My Sony DCR HC42 is junk after just 2 years
Written: Feb 20 '05 (Updated Dec 14 '07)
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Pros: Stunning camera for the price, widescreen capability, megapixel CCD.
Cons: looks good at first but does not last. sony is no longer a good brand
The Bottom Line: junk
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| robbie_e's Full Review: Sony HandycamŽ DCR-HC42 Mini DV Camcorder |
this broke after just 2 years and 20 hours of recording. sony want 75% the cost of buying it new to replace. This is my last sony.
I have only owned this camcorder for 1 week and this review is only based on the features I have used so far. I also own a 5 year old Sony V8 camcorder which is what I used as a comparison for picture quality etc.
I purchased this camera based on features for the price. The HC32 model was $70 cheaper but with the HC42 you get
- a color viewfinder
- a larger battery
- 2.7 inch widescreen display/recording capability
- Intelligent accessory shoe included
- better CCD/quality video
- analog pass through feature to convert all your older tapes to digital
First Impressions
First impression were very good, it came with an accessory shoe and basic cables required for connection. I purchased the i.Link cable for better picture quality transfer to my computer rather than used the USB cable included.
The camera is very compact and build quality seems solid. The controls are all very comfortable even with my big hands. The touch screen menu system is a big move in getting rid of all the normal buttons although the Easy mode and night shot modes have on camera buttons, the display has 16:9 and 4:3 modes selection as well as zoom buttons. The only down side with the touch screen is it is difficult to make changes while recording without moving the camera.
The accessory shoe/handycam station is required for video transfer but the power cable can plug directly into the camera so you don’t have to take it with you, although it is very compact anyway.
Initial shooting
So far I have only shot with the easy mode, nightshot plus mode and also color slow shutter mode. All these modes I compared to my old Sony V8 format camcorder.
Night shot mode is really required indoors at night other wise the picture gets lots of noise and pixilization can occur. The Nightshot picture is very bright and alot of color is lost, but the picture is still fairly sharp and focusing is consistent and good. Moving the camera quickly can result in pixilization even with Nightshot plus on, I also noticed a purple color in the center when filming close objects (say 3 feet from a way for example). I have not tested the Super Nightshot mode yet. My old V8 showed warmer colors in low light but constantly lost focus and the picture became blurred. So I think I definitely prefer the HC42 in low light although I was not completely amazed.
With outside daytime recording I was totally amazed, sharp picture, nice color and great focus. I always shot in 16:9 mode which really kind of opens up the picture capturing so much more of the scene.
Comparison of the HC42 with my old V8 format camcorder
To test the steady shot capability I tested both the HC42 and old V8 by mounting both cameras on my car dash board on my commute to work, using high quality JVC pro tapes. I drive some bumpy roads and some smooth highways. The result is the HC42 really smoothed out the bumps in the road where the V8 did not. The picture on the HC42 was obviously so much better than the V8. Street signs were readable so much sooner as I approached them, you could make out traffic lights much sooner, the quality was amazing considering I was filming from behind my windscreen.
Picture Quality
I have a 16:9 HDTV with HDTV service and would rate the HC42 picture sharpness and quality at about half way between a DVD and 1080i resolution HDTV broadcast. It really is that good.
I did notice some pixilization once on immediate play back but the following day playback was perfect. I put that issue down to bringing the camera in from a cold humid environment and using it right away in a warm one.
The only down side with the steady shot is that when you do move the camera around more than it can handle the resulting jump in the picture is a huge one. I sometimes found myself wondering if I would prefer the slight shaky hand movements over this huge picture jump.
Color slow shutter mode produces great warm nature color, even in lower light. But I only got good results with slow camera movement and slow/still subjects, otherwise I see picture jumps and pixilization.
Audio seems fine and sounds great on playback.
I will probably never get into making all the manual adjustments with the camera; I wanted a camera as a point and shoot camera. All I do is turn it on, hit the easy button and nightshot button as required and away I go. My only complaint is that I set the auto exposure mode on my old V8 camera which had a dial with modes for sports, night, beach&ski and sunset/moon etc. To do this on the HC42 you have to go via the touch screen menu system. Also I find it annoying to have to manually open and close the shutter cover, which I always forget to close after powering off.
I probably wont use the still picture feature as I have a digital camera.
Image Trasnfer to a PC
Next up is the image transfer to computer. I have a pentium 4 1.8 with 512K and transfer with the iLink Cable and burn DVDs with Nero software.
The supplied software "Sony picture package" is good because it handles the widescreen picture capability. I tried to use windows movie maker and even with 16:9 widescreen selected the result was not a widescreen picture.
The pass through function that allows you to transfer old VCR tapes through the HC42 and to a PC works well. But be aware you need additional software to do the conversion on the PC. The Sony picture package does not support the conversion, this is stated in the user manual.
Review Update
OK so now I have been using this camera for a few months. I am still very impressed. I have great low light shots from the strip in Vegas, great widesreen views of the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. I always turn of the easy mode and to get great quality shots in color slow shutter mode of my new born baby. Now I only use the highest quality tapes, I only get a little picture quirk once every 30-45 mins of recording. Otherwise the quality seems to blow everyone away when they watch what I have recorded with HC42.
I have notice since buying the camera that it has received serveral "best buy" awards. I'm very happy with my choice.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 570
Recommended for: Home and Families - Keep Memories of Family Vacations
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Epinions.com ID:
robbie_e
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Member: Rob
Location: Glendale, AZ
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 1 member
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