Sony DCR-HC40 First Impressions Camcorder Review

by Robin Liss
Published on Feb 16, 2004 12:00 AM



At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Sony introduced five new MiniDV camcorder's including the middle of the line DCR-HC40. The DCR-HC40 replaces last year's DCR-TRV33. At a selling price of $700, the DCR-HC40 is Sony's lowest priced Megapixel camcorder, however other manufacturer's are producing camcorders with higher pixel counts at lower prices. The DCR-HC40 is smaller, adds ease of use feature's and serves to be simple.

Video Performance
The Sony DCR-HC40 features a 1/5 in. 1,070K pixel CCD with 690K effective pixels for video. The CCD is the same that is used in the MicroMV DCR-IP1, which sadly we haven't had an opportunity to test - otherwise we might be able to provide some insight into the video quality. The camcorder includes a 10x optical zoom which is now the standard on Sony camcorders. Since I looked at the DCR-HC40 on the CES show floor where the lighting is designed to make the models look attractive not to create a fair testing situation - it would be unfair to make any conclusions about the video quality of the DCR-HC40. I should certainly note that on the DCR-HC40 Sony reduced the physical size of the CCD by 11.6% when compared to last year's model. CCD size reductions typically mean a reduction in video and low light performance.

The Front
The front of the DCR-HC40 is very simple which was Sony's theme with these year's models. At the top is the camcorder lens which has a included lens cover. The lens cover can be opened or closed using a small switch on the side of the camcorder. Below the lens is the Sony logo, the stereo microphone and below that is the recording tally light and infrared receiver.

The Right Side
The right side of the DCR-HC40 is very simple. At the back of the DCR-HC40 is the mode selector button which is slid down to change modes. The modes are indicated by three little lights above the dial itself. The rest of the DCR-HC40 is consumed by the strap with a nightshot button towards the front. At the top left of the right side is a small piece of plastic which covers the Mini AV / S-Video jack, the USB and the Firewire jacks. At the way front, about half way down is the microphone in jack.

The Back
The back of the DCR-HC40 starts at the top with the color viewfinder. Below that is the battery slot and the memory stick slot. To the right of those items is the record button and the other side of the power mode dial. At the bottom of the battery is the DC in Jack.

The Left Side
The left side of the DCR-HC40 is consumed by the 2.5 in. LCD screen. There is nothing on the outside or on the inside of the LCD. Sony has added a record button to the side of the LCD screen, a helpful addition because so much of the camcorder's operation depends on using the LCD screen. Along the top of the LCD screen are also three buttons, the Backlight, Easy Handycam and Battery Info buttons.

Automatic Control
The automatic control of the DCR-HC40 seemed fine on the show floor, it's somewhat difficult to test camcorders at a show however the automatic functions seemed to respond fine to changes in the shooting conditions and not lag at all. Sony also includes Automatic Exposure preset settings for a variety of shooting conditions which are accessible through the touch screen menu.

In 2003 Sony introduced the Spot Metering and Spot Focus functions widely on their models. They are great features. They allow you to touch a portion of the screen and the camcorder will automatically adjust either the exposure or the focus to that area. I think it's a great halfway point between automatic and manual control. It allows the user who understands that the automatic functions of their camcorder isn't doing the job but who doesn't totally understand manual control to adjust the focus or the exposure with their input.

Sony really stressed how they are trying to make their camcorders more friendly and easier to use with this years line, explaining the introduction of the 'Easy Handycam' button. Easy Handycam is a brand new function. Pressing the easy handcam button throws the camcorder into full automatic mode, makes the icons on the screen smaller and reduces the number of available menu options. Although I certainly would never use the feature, it should be very helpful to less advanced users.

