Customer Reviews

Sony DCRPC110 Digital HandyCam Camcorder with Builtin Digital Still Mode

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently decided to get this camera and sell off my TRV900 because I really found I needed something smaller to carry around. It was a tough choice, as the image quality and stills from the TRV900 were decidedly better. But I just couldn't pass up the size. This one is so small for the features you get. It has many, many well thought out features. For instance, it has a little swing-down handle to make filming easier (always an issue with these little digicams). You can hook the camera directly to your computer through USB, no need to get a card reader. Pop-up flash is nice for doing indoor shots. Easy to use menus. Fairly high resolution stills for a digital camcorder. I love the Sony batteries that tell you how much time you have left...same for the tapes and memory cards. Plenty of features that a camera at this level should have.

Now, for the negatives. No progressive scan. Let me say that again. NO PROGRESSIVE SCAN!! Heaven knows why Sony continues to leave this feature off. It was so noticeable between this camera and the TRV900 which does have progressive scan, when you capture stills off of video. The ones from this camera are nowhere near as good. Not even close. If the subject is moving at all (which is usually the whole point of trying to capture a still from video), without progressive scan it is just not as clear, sharp, colorful, etc. Why Sony does not put progressive scan on their cameras is beyond me. Most of the other gripes I have with this camera are fairly minimal. Some of the buttons are fairly hard to locate, the zoom is hard to use and rather touchy, the photo button is right next to it so I often hit the wrong one, etc. Fairly typical problems for a camera of this size. Were it not for progressive scan being missing though, this would definitely be a 5-star camcorder. Without it, sorry Sony. You blew it again.

If you are considering buying the Sony DC-PC110 Camcorder, you should ask yourself, "What am I looking for in a camcorder?". I spent a long time debating between buying this camera, the Sony PC9, and the Canon Elura 2 (all great camcorders). My final conclusion is that the PC110 is the best all around... but if you don't need to extras, you needn't spend all the extra money. The PC110 functions perfectly as a camcorder for movies AND as a quality digital camera, something that other camcorders can't boast. It also includes in-camera editing and special effects controls, image-stabilization (hands naturally shake, and this makes movies more smooth), night-shot (for recording in total darkness), and intuitive ergonomics (contrary to what other reviewers have said, the pinky doesn't belong on the controls, the index finger does...), and the camera is very easy to operate (once you get the hang of it). The 120X Zoom is very good (even at extreme closeness, the quality of the image does not suffer). Hooking it up to your computer for editing is easy (cables & free software are included).

As a digital camera, it's perfect. You can take pictures ("stills") while recording by pressing the "photo" button while in recording ("camera") mode, or you can take a series of pictures & delete the ones you don't want in digital memory ("memory") mode. You can play back your movies on your camorder (or hooked up to your TV) while in "VCR" mode. The camera charges quickly while off & plugged into an AC adapter, but the battery that it comes with only lasts around an hour, so you'd probably want to buy a bigger one for vacations.

The bottom line is, if you don't want to use your camera as an all-purpose two-in-one, you needn't spend the extra money (if you buy the camera as-is, you will need to buy an extra battery, a filter, a bag, digital tapes to record movies, and a 64MB memory stick for digital photos, which adds up to quite a lot of money). However, I recommend this camera as a long-term investment for all your camera needs... it is sturdy, takes quality movies, is easy to use, easily hooks up to PCs & Macs to edit (or to TVs to view), and doubles as a great digital camera. It also helps that it's very small and light (and looks very sleek...) If you don't want to use it as a digital camera, I'd recommend the Sony PC9 instead, which is basically the same as the PC110, but a bit smaller & takes lower quality digital pictures. Overall, I highly recommend the PC-110 -- it's the best personal camcorder on the market.

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.

