Sony DCR-HC1000 miniDV camcorder
Pros:
Brilliant images, manual focus ring, loads of manual controls
Cons:
limited stills capability. Internal battery limits high power units
The Bottom Line:
A superb camera which delivers outstanding images.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I bought this camera on the strength of a camcorder magazine which made it their consumer camcorder of the year, plus I read up the maker's specification. I have to say that in spite of its apparent initial high cost I consider this to be one of my best buys.
I had approached this model having dipped my toe in the miniDV camcorder market previously with a Canon MV600i, which was nice enough in good light but poor in low light. When I saw the first results with the Sony I soon realised that there was a certain truth in the saying that "you get what you pay for". Sony had made this model using a 3ccd sensor and a 12x Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar zoom and the images it delivered were outstanding. I have used this camera for about two years now and I'm still knocked out by the quality of footage.
The features on this camcorder as virtually all practical with very little in the way of gimmicks. the DCR-HC1000 has a host of features to whet the appetite of serious video maker and these include headphone and microphone sockets (front and back stereo microphones), a full sized manual focus ring around the lens, DV in and out, manual control of focus, exposure and sound levels, Analog In - which would allow you to copy older analog camcorder into your computer via the Sony.
Add to this the camcorder's solid feel, supersteady shot and top loading mechanism and you feel like you are using a top quality piece of equipment.
There are some downsides such as the still capability which is only 1MB, but I have a proper still camera anyway. The battery is fitted entirely within the body and has a good capacity, though this eliminates the possibility of obtaining a larger capacity cell. I use this camcorder for documentary film-making a lot and most of the sound recordings I get are very good, but I filmed a concert recently (Nazareth - if anyone remembers them) and felt that the sound a friend obtained on his camcorder was better, so this may not be the ideal camcorder for rock concerts.
Overall this is camera that I would recommend to a serious film-maker, though a lot of the manual over-rides would be wasted on a snapshooter.
