Sony DCR-HC21 Camcorder Review

Sony’s most basic MiniDV camcorder this year is the DCR-HC21. It shows no improvements in imaging and color quality over last year’s model, though it does includes some cosmetic improvements. It continues to exhibit Sony’s excellent automatic controls and LCD screen quality, and continues to be plagued by Sony’s horrid manual control offerings (or lack thereof), lack of a microphone or S-Video port, and disappointing low light performance. Sony also exhibits a lack of respect for knowledgeable users by striping the DCR-HC21 of virtually all manual audio options. This is really a camcorder for the budget point-and-shoot crowd, though while convenience and ease of use may be great here, comparable video quality can probably be found for less cash.