Customer Reviews

Sony DCRPC100 Digital HandyCam Camcorder

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After laboriously searching for several weeks, I chose this camera over all other models. As this is a complex unit, there are many long reviews here, and being succinct is very difficult. I will skip most features listed, and try to concentrate on the advantages (many), and shortcomings (few) of this camera compared to others:

The picture quality is superb. It's like watching a television. Just one look and you'll be immediately impressed. The only way to get a higher quality picture is to go to a 3CCD camera (more $, and bigger). The only other 1 CCD camera whose picture is as good, is the Canon Elura (because of it's RGB filter), but the Elura doesn't do half what the PC100 does, and it is a lower res camera. The megapixel photo/stills are excellent. Especially when taken at the highest resolution (for simple web photos, several lower res sizes are available). Yes, a 4mb memory stick is not enough. Expect to spend the $125 or so for the 64mb stick.

I do not feel the low lux of 7 is not as much of a limitation as some others. ALL camcorders have problems in very low light, be it 7 lux, or 3 lux.

The size to features ratio is amazing. The camera fits pretty well in a jacket pocket. You can do more with this little camera than so many other cameras of larger sizes. It will do all most anyone will want. The size also fits well in your hands. The zoom feature is too sensitive, and it would be nice if there were a way to lock it into slow/med/fast settings. I occasionally find myself bumping the back lit button, and sometimes hitting the still/photo button, but otherwise all the controls are easy to reach and get used to.

If you buy an extra battery, do not buy the NPFM90. Buy either two 50's, or a 70. The 90 is simply too big. The 70 is pushing the size limit. The good news is that the batteries seem to have a lot of stamina, even with the 50. The Sony batteries seem to last longer in this unit than the old PC1 or PC10 or PC3. And in general more than the Canon or JVC batteries. Something to consider if you are travelling a lot (how I use the camera) I should also note that I have taken this camera mountaineering (in pretty bad weather) and rock and ice climbing. While I did not expose it to the elements for very long, it has proven to be very tough.

Do not complete any order, or leave any store, before also purchasing a UV filter to cover the lens, a wide-angle lens attachment, and case for the camera. The wide-angle is very reasonably priced (less than $100) and you'll use it a lot. If you use the wide-angle attachment, take off the UV filter first, or it will vignette while taking stills in bright light.

The biggest negative I have about the camera is the sound quality. Sony put the microphone right on top of the unit, instead of in front of it. This creates two problems. First, if someone in front of the camera is talking, and there is any ambient noise, their voice is weak. Second, and most annoying about any aspect of the entire unit, is that in some situations the camera picks up an extremely annoying oscillating sound from the camera's motor. How audible is it? Barely, but just enough to drive you mad. Sony does make a few microphone attachments that fit on the hot shoe (great idea here, as flashes and other toys can use the shoe as well) that eliminate this. The best microphone however, is a large shotgun mike that makes the camera a little hard to handle, pick up and put away, or fit in the case (or pocket) with the mike attached. But there are a few other mikes that will at least improve the sound quality. What I have found is that if I am taping someone talking, I make sure I use an attachment mike. If we are out and about, I keep the camera in my pocket and just shoot, worrying about the sound later (during editing it mostly gets wiped, voiced over, or scored over with music and subtle sound effects).

As soon as you buy this unit, if you don't already have a computer that can edit your video, you will want one. There is a world of difference between having good video footage clunked together on a VCR tape, and slickly edited footage on a computer then put to tape.

I gave this camera only 4 stars out of 5 because of the sound quality, and other minor shortcomings listed. It should however be noted that I am quite strict in this grading, thinking in terms of the entire star scale, while many reviewers use only stars 3-5 to rate things, with anything good being a 5. Most other cameras I looked at would probably rate in the 3 star range. Very few cameras rate 5 stars, and if Sony made a better microphone (or supplied one for recording voice) this camera would probably rate 5 stars with me.

All in all, this is a pretty amazing little gizmo. A great unit for the size to features to quality ratio.

Nine months ago, I had to upgrade my old (but clunky) Video-8 camcorder. After a lot of research, I almost didn't settle for this camera, because although most owners loved it and it seemed to have the best image quality in the class, it is rather expensive. Looking at my savings account, and remembering that the Video-8 didn't get used much because of its heft, I took the plunge.

The small size makes this an excellent camera to bring with you in a sport jacket pocket, briefcase, or even jeans pocket (if you're into those large raver-style pockets, that is). While many of the buttons are small, I don't mind much, because the few I use (start/stop, exposure control) are logically placed and easy to push. I don't use any of the digital effects or fade functions, because I transfer the video digitally to my computer and edit tape there -- something I never got around to with the old clunker.

