PC World ranked it their number 2 camcorder in their latest chart so after a little research I went ahead and bought one. It's my first camcorder, I havent even charged it yet. I must say it's cute a hell. I'm one of those chaps that likes to read the manual and enjoy the box for a few hours before I get it going lol (sad I know)

Anyway, my point is; was it worth the purchace, have you had any problems with it? has it been an easy product to use and enjoy. Not that I'm idiot or anything, I'm pretty quick with tech stuff. I'm sitting here having a few beers looking forward to getting the thing going tomorrow but I would like to know if any AV members have had difficulties before I open the box or worse still lose the recet lol.

Any responce would be greatly apprecaited.

Thanks in advance.

I've just bought 1 too. Can't say I've had any problems with it, but have noticed a couple of incredibly annoying things... a) You can't attach a firewire cable direct to the camera - its gotta be attached to the docking station. b) Battery life is not too good. c) It doesnt have easy access on the camera itself to switch of 16:9 mode.

Other than those, no concerns what-so-ever.

Keep it and enjoy.

[laser]

I've had one since July. No problems.

Picture quality is good, if not outstanding but certainly holds its own against other camcorders inthe same price range. The true 16:9 recording is great, especially if you tend to use a large TV, plasma or LCD panel. no stretching of the picture!

Motor noise is quite low but not toally illiminated. Some general motor whir can be picked up from the zoom and mechanism if filming if total silence. However this probably a most unlikely situation for most people.

I thought battery life was OK using the standard supplied batterty and was better than my Panasonic DS28 camcorder. However I have ourchases a 6 hour original brand new Sony info battery from ebay for £16.00 + postage instead of the quoted £100 on the Sony and Jessops web site.

At first I found using the touch screen to control the camera functionality might be cumbersome but in reality have found it much easier than using buttons to and dials to navigate through menus on previous camcorders. It is much quicker if you can live with fingerprints on your LCD screen.

Night vision is not that good and the picture becomes jerky and grainy (partly expected). I prefer to use a Sony light attached to the camcorder accessory shoe and film using normal recording modes.

Digital stills are adequate but not up the quality of a dedicated branded digital camera with 1MP resolution. However its useful functionality if you want a few snaps without taking a digital camera with you.

Was it worth the purchase price of £400, Yes.

There are better, cheaper camcorders available but there are often trade offs i.e. Panasonic have a 3CCD camcorder forthe same price which should give better picture quality. However it is not true 16:9 widescreen and low light performance is poor.

It all depends upon your priority. For a true 16:9 widescreen camcorder the choice is fairly limited to models from Canon and JVC both of whch have they faults. I found the Canon camcorders in the £300-£400 price range picked up lots of mechanical noise even if fairly loud surroundings, same for JVC but not as bad as Canon.

I give the HC42E

[PhilipC]

I've had one of these since July and I'm very pleased with it. The only thing that slightly bugs me is that I think there is a very, very faint white vertical line produced in the centre of the picture. I only notice it when I film, say, an aircraft against a blue sky and view the result on my tv. I don't think it's the tv but I don't see it when view on my (CRT) computer monitor, it's that faint. (Need to use someone else's tv to check).

Anyway, I'm very pleased with the camera generally.

Philip

[vonhosen]

Originally Posted by PhilipC

I've had one of these since July and I'm very pleased with it. The only thing that slightly bugs me is that I think there is a very, very faint white vertical line produced in the centre of the picture. I only notice it when I film, say, an aircraft against a blue sky and view the result on my tv. I don't think it's the tv but I don't see it when view on my (CRT) computer monitor, it's that faint. (Need to use someone else's tv to check).

Anyway, I'm very pleased with the camera generally.

Philip

Your TV is not a Panasonic Viera plasma is it ?

[PhilipC]

It is a Panasonic but not a plasma model. It's a 28inch widescreen CRT.

Philip

[vonhosen]

Some of the Panasonic Viera's apparently display this very fine vertical line in the centre of the screen that not all people notice.

Thanks so much for the info and reviews guys. I've been partying hard the last couple of nights So I'm gonna hold out for another few days and get some more experence before I post my own review. Thanks again

[PhilipC]

Just for completeness, the white vertical line on my screen is a feature of the television, not the HC42E - I've checked.

The tv isn't a Panasonic Viera, it's Panasonic 28" widescreen CRT tv

WOW!
Too many fans of this model, this is my sceond handycam, and i just adore it!
it feels great that it is appreciated by most of the people, i bought it 5 months back, i took it for my vacation, believe me guys, as i was novice to that cam, but after shootin when i played it in my TV, that was boom!

as the still photoes r not so cool as 1 Megapixel, but i didnt bought it for the still photography, ya must have digicam!

Hey, Impermanence
for transferring the movie from cam to PC, refer this:-

Capturing/editing dv, what format ?

regards!