Amazon.com: Adam D. Shomsky's review of Sony DCR-HC62 1MP MiniDV Handycam Camcorde...
Customer Review
 
52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great camera, excellent time lapse feature, June 25, 2008
Length:: 1:49 Mins

A big part of the reason I bought this camera was for its smooth interval recording (time-lapse) feature. Strangely, Sony's higher end high definition camera HDR-SR5 does not have this feature. I have been quite satisfied with this feature's flexibility and user-friendliness. For some reason, the smooth interval recording has a 12 hour time limit, so if you want to do time lapses longer than 12 hours you have to stop the recording a couple times a day and re-start it and it will go for another 12 hours.

For regular video usage it's a good camera. The 2000x digital zoom, if you haven't guessed, is comically useless (not that I expected anything more). The tele-macro capabilities are pretty impressive.

As others have mentioned, it does not come with a firewire (IEEE 1394) cable that is required if you want to download video to your computer. I knew that before buying it and picked up a standard 4-Pin/6-Pin FireWire cable from Amazon through a third party seller (Phoenixgold) for under $[...] plus shipping, so not a big deal. I could see how that would have been annoying had I been unaware that this cable was not included.

P.S.
The "audio sample in an outdoor environment" clip was shot with an Opteka .43x fisheye converter not included with the camera. Also, the audio was significanly compressed after I uploaded the video so it's not quite what you would hear straight out of the camera.

Edit:
I added a low-light performance test video to youtube (search for "Sony DCR-HC62 low light test"). There is also a higher quality version of that video at http:// albums.phanfare.com/4434655/2011492#imageID=43138119.
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3.8 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
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Location: Detroit, MI USA

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Showing 1-10 of 11 posts in this discussion
Initial post: Jun 26, 2008 9:25 AM PDT
 Russell Dicker says:
Great clips. Thank you.

Were you using a tripod for the zoom demos?
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In reply to an earlier post on Jul 4, 2008 8:54 PM PDT
 Adam D. Shomsky says:
Yes, I was using a tripod for the zoom demos. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whx_nhStk58 for a demo of the steadyshot feature.
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Posted on Jul 6, 2008 9:37 AM PDT
Last edited by the author on Jul 6, 2008 9:48 AM PDT
 J. Lechtenberg says:
Great review. Thanks for providing the video. I'm looking to record HS football games on Friday nights under stadium lights. Any chance you could post some night time video (a youtube link would be great)? I saw the drum solo guys video on youtube and that looked pretty good in low light up close, but outdoor lighting at a distance is a little different.

My understanding is that Sony's night video in this price range is better than Cannon's or JVC, though I've heard tale of halo effect. Obviously in this price range I have to manage my expectations, but it would be great to see some footage before buying.

Thanks again for the great review of this product.
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In reply to an earlier post on Aug 18, 2008 5:27 PM PDT
 Adam D. Shomsky says:
I posted a low-light performance video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6aClLrpscA. I also put a higher quality version of that video at http://albums.phanfare.com/shomsky/2011492#imageID=43138119
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Posted on Aug 28, 2008 10:07 AM PDT
 Tracee Fisher says:
Thank you SO much for your post and vids. This is the kind of info that is so helpful when trying to figure out if a camcorder is going to serve our needs.
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Posted on Sep 20, 2008 2:10 PM PDT
 J. D. Seagraves says:
Might be a silly question, but: Is there a mic jack?
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In reply to an earlier post on Sep 21, 2008 3:39 PM PDT
 Adam D. Shomsky says:
No, unfortunatly there is no mic jack.
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Posted on Dec 3, 2008 8:47 PM PST
 Regina A. Parker says:
I want to thank you for your effort in posting this! I've been looking for a digital camcorder and have been unable to decide what kind to get. Thanks to your review, I've decided to go with this particular camera! I was very impressed! I wish more people would be this helpful. (lol..now if I can just get it in before Sunday..we are having our 100 year anniversary of the founding of our church..Mom is sick and won't be able to go and I want to be able to tape it for her!)
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Posted on April 9, 2009 1:33 PM PDT
 Albatroz says:
This camcorder as well as the HC48 come with a feature called USB Stream, that in theory would allow
to use the camera as a webcam.
So I am thinking of purchasing a camera like this for using it as a webcam for Ustream.tv broadcasting.
Have you tried so? Is it recognized as a webcam by Windows Vista?
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Posted on April 23, 2009 7:18 PM PDT
Last edited by the author on April 23, 2009 7:22 PM PDT
 Be Strong says:
Hey Adam does this camcorder work with USB or USB 2.0? and a new macbook?
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