From the Manufacturer

The DCR-HC26 from Sony gives you a full-featured, compact MiniDV camcorder at an affordable price. Highlights include the Advanced HAD CCD imager, which captures stunning detail and clarity, and 20x optical zoom with Super SteadyShot picture stabilization, which focuses on distant subjects, providing clear close-up images with less distortion. The Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens offers less glare and increased contrast for vivid, more life-like color and tones.

Make your personal videos complete with additional customization features such as Picture and Fader effects for creative and professional looking enhancements. Picture Package software helps you easily organize and edit still images and video.

1/6-Inch Advanced HAD CCD Imager, 680K Pixels Gross
1/6-inch Advanced HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCD with 340K (effective) pixels provides stunning detail and clarity with exceptional video (up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution) and still image performance.

MiniDV Recording
Offers up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution, 3x the color bandwidth and a significantly higher signal/noise ratio, to provide spectacular video performance.

20x Optical/800x Digital Zoom
The optical zoom helps to bring the action close up from far away. In addition the digital zoom i nterpolation means that extreme digital zooming is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zooms.

Professional Quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens
Carl Zeiss lenses have an advanced optical multi-layer coating that offers less glare and flare with increased contrast. This results in vivid image brilliance, true-to-life color saturation, and perfect renditions of subtle tones.

Super SteadyShot Picture Stabilization System
Picture stabilization system that uses motion sensors to detect and compensate for camera "shake" without compromising picture quality like some other digital stabilization systems.

2.5-Inch Touch Panel SwivelScreen LCD Display (123K Pixels)
Provides excellent viewing clarity with improved resolution. The high resolution 123K pixel LCD screen rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles providing sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback.

USB Streaming
Stay connected to family and friends by broadcasting live video with audio over the internet using the USB interface. You can even playback your favorite recorded scene on the camcorder's tape. It's like having your own video conferencing system.

i.LINK DV Interface
A digital high-speed bi-directional interface which provides audio-video communication between two compatible devices. This connection allows for pure digital transfer between devices equipped with an IEEE1394 interface, such as camcorders, digital VTRs, capture cards, and PCs.

InfoLithium Battery with AccuPower Meter System
Charge the battery at anytime because unlike NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries, Sony's rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries are not subject to a life shortening "memory effect." Sony's exclusive AccuPower meter displays the battery time remaining in minutes, in either the viewfinder or on the LCD screen.

NightShot Plus Infrared System
With Sony's NightShot Infrared System you can capture natural looking video, even when shooting in low light. Record subjects up to 10 feet away using the built-in infrared system, but without the overall monochrome color common with earlier low-light recording systems.

On Screen Zoom and Record Controls
For additional control of the camcorder, the DCR-HC26 features Zoom and Record buttons on the frame of the LCD screen. This allows the user more flexibility when holding the camcorder, especially in overhead or low angle shots.

Stamina Battery Power Management System
Using the optional NP-FP90 InfoLithium Battery, the DCR-HC26 can continuously record for up to 9 hours (viewfinder) or up to 8 hours (LCD) on a single full charge, providing extra long battery life.

Program AE (Autoexposure) Modes
Program AE modes make recording easy even when filming in challenging situations. Choose from Beach and Ski, Landscape, Portrait, Sports Lesson, Spotlight, or Sunset and Moon modes.

Picture Effects
Get creative when recording or playing back your videos with Sony's Picture Effect Modes. Effects available in Camera mode: Mosaic and Pastel. Effects available in Playback mode: Monotone, Negative Art, Sepia, and Solarize.

Fader Effects
Enhance your personal videos by adding professional looking fader effects. Choose from Black, Mosaic, Monotone, and White.

Battery Information
At the touch of a button, battery information is displayed on the LCD screen when charging and when the camcorder is turned off. The display will show how much the battery is charged, in 10% increments and the recordable time left when using the LCD screen or in the viewfinder.

Photo Mode
Using Sony's Adaptive Frame Interpolation for better image quality, you can store hundreds of individual still images with seven seconds of audio on the videotape (depends upon the amount of video recorded on the tape).

Additional Features

• Manual focus
• Easy Handycam button
• Picture Package software What's in the Box
  Sony DCR-HC26 MiniDV Digital Handycam camcorder, power adapter/in-camera charger (ACL25), InfoLithium rechargeable battery (NPFP30), stereo AV cable, CD-ROM with USB driver (Picture Package software version 1.5 for Sony), lens cap