Sony’s press conference was unique in that it focused almost entirely on users including the Lakewood mega church in Houston (which is not yet using 3D technology but should call Vince Pace and Jim Cameron about getting some), McNeil-Lehrer’s commitment to going HD in 2007, an ambitious television station for a new Inglewood college (part of a huge neighborhood revitalization effort) and others, including a trip to Gilman’s Point atop Kilimanjaro with an HDV camcorder in tow.

Speaking of rugged trips, director/cameraman Mark Falstad was on hand to talk about his adventures with the XDCAM HD on Alaska’s Iditarod dog race. Falstad showed some remarkable no-light footage (captured with an XDCAM HD shutter feature); here’s Falstad’s exclusive account of his Iditarod shooting experience.

There was virtually no product announcement focus other than a reminder about the HDW F900R 24p camcorder announced in February, a demo of the Ipela video conferencing system in HD for which they claimed an impressive 2.5Mbps feed (Available this summer $25K for the codec $11K for the camera) and announcements that Apple and Avid are now both editing XDCAM HD. If you’re here at NAB , and want a closer look at XDCAM workflow, drop by the XDCAM Interoperability pavilion at Central Hall CW103000.

Read all of Sony’s NAB news including press releases on product announcements that were not included in the press conference, including a new cross platform content management suite for SD/HD, new versions of networked news systems and XPRI NS, and a new Anycast system. You can also read about customer sucesses with National Mobile Television and a New York ministry that is going XDCAM HD (but not 3D).