Manufacturer's Description

Sony HDR-HC3 HDV Digital Camcorder

Even the home video enthusiasts are impressed with the range of recording capabilities offered by the HDR-HC3 Handycam camcorder. With HD and SD Recording Modes, you can make the move to HD while retaining compatibility with standard definition equipment. The HC3 sets the industry standard in resolution quality with its ClearVid CMOS Image Sensor, capturing precise detail and superior color reproduction. Dual Record Mode lets you capture 2.3 Megapixel stills while shooting high definition video. And Smooth Slow Recording captures fast movement with precise detail for slow motion playback. Now you can record what you want however you want it. The HC3 is everything you ve come to expect from the world's smallest and lightest consumer camcorder.

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Product Specifications for

Sony HDR-HC3 HDV Digital Camcorder

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Most recent User Reviews for

Sony HDR-HC3 HDV Digital Camcorder

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  Reviewed by: usmck9

  12-04-07

  Duration of ownership: 35 Days

  Strengths: Picture quality and color is incredible. Camera size is fabulous! Low-Light is not so bad!

  Weaknesses:Bad Bad Bad Focusing System. The Manual Focusing Toggle.

  Overall Evaluation: I went through 2 of these camcorders thinking the first on was broken, but apparently not. With my experience, the camcorder has a great deal of trouble focusing. When I first used the camcorder, the focal problem only took a few seconds to find focus, but the more I used the camcorder (used about 12 hours during vacation), the longer it took to focus. No matter the lighting conditions, the camcorder (many times) would not focus at all even after several minutes. I had to switch to the manual focus toggle which is horrible to use. The second hdr-hc3 Sony camcorder had the same problem. I tried to record a soccer game, again, it took a minute or two (or at times couldn't at all)focus. It is a shame, because I loved everything else about this camcorder. It was so hard to take back this otherwise fantastic camcorder. But, a bad focusing system makes the camcorder, IMHO, worthless especially at the high price this camcorder currently demands. Perhaps the newer versions of this camera will be better at focusing without compromising the rest of quality this camcorder offers. Perhaps I got two bad camcorders, so if you can get one without the problem of the focusing system, then you will have a fabulous camcorder. Just F.Y.I. I have had several Sony Camcorders over the years, my last being a DCR-HC40. So, I do understand how to use the camera correctly. If it weren't for this focal problem, this camcorder would have received 5 stars and a fabulous review!

• 

  Reviewed by: riredale

  04-07-07

  Duration of ownership: 4 Days

  Strengths: Excellent picture, very compact, OPTIONAL MIC-IN ADAPTER

  Weaknesses:Nothing significant

  Overall Evaluation: Great camcorder, uses miniDV tapes and HDV compression--tried and true, easily imported to a PC for editing, format will be common and popular for many years.Big drawback originally with this camera was the lack of an external mic-in socket. Then someone discovered Sony sells a cheap adapter that clicks onto the hotshoe and gives an external mic-in connection. VMCK-100, get it from B&H Photo asap, as Sony lists this adapter as discontinued (they want you to buy their more-expensive HC7 camcorder instead).

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  Reviewed by: alesmart

  09-05-06

  Duration of ownership: 3 Weeks

  Strengths: Image quality, battery life

  Weaknesses:No mic in, no software, expensive Sony accesories, lacks many manual settings

  Overall Evaluation: An excellent camera for the amateur that values easy operation. For the semi pro and pro not good as there are many settings that can't be manually adjusted.

• 

  Reviewed by: tengst

  07-12-06

  Duration of ownership: 1 Months

  Strengths: Fits the hand like a glove, hi def, 4MP stills, lots of features

  Weaknesses:round instead of slim so it's tough to put in my computer bag...

  Overall Evaluation: I've been using the Sony DCR series camcorders for a number of years and was somewhat hesitant to move to this model because of it's roundness instead of slimness. Now that I've used it for a month I'd never go back. It fits my hand like a glove, far better than the DCR models ever did. The picture quality is excellent. You can record everything in HD but down-convert to standard when capturing to the computer via firewire. Its compresses the picture a bit due to the different picture ratios, but I can live with that. The ports are all on the unit instead of being broken out in a base, so you don't have to carry a base with you on the road when you want to connect it to your computer or a TV (just cables). Many Sony models are moving to the base style and that's just not travel friendly. Overall it's a solid product and worth the street price (don't pay list).

• 

  Reviewed by: Lisbon_portela

  06-02-06

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Good noise free low light recording , excelent definition , very good colors , records DV and HD , Touch screen LCD

  Weaknesses:Interlaced video looks bad on computer screen , expensive , batteries lasting aprox 1 hour , you cannot delete footage from the middle of the cassette , slow focus when zomming moving objects

  Overall Evaluation: Well ,the HC3 was in Lisbon , Portugal just a few days after the releasing date and i did not miss the chance .. spent several months surfing the net looking for the best. And guess what: there isn't! Chosed the one that was close to the best! But keep in mind that if you are into informatics and use your computer (dual pentium or something like that as the mp4 HD files are hard to decode even to a MAC G5) mainly to view the video files, sanyo HD1 is a very nice choice as you are shooting the final raw product that can be read and manipulated from inside the computer's Hard drive. Also nice shooting is comming out from people that knows how to handle the Sanyo Hd1 and you should see that .. the spider sample .. nice.. So, HC3 main Pros:1- the best video resolution available at this price (50% more real resolution than the Sanyo HD1 but this one is also half the price... :-) )2- Recording from inside my car at night in the Highway with just the headlights of the car .. . is very very good . Absolutely no noise! (you cannot say the same from the sanyo night video sample currrently on the net)3- touch screen LCD with excelent resolution and noise free with good colour balance (better than sometimes the final results over the HD TV)4-Apparent HD Super night shot (the cam must be over a tripod an stillCons: 1- Expensive 2- As all camcorders i know (hd1 incl) the results from shooting green leafs and trees from far away are very poor and you loose de high definition .HD comes back as you zoom into the leafs .. I think this has to do with image stabilizer being electronic and should be fixed with an optical stab. (hope in a year or so..)3- You cannot do much with your High definition video cassete ... looking for sceenes old fashion way is obsolete after you had see the sanyo Hd1 or any SD cam... All you can do is use your HD TV .. But you cannot delete scennes from the middle , you know ...4- When zooming the cam may loose focus (1 to 2 secs) . This does not happens always but it is annoying ..5- Keeping "au pair" with Sanyo HD1 capabilities means that you have to convert your footage to digital HD into de computer's Hard drive . There is some PCI Boards on the market but ... guess what: almost the price of the sanyo HD1 .. even so .. HC3 video is interlaced .. this permits nice slow motion but interlaced video it's not so good on computer's monitor ... VLC deinterlace it .. but drops the resolution (progressive video looks better if you are going to use a computer .. Me i'm waiting for the HD DVDs6-Supplied battery lasts 80 min or less .. not even a medium quality battery ! Sony has the best batteries in the world ! Why the designers choosed this one .. I will never understand (making more money with selling the spare one ? )7- Shooting inside closed spaces may be difficult as you will need a special lens to keep your family far from the cam ...8- wind noise can be terrible .. upsetting and keeping voices difficult to understand ..9-Navigating menus (touch screen lcd) could be better (I've seen worst ..) if you hav large fingers.. it will not be easy... 10 - Super slow motion (3 sec slow motion) is useless : the final result is a very very low resolution footage:reminds me the old 320X240 Sending a snapshot from footage cenverted do SD .. multiply this for twice the resolution ,,and you'll have a figure of the final result ...

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