Sony DCR-HC1000 Camcorder Reviewby Robin LissPublished on Aug 26, 2004 12:00 PM 
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The attached microphone in many of our pictures does NOT ship with the DCR-HC1000, although it is designed specifically for this camcorder.
In a way, the DCR-HC1000 deserves two reviews: one for the prosumer market that it’s obviously aimed at, and one for the market it actually suits – the ease of use crowd with a big budget. The problem with the DCR-HC1000 is that it’s clearly priced and targeted toward the prosumer user group, but it lacks the features necessary to fulfill the needs of prosumer users. Prosumers aren't touchy-feely people, and we don't like having to touch a bunch of menu buttons to operate our camcorders. Nevertheless, Sony's forced all the manual control on the DCR-HC1000 into the touch screen. Sony has taken the highly popular DCR-TRV950 and performed a lobotomy on it, dumbing it down for the ease of use crowd. The result is an overpriced ease of use camcorder that leaves a very big void in Sony’s prosumer line.
Video Performance (8.5)
We were expecting good things from the DCR-HC1000, simply because of its three 1/4.7-inch CCDs, each with 690K effective pixels for video. Each charge-coupled device on the DCR-HC1000 includes one effective megapixel for stills, with a gross pixel count of 1.07 megapixels. These are the same specifications that Panasonic’s PV-GS400 (Review, Specs, $1099) enjoys and, thus, we expected good things. And, in many respects, that’s what we got.
Say what you will about the manual control options or the camcorder’s cosmetic issues, but video performance at 3000 lux looks good, and is on par with the PV-GS400. The DCR-HC1000, like the PV-GS400, shows almost zero noise with an excellent grayscale.
We tested the Sony DCR-HC1000 on full automatic mode, with only a manual white balance. We also tested it with increased Camera Color and sharpness. The charts you see are without the Camera Color and sharpness alteration.
Without the Camera Color and sharpness boost, the DCR-HC1000 looks almost identical to the PV-GS400 with a well-balanced spectrum and very crisp colors, albeit maybe a bit less crisp than the Panasonic.
With a boost, the DCR-HC1000 produces an over-saturated color scheme that occurs on other Sony camcorders as well, often in the blues. This is not to say that the DCR-HC1000 looks like the DCR-DVD201 (Review, Specs, $549) (horribly nuclear and noisy); in fact, at 3000 lux and other bright light levels, one has to look hard for spectral problems. Indeed, this over-saturation promotes strangely luminous and bright colors. However, if one puts the PV-GS400 3000 lux chart and the unaltered DCR-HC1000 chart next to the boosted DCR-HC1000’s, it is easy to see the difference in color balance.
All in all, the DCR-HC1000 performs well. Automatic controls do a good job on all Sonys. Video performance in general for 3 chip camcorders is pretty good, and my above criticism should be taken less as an attack, and more as an elucidation of subtlety.
The Front (6.5)
As the DCR-HC1000 can be separated into two distinct halves – the tape mechanism and the lens barrel – we must speak of each part of the front as its own entity. The front of the tape mechanism is blank and free of buttons, as is most of this camcorder, because it uses a touch screen menu system. The front of the lens barrel features the camcorder’s lens, with its filter diameter of 37mm. The lens barrel itself has a focal length of 3.6-43.2mm. Wrapping around this is the camcorder’s multi-purpose ring, which functions as both a focus and a zoom ring. Below the lens is the camcorder’s infrared sensor.
The Right Side (5.0)
The right side of the DCR-HC1000 is taken up by the tape mechanism, which juts out from the right side of the lens barrel, and can rotate independently of the lens barrel 90 degrees forward. A strap runs along the bottom of the tape mechanism, and Sony has included a rubber bulge beneath the strap to improve the handling of the camcorder. On the right side of the lens barrel, the portion that protrudes past the tape mechanism on the way towards the viewed subject features a port cover towards the bottom, concealing the external microphone inputs. These include “front” and “rear” inputs to accommodate Sony’s ECM-CQP1, a four-way microphone that hooks into the accessory shoe on top of the DCR-HC1000.
