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Sony DCRPC110 Digital HandyCam Camcorder with Builtin Digital Still Mode

Sony DCRPC110 Digital HandyCam Camcorder with Builtin Digital Still Mode

List Price: $2,099.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: nice but still to ... for most
Review: Ok as a proud owner of a DCR-pc100 I was amazed to see that pc110 had all the improements that I wished for on the pc100 model. The buttons are well placed, the hand holding with the flip out lever extension is a plus, and the pop up flash is a nice touch. But it still only has a 1 mega pixel still camera capability, which is not good enough for most camera buffs. The video and sound quality are still excellent, auto focus appears to be the same, good but not perfect.

As with the pc-100 if you have either a iMac (or mac with firewire) or a Sony pc you can edit the digital video without to many problems. Likewise the Sony USB card reader is a must! The serial reader will not work with a mac and is so slow to download on a pc. Also get the 32 MB card over the 64 MB card, for some reason the 64 MB card seems to get slower as it fill up.

If you get this camcorder you must realize that the conventional VHS tape copies will lose some of the high quality video image and some of the sound quality as well. S-VHS seems to do a better job but few pwople have S-VHS units so sharing could be a problem.

The best solution would be one of those nice DVD recorders that are just starting to appear onthe market. Digital to digital media, what could be better?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: PC-Orietned DV Camera
Review: The PC110 appears to be a slight re-working of the PC100 with the aim of making it a better still camera and integrating it more closely with Sony's other video imaging products. It takes true megapixel stills, and also will store very short MPEG videos on its memory stick card. Viewing these requires a PC.

Unfortunately, the way this is implemented makes this device more like two cameras than one. You are either in "Memory" mode or "Camera" mode when recording, "Memory" mode or "VCR" mode when playing back. Stills and MPEG are transferred through the USB port, DV video through the FireWire. It all makes sense, when you realize that this camera does not consider MPEG to be a tape format. But it does take some time to get used to. And after you get used to it, you can move on to tricky little things like transferring small portions of your DV video onto the memory stick as MPEG etc. I think you can even transfer stills from memory stick to tape if you'd ever want to do that.

The message here is: this is the camera for people who want to do something with their images other than just watch them as is. It has a lot of features for in-camera editing and effects, though as has been pointed out in the editorial review, you can do this more easily on a PC than in the camera.

Finally, ignore the comments about the ergonomics. The author was holding the camera the wrong way. Your pinky should be nowhere near the focus or still photo controls. A closer reading of the manual and some experimentation would have put him straight.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A real workhorse!
Review: This camera does so much! Even after taking it on constant assignments over the past year (I bought it in June 2001) I have never had trouble with it. I've used this camera everywhere from Pompeii to ground zero NY city. Not to mention rainforests, deserts, Chicago cold, etc...

I'm a journalist. I take a lot of photos for the newspaper I work for and also do a lot of interviews for articles I write. This camera has been a great help to me in getting my job done.

It's true that the resolution of the stills the Sony PC110 captures is not the best quality available, but they are easily good enough for web and email publishing, and, they even look good for newspaper print when shot correctly.

The DV digital video format is fantastic! It's better than any analog video I've ever shot(VHS, BETA, HI8, etc) and believe me I've shot a lot of video! I used to work for a TV news outlet in my previous job. The thing I love about digital is that I can record my interviews and easily download the video to my laptop, cut out what I don't need and then burn it onto a CD in MPEG format or in an AVI file format. THis means all my notes are ready to access whenever I need them, and I can keep tham archived for as long as I need them.

There are dozens of video editing programs that will make the process easy for you. I use Sony's DVgate software and Adobe's Premiere, and both are great. You can even take your digital stills and record them to a videotape som you can send copies to your family and friends that they can watch on their TV.

I highly recommend it even though it is a bit expensive. If I were buying a new camera today I would almost certainly buy a Sony.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A real workhorse!
Review: This camera does so much! Even after taking it on constant assignments over the past year (I bought it in June 2001) I have never had trouble with it. I've used this camera everywhere from Pompeii to ground zero NY city. Not to mention rainforests, deserts, Chicago cold, etc...

I'm a journalist. I take a lot of photos for the newspaper I work for and also do a lot of interviews for articles I write. This camera has been a great help to me in getting my job done.

It's true that the resolution of the stills the Sony PC110 captures is not the best quality available, but they are easily good enough for web and email publishing, and, they even look good for newspaper print when shot correctly.

The DV digital video format is fantastic! It's better than any analog video I've ever shot(VHS, BETA, HI8, etc) and believe me I've shot a lot of video! I used to work for a TV news outlet in my previous job. The thing I love about digital is that I can record my interviews and easily download the video to my laptop, cut out what I don't need and then burn it onto a CD in MPEG format or in an AVI file format. THis means all my notes are ready to access whenever I need them, and I can keep tham archived for as long as I need them.

There are dozens of video editing programs that will make the process easy for you. I use Sony's DVgate software and Adobe's Premiere, and both are great. You can even take your digital stills and record them to a videotape som you can send copies to your family and friends that they can watch on their TV.

I highly recommend it even though it is a bit expensive. If I were buying a new camera today I would almost certainly buy a Sony.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Buy, Worth Every Penny!
Review: When I first started looking at camcorders, one that kept repeatedly showing up was the Sony DCR-PC110. I started to research it more, and found out all the great features that they crammed in it. Then I saw the pricetag. As a 16 year old, I had no idea how I would pay for this, but I did find a way. Yes, it's a very expensive gaget, but it's been worth every penny I spent. I use it almost daily, if not taking pictures with it, then I'll film something and plug it into my computer and edit it. I would not recommend this camcorder to anyone who doesn't want to edit their video with a computer, beause I think it defeats the purpose of all the nifty options it has. When you first pick it up, if might feel funny if your hand because first of all it's so small, and second of all, theres a certain way to hold it that's different than most camcorders. This camera comes with everything you could possibly need. The only thing extra I would buy is a larger memory stick. Even if you're not planning to use this to take pictures, you will end up taking tons of digital stills. This is such I wonderful camcorder, I could go on forever. Both Newsweek and Consumer Reports magazine featured this camera as one of the best. If you want a great quality camcorder and willing to pay a high price, this is the camera for you!


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