Sony HDR-HC7

The Sony HDR-HC7 now leads Sony’s new, relatively affordable HD camcorder line. This HDV camcorder records to tape, like the HDR-HC3, and features an important upgrade in imager size that could make it Sony’s best consumer HD camcorder of 2007, based on the superior performance of HDV versus AVCHD encoding. The larger imager is the not only major upgrade that the HDR-HC7 holds over its predecessor. The mic input and headphone jacks of the HDR-HC1 have returned and that will certainly make avid consumers and ultra-budget prosumers very pleased (particularly after its unceremonious dumping on the HC3). Optical image stabilization has also been resurrected. All in all, this camcorder looks like a winner