For less than $500, the Sony DCR-HC30 is quite an inexpensive digital camcorder, which still uses MiniDV format and quality Carl Zeiss 10x optics. The HC30 is virtually identical to Sony DCR-HC20, but adds a color viewfinder, analog inputs, Memory Stick capability with MPEG movie mode and Super NightShot Plus.

Affordable MiniDV from Sony

Previously, if you wanted to get a Sony digital camcorder for a reasonably low price, you had to get their Digital 8 model. The Digital 8 models were less expensive (or had more functionality) than comparable MiniDV models, but were larger and used larger Digital 8 (actually Hi8) tapes, whereas other manufacturers used MiniDV (an industry standard) exclusively.

The HC30 is quite inexpensive, comparing to the Sony MiniDV camcorders of the previous generations. But the low price required some sacrifices. Still, not only the necessities are present, but there are some “luxuries” as well. Let’s see what you can get for your $450-500.

Looks

The HC30 is light and compact (although not as small as the most miniature models). It is convenient to hold and the main controls are within easy reach (advanced functions are more difficult to get to).

The camcorder looks functional, if a bit cheap. E.g. the tape door and the whole side have cheap look to them with grayish plastic and very shiny main mode switch. The opposite side with the LCD looks better.

Optics

The HC30 features a 10x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optical zoom lens, which, combined with digital zoom produces up to 120x total zoom. The lens is multi-coated to reduce flare and internal reflections, thereby increasing contrast.

The camcorder uses a 680,000-pixel CCD sensor, which is quite high resolution for such an inexpensive camcorder (340,000 pixels are used for the image, the rest helps stabilize it by means of digital image stabilization).

Image Stabilization

The camcorder employs digital image stabilization, which is very effective at removing unwanted image shake (caused by the hand shake, walking or being on a moving vehicle).

Viewfinder

The camcorder features a color viewfinder (with diopter adjustment for eyeglass wearers), which can extends slightly, but does not rotate out of its horizontally-fixed position. As such, the viewfinder flexibility is limited and you will be tempted to use the LCD screen more. Still, for times when you want to use the viewfinder, the color viewfinder helps you better distinguish between objects, which otherwise would be of similar shade of gray (had you used the black and white viewfinder).

LCD

The HC30 features a 2.5” LCD touch-panel viewscreen, which opens up to 90-degree angle and can rotate forward 180 degrees and backward 90 degrees. Once the screen is rotated and faces the subject, the image flips automatically, so the subject can see himself/herself without being upside-down. You can even close the screen, making it face the outside.

The LCD consumes more energy than a viewfinder. Thus, if battery capacity is limited and you want to squeeze the last drop of power out of it, the viewfinder will help. The button above the LCD turns the backlight on and off. You can turn it on in brightly lit areas to make the screen brighter and more visible. Obviously, the backlight needs more power and reduces the battery life slightly.

Controls

The camcorder has a prominent “Easy” button, which, when engaged, switches the camcorder to full auto mode and even increases the size on the screen fonts to make operation easier. When engaged, you can just “point and shoot” – the operation is automatic and the camcorder is very easy to use.

Otherwise, the LCD lets you control the camcorder’s many functions by tapping the choices that appear on it. Although it makes it somewhat easier to navigate the menus, this method has drawbacks.

Some functions (like manual focus, spot light metering and focus, white balance, exposure control and others) are buried in the menu system and are not easily and quickly accessible.

Some “virtual buttons” on the screen are too small and you can miss them if you don’t touch them precisely (if you touch off-center of the button, it might not work). It is not always easy to point the camcorder in the right direction while trying to tap on the screen in the correct spot with the other hand.

I remember how easy it once was to access important or semi-important functions like manual focus or exposure on the older cameras. On the TRV120, you could quickly push the button on the back of the camera and rotate the wheel to adjust manual exposure. More importantly, the button push fixed the exposure so that it would not change within one segment, depending on the lighting.

A good example of need for manual focus is trying to shoot Eiffel tower while being on the balcony of the Pompidou museum. There is a wire fence there, that the camcorder stubbornly focuses on while in auto focus mode. To make it focus on the tower behind (in the distance), you have to engage manual focus. With HC30, you have to either tap on the screen to let camera know where you want it to focus, or tap on "+" and "-" in the manual focus mode – a slow and error prone process. On the TRV120, you could move the switch in front of the LCD and rotate the ring around the lens to adjust the manual focus.

