Sony Handycam DCR-HC30 Mini DV Camcorder - Price and Review

Strengths: Digital, Mini DV, NTSC, 1 x CCD, Up to 0.31 Megapixels Still Shots, 10x Optical Zoom, 0.81 lb. , Battery life: Up to 2 Hours.


Overall Evaluation: The Sony DCR-HC20 is the MiniDV Handycam Camcorder that doubles as a digital camera. It features a compact Memory Stick DUO slot which allows 640 x 480 resolution digital still image capture, which is perfect for e-mail or printing. It also includes a big 2.5" hybrid SwivelScreen touch panel LCD display, Super NightShot Plus infrared recording, USB streaming, and a professional Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. It even includes a 3D menu system that makes adjusting the camcorder settings easier than even. Best of all, these big features come in a package thats 25% smaller than the previous years camcorders.
Automatic amenities on the DCR-HC30 include the aforementioned options of Spot Metering and Spot Focusing, allowing users to focus or adjust the exposure to a particular area of the image by touching the corresponding area on the camcorder's touch screen. The DCR-HC30 also includes an Easy mode function -- convenience is king.

Just as the touch screen menu on many of this year's Sony camcorders sometimes yields attractive and useful functions like spot metering and spot focusing, these menus also bury much of a camcorder's manual control within a Byzantine matrix of options both difficult and cumbersome to navigate, especially if your fingers are those giant stubby ones I keep seeing in strip malls and fast-food chains
Features of the DCR-HC30 include Super NightShot Plus, which is just super. It comes with Sony's proprietary editing software, and includes a digitally manipulated 16:9 "wide screen" mode.

The DCR-HC30 is a good camcorder for the point-and-shooter who wants to stay in a moderate price range. It includes some cool options like spot metering and spot focus and, if you can stand the touch screen, a few manual controls. The port selection is nice, and the body is a stylish Sony nugget, waiting to extract the beauty and grace of third-grader birthday parties.

Price Range: $280 - $480