Sony MCS1 PhotoVault Mini CD-R Staion (Assistant Photographer) Product Overview

Foreword

Since fashion for reviews of old hardware has gone, why not, in fact, join in, huh? This review will be devoted to the assistant device of the photographer Sony MCS1. This device, if I’m not mistaken, was released in 2004 and then, probably, it was very relevant.
I tried to imagine what the review would have been back in 2004, and here is what came of it.

Actually, a review

For any photographer (at least a professional, at least an amateur, at least a beginner), the problem of information storage has always been an acute problem. It was during the time of the film that you could buy yourself more cassettes and rejoice. Now, in the century of numbers, this will not work. Of course, you can buy a capacious flash drive and solve your problems, since the price allows. But there are situations when a large flash drive in everyday life is not required, or photos need to be sent by mail (meaning ordinary mail, not electronic), while not having at hand the computer that is needed to burn a disc ... (I understand that nonsense, but only enough fantasy for that.)
Today we will consider a device for recording mini-CDs Sony MCS-1, which at least somehow helps the photographer in various force majeure situations.
So, the scope of delivery:

• the device itself;
• battery compartment
• network cable and power supply;
• video cable for connecting to a TV;
• user's manual.

Close-up of the face of the device (photo taken from Amazon.com):

There are only five controls for the device: buttons for selecting modes and confirmation, a button for opening the cover, a power button.

On the front panel there is a slot for Memory Stick media and a USB-host:

On the rear panel there is a power connector and a thread for fixing the battery compartment:

On the side panels, there are power buttons, cover openers and a connector for a video cable:

The battery compartment is designed for 4 AA batteries and is screwed onto the device firmly enough, so power off is not a problem. As you may have guessed, the device can operate both on batteries and on a 220 V network.

The device supports 8 cm diameter CD-R mini discs. CD-RW format discs are not supported. View of the opened mouth:

You can use MS cards or a camera / flash drive that supports the Mass Storage standard as a source. The process of using the device is very simple: all that is required of you is to connect the camera, insert a disk and press the Enter button. At the end of the recording, the device will ask you to finalize the disc.
PS I didn’t buy a device, I got it for nothing, that's why a review was written. I myself would never have bought one, and it’s very difficult to find it on sale (at least in our Stavropol region).

Afterword

Thank you all for your attention.
And yet ... I apologize for the quality of the photographs - the device itself mysteriously got lost in the apartment (probably fell into a “succumb”), and I took a picture of this miracle for a long time, so I couldn’t retake it.