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Author Topic: Sony DCR-HC42  (Read 2894 times)

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Offline BlueEyes17el

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Sony DCR-HC42
« on: February 13, 2005, 12:41:04 AM »
Any tried this out yet? It looks really good for stealthing shows. I plan on buying it soon and attaching a 2x lens. I like how it has the widescreen capability on it too, you can film more of the stage  ;D

Any opinions on this camcorder?

Heres a link to the page on sonystyle.com:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=DCRHC42&Dept=dcc_DICamcorders&CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_MiniDVHandycamCamcorders
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Offline hyperplane

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2005, 12:57:48 AM »
i don't personally have that model, but from the printed specs at sonystyle, it looks okay (not fantastic). decent/typical optical zoom power for a miniDV camcorder in its price range. however, my main concern would be its CCD size: 1/5.5. you may want to look at something with a larger CCD.

hope this is of some help.

Offline BlueEyes17el

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2005, 01:24:11 AM »
i don't personally have that model, but from the printed specs at sonystyle, it looks okay (not fantastic). decent/typical optical zoom power for a miniDV camcorder in its price range. however, my main concern would be its CCD size: 1/5.5. you may want to look at something with a larger CCD.

hope this is of some help.

What exactly does CCD mean? I should also say that I don't need the camcorder for taking stills. I have a new digital camera from last year already.
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Offline hyperplane

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2005, 06:14:33 AM »
since i'm lazy, a quick definition search yielded this thorough explanation of what "CCD" means...


[from: http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid5_gci295633,00.html]

"A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a light-sensitive integrated circuit that stores and displays the data for an image in such a way that each pixel (picture element) in the image is converted into an electical charge the intensity of which is related to a color in the color spectrum. For a system supporting 65,535 colors, there will be a separate value for each color that can be stored and recovered. CCDs are now commonly included in digital still and video cameras. They are also used in astronomical telescopes, scanners, and bar code readers. The devices have also found use in machine vision for robots, in optical character recognition (OCR), in the processing of satellite photographs, and in the enhancement of radar images, especially in meteorology.

A CCD in a digital camera improves resolution compared with older technologies. Some digital cameras produce images having more than one million pixels, yet sell for under $1,000. The term megapixel has been coined in reference to such cameras. Sometimes a camera with an image of 1,024 by 768 pixels is given the label "megapixel," even though it technically falls short of the mark. Another asset of the CCD is its high degree of sensitivity. A good CCD can produce an image in extremely dim light, and its resolution does not deteriorate when the illumination intensity is low, as is the case with conventional cameras.

The CCD was invented in 1969 at Bell Labs, now part of Lucent Technologies, by George Smith and Willard Boyle."

(bold added in for emphasis.)

there are other camcorders (in the consumer price range, read: $500 or below) that offer a larger CCD size such as 1/4 or 1/3. as the above definition indicates, this will give better overall picture quality (color), especially for lower lighting situations... like filming concerts.  ;)

Offline firmdragon

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2005, 03:10:00 PM »
be aware that the new sony low end cameras force you to use the LCD to set exposure and white balance.  (i haven't looked at the specs cuz the page won't load for me)   so if you want your video to look nicer w/ correct colors and lighting you're gonna have to pop the LCD screen.

Offline BlueEyes17el

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #5 on: February 13, 2005, 10:43:38 PM »
be aware that the new sony low end cameras force you to use the LCD to set exposure and white balance.  (i haven't looked at the specs cuz the page won't load for me)   so if you want your video to look nicer w/ correct colors and lighting you're gonna have to pop the LCD screen.

LOL Ya that's fine. I don't ever use the actual view thing (I don't even know what it's called anymore). And plus, if I'm using it to tape a show, it's sorta required I keep the LCD open to make sure I'm recording the band  ;)
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Offline formengr

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2005, 09:56:51 PM »
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

An excellent site w/good in depth camcorder reviews, including low light sensitivity. And not all CCD's are created equally. typically size is a great measure, but only field testing will give you the skinny.  Hope that also helps.
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Offline eman

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2005, 01:24:54 PM »
I just got a Sony mini-dv camera, and the thing works great. The problem is the sales guys pointed out the itty bitty blue jack and said that's where the audio input is. It looks like a mini jack, but I'd call it micro. Is this really where I can plug in audio, or is it somewhere else, or am I just screwed? I recorded a bar band last night and the sound really sucked with the built in microphone. I want to hook into my MBHO's.
Anybody have info on this? I know, RTFM, read the manual first, but its easier to ask.
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Offline eman

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Re: Sony DCR-HC42
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2005, 08:09:31 PM »
Well, I read the freakin manual, and it was very dissappointing. Apparently this and all Sony Mini DV cams have no audio input except for the hot shoe on top that accecpts only Sony products made for it. That bites my ass.
Hopefully I can get a refund- to me its not even worth recording video if I can't plug in my rig.
Can anyone tell me what brand/model I should have got?
Theologically speaking, the two parties have divided the Seven Deadly Sins as follows: Republicans oppose lust, sloth and envy; Democrats scorn gluttony, greed, wrath and pride. Little progress is reported. -Gene Lyons

 

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