Product Description

The DCR-HC21 from Sony gives you a full-featured, compact MiniDV camcorder at an entry-level price. Highlights include the Advanced HAD CCD imager, which captures stunning detail and clarity, and the Digital Zoom, which focuses on distant subjects providing clear close-up images with less distortion. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens offers less glare and increased contrast for vivid, more life-like color and tones.Make your personal videos complete with additional customization features such as Picture and Fader effects for creative and professional looking enhancements. Photo Mode allows you to capture and store hundreds of individual still images, and Picture Package software helps you easily organize and edit still images and video.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17575 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DCRHC21
• Dimensions: 5.30" h x 6.00" w x 7.40" l,
• Display size: 2.5

Features

• 1/6-inch CCD imager with 340K resolution
• MiniDV recording format offers up to 520 lines of horizontal resolution
• 20x optical zoom with Super SteadyShot picture-stabilization system
• 2.5-inch touch-panel SwivelScreen LCD
• Super NightShot Plus Infrared System captures natural-looking video in low light

From the Manufacturer
From the Manufacturer The DCR-HC21 from Sony gives you a full-featured, compact MiniDV camcorder at an entry-level price. Highlights include the Advanced HAD CCD imager, which captures stunning detail and clarity, and the Digital Zoom, which focuses on distant subjects, providing clear close-up images with less distortion. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens offers less glare and increased contrast for vivid, more life-like color and tones.

Make your personal videos complete with additional customization features such as Picture and Fader effects for creative and professional looking enhancements. Photo Mode allows you to capture and store hundreds of individual still images, and Picture Package software helps you easily organize and edit still images and video.

Features of the Sony DCR-HC21

1/6-Inch Advanced HAD CCD Imager, 680K Pixels Gross 1/6-inch advanced HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCD with 340K (effective) pixels provides stunning detail and clarity with exceptional video (up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution) and still image performance.	The DCR-HC21's small size makes it a perfect traveling companion.
MiniDV Recording Offers up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution, three times the color bandwidth, and a significantly higher signal/noise ratio, to provide spectacular video performance.
20x Optical/800x Digital Zoom The optical zoom helps to bring the action close up from far away. In addition, the Digital Zoom Interpolation means that extreme digital zooming is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zooms.
Super SteadyShot Picture Stabilization System Picture stabilization system that uses motion sensors to detect and compensate for camera shake without compromising picture quality like some other digital stabilization systems.	2.5-inch Touch Panel SwivelScreen LCD Display (123K Pixels) Provides excellent viewing clarity with improved resolution. The high-resolution 123K pixel LCD screen rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles, providing sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback.
USB Streaming Stay connected to family and friends by broadcasting live video with audio over the Internet using the USB interface. You can even playback your favorite recorded scene on the camcorder's tape. It's like having your own video-conferencing system.	i.LINK DV Interface A digital high-speed bidirectional interface, which provides audio/video communication between two compatible devices. This connection allows for pure digital transfer between devices equipped with an IEEE1394 interface, such as camcorders, digital VTRs, capture cards, and PCs.
InfoLithium Battery with AccuPower Meter System Charge the battery at anytime--unlike NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries, Sony's rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are not subjected to a life-shortening "memory effect". Sony's exclusive AccuPower meter displays the battery time remaining in minutes in either the viewfinder or on the LCD screen.	Accessory Shoe Provides a location directly on the camcorder on which to add optional accessories.
	Picture Package Software Easily organize still images and video, and turn them into stunning music videos using the supplied software.
Stamina Battery Power-Management System Using the optional NP-FP90 InfoLithium battery, the DCR-HC21 can continuously record for up to nine hours on a single full charge, providing extra-long battery life.	Program AE (Auto Exposure) Modes Program AE modes make recording easy even when filming in challenging situations. Choose from Portrait, Beach & Ski, Sports Lesson, Landscape, Spotlight, or Sunset & Moon modes.
	NightShot Plus Infrared System With Sony's NightShot Infrared System you can capture natural-looking video, even when shooting in low light. Record subjects up to 20 feet away using the built-in infrared system, but without the overall monochrome color common with earlier low-light recording systems.
Professional Quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens Carl Zeiss lenses have an advanced optical multilayer coating that offers less glare and flare with increased contrast. This results in vivid image brilliance, true-to-life color saturation, and perfect renditions of subtle tones.	End Search Automatically advances the videotape to the last 5 seconds of the recorded scene. This prevents accidentally recording over previously recorded videos.
Fader Effects Enhance your personal videos by adding professional-looking fader effects. Choose from Black, Mosaic, White, Monotone, and Stripe.	Photo Mode Using Sony's Adaptive Frame Interpolation for better image quality, you can store hundreds of individual still images with seven seconds of audio on the videotape.
Battery Information At the touch of a button, battery information is displayed on the LCD screen when charging or when the camcorder is turned off. The display will show how much the battery is charged in 10% increments and the recordable time left when using the LCD screen or in the viewfinder.	Manual Focus Allows the user to manually adjust the focus of the camcorder using the touch panel. Manual focusing also allows the user to control the focus in difficult situations in which either the environment or the subject does not allow the camcorder's autofocus to perform optimally, such as when shooting through a window or in a crowded environment.
Easy Handycam Button Using a camcorder can be intimidating for some people, so with a press of the Easy Handycam button, most of the advanced features of the camcorder are "locked out," leaving only the buttons essential for recording operational.	Picture Effects Get creative when recording or playing back your videos with Sony's Picture Effect Modes. Effects available in Camera mode: Negative Art, Sepia, Monotone, Solarize, Pastel, and Mosaic. Effects available in Playback mode: Negative Art, Sepia, Monotone, and Solarize.

