Amazing unit for preserving memories
Pros:
Amazing picture quality, solid construction
Cons:
Relies on tapes instead of a hard drive
The Bottom Line:
This is an amazing unit. You will not regret it if this is the unit you decide to purchase.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
My old 8MM camcorder finally bit the bullet. I decided to pick up a new camcorder. I got a JVC Everio and was really happy with it. My mother in law decided that she wanted it and bought it from me so I was in the market again. This time, I decided to go with HD.
My choices were pretty limited at the time since my budget couldn't handle a $3,000 unit. Fortunately, I ran across the Sony HDR-HC3. It was sold out all over town. I finally found a store that had one and asked them to hold it for me. Lucky me! By the time I got there, they had already had someone asking for it!
The unit is simply incredible. It has Firewire connectivity for your computer and USB for transferring still pictures. You can't transfer movies to your computer via USB, but with Firewire, that's okay. Also, you can't record movies to the Memory Stick DUO card (which is optional), but again, that's okay.
The picture quality is eerily good. I have HTDVs. When I connect the HDR-HC3 directly to my TV (via Component), you almost can't believe it. I hear that connecting via HDMI (which the camcorder supports but my TVs don't) is even better.
I am a movie making freak right now. I shoot some video and then transfer it to my computer so I can convert it to WMV or MP4. That is where this stuff really shines. With WMV and MP4, I get to preserve the awesome picture quality. I was running Windows XP and Pinnacle Studio. That was a great setup. Now I'm running RC1 of Windows Vista. Vista has native support for this video format so Windows Movie Maker is my application of choise.
The native format of the HDR-HC3 is HDV. Not all computer systems support that so be aware if you plan on making movies on your computer. If you are planning on having a collection of tapes though, you don't have to worry about it.
The system can take still pictures at 4 megapixels if you have it in Photo mode, or you can take snap shots while recording video at 2.3 megapixels. That's probably one of the greatest features I use. Having the ability to take stills on the fly is really valuable to me.
The camcorder has lots of built in features like slow-motion recording, coloring (black and white, sepia, etc...) and the like. All that stuff is fluff. The camera would still be incredible even if that weren't there.
PC Magazine has this unit rated as the best camcorder available for a reason.