Certainly, it is cheaper to use a touch-sensitive screen than have a bunch of buttons, switches, etcetera. And it will work well for most people most of the time. But if you intend to use manual controls a lot, you might want to look elsewhere.

Performance

The most important criterion while choosing a camcorder for many people (myself included) is its picture quality. And in this case, the picture quality is very good (and remarkably good for the price). The colors are vivid, images sharp and edges of objects are well-defined.

The camcorder has an embedded stereo microphone and the sound is adequate for travel and “people” events. As I mentioned above, the camcorder employs digital image stabilization, which works very well and is very useful, especially at telephoto end of the zoom.

Speaking of zoom, the zoom control is sprung, but the spring is not strong enough, making it very difficult to zoom in and out slowly. THe smallest pressure you apply seems to make the camcorder zoom in or out too fast. You have to really control the pressure your finger applies to it to be able to zoom in or out slower.

The HC30 has no problem keeping many objects in focus at the same time (it has a wide depth of field) due to the small size of its imagining sensor and use of wide angle lens (in absolute terms). The imaging sensor is CCD with 340,000 effective pixels, which can provide more than 500 lines of horizontal resolution (340,000/480=708). Up to 500 lines are recorded on the MiniDV tape.

Formats

The camcorder records video on MiniDV tape, which uses DV compression and up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution. You can use standard SP speed with MiniDV tape or LP speed, which lets you record 50% more on the same tape with no loss of quality. The drawbacks are lack of ability to perform audio dubbing and the warning in the manual that the LP-recorded tapes might not play well in other MiniDV camcorders (including camcorders of the same model).

The camcorder can also take digital still pictures and store them on a memory card (Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo). The 8-Megabyte Memory Stick Duo is included. The image quality is barely adequate for email or web and the resolution is only 640x480.

Connectivity

Unlike the cheaper HC20, the HC30 has analog inputs in addition to the analog outs (A/V/S-Video). The A/V/S-Video input can be used to convert analog video to digital format and either record it on MiniDV tape or stream it to your computer. This is very useful for archiving (you can create DVDs of your older footage).

The camcorder has an i.Link (FireWire) high-speed digital connection for transferring video in digital format to your computer, another digital camcorder or standalone DVD recorder in real time with no loss in quality. Also present is USB 1.1 (for picture download and video streaming).

Also present a LANC editing controller interface. A microphone input is present (as I mentioned, the camcorder’s stereo microphone is adequate for most tasks, but if you want to connect a better one or the one that is closer to the action, you can use this input). A microphone can also be attached to the camcorder’s Intelligent Accessory Shoe, which accepts a variety of devices.

Remote Control

The remote control lets you control the camcorder remotely. It has zoom in/out and recording controls as well as playback controls. The remote is especially useful when you review your footage on the TV screen and don’t have a MiniDV VCR (and not many people do).

Battery

The camcorder ships with an NP-FP50 battery, which lasts about 50-120 minutes (depending on usage) and fully recharges in a little more than 2 hours. If you record continuously with LCD off, you may get up to 120 minutes. If you use LCD with backlight, use optical zoom extensively and turn the camcorder on and off, don’t expect more than 50-60 minutes. You can get a battery of larger capacity (NP-F70 doubles the recording times and the NP-F90 almost quadruples them).

The battery is of “InfoLithium” kind – you can see the remaining battery power in minutes. A useful feature, that works well too (the readings are normally quite accurate).

Bottom Line

Compact and easy to use, the HC30 is also inexpensive. It has very good performance (save for digital still pictures) and even has analog inputs. But if you need extensive, easy to use manual controls, this camcorder might not be the best choice.



My Reviews of Other Digital Camcorders

Sony DVD Camcorders:
Sony DCR-DVD201 Handycam DVD Camcorder Review
Sony DCR-DVD101 Handycam DVD Camcorder Review

Sony MiniDV Camcorders:
Sony DCR-HC40 1-Megapixel Handycam Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review
Sony DCR-HC30 Handycam Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review
Sony DCR-HC20 Handycam Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review

Sony Digital8 Camcorders:
Sony DCR-TRV460 Handycam Digital8 Digital Camcorder Review

Panasonic MiniDV Camcorders:
Panasonic PV-GS200 Palmcorder 3CCD Mini DV Digital Camcorder Review
Panasonic PV-GS120 Palmcorder Mini DV Digital 3CCD Camcorder Review


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 460
Recommended for: Budget Buyers - Best Values to Fit the Budget