Mini DV Camcorders

Executive Summary aboutMini DV Camcorders by Kristy Annely

Mini DV camcorders have many advantages over traditional analog video cameras and even Digital and DVD camcorders. Mini DV camcorders are compact, small and afford better editing. The major brands of Mini DV camcorders are Sony, Panasonic, and Canon. Sony is the market leader in the Mini DV camcorder segment, while Canon, though a late entrant in the market is fast catching up. The Sony Handy cam DCR HC 42, for example, is a Mini DV digital camcorder with still recording as well as MPEG movie recording features. This light, compact camcorder delighted users with it’s easy to use features and high sound and image recording quality on it’s May 2005 launch into the Mini DV camcorder market. The camcorder costs around $600.Panasonic Mini DV camcorders are the next popular after Sony Camcorders.

SONY HANDYCAM DCR-SR42

Executive Summary about Sony Handicam DCR-SR42 by Lori Grunin

Best mini dv camcorder

The good: Compact and lightweight; large storage capacity; bundled dock; built-in lens cover.

The bad: Mediocre video and still photo quality; no wind filter; small, fingerprint-magnet touch screen LCD; software free for Windows but $100 for Mac.

The bottom line: Given its mediocre video quality, the Sony Handycam DCR-SR42 seems overpriced for what it delivers.

Specifications: Video input type: Camcorder; Optical zoom: 40 x; Media type: Hard disks drive.

Price range: $289.99 – $448.10

That goes double for camcorders which record directly to hard disk or DVD, since they need sufficient pixels to compress into a decent image. The resolution of the hard-disk-based Sony Handycam DCR-SR42–680,000 pixels–falls into the insufficient range, especially since its effective video and still resolution is a mere 340,000 pixels. The SR42 comes in two flavors, one with a 30GB hard disk that can hold up to 7 hours of best-quality video, and a version with a 60GB hard disk (the DCR-SR42A) that holds up to 14 hours. Like all the SR models, the SR42 bundles the Handycam Station, which charges the battery and connects to a TV or PC. As with the rest of the Sony consumer camcorder family, the SR42 uses a touch screen-based menu system. Like all but the SR300, the SR42 uses the electronic image stabilizer version of Sony’s SteadyShot. The camcorder lacks a microphone input as well as an accessory shoe–typical omissions in budget models.

As the Handycam DCR-SR42 exemplifies, for the moment, there are still no bargains to be had in hard-disk-based camcorders–unless you really don’t care about the video quality. If you want a decent hard-disk model, you’ve got to pay a little more.

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