Sony Handycam DCR-PC109 Mini DV Camcorder
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- Recording System: NTSC
- Camcorder Type: Digital
- Recording Media: Mini DV
- Optical Zoom: 10x
- Weight: 1 lb.
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User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Good so far
Pros
dv and analog in/out. Good battery
Cons
motor noise. grip not intuitive
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Try it in your hand. If it feels right, get it.
Updated review, August 9th, 2004
The zoom was hard to operate when I first picked the camera up. My usual grip before this camera was down on my chest, using the LCD. That's not comfortable with this camera with a standard grip. On this one, my fingers would comfortably operate both the record button and the zoom button only if I raised the camera to my eye and made sure the bottom left corner of the camera is resting in the crook between my thumb and index finger.
Alternate grip for LCD use: Right thumb on the zoom, and left thumb on the record button.
The hand strap is designed to be used one of two ways. I use it as a wrist strap instead. That works well for me.
The viewfinder is color, which is a first for me. Really nice, since I've had to use it lots of times in bright sunshine.
I've used it more and more with the viewfinder. I wouldn't have done that with the old (Hi-8) camera (b/w viewfinder), but with this one it's already my preferred way when using outside without a tripod.
Irritants:
Like most amateur cameras, it's easy to get washed out colors when your subject is light colored and surrounded by greenery. You have to get into the menu to fix that. Which I won't do if stuff is happening fast, let's face it :-(
Focus is hard to get right when zooming in and shooting stuff that's far away. There's a manual focus in the menu, but there are sound effects and it's fiddly. I even found it hard finding the right spot shooting macro, and finally resorted to moving stuff out of the way to get a clear shot, rather than getting the right focus manually.
I still haven't done any editing, so I can't vouch for the footage quality.
I did make a paper print from the memory stick and it came out a lot better than expected, considering it's only 1 megapixel.
This camera fits in my jacket pocket. I had it in my right pocket and my digital camera in my left pocket when walking around on a trip recently.
Battery is reported at around 150 minutes when I pop it in, but falls fast. I'm guessing I can get 100-120 minutes from the standard battery.
The information in the viewfinder and LCD is good. Estimated battery time, tape time used, even warning me when I've got less than 5 minutes tape.
The zoom was hard to operate when I first picked the camera up. My usual grip before this camera was down on my chest, using the LCD. That's not comfortable with this camera with a standard grip. On this one, my fingers would comfortably operate both the record button and the zoom button only if I raised the camera to my eye and made sure the bottom left corner of the camera is resting in the crook between my thumb and index finger.
Alternate grip for LCD use: Right thumb on the zoom, and left thumb on the record button.
The hand strap is designed to be used one of two ways. I use it as a wrist strap instead. That works well for me.
The viewfinder is color, which is a first for me. Really nice, since I've had to use it lots of times in bright sunshine.
I've used it more and more with the viewfinder. I wouldn't have done that with the old (Hi-8) camera (b/w viewfinder), but with this one it's already my preferred way when using outside without a tripod.
Irritants:
Like most amateur cameras, it's easy to get washed out colors when your subject is light colored and surrounded by greenery. You have to get into the menu to fix that. Which I won't do if stuff is happening fast, let's face it :-(
Focus is hard to get right when zooming in and shooting stuff that's far away. There's a manual focus in the menu, but there are sound effects and it's fiddly. I even found it hard finding the right spot shooting macro, and finally resorted to moving stuff out of the way to get a clear shot, rather than getting the right focus manually.
I still haven't done any editing, so I can't vouch for the footage quality.
I did make a paper print from the memory stick and it came out a lot better than expected, considering it's only 1 megapixel.
This camera fits in my jacket pocket. I had it in my right pocket and my digital camera in my left pocket when walking around on a trip recently.
Battery is reported at around 150 minutes when I pop it in, but falls fast. I'm guessing I can get 100-120 minutes from the standard battery.
The information in the viewfinder and LCD is good. Estimated battery time, tape time used, even warning me when I've got less than 5 minutes tape.