The Back (7.0)
The back of the DCR-HC1000 is where one finds most of the controls. Located on the back of the tape mechanism is the headphone jack. It’s in an incredibly convenient position: just above the mode slider, and within a small, unobstructed distance from one’s head and ears. The mode slider is capable of switching between off, tape, memory, and play/edit modes. To the left of this slider is the record button; there is another record button on the LCD screen margin. In between the tape mechanism and lens barrel is a small, narrow panel that flips open to reveal (in descending order) the LANC jack, the USB port, the FireWire port, the A/V input/output, and, finally, the DC input, which is located outside the port for convenience. On the back of the lens barrel is a battery slot which falls down like a trap door to reveal the battery. Above this is the camcorder’s viewfinder.
The Left Side (6.0)(6.0)
The left side of the DCR-HC1000 consists of the LCD screen on the far right and a small group of controls to the LCD's left. The LCD screen itself reveals no buttons when lifted, as the Sony employs a touch-screen menu system. There is a secondary record button on the LCD screen margin, as well as a LCD-screen backlight button. To the left of the LCD screen, buttons for display/battery info and back light can be found, along with a switch to alternate between ring functions of zoom, auto, and manual focus. Below these is the auto lock slider, which locks settings in.
The Top (6.0) The top of the DCR-HC1000 is sparsely populated, save for the accessory shoe and the built-in stereo microphone, both sitting far back on the top. Towards the front of the camcorder is the still-photo flash, which pops up from hiding when needed.
Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (9.0)
I think camcorder users should declare a collective war on Sony’s touch screens. Maybe we can get away with calling the touch screen a weapon of mass destruction, because it's destroying home videos around the country. “The touch screens have destroyed many of the Sony low-end models we once held close to our hearts, and now they're coming for our homeland, the prosumer camcorders! I won't go down without a fight!” Maybe we should start snapping them off of our camcorders and burning them in a ritual to rid the Sony engineers of this terrible touch-screen disease. How about burning a 3.5-foot LCD screen in effigy at CES in the North hall outside Sony's massive booth?
The only area in which a touch screen helps is in automatic control. Automatic control is one of the few areas where the DCR-HC1000 performs well, although it is directly because of this good performance that it performs so poorly in other sections. In 2002, Sony began experimenting with touch screen LCD technology on a few of their models. They implemented this fully into the entire line in 2003, and greatly improved upon its usability in 2004 by changing to a "3D" menu navigation system. Until now, though, Sony’s prosumer camcorders have been spared from this technology. Sony left the technology out of their prosumer DCR-TRV950, as it wasn’t in wide use when they introduced it. They also omitted it from the recent DCR-VX2100 (Review, Specs, $1980).
I say “spared” because the touch screen technology was added to make the camcorders easier to use. This ease of use, however, comes at the expense of slightly more experienced camcorder users who want real buttons for their manual control. The result is that Sony’s fleet of camcorders are great for those who don't know the first thing about using a camcorder, but terrible for those of us who want to make adjustments to settings while shooting.
The purely automatic functions of the DCR-HC1000 perform well. They react to changes in lighting and focus and don't seem to lag at all. Sony has included Spotlight, Portrait, Sports, Beach and Ski, Sunset and Moon, and Landscape Automatic Exposure modes with the DCR-HC1000. The touch screen brings with it the easy-to-use Spot Metering and Spot Focus features. These are likely the only good things to come out of the development of the touch screen. After pressing the P-Menu, you can scroll down through pages of options to select either the Spot Meter or Spot Focus button. In each mode, a white box appears on the screen. You can touch any part of the screen and the camcorder will automatically adjust the focus or the exposure to that area. It's a really neat feature for those who don't understand how to use manual shutter speed and exposure. But I have to ask: if you don't understand how to use manual shutter speed or manual exposure, why in the world are you wasting $1,700 on a camcorder? Go buy a $300 Digital8 model and take a course at your local college on Videography 101!
