Part 5 in reviewing Sony's HC series camcorders.

I don't sell many DCR-HC85 camcorders at my work, but it happens every once in awhile. Typically, the people purchasing the HC85 want the best resolution camera available from Sony. Not all the camcorders I sell are Sony, so it's definitely not the best around (since there are better alternatives in Canon and Panasonic for either less, or around the same cost), but those who are focused on easy to use and point & shoot usually end up with something Sony. Sony's familiar name helps explain the inflated cost (even though it's packed with features), and the amazingly compact size helps clinch the sale. I pick the DCR-HC40 to demonstrate use and features since it's the most commonly purchased Sony camcorder, and depending on the customers' budget and needs they can either move up to the DCR-HC65 or down to the DCR-HC30 models for changes in both features and price. The HC85 is virtually the exact same unit as the HC65 except that it has a higher video and still image resolution, and a better focal length.


Ease of Use
For those worried about a multitude of buttons decorating the camcorder, Sony camcorders eliminate those with it's touch-screen LCD. All of the advanced settings and controls are at your fingertips and easy enough to navigate (at least in comparison to staring at buttons with bewilderment). On the LCD side of the camcorder there is a button labeled Easy which changes how many options you can affect in the menu. Easy-on has the common features. Easy-off gives you the full-fledged menus with all the options that you can change. You can tell which mode you're in easily due to the blue glow of the button when the easy mode is on. From the (limited) manual controls to the basic camera settings, it's all there. There are a number of screens available and the camcorder itself is not very self-explanatory so browsing through the manual while experimenting with the camcorder is recommended. Once you get the hang of the menu system and know where the common controls are located, you'll be enjoying taking video with confidance.

The other two buttons on the LCD side of the camcorder are Back Light, which makes the LCD screen brighter/darker, and Batt Info which shows how much battery power you have remaining. The LCD screen itself has the backlight button and a record button on the left-hand side for easy operation while using the LCD while recording. Other than that, the other buttons are self-explanatory: record (right thumb button), Super Nightshot Plus, Photo (for taking stills), and the on-switch which toggles between tape-memory-playback modes. And that's it! It doesn't take long to demonstrate those features and customers are impressed with how easy it is to navigate.


Quality
Image: The HC85 sports a 1/3.6" HAD CCD which was designed to give better image quality with less fuzziness. It has less CCD since the unit is about 1/3 smaller than the previous version, but it's advanced as to retain the quality. Combined with the Carl Zeiss Lens, the colors in recorded video are vibrant and full. The HC85 has better video and picture resolution than the HC65 (1080k video/1920k still versus 690k video/1000k still). The new nightshot mode of the Sony camcorders has been changed from a green-hue to something less-green-that-has-more-color for the video. Sony makes great use of low-light conditions with it's Super Nightshot Plus Infared technology, though less light available will increase the video noise and make it a bit grainier. Under normal light conditions, a 3CCD camcorder (such as Panasonic) will outperform the Sony, though I have heard that 3CCD recordings can create muddy edges on the video from too much information. Even in some cases a 3CCD camcorder can perform just as well as the Sony camcorders with the Nightshot. Otherwise most people reviewing the video recording demonstrated in-store on the HC85 are pretty satisfied with the results.

The quality of the stills are pretty good, being equivalent to a 2-megapixel digital camera. You can print them out 4x6 size and have some decent looking photos to share. It's a neat feature for those who want to take a snapshot of something, and it puts the memory-card slot to better use than trying to record video on a memory stick. A 512mb memory card can get you an hour of video (at half the resolution), but only a 16mb card is included. You can spend $8 on a MiniDV tape for an hour of video or ~$150 on a 512mb memory stick for an hour of video.

Zoom: Big miss here. While other manufacturers (Canon, JVC) are upping the optical and digital zoom on their camcorders, Sony has stuck with the 10x optical 120x digital for theirs. While this is okay for small events (parties, in-home stuff, recording the protestors across the street) it's definitely not going to work for those who need to zoom in close up (like soccer-moms in the stands taping their kid playing in the game). If the zoom factor isn't an issue, then you'll appreciate Sony's accurate zoom control. One advantage with less zoom is better image stability, especially coupled with Sony's good image stabilization. But either way, it would have been nice to have much more zoom than what is provided, especially for a camcorder in this price bracket. The HC85 has a higher focal length in comparison to the HC65.

