Customer Reviews:
  Really enjoy the camcorder January 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this product to replace an aging JVC miniDV recorder and am absolutely thrilled. We used it to record a focus group sitting around a table in dim light (using the sony bluetooth microphone) and had excellent results both visually and audio-wise.
We also recorded our greyhounds doing their chasing after things thing and the camera had no trouble keeping up with them.
Much improvement over the old JVC.
Can't wait to use it for some upcoming seminars and some utube stuff.
 good family camera December 23, 2007
This is the first digital camcorder I've owned. It replaced our old analog Canon. I researched cameras for months before I decided on the Canon Elura, which very shortly after became very hard to find. We are on a budget, and I wanted the most bang for my buck. So I researched for several more weeks and decided on the Sony DCR-HC96 MiniDV. I wanted to stick with the MiniDV format based on the reported superior video quality (of which I have not been disappointed...much better than our analog), and also because I have many analog cassettes I wanted to transfer to digital. This was one of my main purchasing requirements and this particular camera advertises the analog-to-digital passthrough. However, I have not been able to do the transfers because I would have to still be able to play the analog tapes on the old camera while the transfer is taking place, and our old camera doesn't work anymore which is why we were in the market in the first place. So I'm disappointed about that and will have to figure out another way to play the tapes while they are connected to the new technology.
Other than that, I have been pleased with the camera. The only other things I can think of after using it for a few months are: it needs a light!!! Still photo quality is okay, not great; would be better with a light. I will have to (eventually) purchase one for the shoe. Zoom under the right hand placement is a little too sensitive (my Canon had the same kind of toggle switch, but much better sensitivity). A lot of reviews I read stated more than a lack of enthusiasm for the LCD panel. I don't mind it at all and didn't think it was that bad. Of course, I read the instruction manual from cover to cover and played with the functions a while to get used to everything before I did any serious recording. The only disadvantage I have found with it is when I am trying to edit the bank of still shots (I only recently purchased my video card) the LCD buttons cover up the bottom of the photo and I can't tell sometimes if it's a keeper or not, especially if it's a closeup. Too much of the face is covered up by the buttons.
I am a mother of three young children and overall this camera serves my needs. I would purchase this camera again. Hopefully, though, in the future Sony will make a few improvements to make an even better camera in this price range.
An almost perfect choice December 4, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Spent weeks researching which camcorder to get and decided on this one. Why? The large sensor (1/3"), the MiniDV tape format, the hot shoe for either external mic or video light...and the almost universal positive reviews. Do not regret getting it at all, but here are the things that I found lacking...most solved by some ingenuity and throwing more money at Project Camcorder.
After I got it, read reviews for the few Sony mics that would work with the hot shoe, and nobody seemed impressed. Oops. However, I bought a mic jack adaptor that fits onto the hot shoe, so I can connect an external mic of my choice. So got a used shotgun and found cabled workaround to use my Olympus stereo digital voice recorder as an external mic. Realized with iMovie that I could even record the audio track separately on the voice recorder (say for a seminar speaker) and replace the soundtrack in iMovie. That would free the hot shoe for a video lamp. Anyway, so far I've worked around all shortcomings, even to using a portable dvd player as a large video monitor.
I hope to keep working with the camera, but so far am so satisfied with the picture quality under all circumstances that I have not gone beyond the Easy Mode. I do not do large long programs, but short YouTube programs, and mostly shoot short video segments that are edited together. The still feature is nice also, to get sharper still images to work into the program. Would buy the camcorder again, and might buy another one day to for "two-camera" work.
 The Best 3-Star Camcorder You'll Ever Own November 27, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The DCR-HC96 is a really good camcorder. I debated and debated whether or not to rate it 3 or 4 stars. Perhaps it lies somewhere in between. But in the end, though its grievances were minor, there were just too many to justify a 4-star rating.
But let's start with the biggest positives:
* Excellent video quality and color, even in dim light - perfect for me, and was the most important factor in purchasing this camcorder, since most of my footage involves recording my toddler stumbling around our house.
* Very lightweight and super small.
* Tons of features for the advanced user, and a great "easy" mode for novices.
Now, the cons:
* A soft motor noise is audible on playback, especially if the recording is done inside - this was the real kicker for me. The whole reason I purchased this camcorder was because of its excellent video quality inside, so I'm basically doomed to hearing the motor on most of my footage. It's not horrible, but it's definitely there.
* There's no light on the camera. And Night Shot isn't what it used to be. Not impressed with night-time recordings.
* The Handycam Station is cumbersome.
* Photo stills are good quality, but the color is really washed out.
Also, I was really wanting more than a 10x optical zoom. And I'm really not crazy about having purchased a digital-8 tape camcorder in the year 2007. I feel like this thing will be obsolete in 5 years. But, I can't technically hold these complaints against the DCR-HC96 since I knew that going in. But it's worth noting, as these were additional concessions I had to make to get the excellent low-light quality at my $500 price point. The touchscreen seems to be one of the big topics of discussion for this camcorder, many users citing they either love it or hate it. I'm sort of neutral on the whole thing. I don't love having to press on my LCD screen for easy controls, but it works well enough as long as you don't have big hands.
I can't stand having spent $500 on a Handycam (after months of research) that I don't adore. And I debated returning it for something else. But in the end, I guess I'm willing to live with all of my complaints to achieve the great "inside-recording" quality... but just barely.
 Could have been a contender, but quality and support woes hold it back November 21, 2007
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
If you get a working one, this is a really nice camcorder. it is remarkably small, quiet, good ergonomics and is loaded with features. A relatively large 1/3" image sensor promises solid low-light performance, and this is one of the rare models that accepts analog input. It also comes with a hot shoe for a variety of accessories. If you read the reviews and other customer comments, it is clear that a lot of people are very happy with their DCR-HC96. So, why the one star review? Simply put, this is a risky purchase.
I was never able to get the Firewire/i.LINK connectivity to work with this camcorder. I tried different firewire cards, different cables, and tried it on an older Windows XP system, a new Vista system, and two different Mac OSX systems. I could connect via USB, but never through firewire, which is the only way to transfer DV files to a computer. From reading on the camcorder info website's forums, there's a number of other people who have had the same problem. Again, we're a minority, but to date, I've seen no sign that there's a fix to this problem. To make matters worse, the Sony support proved to be of little value, offering only simplistic troubleshooting advice (try a different port, turn off the PC, restart the camera). And, they only offer repair service, not replacement service, even though this product is only a few days old. Sony's solution was to have me send it in for repair and do without my new purchase for however long it takes them to fix it. For me, it just wasn't worth the effort, especially during the holidays. They had their chance to keep a customer, but decided not to. And, Sony is very invasive about gathering personal information. Before I could talk to someone or email someone, I had to provide my mailing address, email address and phone number. That is a lot of my personal data sitting in some Sony CRM database somewhere, and I'm not even a customer any more.
So, weigh these risks when deciding on Sony. While they can make some nice hardware, their support policies and reliability issues could leave you out in the cold.
That is why I'm returning mine for a different manufacturer, probably the Panasonic.
I thought I'd post an update, just in case it helps. First, I purchased a Panasonic camcorder, and it connected to my PC with no problems.
Also, I should point out that Amazon was great to deal with on this order. Not only did they ship the product quickly, but Amazon also did a great job handling the return. No one likes to get a defective product, but at least one company (Amazon) knows how to stand behind what they sell. If only Sony supported their customers to the same degree Amazon does.
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