Cute camera, frustrating software.

With a baby on the way and some birthday money, I eagerly ran to Futureshop in hopes of snagging a cheapo mini-DV video camera that would "do the job". I considered my options and purchased the Sony DCR-HC26, why? Because it was the smallest. Even the mini-DVD camcorders have a certain height to them that these cameras seem to lack. Eventually these will all just be memory sticks at the rate that memory is going (why aren't they now?). At any rate, miniDV's are dirt cheap now and are the way to go on a tighter budget or the mindset that I have, I don't want to own a $1000 camera that in a few years will be outdated anyway.

So, after getting the camera out of the box, I decided to check out reviews online (usually I go the other way around). I was horrified after reading this review:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-DCR-HC26-Camcorder-Review.htm

Did I waste my money? How inconvenient was the touch-screen menu? After tinkering with the camera for a few days, I am happy to report that the touch screen was easily navigable and whoever wrote the review above may have some developmental issues. As far as size, functionality, and features go, this camera will be suitable for the average job. The following is my review. Rather than list all the features of the camera, I will focus in on some key features that worked or didn't work for me.

I was very disappointed with Sony after finding out the necessary transfer cords were not included. After trying out a variety of software packages (including the paltry one Sony provides), the firewire is a must. You get better resolution when downloading videos to your computer. Just make sure you get the right one (4 pin to 6 pin) as I ended up bringing the wrong one home, minus a re-stocking fee. Fine.

The Software
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So with the cables set up, I quickly discovered that no software was included to burn to DVD. Rather, if you own a Sony computer it's possible, but the "Burn to DVD" button in the camera doesn't light up because my computer isn't Sony. You can burn a VCD which gives you very foggy, crude, and blotchy video quality on playback. Sony is a name in electronics that I trust, and I was very insulted that this camera didn't come with the hardware (and software) necessary to use it properly.

This led to a three-day search for software that would get the video off the miniDV and burn it to DVD. This was the frustrating part. Why didn't Sony include this in their package of goodies? A few more lines of code (including a decent encoder) would have accomplished this. Sony came up with a decent product, but I'm sorry to say the software for it is sub-optimal. They don't even give you enough functionality to burn a DVD, which is exactly what you'll want to do since you can't play those miniDV tapes anywhere but in your camera.

To save you a bit of time, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 4 has what Sony should have given you already, a button you push that takes your video off the miniDV and burns directly to a DVD. No mess. No intermediate steps. It will even do it as it's reading the miniDV. Wow. Ulead really did their homework. The best part about MovieFactory is that it came with a decent encoder, which beat the pants off of the wimpy encoder that came with the Sony camera. The software that comes with the camera converted the high quality miniDV video into ugly, blotchy compressed garbage. Do I sound peeved? I am. Ulead's MovieFactory is a little shy in terms of editing capabilities, but then this review isn't really about MovieFactory, it's about the DCR-HC26. I also tried a number of other very popular video editing/DVD programs (Cyberlink Powerdirector, etc.) which only seemed to crash my computer and not interface properly with the camera or my DVD burner. Likely a problem on my end.

The Video Quality
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The video quality of the DCR-HC26 isn't bad. At low to medium light, it is noisy. There is a very light, constant snow that looks to me like an improperly calibrated CCD, but I'm not an expert. The Nightshot Plus is a really interesting feature provided you don't mind people's faces to show up a greenish grey. The video quality is adequate. No Oscars though.

The Camera
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After all the gripes in the camcorderinfo.com review about the accessibility and useability, I found this to be the least important. The zoom button is on the top and requires some finger arching to work; this means that when I zoom, I end up with a bit of camera shake because I'm pushing against the body with my finger. Someone with smaller hands may not have this problem. Using the eyepiece seemed to reduce the camera shake in general. At first I wondered why anyone would shut the LCD screen flush to the body as most of the features are only accessible through it. I then realized you can rotate the LCD screen out and then close it to the camera body so it's on the outside.

The electronic anti-shake mechanism on the camera seems to me to be an empty promise. On or off, I honestly can't tell if it does anything at all. Most of my videos have a Blair Witch quality that induce motion sickness. Hopefully they will get better with more practise and less coffee.

The photo button doesn't take a "photo" per se but rather freezes the frame at a poignant moment. I haven't figured out how to get a separate photo file; however, at 640x480 I will stick to my digital camera anyway. I'm not a big fan of integrated devices because when you have a device that tries to do too many things it doesn't end up doing any of them particularly well. This is a trend I'm seeing lately. Cell phone - video camera - digital camera - PDA -mp3 player... devices are merging for better or (in my opinion) for worse. Can't a video camera just be a video camera? Does it have to do my taxes too?

Microphone Jack
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The DCR-HC26 doesn't have one. This doesn't bother me. One less thing to carry in the camera bag. The microphone on it is pretty decent. I don't know why people made a big deal about this.

Battery Life
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The battery life of this camera is decent at about 1.5 hours, delivered (longer if you just use the viewfinder). And after about an hour of Auntie Zelda's shower, do you really want to sit through more? (Oh rewind it again, see? She didn't say thank you after opening our gift!)

Optics
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The optics in the camera are smooth and clear (aside from the aforementioned snow). The zoom is 20X. The digital zoom promises 800X, but at that magnification you are zooming in on one pixel, good luck seeing anything other than a big globby blur. If you need more than 20X zoom it's time to use your feet (besides at 20X, camera shake is so bad you'll need a tripod anyway). I turned the digital zoom to off and left it at that.

One of the overlooked features of this camera is the easy to use manual focus (points to Sony here) and the breathtaking macro. On the wide end of the zoom, my fingertip fills the screen. WOW! Great work. A status bar would help the user figure out where in the focus range the camera is looking, but the feature is useable.

So that's really it. I'm miffed at Sony for selling me a $400 camera without proper cables and with shoddy useless software. Sony sent me on a wild goose chase so that I could use their product. Now that I've put the time and effort in finding them, I am considering keeping this camera, because when you get down to it, it's a nice little camera. I am concerned about the snow. I will conduct a few more video tests and if I can get decent quality (enough to not make me go - hey, what's with the noise?) then I will keep the camera. Until then I will keep you posted.