Sony DCRHC20 MiniDV Digital Handycam Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom | List Price: $810.28
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Brand: Sony
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features: - Sleek, compact MiniDV camcorder and with a 680,000-pixel CCD
- 10x optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 120x) with Super SteadyShot image stabilizer
- 2.5-inch rotating LCD and black-and-white viewfinder
- Low-light recording settings, 12-Bit/16-Bit PCM digital stereo, and accessory shoe
- NP-FM50 InfoLithium Rechargeable Battery
Great camera [Posted on 2006-07-14]
Someone complained about the battery draining. My battery isn't draining and works great. The only two negatives I can find is that the picture stabalization feature doesn't appear to work and all of the manual controls are on the lcd screen so they're hard to use without shaking the camera some.
Someone else said that it's not good to tocuh an LCD screen. This isn't a big deal. There is some kind of coating on the LCD so you aren't really touching the screen directly and you can clean screens.
Yes, this camera has an external microphone jack! The built in stereo micrphones are surprisingly good. They must have some sort of active noise cancelation built in.
The 7 second "delay" when taking a still photo: the photo is taken immediately and then copied onto the frames of the other seconds. You also get audio to go with the still.
Owned for 2 Years, It's Useless Now [Posted on 2007-03-13]
Enjoyed it while it was working.
In December 2004, I purchased this Sony DCR-HC20 brand new from Best Buy. Less than average use, only the occasional weekend stuff and twice a year vacation. Always exercised great care in handling and kept it in a protected carrying case when not in use.
Within the first year after purchase, the touch-screen and side button controls began to lose function intermittently and a false error message began appearing saying the cover was not open. I sent the unit to the Sony center and was charged $257 for repair of the unit (labor only, parts were included within the 1-year warranty period).
Last week, attempted to capture some video to computer, and discovered the DV i.Link feature was no longer functioning. I tried other cables and a different device to no avail.
Finally, two days ago the unit's cassette mechanism failed and the unit no longer accepts cassettes. It sends the infamous C:31:40 error message (do a google). I tried resetting it, removing and replacing the battery, different cassettes. No dice. The unit is effectively useless at this point. The DV i.Link function is inoperable, the false error message about the open cover still appears, and the unit no longer accepts cassettes.
Bottom Line:
Paid $400 to purchase this product brand new plus another $257 for repair less than a year later. Within two years of purchase, the unit is essentially worthless.
Was great - now can't record video only audio [Posted on 2007-04-23]
We had this camera for about 1.5 years before it konked out. We can now only record audio. Every blue moon we'll get video for about a minute before it goes black. My husband works in the film industry and this camera was meant to be used at home for the kiddos and he spent hours researching video equipment before he bought this product. I can't stand spending money fixing a camera that was $400 and from the looks of other reviewers, I won't be calling Sony for customer support.
Did its job until it broke down [Posted on 2007-05-07]
I bought this camcorder for its blend of feature and good value for price. I used it mainly for auto track days, recording video from a suction mount and it performed adequately, returning good image and sound quality and acceptable battery life. Features like the microphone input jack and the IR remote control were precious in that usage model.
Unfortunately, the camcorder stopped working abruptly after 3 years of light and careful use, camera still functional but no image. So much for Sony's reputation for quality and reliability.
CAMCORDER GIVES FALSE MESSAGE OF LENS COVER BEING CLOSED [Posted on 2007-07-28]
WE ONLY USED THIS CAMERA THREE TIMES....BOUGHT IT EXACLTY 3 YEARS AGO AND I TRIED TO USE IT THE OTHER DAY AND THE SCREEN APPEARS BLACK & A MESSAGE APPEARS SAYING "LENS COVER IS CLOSED" - WHICH IS NOT TRUE.
IT ONLY RECORDS AUDIO NOW AND YOU CANNOT SEE WHAT YOU ARE RECORDING - USELESS! FROM READING THE OTHER REVIEWS I REALIZE THAT SEVERAL OF US HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THIS PRODUCT - IT IS OBVIOULSY POORLY MANUFACTURED. WE HAD JUST PURCHASED A NEW BATTERY TOO BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL ONE WAS COMPLETELY DEAD.
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