Sony HDR-HC9 6MP MiniDV

I like this a lot. Maybe it's just because it's my first HD camcorder, but I do a lot of video editing and dvd burning of youth sports videos (for my kids teams) and this is the first camcorder (including borrowed from other parents) that I've been able to actually get really good quality DVDs burned. Old VHS-C, Hi-8 and other DV camcorders (including hard drive and mini-dv) always look fine on my tv when plugged in directly from camcorder to tv, but once all the compression and burning and whatever is done and it's on DVD it never plays nearly as good. I know I'm converting the HD tapes into DV to burn but the end-result has been a much better quality DVD than the mini-DV tapes on DVD. I like pretty much everything about this camcorder, especially all of the outputs and the placements and ease of the the battery, but the zoom is the one thing that I wish would feel a little better. It's hard for me with my big hands and fingers to do a nice, slow zoom in and out during a shot... Read more

I picked up this camera back in March 2008 for a one day Amazon sale of only $[...]. Amazing price! The detailed reviews are spot on. Video is stunning to say the least. I firmly believe that HDV is THE way to go still for many reasons. Highest bit rate of all HD Camcorders, The tapes are CHEAP these days and you can use regular tapes just fine, no need for any expensive HD tapes. An 8 pack of DV tapes can be had for less than $[...] at Costco or Sams club. Tapes are easy to archive as well. They will last forever if you take care of them. If you have a hard drive based camcorder or flash based and you run out of room on your vacation in the middle of nowhere, your out of luck. The flash chips are expensive and editing software still hasn't caught up or on to either hard drive or flash based cameras. This camera worked perfectly with iMovie HD for editing. You can now burn a Blu-Ray Video disc on a regular DVD using Toast 9 and playback on your PS3. This means you can get u... Read more

I love this camera! The image is good quality and the colors are vivid. I would recomended!! The only thing is that the battery doesnt last long, only about 1 hour so I would recommend a second battery but they are expensive.

Justin Paxton's review is right on the money. I couldn't have done better. If you want a miniDV tape format camera (for all the right reasons such as image quality, editing capability, shelf storage) then read his review carefully. I also agree, that this camera needs a 20x-25x optical zoom lens. I've been holding out until such a camera comes on the market at this price range. A 10x is basically useless to me.

This is our first HD camera, so we didn't really know what to expect. (Note that for video review, we played the output via HDMI to our Sony Bravia 46" HD TV.) In full light, the picture is fantastic; you get some blur and artifacts during movement or in shadows, but I don't know if that is normal or not for an HD camera, so I'll take that at face value. Night shooting without the IR light (Nightshot) is pretty grainy, even with an add-on light. The Nightshot IR functionality works great and is a lot of fun to play with. The built-in IR light seems to work well up to 7 or 8 feet and then drops off. Still shots are pretty poor; even in picture mode, they look like video captures; the contrast and color balance are bad compared to a dedicated still camera, but that seems to be common with most if not all dual use cameras so, again, take it at face value. Note that it does have a built-in flash (I couldn't find that documented anywhere). It is small and light; you can almost stick i... Read more