I also don't use the still image capture much at all, because I have a separate Kodak digital camera for that, and the memory stick reader that comes with this camcorder is S-L-O-W (because it's serial-only). If you have one of those VAIO machine with a built-in memory stick reader, I suppose it would be OK. Transfer of video using the built-in FireWire (1394, i-Link, DV-gate, ...) port works very well, and I haven't had any problems getting this camera recognized by my computer.

The battery life is also amazing. The standard (slim!) battery lasts for more than two hours -- the larger medium-sized battery (which I use most of the time) gives you FIVE HOURS of running time. If you can *at all* afford this camcorder, and don't need the extra image quality of an (expensive, bulky) three-CCD camera then get this one.

We bought this camera a couple of months ago to take on a trip and to put in an underwater housing for video taping while scuba diving. It was fantastic! The clarity, colors and lighting were of no comparison to our older Sony Hi-8. My only complaint is the limited time to tape with the mini-DV tapes- 60 minutes. When extending to LP mode(90 min), there was slight compromise in picture quality apparent when trying to print captured shots from our computer. The cost of the mini-DV tapes is still high, and is astronomical outside of the USA(when you can find them). The microphone still has a lot to be desired (slight breezes should not be that noisy). It takes a little getting used to the zoom feature- but the Carl Zeiss lens is great. We hardly set the camera to digital zoom because we preferred the quality of the CZ lens. A few times we ran out of film at 60-100 feet underwater, but all was not lost- just set the camera to memory shot mode and we were able to take some fabulous stills on the memory card. We filled up two 64MB cards. We took the camera to school, taped special events, taped some demolition derbies, races- Something we would not have done with a regular sized camcorder. It fits nicely in a jacket pocket. I highly recommend this camera. --- Consider getting the Infrared receiver to play back your videos to TV or VCR, as well as a UV filter to protect your lens. And of course, a 64MB Memory stick and a larger battery. (I wouldn't get the largest, unless there is a reason you cannot recharge your battery for several hours- too bulky).

I needed to buy a video camera before my son was born about 6 months ago. The criteria I had, was that I wanted a camera that was small which did both digital still pictures and video. I didn't want to carry two cameras everywhere we went. But, I wanted the best video/still pictures I could get (These moments are precious, and I wanted to remember them as best as possible) The DCR PC100 fits this criteria to a tee. I've been very happy with Sony products in the past, but I did my research on this camera, and at that time, this was the best camera for the above criteria (It also seemed to have some features that I may grow into). I've now had 6 months to play with the camera and feel comfortable giving suggestions about my experience with the camera (I've been concentrating more on the still pictures, since my son is a newborn, they don't move that much yet :-):

1) Definitely buy the flash attachment! Still photos without it in low light situations just are not very good without the flash. You'll be very disappointed without it.

2) If you buy the flash attachment, you might want to think about an extra battery. Batteries go faster with the flash on.

3) The zoom button is very sensitive. This took a little getting used to, but wasn't a problem after a little practice.

4) Definitely buy a 32M or 64M memory stick. I bought a 32M memory stick which holds a little more than 50 pictures at maximum resolution. It comes with a 4M memory stick, which is good for only 4 or so pictures (not real useful).

5) It doesn't come with a carrying case, so you'll need to buy one of these.

So far, this camera has performed extremely well at Disneyland, his Baptism and Christmas. Not to mention, it is really fun sending out weekly pictures of my son to friends and family.

Sony produced an overall good camera. The built in megapixel still camera makes this a great combination. There are a couple things you should know though. - low light performance is marginal (7 lux) - the mic placement is poor and picks up motor noise - the memory stick supplied is almost to small to be usefull so plan on buying a 32 or 64M stick - the camera is almost too small, if you have large hands try it out first. - there is not a built in flash for the digital still camera. If you can forgive these short comings you'll love this camera.

I've had this beauty for a couple of months now and I would definitely buy it again. A lot is included in the package but keep in mind that you will need additional accessories to make the camcorder fully useful. You will need the Flash/Light combination and also a larger memory stick to take full advantage of megapixel quality - the one that is included (4MB) will only hold six high-quality pictures. The battery is small but it will last you forever - I never use my second one. Finally, be aware of the fact that Sony will release the updated PC110 in September, 2000 which will have a built-in Flash and will record short MPEGs to the stick. Will it ever come to the States? Will you be able to wait for so long? You will surely pay more. Go for PC100 instead.

It leaves you wanting more and also leaves you with the feeling that Sony isn't fascinated with customer satisfaction.

We have all known for a while about Sony's propensity towards proprietary formats such as memory sticks, the batteries, just about any accessory and so on and we understand that this is a price that comes with the product. It is a great product, but Sony has left me longing for several things that I'll never be able to get..

