external buttons we all miss. I'm hoping that before I need to replace my HC-42 that their will be a viable MPEG-2 camcorder that uses some type of flash memory, lanc or no-lanc, as much as I love my CamEye I could live with the Radio Shack remote emitter/LED combination if I have to Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mark135 0 #17 February 17, 2006 well, shit don't forget about just taping a small mirror to the back of your glove and looking for that little red light._______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimmytavino 16 #18 February 17, 2006 Sure..... did that for years,,, only i kept the mirror in my pocket... works just fine in the plane,,,or on the ground.. still the CamEyeII/ LANC port combo... is essential to me now,,, while in FF and under canopy.... guess we have to keep our eyes open for, decent condition, "obsolete" models which we can have on hand , should our current cameras fail.....( or Fall) jmy .....o[:-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