Overall Manual Control (5.5)
The Sony DCR-HC1000 gives you manual control of shutter speed, exposure / aperture, white balance, and gain. They've also added controls for color / hue and sharpness control. So why am I so upset with the DCR-HC1000? Because they're all controlled by the touch screen. You can't easily adjust any of these features while shooting, and when you do try to adjust them, you’re making tiny taps to the LCD screen, which increases camcorder shake. It's great that Sony is including a full set of manual controls, but they become virtually impossible to use when they are shoved into the ease of use badlands that is Sony's touch screen.
The other huge downside to this is that it renders the viewfinder virtually useless. You can't operate this camcorder in anything other than point-and-shoot mode while using the viewfinder, because you can't see where to press on the touch screen. The DCR-TRV950, on the other hand, had great manual control with real buttons, as do the Canon GL2 and the Sony DCR-VX2100. The one upside of the manual control on the DCR-HC1000 is its hybrid focus / zoom ring, but Panasonic's PV-GS200 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1299) (which, by the way, sells for about $200 less) has a hybrid ring that not only controls focus and zoom, but also shutter speed, exposure / aperture, and gain!
Zoom (8.0)
The DCR-HC1000 includes a 12x optical zoom. Sony has replaced the high quality zoom rocker on the DCR-TRV950 with a smaller zoom slider. The slider is harder to use and provides less control over your zooms. It is difficult to achieve and hold variable speed zooms with the smaller zoom slider. This was a bad move by Sony, and yet another example of moves that do not properly target the prosumer market. Zoom rockers are great, and small zoom sliders are no substitute. Sony has slightly balanced the downgrade of the zoom rocker with the inclusion of the hybrid zoom ring. The ring at the front of the camcorder, which used to be only for focus, can be switched to either zoom or focus. The ring is notably better than the one included on Panasonic's PV-GS400. It allows you to achieve a variety of zoom speeds and keep their speed steady. At low zoom speeds, it doesn't exhibit the jumping that the PV-GS400 does. Another downside to the zoom is that there is no numerical indicator of the zoom’s intensity; you get a bar, but no zoom power number. Zoom is a mixed bag on the DCR-HC1000: the zoom ring is good, but the decreased size of the slider is bad, so it was hard to give it a good score in this area.
Focus (8.5)
As mentioned above, the hybrid ring on the DCR-HC1000 also serves as a focus ring. The ring works well, as it has on other Sony camcorders. I really like the fact that you can control focus through a ring, and unlike the zoom, this hasn’t been “downgraded.” You can get crisp, in-focus images with it quite easily, and I like the amount of resistance the ring gives you; it feels just right. It’s also wide, which is very nice. We had some problems with the automatic focus setting while the ring was set to manually zoom.
Exposure (Aperture) (4.5)
The exposure control on the DCR-HC1000 offers 24 levels of exposure/aperture manipulation. Unfortunately, it also is controlled through the touch menu! The DCR-HC1000 does not give you F-stop readings, as the Canon GL2, the Sony DCR-VX2100, the Panasonic PV-GS400, or even the $300 Panasonic PV-GS2 do! There is no reason for this.
Shutter Speed (3.0)
The DCR-HC1000 is the lowest-priced Sony camcorder (if you call $1,700 low, that is) to include manual shutter speed control. Once again, it's controlled through the touch screen. Unlike exposure, the shutter speed control does give you measurable speeds, and once you set the shutter speed, that speed is displayed in a small icon on the screen. The shutter speed range of the DCR-HC1000 is 1/4 to 1/4000. Oddly, in what seems like another engineering mistake on the DCR-HC1000, after you've manually set exposure you cannot manually set the shutter speed. You can manually set the shutter speed and then set exposure, but not the other way around.
White Balance (7.0)
The DCR-HC1000 gives you manual control of the white balance through its touch screen. The camcorder includes auto white balance mode, indoor, outdoor, and manual set. The only thing I would change regarding the white balance on the DCR-HC1000 is giving color temperature settings (3,200K for indoors and 5,500K for outdoors) and putting it in a real button instead of the touch screen.