Examples: It ships with a 4mb memory stick which holds a whopping 6 still images at full resolution (16-32MB should be the min they ship and they should phase out the 4MB sticks). The fact that they shipped an antiquated serial adaptor for memory sticks with the product seems like a slowly developing joke (why not ship with the USB Card reader?). It uses firewire as it's main way of transmitting video - (ok if you are on a Mac) and then they suggest a $400 capture card when you can buy others with software for under $100. Sony being cheap on the memory sticks, battery and serial adaptor all make sense until you realize how hard they gouge you on these propriety formats - and then makes a bit grumpy. What makes you even more grumpy is that Sony just released the DCR PC 110 - which offers USB connectivity, and MPEG video compression down to the memory stick - the two things (excluding peripherals) that would have made this camera just about perfect.

With all of the negatives out of the system - this is a really great camcorder - compact, easy to use, picture and sound quality are beyond compare, night vision is great, it's feature packed and full of surprises. Out of the box you can record like a pro for hours, the battery info, tape time remaining and a host of other features are just great - so for recording video you can not go wrong with this unit and if you are on a Mac or already have a firewire card - even better.

If not - look @ the Sony DCR PC 110 b/c I'm kinda steamed that I'm stuck with the 100 that has now been phased out..

I got this camera a few months ago I must say it is wonderful to use. It's got a simple interface, the recording quality is excellent, and best of all, it take still-shots. The Memory Stick integration is awesome, and it saved me the trouble of getting a Digital Camera, so I was pretty happy about that. The only complaints I have are that the included Memory Stick is only 4 MB, which isn't a huge amount when you're talking about Digital Pictures, and it's kind of expensive. However, you're paying for the quality of Digital Footage, which in my opion, is worth it. Aside from these minor problems, the camera is great. Also, the FireWire (Or "i.Link" as Sony calls it) is great for editing movies, and sending them through e-mail or burning them on a CD. In short, if you can afford it, and you've been looking around for a DV Camers, this is it: Go and buy it.

Ive had this camera for 9 months, and I have grown very attached to it. I've beat the crap out of it and it still works fine, a good sign.

It fits in ones hand like a crazy optical-recepting hand gun. After time and experimenting, one grows accustomed to its grip and it's small size makes the human subjects less nervous, almost as if no video camera is there, just a miniscule receptor of their realtime image.

If you have a friend with one of these too (Scheeronious), you can firewire the 2 cameras together and do some improvisational editing and recording of footage, easily.

infrared night-vison, with "old movie" to make night shots mystical... overlap fading face-morphing, Luminscennt effects. Manual exposure adjusting to tweak the lighting, in conjuction with slow-shutter surrealism. >>> The camera give you a lot of room to play.

I use the memory stick all the time to capture stills off my prerecorded footage. I like the small 640x480 jpegs, its easier to work with in photoshop, transfers quick, save-em-stright-to-floppy or email-em size. If one really wants high quality pics one has to capture the live still straight to the stick. raltime capture even makes a simulated digital "cli-click" sound of an SLR camera when you hit the photo button. Sony style at its best.

This camera is great on an airplane, to watch all your old movies in-transit, and catch stills off of them. If you really wanted to, you could easily record tv, movies etc.., and watch it on this camera on the plane almost like a MiniDVD player.

Problems: 1. You can't use fader and digital effects at the same time. 2. You can't activate digital effects with the LCD closed. 3. The built-in microphone doesn't pick up low bass frequencies real well. 3. upgrade this camera with a wide angle lens, and extended life battery, and 32 meg stick. Wide angle is a must, it creates a more immersive viewer experience.

I wanted to add information to complement some of the other reviews. I, like most of the other reviewers, am very impressed with the PC100. Before buying I did a lot of research and read reviews from many websites, including this one. Three issues have been mentioned that I have not found to be a problem.

1. Some people comment that the sound recorded by the built-in microphone picks up the hum from the camera motor. I agree that there is a loud hum coming from the camera when the camera is operating, and you can hear it if you play the tape back in the camera using the on board speaker. However, when I play my tapes back through a television, the sound is outstanding (and there is no hum).

2. The second reportedly unfortunate feature is the zoom control, which is supposedly placed awkwardly. Now, I don't have very large hands, so that may be a difference, but if you hold the camera as illustrated in the manual (i.e., like a water pistol), with your third, fourth and little finger curled around the camera's base, your index finger sits directly on the telephoto button. I have no trouble using it. If you try to jam all your fingers vertically up through the strap and hold it like a regularly sized camcorder, it won't work well at all.

3. People also complain about the size and placement of the buttons. The buttons seem fine to me. I don't have to do anything extraordinary to press them. I once hit the backlight button by mistake because of its position near the standby/record button. It made a gathering I was filming look as if God had just walked in, but an icon appeared immediately in the viewfinder informing me of what had happened. I quickly turned it off and contined filming. I have never made that mistake again, now that I know what to look out for.

I would recommend this camcorder without reservation.