Sony HDR-HC7 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on Mar 19, 2007 2:00 PM 
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Still Features (8.75)
Sony’s HDR-HC7 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1128.56) is a better-than-average hybrid device, capturing stills at resolutions up to 6.1MP, and featuring Sony’s new “Dual Record” mode. Many consumer camcorders offer the ability to record digital stills while recording video by pressing the photo button, but those simultaneously recorded stills are usually constrained to the resolution of a video frame. Sony’s Dual Record mode captures still images to MemoryStick at a much higher 4.6MP resolution when recording HDV or 16:9 standard definition video, or 3.4MP when recording 4:3 standard definition video. High resolution stills are possible thanks to the CMOS imager in this camcorder, which permits faster data processing than the CCDs still found in the majority of consumer camcorders. In addition to Dual Record mode, the HC7 can capture video screen grabs to MemoryStick when the camcorder in Playback mode.
The HDR-HC7 can record images in a wide range of resolutions, depending on the current mode. In Camera Memory (still photo) mode, 6.1MP (2848x2136, 4:3), 4.6MP (2848x1602, 16:9), 3.1MP (2048x1536, 4:3), and VGA (640x480, 4:3); in Camera Tape (video) mode, 4.6MP (2848x1602, 16:9), 3.4MP (2136x1602, 4:3), 2.3MP (2016x1134, 16:9), and 1.7MP (1512x1134, 4:3); and in Play/Edit mode, 1.2MP (1440x810, 16:9), VGA (640x480, 4:3), and 0.2MP (640x360, 16:9).
An onboard flash pops out from the right side of the front, next to the lens. The flash button, near the back of the right side can be used to toggle between flash settings for Auto, Forced Flash, and No Flash.
The Memory Set submenu provides access to many still photo settings, including quality and image size, file organization and file deletion. The Format option in the Memory Set submenu will format a MemoryStick card, deleting all images. The File No. option allows you to determine how still images are numbered on the MemoryStick card. The “Series” setting will number images in sequence within a given recording folder, and will carry the count over if a new MemoryStick is inserted. The “Reset” setting will begin the count from 0001 when the MemoryStick card is changed. The New Folder command in the Memory Set submenu creates a new folder on the flash card but the HC7 will automatically create a new folder whenever the number of images in the current recording folder reaches 9,999 – though we wonder if any HDR-HC7 user will ever witness this auspicious event… The Recording Folder option in the Memory Set submenu allows you to set the folder to which new images are recorded; and the Playback Folder option allows you to set the image playback folder.
The HCR-HC7’s Picture Application submenu (labeled Pict. Appli.) includes some additional still image capture features including Interval Recording (labeled Int.Rec-Stl) and Slide Show. Interval photo recording is touted in the users manual as “useful to observe the movement of clouds or the changes in daylight, etc.” As you’ve probably guessed from the description, the HC7 will record images at set intervals of 1, 5, or 10 minutes when this option is engaged. If you’ve ever wanted to document the growth of mold on a plate of leftovers, and play it back in 30 seconds, this interval photo recording is just the tool you’ve been waiting for.
The Slide Show option plays back all images in a given folder, or all images on a MemoryStick card. With the HC7 connected to an HD monitor, this presents a handy way to show images from a trip to the clan, though with Mac and PC software that can effortlessly add a soundtrack to a slideshow, it probably won’t be the most popular bell and whistle on the HC7. A number of Picture Effects can be applied to still images during either recording or playback, including Skintone (for smoother looking skin – if you’re photographing melanin-challenged folks), Neg Art (inverts color and brightness), Sepia, B & W, Solarize (applies a solarizing filter), Pastel (the manual describes this as making stills look like “a pale pastel drawing” – whatever that means), and Mosaic (applies big, fat pixels to the image – only available during still image recording).
The HDR-HC7 features a full complement of still image printing and sorting options that allows you to delete specific images, set up a DPOF print queue, and protect select images from erasure. Together, the still options offered by the HDR-HC7 make this camcorder a virtually self-contained still image studio. All of the image sorting, printing, and editing options available would be more easily accomplished after transferring photos to a Mac or PC. But for those intrepid adventurers who want to squeeze all the functionality they can out of their camcorder, the options are there. On a more practical level, DPOF does allow you to print out stills without lugging along a PC – a boon to backpackers and anyone else who likes to cut the computer tether from time to time.
Still Performance (13.3)
The Sony HDR-HC7 was tested for color accuracy in its still images by shooting a Gretag McBeth Color Checker chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. At best, the camcorder produced an uncorrected mean color error of 4.5. In order to get this score, we set AE Shift to -1. The score for auto exposure had a marginally higher color error score, and AE Shift of +1 was higher still. Colors at the best setting (AE Shift -1) were oversaturated by an average 15.9%, with skin tones (browns, yellows, and reds) especially pushed towards the green end of the spectrum. This represents good color accuracy for a point-and-shoot camera, but the oversaturation shows that Sony has catered this image to a consumer market that likes colors that pop.
Still Resolution (26.7)
The Sony HDR-HC7 was tested for the resolution of its still photos by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software to determine line widths per picture height (LW/PP). For the horizontal, Imatest found an approximate resolution of 1416 line widths per picture height, undersharpening of 1.39%, and clipping of 1.78%. For the vertical, the resolution was approximately 1273 line widths per picture height, undersharpening of 5.54%, and clipping of 2.14%. It is unusual to see a camcorder produce an undersharpened image, as most consumer camcorders are oversharpened to give the illusion of higher resolution. Sharpening occurs in the processor as a way of increasing contrast along borders and compromises the recorded image.