Sony DCR-HC42E vs DCR-HC90E

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panther_100

Guest
I am torn between buying a Sony DCR-HC42E and a DCR-HC90E

The only difference I can make out between the two models (except the other £100 odd) is that the HC90E has 3 MP resolution where as the HC42E has only 1 MP.

My question is, can anyone tell me if this resolution makes any difference to the VIDEO quality, or is this only for the still images?

Thanks

Tom
 
A higher MP CCD is only of any real benefit with still image capture as PAL video is recorded at a fixed resolution of 576 pixels.

I don't know the differences between the 2 cams you list but would assume the extra £100 would at least in part be for things such as DV-in and perhaps AV-in being enabled, which adds additional tax on the final purchase price as the EU now consider it to be a VCR and not a camcorder.

Mark.
 
Hi,

I just bought the HC42E and it already has the
DV-in and Analog Video-in. So I guess the price difference
comes from somewhere else, if not only from the resolution
difference.

Adi
 
Hi there,

How are you finding the HC42E? And what (in your opinion) is the picture quality like?

I am actually also planning on buying the sony p200 digital camera, so just dont want to buy the HC90E if its only perk over the HC42E is the digital camera feature.

Tom
 
Hi,

I haven't had time to play much with the camera. It is also
my first camcorder, meaning I have nothing to compare against.
If I add my novice video skills to the package, I'm afraid I cannot
help much here :) .

However, PQ quality seems to be fine. It could be better when shooting
in low-light conditions (interiors) but I don't know how much one could
expect from this price category. The widescreen feature is great, as well
as the form factor (very compact and small). The touch screen is also
something I like quite a bit. And I shouldn't forget the DV-in and AV-in
which I already used to dump my wedding recorded on VHS tape to
computer and from there to DVD.

Adi
 
Had a quick look on www.sony.co.uk and the HC90E has the following additions (as far as I can tell!):

Better quality lens (but only 10x zoom rather than 12x)
5.1 surround sound ready (whatever that means :confused: )
Zoom and record buttons on LCD
Intelligent Accessory shoe (can control accessories via the hot shoe)
> along with the improved still image capture!

I assume there will be other differences, so IMO the additional £150 (Sony online prices - £599/£749) could be worth spending for improved image (due to better lens) and the intelligent hot shoe (if going to use a light etc).

Mark.
 
MarkE19 said:
Had a quick look on www.sony.co.uk and the HC90E has the following additions (as far as I can tell!):

Better quality lens (but only 10x zoom rather than 12x)
5.1 surround sound ready (whatever that means :confused: )
Zoom and record buttons on LCD
Intelligent Accessory shoe (can control accessories via the hot shoe)
> along with the improved still image capture!

I assume there will be other differences, so IMO the additional £150 (Sony online prices - £599/£749) could be worth spending for improved image (due to better lens) and the intelligent hot shoe (if going to use a light etc).

Mark.

I also checked the www.sony.co.uk, interesting that they don't have
any direct comparison charts between products ...

As Mark noticed already, the lens is better. But then:
-> the HC42 also has zoom and record buttons on LCD frame
-> and the accessory shoe is present in this model as well.

Other differences I could spot were the integrated flash light (HC42 doesn't
have any) and the possible improvement for low-light conditions as the
minimum required illumination is 5 lux for the HC90 whereas for HC42 is 7.


Adi
 
AdiVio said:
-> the HC42 also has zoom and record buttons on LCD frame
Just looked at the picture of the 42 and yes it does, but these are not mentioned in the list of specs.
AdiVio said:
-> and the accessory shoe is present in this model as well.
Yes, but it may just be a mounting shoe with no contacts for control of a mounted light etc. Also some of the intelligent hot shoes can power a light or mic etc from the camcorders own battery.

Perhaps a trip to a local Jessops will help you to decide between the 2 cams. Find the best UK web site price and Jessops 'should' pricematch it for you!

Mark.
 
The cheapest I've found is this:

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/s...atalogId=3801&productId=159031&clickfrom=name

Which is a fantastic price. However, I cant find any in stock anywhere and am still waiting for Argos to get back to me. In fact its apparently from an older catalogue (which suprised me considering its a fairly new camera) although they still have it listed. I can only presume that it was originally a bit too much and they dramatically dropped the price to offload them before the latest catalogue was produced. I phoned Jessops to price match and was told that due to the large price difference that it was unlikely that they would match. Worth a try though.
 
bossc@ said:
I phoned Jessops to price match and was told that due to the large price difference that it was unlikely that they would match. Worth a try though.
Try a different store!
Internet pricematching I believe is decided by the manager of the store. Even if they wont match it they will still offer a better deal than their retail price. They will only normally offer a lower price though if the other store (Argos) have them in stock.

