Sony Handycam® DCR-HC42 Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: Lightweight, Very small & compact, long battery life, Included dock, Touch-Screen LCD, High Quality Video
Cons: Must use dock for DV cable, Can't change settings from viewfinder, Tape comes out bottom.

-INTRO- I have had the DCR-HC42 MiniDV Handycam by Sony for only a few months now, but so far I am very impressed. Sony jam packs ease of use and functionality into a tiny package! Coming over from a Cannon ELURA40, that I had many problems with, ...

Pros: Stunning camera for the price, widescreen capability, megapixel CCD.
Cons: looks good at first but does not last. sony is no longer a good brand

this broke after just 2 years and 20 hours of recording. sony want 75% the cost of buying it new to replace. This is my last sony. I have only owned this camcorder for 1 week and this review is only based on the features I have used so far. I also ...

Pros: Size and portability, ease of use, bang for buck, reliability.
Cons: Can't burn DVD's directly, need the light attachment for low light.

When my wife and I were expecting our second son, we made the decision to purchase a video camera based on the fact the wish had always wished that we had one during our first sons few years. Being that neither she nor I are tech-junkies we were a ...

Pros: Works great at first
Cons: LCD display fails

I have purchased 2 of these in the last 36 months and both are dead now. After 15 to 18 months, the LCD display has quit displaying and there is nothing Sony will do about it. We thought the first one was lemon, so we purchased another one and now the second one just died with the exact same problem as the first one.

Pros: Small size, but big in picture quality
Cons: The color is a little boring

If you want something that is easy to take around, easy to handle, and easy to operate, this is your toy right here! I've had no problem whatsoever with this camera for the 5 moths that I have had it already. Battery life is great too, and the picture quality is quite satisfying.

Pros: camcorder
Cons: camcorder

It's really EXCELLENT CAMCORDER
It has a optimal system for everyone.Nice Menu,Ideal Digital Effects and Picture Effects.Nice Recording.I bought this.but before buy this camcorder really thought hard. I love everything on it but 1 what i hate.It's VCD maker menu.Its Capturing every 10MINUTE from miniDV .But doesn't combining them after capturing.For this when i want to make VCD, it shows every 10 minute.But nice to making it normally.But not perfect.I tried but every 5th (10min) capturing it captures good, but not writing it to VCD normal. I offer to use NERO (VCD maker).If you get NERO and This Camcorder its perfect.Use and Enjoy your life recording times.

Pros: Every feature is well thought out and ease of use is beyond my wildest dreams!
Cons: Have not found any with the camera, but the instruction manual could use some work.

Wonderful features and ease of use.
Great videos and sound.
Love the size and weight.

Love the versatility of the mini-DV's and being able to have special events tapes. Mini-DVD's have to be closed out to remove disk...thus no special events type of movies, only continuing recording and closing out of disk, much like the old 35 camera woes. All on one roll and a mess to organize in any album.

Love the dock and ease of transfer from tape to full size DVD!!!! Fire Wire port in the PC is a must though for best performance on quality.

Still pictures are fine for the ease of use and convenience. No, not the same as a 4 meg picture but a great little feature anyway.

Pros: Lightweight, Very small & compact, long battery life, Included dock, Touch-Screen LCD, High Quality Video
Cons: Must use dock for DV cable, Can't change settings from viewfinder, Tape comes out bottom.

I have had the DCR-HC42 MiniDV Handycam by Sony for only a few months now, but so far I am very impressed. Sony jam packs ease of use and functionality into a tiny package! Coming over from a Cannon ELURA40, that I had many problems with, I'm glad I made the change.

Pros: easy to use, good quality picture
Cons: software is worthless

I have been using the camera for about 5 months now. I haven't used every feature but in general I am very happy. Except the software that came with it. It is the biggest group of worthless crap. You can't do much except make stupid music video templates, the capture program has no settings so I don't even know waht format it is saving it as! Sony ought be kicked in the balls for wasting a $.02 CD on it.