Pros: lightweight, small, Carl Zeiss Lens, some manual controls, lives long, good quality
Cons: could have more manual control, touch screen gets smudged, no mic input
The Bottom Line: Don't pass this up just because it's aimed at people wanting to videotape family reunions and vacations; it's more powerful than you'd think.
charizard8's Full Review: Sony Handycam® DCR-HC36 Mini DV Camcorder
I bought this video camera when my old one died, since I am a hobbiest in making short films. It was a great step up from my old camera (a JVC camcorder) and has a fair amount of useful features considering the price (I paid $300 when I got it a couple of years ago).
The quality of this product is amazing. I have used it in all sorts of conditions and it has lasted FAR longer than my old camcorder. The battery life is pretty good, and the Carl Zeiss Lens is another great feature. There is also a manual focus control which is nice, and with a little tweaking, you can even (to an extent) alter depth of field! The quality of the camera is also quite nice, and with some color correction (I use Adobe After Effects) you can improve the quality even more.
There are only a few things that would truly set this apart from the other consumer cameras in this price range, the main one being the lack of mic input. For people like me, external microphone input would make this an even better product. Also, it could have some more manual controls.
Overall, I'd say that this was a very good purchase. It could have more manual features, but overall I'm very satisfied with it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299.99 Recommended for: Home and Families - Keep Memories of Family Vacations
1/6-inch CCD imager MiniDV recording format offers up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution 20x optical zoom with Super SteadyShot picture-stabilizati...More at Amazon Marketplace
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