Gain (7.0)
The DCR-HC1000 gives you manual gain control. The gain is controlled through the touch screen and, as with shutter speed, this is the least expensive Sony camcorder to include it. The only thing I would change with the gain control is how it is controlled.
Still Performance (7.0)
Still performance is not the DCR-HC1000's forte. The camcorder produces 1 megapixel stills at 1152 x 864 pixel resolution, the same as Sony's $700 DCR-HC40 (Review, Specs, $539.94). Stills are saved to a MemoryStick Duo, and the camcorder includes a USB jack and cable for transferring the stills to your computer. The DCR-HC1000 also includes a pop-up flash, which is a nice add-on, but if you’re looking for quality stills from your camcorder, step down a model to the DCR-PC350 (Review, Specs, $899).
VCR Mode (6.0)
The VCR mode on the DCR-HC1000 is (surprise!) controlled via the touch screen. The buttons are superimposed over the screen as you play back your video. The camcorder gives you all the needed VCR controls; however, like everything else on this camcorder, I wish there were real button controls.
Low Light Performance (6.0)
Low light performance is a very important factor for consumer camcorders… especially, I’d say, for 3 CCD camcorders that try to bridge the gap between consumer and prosumer. These are the camcorders that are used by independent filmmakers and video artists, albeit low-budget ones, and whether or not the DCR-HC1000 will be adopted by the artist crowd, its low light performance is an important issue to delve into. It should be noted that while this review compares the PV-GS400 and the DCR-HC1000, these two camcorders perform almost completely identically; again, there are subtleties.
The drop in performance from 3000 lux to 60 lux is a big one for any camcorder, and the DCR-HC1000 is no exception. The jump significantly boosts noise levels. The DCR-HC1000 and the PV-GS400 seem to have similar levels of noise, though the DCR-HC1000’s colors are a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny bit more saturated.
At 50 lux, the results are similar. General trends of noise increase continue with color dulling out.
An unfortunate browning occurs at 40 lux with the DCR-HC1000, as the grayscale starts to turn brownish-red.
At 20 lux, more noise, and more browning.
At 15 lux, the lowest light level under which we test camcorders, a notable increase in noise is apparent. At this light level, the DCR-HC1000 has slightly more noise than the PV-GS400; the PV-GS400’s electronic grain is finer. However, both the DCR-HC1000 and the PV-GS400 look remarkably similar here. Both camcorders fall to the knees of Canon’s GL2 at this light level.
LCD/ Viewfinder (8.0)
Another downgrade here. Sony has reduced the size of the LCD to 2.5 inches from 3.5 inches. What were they thinking? Large LCD screens are a good thing. When you spend $1,700 on a camcorder, you want a large LCD screen. This is one of those features that isn't good for the ease of use crowd and bad for the prosumer crowd, like the touch screen – it's just plain dumb. Sony's $800 and $1,000 models include large LCD screens, so why can't their $1,700 model?
The LCD screen is a touch screen that includes Sony's hybrid technology. I must admit, as much as I hate this 2.5-inch touch screen, the hybrid technology is very nice. The screen is also quite sharp, with 211K pixels. The viewfinder on the DCR-HC1000 is color; however I would prefer that it were black-and-white, so that focusing would be easier.
Audio (7.0)
The Sony DCR-HC1000 does quite well in the audio section. The camcorder has a microphone in jack and a headphone out jack, as well as a hot shoe for attaching any microphone accessories. The additional four-way microphone inputs are on the lower right of the right side of the lens barrel; there are inputs for front and rear. The camera (via the touch screen) allows you to adjust audio recording levels and have an on-screen audio monitor. The DCR-HC1000 also lets you dub audio in the VCR mode.
