Sony DCR-HC1000 First Impressions Review

This article was co-written by Matthew Culler

At a potential price of $1700.00, the DCR-HC1000 is a new contender in the 3 CCD consumer market. While it offers many new features, it is hard to imagine the HC1000 gaining a hold of the market at such a price. However, on its own terms, the HC1000 may appeal to those who desire more versatile shooting with all the convenience and manual control Sony can offer. We got an opportunity to look at the HC1000 at a Sony event in New York.

Video Performance
Sony’s DCR-HC1000 offers video specs similar to those of its predecessor, the TRV-950. Like the TRV-950, it includes three CCDs sized at 1/4.7-inch with 1,070K pixels apiece. The HC1000 offers similar zoom and optical images stabilization. At this point, we can't really come to any hard conclusions about the video performance because we haven't had an opportunity to test the DCR-HC1000 in our lab settings.

The Front
The front of Sony’s DCR-HC1000 can be divided into two halves: the front of the lens barrel, and the front of the MiniDV tape mechanism that doubles as a handhold. The front of the lens barrel is dominated by the camcorder’s Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens. With a filter diameter of 37mm, the front end of the lens barrel is a force to be reckoned with. Below the lens barrel is the camcorder’s infrared sensor. To the left of the lens barrel mechanism, and slightly farther towards the user, is the tape mechanism. The front of the tape mechanism is free of any controls.

The Right Side
The right side of the HC1000 contains the tape mechanism and the strap, as the tape mechanism is also the handhold. Along the top edge of the tape mechanism is the slider used to open it. For the most part, however, the right side of the tape mechanism is free of controls, as it is where the hand rests. There are no controls on the upper right portion of the lens barrel, probably because when the tape mechanism is rotated – it can rotate a full 90° – these controls would be obscured.

The Left Side
You'll find many controls on the left side of the lens barrel of the HC1000 . Towards the immediate front of the camcorder, the zoom/focus ring wraps itself around the end of the lens barrel. Directly to its right is a cluster of buttons, including a switch setting toggling between manual ring focus, automotive focus, and manual zoom ring. Also present are relatively useless buttons for battery info./display, backlight, and an auto lock switch. The LCD screen consumes the remainder of the left side of the HC1000. Largely due to touch screen technology, the LCD, when lifted, reveals no buttons. This is surprising in comparison with the DCR-TRV950, which is packed with buttons. There is a second record button located on the left margin of the LCD, as well as a button for the LCD back light. The memory card slot is located beneath the LCD screen, hugging the bottom edge of the camcorder.

The Top
Towards the front of the camcorder, the top of the HC1000 contains the camcorder’s flash and, further down, its stereo microphone and an intelligent accessory shoe. Unfortunately, the microphone is located on top of the camcorder’s body. Sony has included with the HC1000 an additional surround-sound feature that could improve audio pickup; however, this system has its own problems. On top of the tape mechanism is the slider to open the mechanism, as well as a zoom toggle.

The Back
The back of the HC1000 can be visually divided into two halves, similar to hulls on a catamaran. One is the back of the tape mechanism; the second is the back of the lens barrel. The back of the tape mechanism contains the mode switch: a slider that, when pulled down, changes the mode from tape recording mode to memory card recording mode or to playback mode. Immediately to the left of the mode slider is the primary record button, as distinguished from the secondary record button on the LCD margin.

The DCR-HC1000’s battery pack is located on the left side of the back, with the camcorder’s viewfinder located above it. Between the two halves, towards the bottom of the camcorder, is the camcorder’s DC-in port.

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control
The Sony DCR-HC1000 offers a wealth of automatic control, including automatic settings for exposure, shutter speed, focus, and white balance. Like many Sonys, these automatic functions work well and are pretty standard, especially to user-friendly Sonys. Sony has also added a touch screen to the DCR-HC1000, as they've added to all of their MiniDV camcorders. The idea behind the touch screen is that it makes operation of the camcorder much easier for novice users. In adding a touch screen, however, Sony has removed the the jog dial and manual control buttons that were on the DCR-TRV950. This is a horrible mistake. The DCR-TRV950 and the DCR-TRV900 that came before it were wonderful camcorders, adopted by pros who want and need manual control. Those camcorders had great button controls, and Sony's decision to force users who want to use manual control to use a touch screen is truly foolish.

Overall Manual Control
The HC1000 offers many manual control options, including control over focus (using the newly added combo zoom/focus ring), exposure, shutter speed, and white balance. There are also manual control options for color balance and sharpness,. These features can be located in the HC1000’s touch-screen LCD menu system. The use of the touch screen is, again, a foolish move by Sony. The DCR-TRV950 was a great camcorder. I seriously doubt that any prosumer users will take even a semi-serious look at the DCR-HC1000 now that they are forced to adjust all the manual control options through a dinky, hard-to-use touch screen.

Zoom
Manual zoom control is available either through the zoom toggle located above the tape mechanism or with the zoom/focus ring. The addition of the hybrid zoom ring is probably the only positive addition in regard to manual control that Sony has done on the DCR-HC1000. It's a great feature first introduced on the MicroMV DCR-IP220 (hardly a prosumer camcorder) that they should add to every camcorder. Of course, a dedicated zoom ring would be better, but the hybrid is a great addition that is better than nothing. Zoom response to ring adjustment has a bit of a lag. The HC1000 has optical zoom of 12x with a digital zoom of 150x.