What's in the Box
Sony DCR-HC21 MiniDV Handycam camcorder, AC-L25 power adapter/in-camera charger, NP-FP30 InfoLithium rechargeable battery, RMT-830 Remote Commander remote control, stereo AV cable, USB cable, lens cap, shoulder strap, CD-ROM with USB driver (PicturePackage software version 1.5 for Sony)

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Customer Reviews

nice camera - hate the touch screen!
This is a nice little camera! I just wanted a decent camera to take videos of the kids - this fills that need perfectly. The picture is nice, the colors are accurate and there is very little motor noise (motor noise is often a problem on minidv camcorders in this price range). The 20x optical zoom is fantastic. Low light is a bit grainy but nothing I can't deal with.

The one thing I don't like about this camcorder is the touch-screen controls. As a self-proclaimed digital camera junkie I've spent years trying NOT to touch the LCD screen and on this camera you have to touch the screen to operate the camera. This leaves the LCD screen all fingerprinted and smeary. This is VERY annoying in my opinion and I'm not sure of a safe and effective way to clean the screen. Not a really good design concept!

Other than the touch screen, which by the way IS easy to use, I really like this little camera. Easy to operate right out of the box (I tend to read the manual as a last resort!), VERY small and full of features.

Still Amazed at the size
About two days before I exchanged a Hi-8 camera for this gem, I spent two days with a huge Sony TRV 138. It had to weigh about 2 pounds, required the big tapes Hi-8 tapes and was very bulky and noticeable. I decided to exchange the camera for a better model. At first I was going to go with a Digital-8 but the model was basically the same size as the Hi-8. I had already filled up one Hi-8 and the digital-8 could play it. But in-store, I was hooked on to the smaller mini-DV's.

I was so pleases and amazed when I had this little gem in my hand. I am a senior in high school and I want to document my life and I also run a website (www.younglibs.com) and wanted to put some video on there. Considering I'm a pretty tech savvy teen, I had to get it. It's digital so I can put it on the computer and share it. So I coughed up the $180 (grand total of $420) dollar difference to take it home.

The camera is great. It's very small, lightweight and comfortable and is an attention getter. It has a cool swivel screen and Sony's personal touch with the Night Shot, Steady Shot and easy mode that is available on all Sony's. I also like the widescreen mode and some of the AE effects like black and white that you can either record as or playback as. It also has a fader so my videos won't look like collages. It has a built in lens cap that you can just slide up and stead if fixing some attachment to it. It also has those Carl Zeiss lens (I really don't care). If you go to Ritz Camera you can get a free $99 kit with it that includes a cleaner, tripod and carrying case. I also really like the end search feature so I won't record over anything (which I did frequently with the Hi-8). You can also take useless stills with it too, no memory card slot, not that you'll need one for the crappy photos. Another plus is that it operates a web cam (with both video and sound), great for instant messengers like me.

I do have some gripes though. The playback sound is located right where you put your hand at. You cannot hear audio if playing back through the black and white viewfinder, B&W viewfinder for a 2005, $400 model, there is no headphone jack and I don't know how long the touch screen will last considering its the menu and controls.

If you are under the impression that you can just shoot video, plug in the USB and transfer the movie to your computer, you've got another thing coming. Here is where Sony's proprietary ways come in. Yes, they supply the USB, but USB is too slow to transfer quality video to your computer. The USB is only theoretically there to transfer the pictures. On top of that, there is no way to transfer the video directly on to your hard drive, with USB you can only transfer it to CDR. And when you play it in the DVD player, it isn't pretty, the quality is terrible. If you are smart though and want to waste more time trying to get it on the computer, copy and paste the CDR data on your computer. In fact it took almost 3 hours to get 30 minutes of video on the disc and it neglected to put the other 30 minutes on the disc even though there was still tons of space available.

So what I have found out is that you have to buy a I.Link (Firewire) cable (warning don't buy it on the Sony site, its 30-70 dollars, go to pricegrabber.com, I have one on the way for $10 altogether) which allows you to A) put the movies on your computer B) does it in real time (60 minute tape takes 60 minutes not 6 hours) C) doesn't loose quality when transferring unlike the choppy USB. So you see what you get. That also means that you have to buy a Firewire card (about $20 on pricegrabber, ecost, and tigerdirect.com) and have it installed in the computer. If you have ever installed a USB 2.0 card, have fun, if you never have, ask for help with cracking your computer.

And voila you have a movie lab. What I neglected to tell you is that now you need a bigger hard drive 160-200 gigs will do and that will run you another $150 dollars. Just for a heads up 7 minutes of video capture was about 23mb.

If you want to see the video capture quality, I have videos I recorded at www.younglibs.com/blog. If you are a republican, you might have a problem though.

Thanks
Chris

Best product for its price!
Well, before purchasing this camera, I took the precaution of reading the previous comments about it, and decided the Cons of the camera were worth the price saving.
Now that I own it, I can say that it has the next list of cons and pros:

PROs
- Very light
- Compact design
- "Easy mode" of operation, so anyone can use it
- Very good 20x optical Zoom
- Optional Lamp
- All the Sony features (nightshot, viewfinder, steadyshot, etc)

CONs
- The touchscreen gets dirty from using it
- DVD recording only from firewire.

One of the other cons I read before, the noise, didn't bother me at all.

Strongly reccomend to get the LCS-VA30 Camera Case, Everything fits in and there's still space for my Cybershot P32, spare batteries, and a couple of MiniDV's.