Overall Manual Control
All of the manual control on the DCR-HC40 is accessed through the touch screen. Although there are some good features provided by the touch screen, notably Spot Metering and Spot Focus, manual control through the touch screen is not one of them. It is a pain to have to use a menu and a plus and minus button to adjust the focus or exposure, not to mention how much it will shake the camcorder. A jog dial is much more intuitive. Frankly, the touch screen isn't something you can smoothly operate while recording, having you to pause, or at least divert attention away from your shot to adjust the picture functions. I should not that the touch screen software on this year's MiniDV camcorders is improved over last years. The introduction of the 3D menu navigation makes adjusting camcorder functions through the touch screen much easier, but by no means does it easy to use.

Zoom
The DCR-HC40 has a 10x optical zoom which is the same power as the zoom on every other Sony MiniDV camcorder. They've standardized zoom power for some reason. The zoom is controlled by a very small plastic rocker which is raised about 1/4 in. above the camcorder body, making a T like shape. The zoom rocker is very small, way too small in my opinion. There is certainly a lot of 'blank space' on this camcorder, and room to make a larger zoom rocker. Although a larger zoom rocker might not have been as attractive looking as what is there now, it would certainly be more functional. The problem with the existing zoom controller is that it's hard to get anything more than a really fast zoom speed with it. You can get variable speed zooms, but the range of motion of the physical zoom rocker is so small that you're going to have a hard time holding any variable speed zoom for a very long time. Forget about slow zoom crawls on the DCR-HC40.

Focus
Like I mentioned above, disappointingly the focus on the DCR-HC40 is controlled through the touch screen. Personally, I believe that focus control, maybe after zoom control, is the most important manual picture function. If your picture is out of focus it's useless. As a camcorder user, you need to be able to quickly and easily access the focus control of your camcorder and adjust it so your picture doesn't look blurry. Although the 3D menu navigation system makes the buttons larger and easier to use, having to press on the touch screen and use plus or minus buttons to adjust the focus is just not very useable. A focus ring, which is included on the DCR-HC65 and DCR-HC85 is a much better solution which you can easily adjust while still paying attention to your shot.

Exposure (Aperture)
The exposure on the DCR-HC40 is controlled the same way that the focus is. Using the 3D menu navigation you get a screen with a plus or minus button. There is 24 steps of exposure. Like focus, the problem is that adjusting the exposure through the touch screen creates camera shake and is not intuitive. You have to sway your attention away from your shot to the touch screen inorder to adjust the exposure. A jog dial, where you can use your hands without looking would allow you to adjust the exposure and concentrate on your shot at the same time. Although the 3D menu navigation system makes it easier than last year's models, the touch screen certainly does not make for easy manual control.

Shutter Speed
There is no manual shutter speed control on the DCR-HC40.

White Balance
The DCR-HC40 offers four white balance options, manual, auto, indoor and outdoor all accessed through the touch screen LCD. I don't terribly mind the white balance control through the LCD screen because it's not something that needs continuous monitoring.

VCR Mode
The VCR controls on the DCR-HC40 are completely accessed through the touch screen LCD. The play, stop, fast forward and rewind buttons are superimposed on the video while you play it back. Although I find the partial coverage of the screen a pain, the buttons have been reduced and made less visible than last year's models. The camcorder includes all needed VCR functions including frame by frame fast forward and rewind.

LCD / Viewfinder
If you haven't noticed already, a lot about this camcorder depends on the LCD screen. The LCD screen is 2.5 in. and includes Sony's hybrid technology. The LCD includes multiple coatings which allow it to be viewable both in direct sun light as well in non-direct light conditions. To the left of the LCD screen is a recording button which Sony has added on this year's models. It's helpful if you're holding the camcorder by the screen, as many will considering how important the LCD is to the DCR-HC40.

Handling
The handling on the DCR-HC40 is alright, the camcorder's round shape make's it comfortably fit in your hand, however there are some problems. The first major problem is that because the camcorder is so small and so round, for some reason your fingers tend to land right ontop of the microphone or even on the lens. You're going to run into some serious problems if your hand is covering your lens while you shoot! The other major problem is that small is nice for portability but it's terrible for stability. The DCR-HC40 is so small and lightweight that you will shake it a lot while you are shooting.

