Sony DCR-HC26 Camcorder Review

Scan Rates/24p (0.0)
The Sony DCR-HC26 (Review, Specs, $299.99) shoots at a rate of 29.97 frames per second, a standard shooting speed for camcorders found within this price range. Even 3 CCD models offered by other companies like Panasonic, like the PV-GS500 (Review, Specs, $1040), are only able to give users a “strobe effect” feature. If variable frame rates are important to you, be prepared to spend more than $300 dollars for your camcorder.

Other Features (4.0)
Fader - The fader control allows users to select between fade in or fade outs that have black or white transitions to opaque screens. When the HC26 is in standby mode, users can engage fade-in, while fade-out is available in recording mode. These settings are located within the first page of the Function Menu within the Fader submenu. Once within this menu users can choose between White and Black fades.

NightShot Plus and NightShot Light – The NightShot Plus feature works in low light situations, either alone or in tandem with the NightShot Light. This light is an Infrared Light (thus invisible to human eyes) which will illuminate low light scenes for greater image legibility beyond the capabilities of slow shutter or other control settings. But when using this feature, don’t expect objects to appear in normal lighting and don’t expect color or saturation to be accurate; it’s only for times when footage is absolutely necessary and light is absent from a scene.

It is possible to shoot in NightShot mode without the light by disengaging the NightShot Light setting within the Administrative menu under the submenu categorization of “Camera Set”. That being said, the slight increase in exposure provided with just the NightShot mode alone wasn’t enough to help out in really low light, and anyway, having a green tint to your video isn’t going to be a huge concern, considering the already greatly impaired image quality of footage captured at this light level.

Click to DVD- Although this feature can be used only on Sony Vaio computers, it does provide at least those users with a seemingly quick way to transfer MiniDV still photo footage onto DVD through the use of Sony’s preinstalled “Click to DVD Ver.1.2” found with Vaio computers. Supposedly, this system is as simple as selecting the “Click to DVD” program from the programs list, and selecting the Burn DVD setting found within the playback Function Menu. Once a disc is inserted into the DVD drive and a still photo is selected, users are able to transfer MiniDV photos onto DVD with an MPEG-2 conversion occurring between media formats.