A feature that Sony has added to the DCR-HC1000 is four-channel audio recording via a special accessory microphone, which they've included. Sony hasn't really explored all the options of the four-channel recording on the DCR-HC1000. The only way to get playback of the four-channel audio is to use Sony’s VAIO Click to DVD burning software. We couldn’t test it because the software isn't out yet, but we will as soon as it becomes available. We did play around with the microphone a little, and it is pretty neat, especially for you audiophiles. The microphone itself has what looks like six input areas: front left, front right, back left, back right, and normal front and normal back. You can select front or back pickup testing, and you can really tell a difference. The microphone also has a wide stereo mode that can be used with normal two-channel audio recording for a wider pick-up pattern. I really liked the microphone, and not only because its windscreen looks really cute. It's a neat feature, and I hope Sony expands the output options so that you can use it with your home surround-sound system.
Handling (4.0)
The DCR-HC1000 handles very poorly. Sony thought it would be a sign of genius to throw out nearly ten years of camcorder experience with horizontal bodies to copy Sharp's design of two twin bodies that swivel in the middle. Your hands wrap awkwardly around the right hand side of the camcorder, falling not on any controls, as they should, but rather in the groove between the two halves. The weight balance of the camcorder is very uneven, with most of the weight falling on the left side, so the camcorder has a tendency to roll counter-clockwise in your hands.
The multi-angle grip, as Sony calls it, can rotate 90 degrees upward only. I'm not quite sure why Sony chose to make it rotate upwards and not downwards. I mean, blue skies are pretty and all, but you’re much more likely to want to shoot your three-foot-tall five-year-old than to shoot endless tape reels of the sky and the clouds. Sharp’s grips, I believe, can rotate about 170 degrees, allowing you to shoot things both high and low.
The hybrid focus and zoom ring is easy to use and positioned well, but you'd need a third hand to operate any of the touch screen buttons while still operating the hybrid ring. You can't have your hand operating the touch screen and the ring at the same time, which means you’re constantly going to be juggling this camcorder and adding a ton of extra shake to your videos. I've already mentioned how hard the touch screen itself is to use and how it makes handling a nightmare on this camcorder. I hate to beat a dead horse, but most of these handling problems could be solved with the presence of actual buttons rather than the exclusive touch screen.
Ports (9.0)
The DCR-HC1000 includes FireWire and USB ports. It also includes a microphone in jack and a headphone out jack. The microphone in jack is a little distinct because of the camcorder's four-channel recording capability. There are actually two microphone jacks; however, the second microphone jack can be used only with Sony's special four-channel audio microphone. The camcorder has a hot shoe, and RCA audio and video inputs and outputs through a special plug.
Other Features (6.5)
Non-Expandable Battery
On this one, you have to ask, "What in the world were they thinking?" The battery on the DCR-HC1000 is housed in a compartment inside the camcorder. The compartment seals up, putting the battery completely out of sight. Now, even the least sophisticated users can realize why that is a huge problem: included camcorder batteries die very fast, and you’re stuck with a $1,700 camcorder that has no power. What's the solution? Larger batteries, of course, which I'm sure any camcorder salesman will try to up-sell you on.
This engineering mistake is huge. Personally, I always buy the biggest battery I can find. Sony camcorders typically have the biggest batteries, some giving up to 11 or 12 hours of camcorder usage, and frankly even that isn't enough. I'll usually run that battery down in one day if I'm on vacation. With the DCR-HC1000's included battery, you can get one or two hours of camcorder usage. You'll almost certainly fall on the shorter side of that number, because you will be using the LCD screen, which constantly consumes a lot of power. You certainly can buy more batteries, but who wants to carry around five batteries and have to charge all five every night? Not limiting the battery size is one of those things that should be taught in camcorder engineering kindergarten classes, along with very strict lessons on how much prosumers hate touch screens.
Optical SteadyShot
The DCR-HC1000 includes an optical image stabilization system instead of an electronic one. The image stabilization system works quite well, and is one of the best ones out there.