The other major problem with the DCR-HC40 is it's over-dependence on the touch screen LCD. Although Sony feel that they are pushing the technology barrier by putting every feature on the camcorder onto the screen, I believe in many ways they are making the camcorder much harder to operate. The first problem is that every time you tap the LCD screen to change a setting, you shake the camcorder a little bit - those little bits aren't fixed through the steady shot and you'll notice them in your videos. The other problem is that the touch screen LCD gives no physical feedback. Besides hitting record and pointing, you can not adjust any of the camcorder's functions while shooting through the viewfinder.

Stills
The DCR-HC40's Megapixel chip saves still's to Memory Stick Duo cards (which are around half the size of the original Memory Sticks) at 1,152 x 864 pixel resolution. The DCR-HC40 includes a USB jack for transferring those digital stills from the camcorder to the computer. The camcorder comes with an 8 MB Memory Stick Duo. Since I looked at the DCR-HC40 for this article at the Consumer Electronics Show where it's impossible to test video, low light or still quality, I can't come to any conclusions about the still quality of the DCR-HC40.

Audio
The microphone on the DCR-HC40 is terribly placed, but what microphone isn't? Your hands get in the way and you're likely not to get very good audio out of it - but because with the small size of every camcorder it's pretty hard to place a microphone anywhere on a camcorder and get good sound quality, we usually look at the other audio options that are available. The DCR-HC40 includes a dedicated microphone in jack and a headphone out jack. The camcorder also includes a hot shoe for powering and attaching an external microphone. In addition, the DCR-HC40 offers an audio dubbing mode where you can record over the existing audio which you have recorded to tape.

Jacks and Ports
The DCR-HC40 includes a USB and Firewire Jack. It also includes an RCA and S-Video Jack which connect to the camcorder through a mini u-type connector. The camcorder also includes a Control-L jack, microphone in jack and a headphone out jack.

Other Features
Super Night Shot Plus Sony has upgraded the green Night Shot function with a Super Night Shot Plus system which integrates more color information into the picture and gets rid of the green hue. Although it was tough to test the Super Night Shot Plus at CES, what little I saw of it looked promising.

Analog-to-Digital Pass Through The DCR-HC40 includes Analog-to-Digital pass through which allows you to hook up an analog video source into the camcorder to convert the video to a digital signal for transfer to a computer on the fly.

Battery Information The battery information feature, though not very useful, allows you to have the camcorder display the remaining battery time on any battery hooked up to the DCR-HC40 without turning on the camcorder (although it needs to power up the LCD screen to show you the information - so I'm not actually sure how this qualifies as "not turning on the camcorder" as Sony says).

PicturePerfect Software New to this year's models, Sony is including PicturePerfect video editing software with every digital camcorder. The simple video editing software is powered by Muvee technologies automatic video editing engine, which will 'automatically' edit your videos with mixed results. Thankfully, the software also includes a slightly more advanced video editing mode - which is still very simple for most users.

Easy Record Mode Trying to be the company of inclusiveness, the DCR-HC40 feature's Sony's new Easy Recording mode for the 'Camcorder's for Dummies' crowd. With the touch of one button, the camcorder goes into full automatic mode, enlarges the icons on the screen and reduces the number of options available you.

Conclusions
Sony's DCR-HC40 step's up from the DCR-HC30 (Review, Specs, $399) with a Megapixel CCD giving you higher resolution stills. However, when compared to last year's similarity priced model, the CCD is smaller meaning the video and low light performance will likely be worse. With the DCR-HC40 Sony is clearly trying to make the videography experience easy. The new Easy Handycam function, combined with the Spot Metering, Spot Focus and general blankness of the outside of the camcorder makes the DCR-HC40 a very unintimidating easy to use product. The problem is however, if you want to go more than one step above point and shoot, you're going to have problems with the DCR-HC40. The touch screen manual control is hard to use, and if physics is correct, the video and low light quality will not be as good as last year's models. It seems the DCR-HC40 certainly has a niche in the point and shoot beginner user, however we're going to need to test it more to see whether or not it will meet the needs of the user who puts video quality first.