A pretty cool small camcorder, but I bought a Canon; why?...
Written: Mar 26 '01
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Pros: Decent features, familiar Sony product
Cons: Expensive, low battery life
The Bottom Line: Alright camcorder, with usual Sony low-end features. Hefty price tag makes it hard to justify against the superior Elura 2MC.
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| flindingo's Full Review: Sony Handycam DCR-PC5 Mini DV Camcorder |
The Sony DCR-PC5 was my runner up in the search for the perfect traveling camcorder companion. However I ended up choosing the Canon Elura 2MC (read my review of this great camcorder for all the reasons why I bought it). The sony PC5 is a good camcorder, it's just not a really great one, and for 600 more than the Elura it's really hard to justify it at all.
The DCR-PC5 is a tiny camcorder, it's about 4 inches by 2 inches, and has a little swivel screen that is 2.5 inches big. The camcorder is standard MiniDV and has a Sony Memory card included that is 4MB that can hold 20 good resolution 640x480 images. The other features are really standard of Sony camcorders, it has 10x Zoom and 120x digital zoom, night shot (fun but gets old quick), and several digital effects (14 to be exact).
The PC5 has a decent image stabilizer which will help with a shaky hand, however I found the Elura's to be much better. As well with many low-end sony camcorders there is a high signal-noise ratio. With insufficient lighting you'll see a lot of video noise, (artifacts that buzz around the image).
The controls on this camcorder are very accessible which is a nice plus especially for a camcorder this size. The motor drive is not terribly loud, however a small hum can be heard when recording using the on camera mic. Unfortunately using a separate mic to get rid of the noise pretty much defeats the purpose of such a small camcorder.
The zoom on the camera is good, however the motor once again is louder than that of the Canon Elura. The battery life is something to be desired, however battery life on all these small camcorders is minimal at best. On this camera you'll get about 40 minutes, unless you purchase the 4-hour battery. The access of the digital effects is pretty simple. I'm not a huge fan of on-camera effects except for possibly BW however All effects can be done usually much better in the editing room.
The mic for this camera is placed below the lense which helps pick up audio in front of the camera, however it has the problem of picking up noise on a zoom in or out. The still images on this camcorder are really great! They have a nice sharpness and quality for a DV camera, but it seems that the video quality isn't at the same level. The video quality suffered from grain and noise several times, yet the stills looked nice and sharp. The stills on DV camcorders are not printable quality, but perfect for e-mailing friends.
For still images Sony has a nice direct link cable that will plug into the PC's serial port and transfer images using their special software. This is great if you're just looking to toss some pictures onto a friends computer that doesn't have DV.
It's a decent camera, but it has a few drawbacks and for the price it's really hard to justify it over the much sturdier and (in my opinion) superior Elura 2MC (which is about 50% cheaper). If you're a die hard Sony Fan you'll like this camera because you'll have "sony" expectations, something pretty good for a little more than something better. [note to reader, that was sarcasm]
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1400
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Epinions.com ID:
flindingo
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 120
Trusted by: 35 members
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