Sound: It's almost as good/bad as the zoom, mostly for stuff close up. People who are trying to record something further away and want to capture the sound well will have to get a mic (either plugged into the microphone port or inserted into the accessory shoe on top) instead of using what's built into the camcorder itself. The Sony camcorder itself runs quite smooth so even if you're recording something while there is not much sound present you're not going to get any motor noise in the background of the video itself. This is sometimes overlooked until it comes to the point when it actually happens, and a few models from other manufacturers aren't as good as Sony when it comes to internal motor noise. Based on the trend of customers coming in to my work and making purchases, most of these people aren't worried too much about the distance of the sound nor zoom since they're doing close-up recording anyway.




Manual Controls
Sony makes starter camcorders, so you're working with mostly automatic controls. Those wanting a more professional feel or quality should pick a Canon or Panasonic, which offer more manual controls. But the controls that Sony offers are important ones and are easy to use too. The Spot Metering and Spot Focus allow the user to manually adjust the exposure and focus with the touch of a finger. The adjustment is made by tapping the area of the LCD screen where the desired exposure or focus is, and the camcorder will automatically adjust the exposure/focus to that area. The HC85 does offer a manual focus ring which will work in both manual and automatic modes (but will not work in Easy mode). On the HC65 and HC85 the exposure can be set through the LCD screen with plus and minus adjustemtents. The other manual control is White Balance with an indoor, outdoor, and manual setting (adjusts just like spot metering and focus). Unfortunately, the manual controls are in the submenus and require a little navigation. Hopefully Sony will make the menu system a little more intuitive to use. But once you're familiar with the location it's easy enough to access with a few finger taps.


Hardware
Screen: The 3.5" touch-screen LCD has a quality build that lasts all the constant touching, poking, and accessing of menus and features. The images in the LCD screen are consistently sharp, even when being used outdoors. The screen neatly folds out and can rotate 180 degrees so you can effectively record yourself. One interesting thing I noticed with the Sony camcorders is that the LCD screen can rotate about 60 degrees before the image flips. Explanation: The camera is pointing at you and you are viewing yourself in the LCD screen. As you rotate the screen backward, you can still see your image right-side up until the screen is about 30 degrees from the horizontal, when it will flip the image upside-down. Turn the camera around so it is pointing away from you and the image will be right-side up from that perspective. The other manufacturers don't have as wide a rotation before flipping the image! I tried with Panasonic, Hitachi, JVC, and (I think) Canon. With those manufacturers I can rotate the screen only about 20-25 degrees before the image flips. This can be very important if you're trying to record something at an odd angle and need to rotate the screen appropriately (like if you're short and trying to get over someone else's head). It's something that people don't really think about until comes the time when they try and find out that early image-flipping creates a nuisance. Sony gets a plus for their screen.

Viewfinder: It's color and in the HC85 model it does have a vertical rotation, which would have been nice to see included in the lower HC series camcorders. Greater use of the viewfinder while recording means more recording time per battery charge. Liberal use of the LCD screen (especially with the large 3.5" screen) will drain the battery quicker than you'd think, so a second battery would be recommended.


Overall
The unit itself is large enough to feel like an expensive piece of equipment but small (though not as small as the lower-end models) enough to fit in hands and cases comfortably. It's something that you can easily take with you anywhere without the inconvenience of size. The camcorder itself has a nice feel with well-placed buttons. The HC85 has a lens cap to cover the larger lens as opposed to a shutter-switch found on the HC20, HC30, and HC40. Other notable features of the DCR-HC85 are: Analog-to-Digital Passthrough, USB streaming, One-Touch DVD-Recording (when hooked to a Sony Vaio PC), 16:9 aspect ratio, and pop-up flash. The ports that the HC85 has available are: A/V, USB, Firewire, S-Video, Microphone, LANC, and a headphone jack. They're neatly tucked away from sight, but easily accessible. Sony includes a pretty full software bundle for transferring video to your computer for editing and burning purposes.

The Sony DCR-HC85 is great for people new to camcorders or new to camcorders of the digital age and want the best video quality possible. Otherwise for the cost, it's hard to seriously justify the Sony brand to those who want more, better, or professional out of a camcorder. Exceptions would be people stuck on the Sony brand or the nice 3.5" LCD screen and high resolution (I've qualified customers to a Panasonic or Canon based on their needs, yet once in awhile they'll go with a Sony for either it's size or just the Sony name). If you're itching to get one of your own right now right away, see if you can hold out for a great deal. Those who are patient and shop smart will pay a price better suited for the quality of the camera (meaning Sony is overpriced), even though with the high video and still image resolution the DCR-HC85 doesn't do too bad of a job. You can pay a couple hundred less for a camcorder and a digital camera, but then you would have two pieces of equipment to carry around instead of just one.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 999.99
Recommended for: Home and Families - Keep Memories of Family Vacations