Sony Handycam® DCR-HC36 Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: Top loading. Easy to use. Portability. Picture quality.
Cons: Supplied software. Supplied battery. Small size. Manual lens cover. Low light recording. No Firewire.

I bought this camera for use in an industrial setting to video job tasks, which will be used for future training. I have had the camera for 5 days. To start with, the camera is easy to operate. However, if you have big fingers it may be kind of ...

Pros: Small, light, convenient two-in-one camera with great video.
Cons: Medium quality still photography.

We bought this camera several months ago when I was looking for a camera I could use as, not only a family camera, but a camera for my hobby. I take photos of old abandoned buildings for posterity. What possessed me to buy it was the fact it had ...

Pros: Excellent low-light video quality. Good zoom. Good sound. Cheap media (MiniDV tapes)
Cons: Lens cap on a string.

This is my first camcorder, so I don't have experience with other camcorders to compare this one with. However, I have researched camcorders so much I feel like an expert. But I'm not. INDOOR LIGHTING I have been waiting for a long time, ...

Pros: lightweight, small, Carl Zeiss Lens, some manual controls, lives long, good quality
Cons: could have more manual control, touch screen gets smudged, no mic input

I bought this video camera when my old one died, since I am a hobbiest in making short films. It was a great step up from my old camera (a JVC camcorder) and has a fair amount of useful features considering the price (I paid $300 when I got it a ...

Pros: Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, 20X optical Zoom, Color perfection, Ease of use, Good video quality
Cons: Grainy low light performance, No Handycam Station, No cold shoe for additional attachment

I have used DCR-HC42 of my friend for a long time, it is 1 m.p. cam with a facility of wide screen hybrid lcd display, cold shoe & handycam station. It captures amazing quality of video. So this time when I decided to purchase a handycam I started to ...

Pros: EASY setting,good colors in well-lit places,Firewire
Cons: poor colors in dimmer settings, no Firewire cable included

The Sony DCR-HC36 is very easy to use, especially with the "EASY" setting turned on. Picture quality in well-lit places is pretty good. However, the color quality suffers in low-light situations, with a somewhat bluish tint occurring.

The camera can be hooked up to a PC or Mac via Firewire (iLink) or USB. I hook up the camera to my Mac Mini via Firewire and the iMovie software works great with it. iMovie can control the camera pretty well. The camera can also act as a web cam (via Firewire) using Yahoo! Messenger on the Mac.