Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DCR-HC18E Digital Camcorder

The latest Sony range continues the fine form of last years models. Very little has changed, which isn't a bad thing, but the chassis is that bit more compact. Provided you're not into wearing too tight trousers, these things really will fit in your pocket. The DCRH collection of camcorders (models 18, 20, 30 & 40) are very nicely designed, with all features easily accessible. The touch sensitive LCD screen I find is a wonderful navigation device. All controls for playback are also found on the screen.
The super night shot warrants a mention as a fun function. It'll film in total darkness via infra red. What you use this for, i'll leave to your imagination.
As for which model you choose, this will depend on what you wish to do with it. The 18 variant does not have a DV-in, only an out. This means that if you wish to edit your movies on you PC, you won't be able to send the information back to the camera to save your editing to tape. This, however, is not an issue if your computer has a DVD-writer, which is a sensible addition to anyone wishing to edit their footage.
Further up the range, you get the option of a Sony Memory Stick, so you can record your still photos. This, to me, was not an issue as a seperate digital camera will always be a far better option than a camcorder that takes the occasional picture.
In the box you'll find a P series battery (the new type), USB 2.0 cable, Video/audio/S-Video leads and scart socket adapter for playback on your T.V and remote control. There's also software for installation on to your computer. However, Windows XP automatically detects the camera, and 3rd party video editing such as Adobe Premier or Pinnacle Studio will be better options.
What you don't get, as with most camcorders, is a DV cable (firewire). These you can purchase for about £20.
Overall then, the package offers fantastic value for money. The camera is stylish and will appeal to first time users, gadget geeks (I hold my hand up) point and shoot fanatics and keen home editors.
I'd highly recommend this camera to you. I'm sure you'll enjoy using it as much as I do. I guarentee your friends will want one when they see it!

What a bargain! £289! I had to look twice!

This handycam is excellent for the beginner, it even has a simple 'easy' setting so even your kids can use it with ease.

The camera itself is very small, so it's ideal for travelling, shame it doesn't come with a case though (but I've just ordered one from Amazon for £17 which is ok).

Pro's:

Lens - Carl Zeiss - not many camcorders come with better lenses than these & for the price, it's excellent.
Ease of Use - even has a touch screen LCD so there isn't loads of buttons on the camera itself.
Size - V small, fits in the palm of your hand.
Night Shot - Film in complete darkness with the built in IR light to guide your way - V cool!
Battery life is pretty good too, but it's always good to have a spare battery charged up. You can buy larger capacity batteries than the one supplied & you can get upto 5 hours operation from them, but they are expensive (about £70).
Steady shot - takes a while for this to kick in, but when it does, you really notice the difference on zoom shots.

Cons:
Not a lot really.
Case would have been nice!
So would a tape! Beware, remember to order tapes if you buy this camera, you don't get one with the camera.
Little bit plasticy, but it is well made, don't get me wrong. Sony stuff made in Japan is top quality.

All in all, a very good camera for the money. Simple to use, very small & good quality movies. It's got everything you want and more if all you need is a simple camera to shoot family parties etc.

Get one before they run out!

just bought this item. absolute sheer quality! i spent days and days deciding which model of the sony handycam to buy and decided to get the hc18e as i wasnt bothered about the memory stick capability. the screen on the hc18 is superb, the overall size of the camcorder is awsome (very small) and most importantly, the recording quality is superb! no motor noise is recorded which is a good feature. if u have the money, buy it, you will not be disappointed. please remember to buy some mini dv tapes when ordering.

I tried a JVC and a Canon but i wasn't impressed with either,the JVC produced grainey picture quality and the Canon recorded the noise from the tape motor.
The SONY HC18 is superb,even in low light it produces good quality video and in good light the picture quality is amazing.Don't risk buying other brands,in my opinion Sony have the edge over them all.This is a great cam for the money and i'm sure you'll be pleased with it.
The only negative is the 10x optical zoom.

This is an excellent camera for the money. It is very compact and easy to use. I had never used a video camera before but could use most of the features on this unit within half a day. The video quality is good and it even has a remote control and USB cable (no firewire (ILINK) cable however). USB is very convenient to transfer video to your PC but for maximum image quality you need to use firewire (ILINK) as USB isnt fast enough. If you dont have built in firewire ports you can get PCI firewire cards for your PC (Amazon sell them!!). The nightshot feature and image stabilisation is quite impressive too. Ive had the camera for three weeks now and havent run into any problems at all. You will need to buy some DV tapes however, as there arent any in the box.

A few notes you may find useful, firstly the sony 'premium DV tapes' work fine in the camera but they dont have the chip in them that allows the title feature to be used. Secondly if you want to use USB streaming with the camera and the packaged software, you need to install the latest version of flash THROUGH MS INTERNET EXPLORER, if you usually use netscape/ firefox/ opera then installing flash through these wont work, it has to be through IE.