Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Could be a great camcorder if it would just work

Strengths: Too many to list

Weakness: Low light performance. Heads get dirty to easy. Beware of sony's warranty. After 90 days, it's a fixed price $240 to repair

I've only taped about 3hrs worth of video and already the unit is telling me the head is dirty. So I cleaned it. Warning is gone but I've got gray bars across the screen now. No matter what I do I can't get the gray bars to go away. After browsing the forums, this appears to be a common issue with Sonys, their heads are too sensitive. Many have had to exchange their camcorders to get the problem...

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Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Compact size. 12X optical zoom. Wide screen capability and wide LCD touch screen.

Weakness: Very visiable grainy in low-light. Moving parts and buttons are not as smooth as on DCR-HC40.

It's a disappointment for an upgrade from the very nice DCR-HC40. LCD shows very annoying flashing blue hue/grains. It also tends to show dancing grains when video taping areas in shadow. It is a bit slower than the HC40. If you already have the DCR-HC40, don't buy this one.

Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Small compact. Nice digital touch screen. I like the color viewfinder. Many cool features. I like what I see at this time. Audio sounds good. I love the docking station.

Weakness: Confusing lame software. No insturction manual for software. It took me 2 hours just to get the video on my computer. It was very frustrating.

Don't buy from the absolute cheapest. Buy from the dealer with the best rating in the bottom 5 prices. I like how the lens cover is built into the camera. Downloading software to the computer is disappointingly slow. I thought I would just burn onto CDS but this is not a realistic option.

Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Good quality image in bright, natural light - outdoors only.

Weakness: Grainy indoors - even with decent artificial light.

I purchased the HC42 after having returned the Panasonic GS-120 for audible gear noise on the tape. I could not believe how grainy the images were indoors. The poor indoor images could be seen most when filming blue colors. Since most of my filming will be in semi low light conditions, I will be returning this camcorder tomorrow, knowing that I will have to pay a 15% (about $75) restocking fee. I...

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Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Strengths: great size, widescreen, excellent picture quality

Weakness: controls little tough to master, cords easily unplug from docking station

I really enjoy this camcorder. It is small and lightweight, but takes great footage. The controls for the zoom and the touch controls on the LCD screen are a bit tricky to master, but once you get the hang of it, there's no problem. When you are using the docking station, you have to be careful to keep it in a steady place and not touch it. I've found that the power cable pulls out rather easily...

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Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Strengths: small, light, ease of use

Weakness: color grains visible in low light, optical zoom is only 12X, no light in-built

This is very handy especially compared to Digital 8 models. It takes sharp, clear video in day light, but displays color grains in low light inside room. The docking station is very useful, especially need not to be worried for connecting to computer or baterry chaarger everytime. I still desire for improved optical zoom (20X).

Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Strengths: user friendly, handycam dock station, sony's reliability, 120X zoom, small size, clarity of pictures

Weakness: not any that i can think of

i had the sony HC-40 before and i think the 42 is better even if it is a tad bigger-it has a better zoom, a handy dock station and best of all you dont have to touch the LCD screen to rewind the tape or any such actions

Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.7" LCD - CCD

Strengths: Compact size, 2.7" LCD screen, docking station.

Weakness: The intelligent accessory shoe located on top of the camera is not an industry standard & works only with Sony brand accessories.

This camcorder features a good video quality. Form factor is excellent, lightweight & intuitive though it takes a while to get used to the touch screen LCD panel. I also liked the 16:9 widescreen LCD which I think is the cheapest in Sony's line of MiniDV camcorder that offers this feature.

Disapointed with visual noise in medium to low light

Strengths: lots of features, great touch screen, easy to use

Weakness: horrible dot crawl even in well lite indoor setting, lots of yellow and blue flecks

I don't think I will keep this one, surly there must be a better camera in this price range that gives better quality. Like everyone else I agree that Sony should have included at least a small memory stick.

Nice camcorder

Strengths: 480x total zoom along with 12x optical zoom. Very small size. The pictures online really betray you to its size.

Weakness: On some occassions, the more you zoom in, pictures become a little grainy. This is due to activating 480x digital zoom.

I was really amazed at the size of this little camcorder. It has a lot of features for the price, and I have not been able to delve into most of it. I really like the ability to shoot pictures in bursts. I was really impressed with that particular feature. Has Super Night Shot plus, which improves upon the Night Shot a bit. I would have liked sony to package a small size(in terms of MB) memory...

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