16:9 widescreen mode
The DCR-HC1000 offers an enhanced 16:9 mode, which is similar to that used on the DCR-HC85 (Review, Specs, $593) and improves upon the DCR-TRV900's 16:9 mode. According to Sony's web site, the 16:9 mode uses “a 14% wider angle field of view and 30% more pixels than a standard 4:3 image.” Although I must admit I am not an expert at the differences between the 16:9 modes of various camcorders, the general consensus is that Sony's 16:9 mode is the best of the consumer camcorders, though not as good as the 16:9 mode on Canon’s recently announced XL2.
Analog to Digital Pass-Through
The DCR-HC1000 includes analog to digital pass-through, which allows you to hook an analog source up to the camcorder and convert it into a digital signal that is available through the FireWire jack on the fly.
NightShot
The DCR-HC1000 includes Sony's Night Shot modes, which give your video a green hue in ultra-low-light situations. It's neat, but don't use it if you’re serious about producing good-looking video.
Custom Menu
Sony has added a new custom menu feature to the DCR-HC1000 that slightly alleviates the touch screen issues (though I'm not revoking my declaration of war). The custom menu allows you to set which buttons appear on the touch screen and in what order they appear. With this, you can at least put the most important features first so you don't have to scroll through the menu system.
Zebra Patterns
The zebra pattern is something which the few prosumers who actually mistakenly buy this camcorder will like. It superimposes diagonal white-and-black stripes on overexposed areas of your image, so you can adjust your aperture and shutter speed to make sure that your image is not overexposed.
Top-Loading Tape Mechanism
This isn't exactly “another feature,” but is still something worth pointing out. The tapes on the DCR-HC1000 load from the top of the camcorder instead of the bottom. This allows you to put new tapes in while the camcorder is on a tripod, something that most camcorders don't allow you to do.
Comparisons
Panasonic PV-GS400
Panasonic announced the PV-GS400 3 CCD camcorder around the same time that Sony announced the DCR-HC1000. Both offer three 1/4.7-inch CCDs. The DCR-HC1000 and PV-GS400 look almost identical. While the Sony’s colors can be slightly boosted with the Camera Color option, the PV-GS400 seems to have a slight edge in the noise category, and I mean slight. The PV-GS400 clearly beats the DCR-HC1000 when it comes to manual control. All manual control on the PV-GS400 is controlled through a hybrid four-way ring. The camcorder also includes a neat zoom controller, and handles much better than the DCR-HC1000. In my opinion, there is no question that the PV-GS400 is a much better camcorder than the DCR-HC1000, and considering that it has a price tag that's $200 less, it's a sure buy. If you’re a prosumer, the PV-GS400 is a camcorder you should consider, unlike the DCR-HC1000.
Canon GL2
Probably one of the most commonly asked questions on message boards around the web was, “Which should I buy, a Canon GL2 or a Sony DCR-TRV950?” It used to be close. Compared to the DCR-HC1000, the GL2 performs similarly, but there are subtle differences. At 3000 lux, the Sony seems to have slightly better color; just look at the violet tile. However, in low light, while the DCR-HC1000 produces a brighter image, the GL2 does a great job of eliminating noise, and showing an image with tremendously better, richer, deeper colors. The GL2 does a great job of presenting a bright image with less noise and more color again at 15 lux, and this really pushes it past the DCR-HC1000 in low light. Although the DCR-HC1000 has maintained decent video and low light performance, because of its problems with manual control, the GL2 becomes a clear winner. The GL2 also offers a large 20x optical zoom, compared with the 12x optical on the DCR-HC1000. Like the PV-GS400, the GL2 is a prosumer's camcorder, and clearly beats the DCR-HC1000.
Sony DCR-VX2100
The DCR-VX2100 is such a great camcorder. It offers wonderful video and low light performance, great manual control, and great handling at a better value than similarly priced camcorders. It's hard to believe that the DCR-HC1000 is just one model down from the DCR-VX2100. If you can afford it, go with the DCR-VX2100; there is no competition in my mind between it and the DCR-HC1000.
