Sony HDR-HC1 HDV Camcorder Review by Robin Liss Published on Jun 29, 2005 1:30 PM
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Widescreen Aspect

Scan Rates/24P (3.0)
The HDR-HC1 includes two possible scan rates, either 1080i HDV video at 60 interlaced fields per second, or 480 lines interlaced Standard Definition video at 60 interlaced fields per second. The camcorder can not support the 720 lines progressive mode of the HDV format. The camcorder has no true 24 frames per second progressive scan option. Many higher end shooters' or independent film makers' biggest complaint with HDV is that there is no support for 24P, which shoots at the same frame rate as film, giving a film look to footage. This lack of 24P doesn’t really need to be a problem, as JVC has already announced an HDV camcorder which supports 24P. This camcorder is really designed for high-end consumer use, not necessarily pro independent film making. The 24P “look” can be added in postproduction semi-successfully, though you won’t be able to quadruple the resolution of Standard Definition NTSC video.

Sony has included their “cinema effect” option which gives a digital effect that tries to look somewhat like 24P. It appears that this effect is the same effect that was included on the DCR-PC1000 (Review, Specs, $699.97) and the DCR-PC350 (Review, Specs, $899), and it shouldn’t be mistaken for 24P. The video looks jerky and you’re better off just avoiding it.

Other Features (6.0)
Bottom Loading Tape This really isn't a feature per se, but this is the best place to complain about it. Tapes on the HDR-HC1 load from the bottom of the camcorder, not the top, which makes operating this camcorder when attached to a tripod a huge pain. If you want to change tapes, you need to remove the camcorder from the tripod, take off the tripod plate, change the tape, put the plate back on, and reattach the camcorder to the tripod. It's quite the hassle.

Shot Transition This is a neat feature which Sony brought over from the HDR-FX1. The Shot Transition feature stores picture settings such as zoom, focus, exposure and other features in memory. You can store two different shots, and when you press execute the camcorder will smoothly transition from one shot to another. It's great for doing a rack focus. The transition time is preset at 4 seconds, unlike the FX1 where the time and a "curve" can all be user set. This is a feature allowing anyone to do a "pro" operation that without Shot Transition requires simultaneously manually changing focus, view, and zoom in a coordinated manner. No software can duplicate this on the computer - it takes place when recording.

Analog to Digital Pass-Through The HDR-HC1 can convert an analog signal to a digital one, though it can only do this in DV. It can't convert an analog signal to an HDV one.

Image Stabilization The HDR-HC1 includes Sony's electronic image stabilization. The image stabilization seemed to work fine with no problems. The "amount" of compensation for the lens type can be configured.

Super NightShot You can use this feature to make all your subjects look like martians! The HDR-HC1 includes Super NightShot for shooting in low light conditions but it's going to look bad and cast a green glow on your subjects. The feature does have a dedicated button on the camcorder's barrel. This is an Infrared recording mode and can be used with an IR illuminator in no light "0 lux".

Expandable Focus This is a very useful additional feature. The expandable focus feature zooms in the image temporarily on the LCD and the viewfinder so you can get a better manual focus. This is critical with HD, because with 4x the resolution focus errors look 4x as bad.

Guide Frames Rule of thirds, kids! The HDR-FX1's guideframes option will superimpose guidelines on the screen to help you compose an image, and if you follow the rule of thirds (read some of our tutorial articles on shooting) it will help you compose your shot.

Battery Info This is one of those features that is aggressively marketed, but lacking in the usability sphere. If you press the display / battery info button which is located in the inner portion of the LCD screen, the camcorder will show a blue screen with remaining battery time on it. It takes a few seconds for the screen to show up, and I just don't use it that much.

Burn DVD When the HDR-HC1 is attached to and used with a Sony Vaio computer (Sony likes to keep it all in the family), the Burn DVD button will start up the DVD burning process on the computer. However, it will burn a standard definition DVD, not high definition, because there is no high definition DVD format.

Cinema Effect This effect tries to give a 24P look to the video and give it a cinema like look, but in the end it's just going to make your original footage look bad. You really should just do this in postproduction and ignore the Cinema Effect. Even when using the "Cinema Effect", the output will be 1080/60i.

Surround Sound There's a staff member here at CamcorderInfo.com headquarters who loves surround sound capability in Sony camcorders, but I personally think it's useless. Unless you're shooting a $120 million blockbuster with a small army of sound engineers who really can make it sound like you're in the middle of a car chase, your surround sound won't sound that great. You're just going to have two front channels of your kids playing in the sandbox, and two back channels of you fiddling with the camcorder buttons. CAMCORDER FIDDLING IN REALISTIC SURROUND SOUND!

Conversion Lens The conversion lens feature is used when you're putting an external lens on the camcorder. I think it only works with wide angle and zoom lenses. It tells the camcorder internally that there is a lens, and it shouldn't matter if you don't buy a Sony.

Histogram  The histogram provides a real time graph of the exposure of the picture, and it's very useful for still photos.

Conversion Lens Feature

Histogram Feature



Shot Transition

Guideframes Feature

Spot Focus Feature

Spot Meter Feature