Sony NSC-GC1 First Impressions Camcorder Reviewby Michael PerlmanPublished on Jul 20, 2007 3:23 PM
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control
Pretty much everything on this camcorder is automatic, given the lack of controls and overall raison d’être. Don’t expect much in terms of auto response. The NSC-GC1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, ) seemed to have an acceptable lag time for exposure adjustments. The white balance was pretty far off in the poorly lit staging area, but we concede that only many camcorders would have faced the same difficulty here. The auto focus seemed to work reasonably well, though the tremendous compression and artifacting is probably doing the auto focus a favor and masking problems. The fact that this is a fixed lens with a f/3.5 aperture means that objects between 6.95mm and infinity will probably all be on the same plane of focus.
In the menu, you’ll find a selection of Scene Modes (often called AE or Program AE modes) that offer one-touch options for tricky lighting conditions. They include: Beach, Candle, Fireworks, High-Speed Shutter, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight, and Twilight Portrait.
Overall Manual Control
The first thing we noticed is that the Sony NSC-GC1 does not have a touch screen. This is the first Sony in a while to omit the popular feature, a keystone of their ease-of-use ethos. This may have been omitted due to cost, or to the small size of the screen. Frankly, we were surprised that the camcorder had any manual controls, given its nature. We were therefore pleased to see some control handed over to exposure, white balance, focus (just barely), and some Scene Modes. Because the handling is not very good on the NSC-GC1, the overall usefulness of the manual controls is limited, but having options is always appreciated.
Zoom
The NSC-GC1 features a 4x digital zoom, yet the camcorder does not offer an optical zoom. All in all, this is the worst zoom we’ve ever been exposed to. It doesn’t function via a zoom lever or slider, but rather two tiny dome-shaped buttons—the left for wide angle, the right for telephoto. Even the Canon TX1 (Specs, Recent News, $365.54) had a zoom lever. When zooming in or out, the video is not smooth like almost any other camcorder out there. It’s jerkier than a student driver’s car. It can take up to four seconds to fully zoom in or out from either extreme distance, and because it’s a digital rather than optical zoom, the video becomes noticeably pixilated. The resolution on the camcorder is bad enough. It doesn’t need any help from further distortion. Those who aim to create a pocket cinematic masterpiece will want to rely on cuts and pans.
Focus
There is no direct manual focus control on the Sony NSC-GC1. However, there is a telemacro / wide angle switch located on the right side of the body. This allows you to limit the focal range or expand it to infinity.
The telemacro / wide angle focus switch
Exposure (Aperture)
The video menu offers the ability to adjust the exposure across nine increments.
Shutter Speed
There is no shutter speed on the NSC-GC1. The specs state that the auto shutter ranges from 1/250 – 1/2000.
White Balance
The menu offers several white balance settings: auto, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Incandescent, and One Push (Manual).
Gain
There is no manual gain on the NSC-GC1.
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