Sony HDR-HC5 4MP MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom

Review by S. Field for Sony HDR-HC5 4MP MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom
Rating:
I am writing this as someone who is not a true videophile, but who nonetheless pays some critical attention to picture quality and ease of use. I have no interest in making any videos other than reasonable quality family videos. I have owned a SD miniDV camera for 7 years before buying this one. The picture quality was observed on a Sony SXRD 60″ HDTV using component cables. I didn’t have the HDMI cable with the mini connector to try out a digital connection.

I bought this camera last week and tried it out during a Memorial Day trip with the family. The picture quality is extremely good. It’s not quite as good as a top-notch HD feed (such as Discovery HD), but appears to me to be equal to most HD channels we receive over Comcast cable. Another poster said the quality is not much better than DVD, but for me this is clearly not the case–it’s *much* better than DVD. Although in some detailed reviews online there are still images showing interlace artifacts, in viewing running video I have been unable to notice any effects of interlacing at all, even in fast-moving objects. Pans work well, with no objectionable artifacts or lagging. For outdoor scenes the picture is really stunning. Indoors at night, with ordinary light levels, the picture is not as good, with a graininess that is especially apparent on objects with a smooth texture, such as painted walls. Still, the picture is acceptable to me.

The camera has lots of features, mostly accessable from its touchscreen display. However, you can set the camera in “easy” mode, which selects a reasonable set of default settings. I confess that’s the only mode I used, and the results were impressive. As I learn more about the camera I may fiddle with more advanced settings.

The camera can also take decent still photos, not up to par with a good digital camera but perfectly acceptable for when you don’t want to lug around a separate camera. One cute feature is that it’s possible to take still pictures in 16:9 mode while filming. This doesn’t interrupt the filming, and the pictures are stored on the Memory Stick. Up to three such pictures can be taken in any filming sequence (from start to stop).

[Added 6/4/07] I have used the still camera some more. I compared the 16:9 pictures taken in video camera mode to those taken in the standard 4:3 camera mode, and I couldn’t see any significant differences in quality (other than the 16:9 being wider). This in spite of the fact that Sony states the 16:9 mode pictures have an “effective resolution” of 2.3 Mpixels while those in 4:3 have a resolution of 4.0 Mpixels. (Note that, as far as I can tell, the camera doesn’t actually have a 4 MP sensor, but uses some sort of interpolation to get 4 MP.) I also compared these pictures to ones taken with my 2001-vintage Canon Powershot digital camera; those from the Sony HDR-HC5 were clearly better. HOWEVER, the low-light capabilities of the Sony still camera modes is very poor, much worse than its low-light video capabilities. In ordinary indoor lighting the pictures are very grainy. Even in outdoor shots, faces that are in shade have a certain graininess. So in good light the stills are fine, but in low light they’re not very good. [End]

The battery life was OK. I estimate I got an hour or so from the included battery. This was enough for shooting perhaps 30 minutes of video under real world conditions.

I was able to read in and edit the video using iMovie HD on my Mac. I couldn’t send it back to tape because of a FireWire problem with my computer, but I assume it would look just as good as the original.

Overall, I can heartily recommend this camera to anyone who cares about picture quality, but is not an advanced videographer needing special features. For instance, there have been some complaints about the lack of a manual focussing ring, but in my daily use (and my 7 years with my SD camera) I have never felt the need for this. Now I’m waiting for inexpensive HD-DVD or Blu-Ray burners!