I bought this digital video camera just two weeks before the birth of my first child in Korea. It has been great for recording video to send via E-mail to my parents and friends in Canada. It is really slick and easy to use. (Also note that my manual is in Korean (as I bought the DVC in Korea) and I just played around with it to figure it out...of course I know I am still missing some uses of the camera, but I think those are for the more professional videographer anyways.) I have used the photos to also make a homepage of my child's pictures for easing viewing by people that are thousands of miles away. I would like to include the URL, but am not allowed in this review. You really need to see the results! Some of my friends are also now considering buying this camera. I am so happy I bought this...I know it is a little pricey, but except that I think it is really worth it. I would recommend buying a larger memory stick though...the 4k one it comes with isn't enough for a lot of use. I found myself frequently downloading the files to my computer (which is so easy to do by the way). I am looking at getting at least a 64k memory stick. The only downside to this camera was the high price, but I feel I will get enough use out of it to be worth it.

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!

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?

It is definitely the most expensive "toy" that I have ever owned (not counting my car), but after finally taking possession of the camera, I immediately fell in love with it. The ease of operation, craftsmanship, and overall quality make this the best camera I have ever operated (this Sony replaced an early model Sharp camera). Do you need all of the bells and whistles on it? Probably not. As a matter of fact I?d recommend that you skip any ?special effects? until you start editing the video on your computer (for which I definitely recommend a Macintosh with its free iMovie software ? it doesn?t get any easier than this!). On a side note, don?t pay attention to any reviews that complain about the location of controls and having to use your pinkie to operate the zoom. If these reviewers had read the manual they would have found out that the handle folds down for quite a comfortable grip that doesn?t get in the way when you store the camera.

I love this camera. The hard-earned cash I bought it with was very well spent.

During a week of painstaking research I happened upon this DV-camera. I had set a budget of $700 and of course the PC110 is quite a bit over this price. I felt I wanted a camera that would last well, and would deliver excellent picture quality so I splurged and hoped for the best.

What I got was better than I expected. The video quality is superb. The LCD is bright and clear. The unit is very compact, and well-designed as I expected with Sony. Using device-control and a firewire card, I can import, edit, preview and save video back to the tape in the camera. Bags o fun, and be warned if you aspire to do it, a major time commitment and steep learning curve.

As a digital still camera, it is not on par with a good prosumer model, but I find it useful to incorporate stills into video where the still is taken at around the same time as the video. The 10x optical zoom and good lens makes this a great still camera for snapshot close-ups. It has a pretty decent flash, and the big rechargeable battery allows for lots and lots of stills. USB performance is rapid.

After a month of using it, I would thoroughly recommend the PC110 to the hobbyist videographer.

PROS: It's best features are its incredibly compact form-factor, fantastic lens, menu jog-dial controller and every control you could possibly want (gadgeteers rejoice). I think you can have up to eight different cables attached to it at once. The battery supplied ("smart Lithium" rechargeable) is acceptable, but an extra would be welcome.

CONS: I received a 4-MB memory stick with the camera. This gives you room for 3 15-second MPEG videos or 6-8 stills. It is a waste of time really -- I've assigned it to my Clié. You need at least a 32-MB memory stick, and preferably a few of them. The camera makes MPEG video clips which are cool, but will only allow 15-seconds worth at the highest quality setting. No case came with the camera either.

Once you see the quality you get with DV, I'll wager you'll never go back to analog.

I have had this camcorder for 6 months now, and its worked like a charm. Very good picture quality, easy to use once you get the hang of it, very light weight. A Sony camcorder is definitely the best value for money.

The camcorder battery runs out in around 90 minutes, but I have not yet run into a problem with that. You just get a 4MB memory stick with the camcorder. I had to upgrade to a 128MB memory stick, since I take a lot of still pictures. The photos when printed at 4 X 6 come out very well. Very easy to transfer the still pictures (and 60 second clips which is also recorded onto the memory stick) if your computer has a USB port.

I did not face any problems accessing the camcorder buttons as mentioned by some of the reviewers.

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.