Sony DCR-TRV950
It's rare, but sometimes a camcorder meant to replace an older model is worse than the one it supersedes. In some circumstances, the new camcorder is so inferior that they don't even compare. Well, this is one of those instances. The DCR-TRV900, which preceded the DCR-TRV950, was revolutionary, delivering 3 CCDs at an unprecedented low price. The DCR-TRV950 followed up with the same quality and performance. The DCR-HC1000 is like the bad sibling no one will discuss. The lobotomy that Sony has performed on the DCR-TRV950 to produce the DCR-HC1000 has resulted in an ease of use camcorder that is a prosumer's nightmare. If you like the video and low light performance of the DCR-HC1000, save some money and go find a used DCR-TRV950. It offers real manual control and great handling.
Who It’s For
Point-and-Shooters (8.5)
Like all Sonys, the DCR-HC1000 is designed for point-and-shooters, with its touch-screen menu and decent automatic controls.
Budget Consumers (3.0)
The DCR-HC1000 is overpriced for what it is.
Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid(4.0)
The DCR-HC1000 doesn’t offer anything new in the still photo department, and stills aren’t the focus of the camcorder either.
Gadget Freaks(7.0)
The DCR-HC1000 works for the gadget freak in that it provides a rotating body design which may whet a few appetites, but most likely will only soil a few pairs of jeans.
Manual Control Freaks(5.0)
While the DCR-HC1000 does offer much of what the PV-GS400 does in the way of manual control, it is all buried in the touch screen menu. Bah!
Pros/ Serious Hobbyists(2.0)
The prosumer has better options for his/her money than the DCR-HC1000.
Conclusion
Behind this harsh review is, frankly, a sad reviewer. The $1,200 - $3,000 market is a lonely camcorder space. There are two Panasonics, one Canon, and two Sony camcorders covering $1,800 of territory. Since these are the prime camcorders for the CamcorderInfo.com market, it's important to me that they perform well. When I first handled the DCR-HC1000, it was a great disappointment as I realized that one of the strongest competitors in this space had ducked out and effectively been disqualified. I want to convey that it's not vengeance or anger behind this review; it's sadness. I really wanted this to be a good camcorder.
If Sony had not replaced the DCR-TRV950 with the DCR-HC1000, and introduced it instead at around $1,200, I would think that it was one of the best buys on the market. There is a market for higher-end ease of use camcorders, like the DCR-PC350, which also produce outstanding video and low light pictures. The problem is the DCR-HC1000 and the DCR-PC350 are ease of use camcorders that should never be mistaken for anything else. Sony has not screwed up low light performance and video performance on this model, which is completely on par with the PV-GS400. I understand paying a big price tag for that performance, but I want that performance to come with good manual control, and none of the engineering mistakes that this camcorder has. At $1,300 - $1,700, this is a terrible buy for prosumers. If on the other hand, you've never used a camcorder before and crave ease of use, and also have $1,700 to spend freely, buy the DCR-HC1000.
Sony made the critical mistake with the DCR-HC1000 of not understanding their market. In the engineering meetings for this model, someone forgot to ask which is more important to prosumers: Spot Metering and Spot Focus, or good manual control? This camcorder lacks proper real button manual control, expandable battery options, durability and good handling. This is not, and never will be, an appropriate camcorder for the prosumer market. If you were a professional videographer and showed up to a wedding with a DCR-HC1000, I'd laugh at you. What's even more disappointing on top of this is the fact that the DCR-TRV950, the DCR-HC1000's predecessor, was such a great camcorder. It had all the features that have been taken off or shoved into the virtual touch screen outhouse.
As I said in my first impressions review, Sony took a great camcorder and destroyed it. I would never have laughed at a videographer shooting a wedding with a DCR-TRV950. The bottom line is, if you’re a pro, there's virtually no benefit to the DCR-HC1000, so if you want its video and low light performance, go buy a DCR-TRV950 from the few that remain. All we can hope for is that there is a large stock of DCR-TRV950s available, and that Sony will learn from this terrible mistake by dropping the price of the DCR-HC1000 to about $1,200 and bringing our beloved DCR-TRV950 back from the grave before the holiday season.