Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 review

The rest of the HC1's features compete respectably with those of most camcorders in the same price bracket. You can select among automatic, manual or spot focus. The Expanded Focus button enlarges the centre of the scene for easier manual focusing, and the Tele Macro button will defocus the background to bring out the subject. In addition to using automatic adjustment and a handful of exposure presets, you can manually adjust the exposure or select the shutter speed. The same goes for the white balance, which includes a manual colour-bias slider within the menu system.

A zebra-stripe overexposure display and a live histogram supplement your exposure options, and for low-light shooting, you can turn to Sony's infrared NightShot mode and Super NightShot, which uses infrared and the built-in video light. An on-camera flash works for still photography, and Sony's Active Interface Shoe allows for more accessories. You can adjust the audio levels manually and the HC1 includes connectors for an external microphone and headphones.

Performance
Overall, the Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 performed well, though it had its hiccups. The bright, sharp wide-screen viewfinder was a pleasure to work with, as was the 68mm (2.7-inch) wide-screen LCD. However, it seemed much easier to control the zoom speed with the camcorder raised to eye level than in the lower position usually required when using the LCD for framing.

Like many consumer autofocus systems, the HC1's has some difficulty locking in low light, but it works relatively well under better lighting. The one baffling exception was a large brown dog standing in front of a background of green leaves on a well-lit afternoon -- the camcorder couldn't seem to lock on to the dog, repeatedly fixing on the leaves instead.

The SteadyShot image stabilisation works adequately, as does the audio recording.

Image quality
Though it provides some image-quality advantages over the JVC GR-HD1, the Sony Handycam HDR-HC1 ultimately suffers from similar weaknesses. On the plus side, viewing the native 1080i video on an HDTV drives home how much resolution we're missing on standard DV -- when the HC1 is sharp, it's very, very sharp. So if you plan to view your videos solely on an HDTV via a FireWire connection and want the sharpest picture possible, this is your camcorder.

However, what the HC1 gains in sharpness it sacrifices in dynamic range and colour accuracy. Both video and stills lack detail in the shadows and the darker tones, even as the camcorder blows out highlights. Colours are extremely saturated but mildly inaccurate on an HDTV, and undersaturated and mildly inaccurate when down-converted and digitised. Furthermore, you can see interlace artefacts in still images and movies downloaded or viewed at actual size on a good display. When the video was less than 100 per cent sharp, we also noticed a tendency to produce more purple fringing than expected. Still photos looked noisy and soft, though probably acceptable for small prints or emailing.

Edited by Lori Grunin
Additional editing by Nick Hide