Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DCR-HC42E Handycam MiniDV Camcorder [1Mp, 12x Optical, 2.7" Wide Hybrid LCD]

This camera is fantastic. It beats the other HC cameras below it by far. It's advanced hotshoe is a must as it allows you to connect things like external microphones and flashlights onto the top. A lot of people say that Sony's Suffer in low light conditions but the way I've got over this is simply using night shot or the backlight.

The backlight is also great for indoor shots of people against windows. It enables you to see their face. The coolest thing abuot this camera is its easy feature which does it all for you. It's like an automatic mode that actually works. You get an NP-50 battery with it which will last you roughly 90 minutes when using the LCD screen which is great. Most cameras only allow 60 minutes when using the LCD screen.

Overall a great buy considering the price from where I got it from.

Had the camera for a week or two and so far am immensely pleased with it. Plenty of features and all accessed via the LCD touchscreen software interface (there are hard buttons for some features). The 'backlit subject' feature is good, enabling shots of people in front of bright windows etc and still being able to see their faces.

Image quality is very good, and the camera is supplied with a handycam docking station and some free editing software which allows direct transfer from the camera onto VCD's, and also has a hilarious 'pop video' feature which automatically edits your footage and sets it to any mp3 you give it. It can do a full 5 minute 'song' in about 10 mins and turns out better than you expect. However the software is rather inflexible in that it only allows input from the docking station/camera and nowhere else, so its not possible to use for example footage already on your hard drive.

Be aware that unlike some models in the new dcr-hc range the camera is NOT supplied with a memory stick which you will have to buy separately (although it isn't essential).

This is a fantastic camera. Video quality is superb for a camera in this price bracket, although it does suffer in low light conditions. It has great features and is very easy to operate.

I've this Sony Handycam DCR HC 42E. This is extremely gud in operations and play back.However, I've faced a problem constantly reg the copying of the tape on to the VCD.I've not been able to identify what type of media is reqd., i.e. CD-R or CD. Another this is that probably, USB cable does not support copying of the tape directly on to the VCD. On the other hand only USB cable is supplied with the handycam. It has been been more than 1 year that I've purchased the camera but not yet been able to copy tape onto the VCD. Do I need a fire wire, if yes, why it is not supplied alongwith the camera? Can tape be directly copied to the VCD, if not then why this is not mentioned in the PP menu. Otherwise the results are excellent and I like the performance.