Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DCR-HC45 Handycam Mini Dv Camcorder with 2.5'' LCD screen

This is my first camcorder that I've owned although I regularly use them in my work. I chose this one partly because of price but also because I wanted the Sony Super Night Shot Plus. I'm also used to using Sony Handycams and liked the easy to use menu screens too.

There were a couple of drawbacks though but nothing too bad - firstly, note that the camera comes with a cd of Windows drivers/software. The sleeve of the cd mentions Macs but the disc doesnt contain anything for the mac.

Secondly, the USB 2 cable that comes with the camera didn't do anything for my Mac and despite going through all the settings on the camera and Mac, i had to buy an additional BELKIN FIREWIRE 6pin to 4pin cable. Once I had bought this and plugged both ends in, the Mac and camera were best friends and everything was alright.

However, the Sony information does not tell you about this functionality (or lack of).

You may also note that this camera, for some reason, does not appear on the Sony website - so even when I was trying to find out about the camera, they didnt have it listed as a product. You may even spot that Amazon has the wrong picture in their listing - they show a HC38 model... but my HC45E looks exactly the same.

Don't be put off though, it really is a great, fun camera and it has a brilliant set of effects and bags of cleverness about it. It is light and small enough to cup in your hand comfortably and the picture quality is brilliant.

I did toy with buying one of the Mini DVD Sony Handycams but I've noticed that the sound of the disc spinning can be picked up by the camera's microphone. Don't underestimate the benefit of Mini DV :)

A lovely new gadget.. but Sony could do with adding some more info into the user guide and their websites relating to FireWire (or iLink as they call it) and Macs.. rather than just abandoning people mid sentence and focussing on Microsoft.

YouTube here i come!

A great little standard definition dv camcorder which fits comfortably in the palm of the hand and produces good quality footage for general home&family use.

The supplied software from Sony will only allow capture to PC via Firewire/iLink which means you have purchase an extra cable because its not included in the box. However you can capture video to PC via USB (cable included), just turn on the USB Streaming option through the onboard menu (set off by default) and then use a suitable third party program which can detect it (I suggest Virtualdub, its free and fully featured).

I definitely recommend this camcorder to anyone on a sub £200 budget - from my own research, I could not find another model that could beat it for value in this price bracket.

I don't actually own this camera but i have had the pleasure of using one at my local park (it's my friends camera). When i first held it, it fit in my hand nicely and was a nice weight. I then started zooming in on someone way over the other side of the park and wow, it didn't stop zooming until i was right in their face! The zoom is ultimately brilliant and i recommend this camera to anyone. The huge zoom could be incredibly useful. I don't really know why people complain about the battery on these cameras (the hc-37 and 38 are the same as this) as it lasted a couple of hours at the park. Although this may sound ridiculous, but it would be nice if it was possible to use high capacity rechargeable batterys. They may not last as long as the actual battery but if you have a few spares then you are set for a whole day of filming.

Anyway, this camera is brilliant and i recommend it. I don't know why someone gave it a 2 star review just because it only transfers video through USB2, i agree however, that the camera should have come with a firewire cable rather than an USB2 cable.

The Picture Motion Browser software that comes with this doesn't have tool to download video using USB streaming. The only option that comes with it is iLink . So, if your PC doesn't have iLink then this handycam is useless. Even the iLink cable is not supplied by Sony.
I was really surprised to see that USB streaming is not supported. Sony used to supply Picture Package software previously, which had USB streaming and it was really good and now their latest handycams with latest software doesn't have this feature.
So don't go this if you rely on only USB2.

I've never written a review before but this camera has impressed me so much I had to tell someone. I've got so much passion for this camera I could easily become a sales rep.
The picturs very sharp, the zoom is amazing, the accessories you can buy for this camera are great (waterproof casing/extra lenses), it's got night vision the lot.
Get this camera and you won't be disapointed.