Sony DCR-HC26E Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: Small size. Good battery life. Nice touch screen. Great value.
Cons: No cables. Useless software with shoddy encoder. Slightly noisy CCD (snow) at low/medium light.

With a baby on the way and some birthday money, I eagerly ran to Futureshop in hopes of snagging a cheapo mini-DV video camera that would "do the job". I considered my options and purchased the Sony DCR-HC26, why? Because it was the smallest. Even the ...

Pros: Small, good composite video quality, touchscreen interface, easy mode
Cons: MPEG quality very poor (bad transcoding?), awkward zoom, software

I purchased this camera based on the positive reviews I had read about the DCR-HC21. BestBuy had the DCR-HC21 and the followup DCR-HC26 for the same price so I decided to try the newer model (even though the new model has no remote). Upon opening the ...

Pros: Use friendly, Light weight, touch screen LCD, exceptional video and audio quality, Carl Zeiss lens.
Cons: Not full digital. Still picture quality is not very good. No USB or S-video cables.

My wife and I were looking for a digital camcorder. We are the kind of folks that would use it about 3-4 times a year, so we didn't want to spend tons of money. So off we went to the local Best Buy. We had been looking at Digital 8/Hi 8 machines ...

Pros: quality, video, clarity, and convenience, price,zoom
Cons: slight lag in color

I just did a review for the Sony hc 46 and now I returned that when I saw this on sale and tried it out. These tiny Sony camcorders are so under scored by experts its almost amazing. This is a super clear video camcorder that gives great results indoors ...

Pros: Excellent day light video, fairly quiet camera, generous 20x zoom, great sound quality.
Cons: night video is fair, no light or option to add one, zoom loses some stability

I was in the market (or mood) to buy a camcorder. I always wanted one. Figured it would be of some use at some point in my life. To tell you the truth, now being an owner it really dawns how much it depends on your lifestyle. Honestly, I thought I'd ...

Pros: Fairly inexpensive - apparently because it is meant to be disposable!
Cons: No cable included. LCD screen went blank and broke after 30 minutes of recording.

Don't waste your money on this camcorder. My husband and I bought it for ourselves for Christmas in 2006 since we had a new baby. By Memorial Day of 2007 it was no longer working. We only filled up one tape, so although we used the camcorder for 5 ...

Pros: Small, good features, good picture quality when used with windows movie maker or something similar
Cons: doesn't come with USB cable, software sucks

This is my first camcorder. I got this for free as a gift from a vendor. I came home checked the prices on these and reviews. Which are so so. Bottom line the software that comes with this cam blows. Is it just me or are they actually using Old English ...

Pros: Compact, Quality, Easy to use, cheap as dirt!
Cons: Had to buy a second battery for prolonged use.

This camera is awesome. I have used it to record a friend's wedding and just capture footage around the house once and a while. The video quality is amazing and the camera is so lightweight and easy to use. You can literally pick it up and start using it immediately without any instruction. I didn't use the software that comes with the camera, I used 3rd party software to rip/burn the data. You can buy this camera brand new on eBay now for $160 shipped!

Pros: Cheap price
Cons: Poor video & audio quality, image stabilization is a joke, lack of cables and software.

Unlike other Sony products that I own, the quality of this is reflected in the price. The camcorder, and the quality, is cheap. The image stabilization feature is useless, which was very important for me. The video is grainy, and the audio is okay at best.

Software that came with the camcorder is a joke, and the lack of a firewire cable is a slap in the face. This is the last Sony product I will buy.

Pros: Ease of use
Cons: No included firewire cable.

I bought a couple of these for my kids and they love them. Very easy to use, even without reading the manual.

Capture is a breeze. Plug a firewire cable into a Mac and iMovie picks it right up. Edit away and burn it to your video iPod.

Pros: Cheaper than previous years model. High quality for lower price.
Cons: No remote, no mic jack.

This camera is the new 2006 model of last years DCR-HC21. While it is cheaper in price, it comes with a little less. I found it on sale for $320 (listed at $350), and it seems to just have a new case, the guts are the same. This years model doesn't have the remote control, which is nice in last years model. But, it is obvious that prices continue to fall on this product. The picture is great, the LCD touch panel menu is very convenient, and the audio is OK. Still doesn't have a mic jack, which a beginner may not be concerned with. But a great deal for the money.

Pros: Touch-panel screen, small size, price, quality, ease of use, zoom, weight, battery life.
Cons: No included software, not like you need it. New computers come with Windows Media Player.

I needed a camera to shoot promotional videos for my website. I had read reviews on this camera and people complained that the software it came with was poor for editing, well, first of all the software isn't even for editing! It was sort of difficult to find out how to upload the video, but once I did, the video and sound quality were great. Overall I would definitley reccomend this camera. IT EASILY TRANSFERS VIDEO TO A COMPUTER THROUGH FIREWIRE OR USB. YOU CAN EVEN RECORD FROM A VCR, SO U CAN TRANSFER YOUR OLD VHS TAPES TO YOUR CAMERA, UPLOAD THOSE ONTO YOUR COMPUTER, EDIT THEM, AND BURN THEM TO DVD. AMAZING.

Pros: It's small and fits well in the hand
Cons: Lousy software renders this camera useless.

Actually I can't complain about the camera features and I can't comment on the recording quality because I still can't burn a CD. 

The real complaint is the utter crap they call software.  I can not believe they actually have software this bad.  Capturing video to the computer has been an absolute nightmare.  It stops every few moment ostensibly because of blank spaces on the camera, which I don't understand.  It has taken me days to caputre just a few minutes.  Now I have discovered I can't even burn a CD.  I have tried a number of different avenues and have been confounded each time.  This is the 1st time I have ever written a review on anything, so you know I have had problems.