Focus
Manual focus is available using the HC1000’s combo zoom/focus ring. Zoom or Focus can be selected using the switch next to the ring. The focus ring is nice, and it's a professional feature. I'm glad Sony's kept it on the DCR-HC1000.

Exposure (Aperture)
Twenty-four step manual exposure adjustment is available using the HC1000’s touch screen menu. I hate that the exposure is controlled through the touch screen menu. It's hard to use when you need quick, fast manual control, and each time you touch it, it shakes the camera a little bit. To add to this frustration, Sony doesn't give you actual F-Stop readings for the aperture's setting. Panasonic's and Canon's 3 CCD camcorders give you F-Stop readings, which many professional users demand.

Shutter Speed
Correcting a previous error, the DCR-HC1000 does have manual shutter speed control through the touch screen.

White Balance
The manual white balance can be set on the DCR-HC1000 within the touch screen menu system to enable the user to more accurately determine dominant color temperature of the scene. Preset options for outdoor and indoor light levels exist, with an option of manually setting the balance using the “one-push” setting. Again, the white balance control should be on a touch button.

Gain
Like the DCR-TRV950, the DCR-HC1000 includes manual gain control. It's a nice feature to have, and I'm glad Sony included it. However, I hate that it's controlled through the menu system.

Still Performance
The DCR-HC1000 takes stills at 1152 x 864 and 640 x 480 to Memory Stick Duo. The stills are at quite low resolution on the DCR-HC1000, rated at one Megapixel. As this is a camcorder which is "supposed" to be used by prosumers, stills shouldn't matter. But frankly, I think Sony has made this camcorder so unattractive to prosumers that only the wealthy or spendthrifts who know very little about camcorders will be buying the DCR-HC1000, and those users put a lot of weight into still performance.

LCD/ Viewfinder
The DCR-HC1000 is equipped with a 2.5” inch (211K pixel) LCD. This is a downgrade from the TRV950’s 3.5 inch LCD. Again, Sony's downgrading this camcorder. The DCR-HC1000 includes a color viewfinder with approximately 123K pixels.

Audio
The stereo microphone is unfortunately located on the top of the camcorder’s body. This could prove to be a hindrance to pickup quality. With the HC1000, Sony has upgraded to optional four-channel audio recording capability. What this means is that a four-channel option microphone (not included with the camcorder) is available allowing for surround-sound recording. Using Sony’s Click-to-DVD software, DVDs can be recorded in surround sound. At this time, it is unclear as to the compatibility with other software.

Handling
One of the major departures from previous camcorder design that the HC1000 makes is in its body shape. The HC1000’s design separates the lens barrel from the tape mechanism with a pivot point between the two, enabling the tape mechanism, which is also the hand grip, to be rotated 90°. This supposedly allows for a more versatile recording technique. I think it's a joke. It's cute, if you don't care about handling. This camcorder is not easy to hold stable, and when you take into account that you're going to be shaking it every time you make a manual adjustment, I would be very wary of the DCR-HC1000's ability to hold steady.

Ports
The DCR-HC1000 includes a USB port, a mic input, headphone jack, FireWire access, special audio and video outputs, a multi A/V video input, and a stereo audio input. It records to a Memory Stick Pro Duo.

Other Features
Nightshot Offers a infrared enhanced night vision

5.1 Surround Sound: option with uses a special optional microphone to record on four separate channels.

Zebra: shows zebra stripes on the LCD and viewfinder in over-exposed areas.

Multi-Angle Grip:Allows for handgrip rotation of 90°.

Combo Ring:allows for user to switch between zoom and focus control with the same operating ring.

16:9 widescreen mode
Digitally manipulated 16:9 mode is an option on the DCR-HC1000

Webcam
The DCR-HC1000 is equipped to function as a webcam.

MPEG
MPEGs are recorded at 160 x 112 and 320 x 240.

Analog to Digital Pass Through
The DCR-HC1000 is equipped to serve as a pass-through device, allowing the user to transfer analog to digital and vice versa.

Conclusion
Sony has taken a great camcorder and destroyed it. The DCR-TRV900 was an amazing piece of technology, delivering 3 CCDs combined with great manual control for a very low price. The DCR-TRV950 followed in its shoes with even better features. The DCR-HC1000, however, has failed to catch up with the times and been stripped of almost everything that is good about it. Yes, they've added a nifty hybrid focus and zoom ring, and they've added a few little manual control features, but forcing all manual control into the menu system was a foolish mistake. I can't even fathom a situation where the DCR-HC1000's video or low light performance could save it.

When you hold the DCR-HC1000 up to the Canon GL2, its longtime competitor, I don't know if there is a single important area where the DCR-HC1000 wins out. The GL2 has way better manual control, way better handling, and is a real prosumers camcorder. When you factor in Panasonic's new PV-GS400, which has the same CCDs, better manual control, a combo ring adding shutter speed and iris control to focus and zoom, a large LCD, and a $200-$300 cheaper price tag, I really can't see why anyone would justify buying the DCR-HC1000. I can't believe Sony considers this a prosumer's camcorder. The DCR-HC1000 is a toy, and I can't see any situation where I would recommend it.