Mark.
 
bossc@, have you had a reply back from Argos yet ? Like you I want to get an HC90 and this is an amazing price. I can't see any way to order in item from them. Any news ?
 
No useful reply yet. The customer serviceFAQ on the site is next to useless and the number doesn't give you an option to speak to anyone unless its a home delivery question.

I think its very much a case of the camera was initially listed at a price which the majority of buyers of this sort of kit would not buy from Argos so they dumped the camera from their catalogues and the price on the website.

I travel to various places with work and have tried searching on the site for all the Argos stores in the areas I visit (or could make a 'work related' trip to but none of them had them in). I've sent a mail asking to see if they can ID any store nationally which had any stock and to see if they could be sent to any store nearby but have only had a couple of mails back referring me back to the FAQ on their site to see if that could help (obviously not otherwise I wouldn't have mailed them) and asking me if I was satisfied with their response - muppets!

Not holding out much hope.

Theres always this though:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-Son...538239324QQcategoryZ20333QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
Yep, was tempted by this, especially with a satisfaction score like that. Still undecided though.
 
Nichop said:
Yep, was tempted by this, especially with a satisfaction score like that. Still undecided though.

The reason I know about this is that I bid on this one last week and actually won the auction. I got fed up of waiting for Argos to get their act together. It was on with a buy it now price of £499.00 and I got it at £485. The same night the missus came back from work to say there was a good chance that she was being made redundant shortly. Anyway I decided that it may be worth asking the guy if I offered to pay double the listing fee and what he would have charged for postage if he would consider letting me out of the sale and I offered £30. After all if we were dropping to a single wage then £500 on a camera was a bit of an stupid extravagance.

I figured that it was better to lose £30 than £500. He agreed and was really nice about it. I would never consider backing out of a sale when someone has done it in good faith and I have bid but circumstances meant I felt I should try but to also recompsense the guy for his time.

He could have been awkward and refused but he was really nice about it. The clincher for me was the cash on collection bit. Hes got a good score and has sold a lot of similar priced gear.

I'm presuming that is why the buy it now price is at £469 as I've already given the £30 compensation so he can advertise at this price and still make up to the £499 original price.
 
Hope i'm not hijacking this thread. Is the HC-90 due to be replaced soon?
 
Just one. I had a look around his profile and feedback to see if I could spot any 'anomalies' but seemd quite genuine. Had bought a few bits an pieces of a tech nature but nothing consistent with it being the seller himself.

He now has 2 up there, one with a starting price of £399 and another with a buy it now of £469.

Mind you after saying all that you can only go with your instincts if its legit or not, like any other ebay sale.

Oh and I got a mail back from Argos today saying that there is none in stock anywhere as it was an itme with a very limited stock level. I've aske them to remove it from the site as I believe its misleading.
 
Today I got my local Jessops store (Staines in Middlesex) to price match the Argos price on the DCR-HC90E, so I got it for 468.99 instead of 699.99.

All I did was to say the Argos site had it for that price and also gave the sales chap the catalogue number (563/1845). He said he would phone head office and get back to me. I wasn't holding out much hope having already read this thread before contacting Jessops but to my surprise they agreed the price match.

Before a few days ago I really had no intention of buying a camcorder but after fiddling about with stills and getting them onto a DVD in widescreen decided maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to look into getting a video camera that will be capable of 16:9. But to get a 700 quid camcorder for 470 was just too good to pass up!
 
Hi,

I bought the 42 from Amazon 5 weeks ago for £408 delivered free and it's fine. I've bought 4 cameras before this, 2 in the last 12 months and i find it awesome for all round shooting. When shooting a subject in a dark room i found the back light feature to be good enough otherwise i compensate by using Premiere Pro to fix light level, to a point.

I personally wouldn't bother with the extra cash for the 90 unless you want the built in flash light. I filmed Jamiroquai at the B-Live festival with it and i was amazed at the quality for such an entry level camera. What i did find is that a tripod makes the difference between good film and fantastic film.

Hope it helps,
 
DDRUK_Lawrence said:
Today I got my local Jessops store (Staines in Middlesex) to price match the Argos price on the DCR-HC90E, so I got it for 468.99 instead of 699.99.

My work here is done.....
 

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