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Sony DCR-HC96 MiniDV 3.3MP Digital Handycam Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Includes Handycam Station) | 
| Brand: Sony
Category: Photography
Buy New: $549.99
as of 3/11/2010 12:45 PST details
New (3) from $549.99
Seller: seven_sea
Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 15109
Media: Electronics
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 10
Display Size: 2.7
Maximum Focal Length: 51
Minimum Focal Length: 5.1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 6.9 x 5.3
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: DCR-HC96
Model: DCR-HC96
UPC: 027242688636
EAN: 0027242688636
ASIN: B000E0I5AI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 1/3-inch CCD imager with with 3.3-megapixel resolution | | • | MiniDV recording format offers up to 530 lines of horizontal resolution | | • | 10x optical zoom with Super SteadyShot picture-stabilization system | | • | 2.7-inch high-resolution touch-panel SwivelScreen LCD display rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles | | • | Super NightShot Plus Infrared System captures natural-looking video in low light |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Box Contents: DCR-HC96, AC-L25 Power Adapter/In-Camera Charger, NP-FP50 InfoLithium(R) Rechargeable Battery, DCRA-C152 Handycam(R) Station, RMT-831 Remote Commander(R) remote control, Stereo A/V Cable, USB Cable, CD-ROM with USB Driver. The Sony DCR-HC96 MiniDV HandyCam Camcorder combines brilliant stills with spectacular video. Enjoy sharper photos and exceptional video, thanks to the 3.3 MegaPixel CCD imager. The wide-screen (16:9) 2.7" Touch Panel LCD lets you see more in greater detail, while the 10x optical and 120x digital zoom gives you clear, up-close shots from far away. One Touch wide angle shooting lets you switch easily between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios, and Super SteadyShot(R) keeps your photos shake-free. Progressive Shutter Mode Focal Distance - 5.1 - 51mm; 370mm Telemacro Aperture - f1.8 - 2.9 Shutter Speeds - Auto, 1/2-1/4000 sec. (AE Mode) Filter Diameter - 30mm Full Range Auto and Manual Focus Progressive Shutter Mode Analog/Digital conversion with pass-through USB and i.LINK(R) ports S-Video output (optional) Accepts Memory Stick(R) PRO up to 2GB; does not support high-speed transfer Recording Media - MiniDV Operating Systems - Windows Me, 2000 Pro, XP Home and Pro Battery - InfoLithium(R) with AccuPower(TM) Meter System Dimensions - 2-7/8 x 3-5/8 x 4-3/4 (72 x 91 x 120 mm) Weight - 1 lb, 2 oz. (525 g) with tape & battery
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 45
 Why you may want (or wouldn't want) the HC96: March 14, 2006
C. Emch
169 out of 170 found this review helpful
My HC96 is about 3 weeks old and I thought others might be able to benefit from more online feedback.
Why you may want to buy it:
Low Light Ability: The ability to take home movies both indoors and out, in all sorts of lighting, was among the most important criteria for me...and this is where the HC96 tremendously outshines others in this price range.
Ease of Use: Not much is easier than pressing the "easy" button, and the results are still great. Simple for the whole family to use without having to read a manual. Again, best in this price range.
Video Quality: Great results, with a picture that seems as good as the 3CCD camcorders out there. Competitive with best in this price range.
Size: I personally like the size, able to be held and operated comfortably with one hand, small but not too small, and buttons are in logical positions (I didn't like the button placement on the last version of this camcorder, the HC90..again personal preference...my suggestion is to go to a store and try them out before buying).
DV Tape: I realize that this is "old camcorder technology", but it takes great quality footage...and can be edited easily on PC or Mac... which is why I stayed away from DVD camcorders.
Why you may not:
Manual Control: It has some, but most is imbedded in touchscreen menus. If you are a manual video control freak, this is not the best option compared to others I tested in this price range.
Size: The camcorder actually got a little bigger from the HC90 I tried (nothing significant). While I consider it small and portable for what it does, others may want a smaller "matchbook style" camcorder that increases portability further. I couldn't hold the matchbook style options with any comfort.
Media type: Some people may not want to tinker with their recorded footage. If this is the case, I'd just go with a DVD camcorder in this price range with a similar 1/3 size CCD (larger is better for low light ability). As for the hard disk options I looked it.. personally, the video quality was not in the same league as Mini DV and DVD footage.
Handycam station: It's an addition to last year's model, and I don't like it. To me, it's another extra component to carry, store, and keep track of. I'd rather have the connections directly on the camcorder. Some, though, may prefer the station approach (hook it up once, then just set the camcorder into it to connect to PC or Mac...P.S. it works seemlessly with Mac OSX 10.3 and IMovie HD)
Conclusion:
This camcorder is for point and shooters who want to computer edit great quality footage. If you are willing to spend the extra for a larger CCD to get the low light and video quality, this is the camcorder of choice. Serious hobby shooters and artists may want to stay away...they should opt for something else for the controls they'll need.
4 1/2 Stars for family movie point and shooters. 3 Stars for Hobby and Film Artists.
A Great First Camcorder April 20, 2006
K. G. Schneider (Tallahassee, FL)
78 out of 79 found this review helpful
Francesco has done a great take on maximizing use of the DCR-HC96 and on its good features. I am a first-time camcorder buyer and want to provide a non-geeky take on this purchase. (I'm a geek in other parts of my life, but I'm missing the camera gene--I just don't care: I want the pictures. Please.)
First: I nearly had a stomachache over this purchase (DVD or DV? Sony or Panasonic? Etc.), but now that I've had the camcorder for a couple of weeks, I love it. It feels nice, it's fine for small hands, and the buttons are all different enough so they're hard to confuse. The menu on the LCD is very easy to toggle through, and the lightest of touches will work. The manual was clear, though I understood what to do almost without reading it.
Even more to the point, in Easy mode, this camcorder does great, at least for my needs. Yes, you can get more out of the camera if you venture into the menu. But I took some short clips around the house, at night and during the day, and then Ifilmed a church service, with great results--all on Easy mode. The colors were pop-out bright and clear, the pictures had lots of definition, and there were no odd tones. Yes, it's true: this camera performs well in low light, and by "low light" camcorder manufacturers mean anywhere indoors under normal indoor lighting conditions. It even performs ok when the conditions are worse than that, and I have the "cute cat moment" tapes to prove it.
You may wonder why I didn't go for the DVD camcorder. First, I wanted more editorial control over the files than the current generation of DVD camcorders allows. I've been very satisfied with editing files with the OEM version of Nero that came with my Memorex DVD burner (again, very easy to use). Second, I bought this camcorder primarily for indoor taping of church services. DV lasts an hour or so; DVD, 20 minutes, plus you have to finalize the DVD in the camera before changing it out. There's nothing difficult about popping in a DV tape, and the transfer proved (almost) easy, though see my discussion of Firewire, below. Nevertheless, I can see where the DVD counterpart to the DCR-HC96 would have its appeal. In three years we'll be using something different, anyway!
As for the case, after contemplating several cases that have STEAL ME I'M A CAMCORDER written all over them, and also seem huge, I'm going to do what I did for my laptop, and sew a custom case made from quilted fabric lined with foam, and then it's going into a backpack or a purse, depending on the trip. This thing is SMALL; I took it to church in a large ziplock bag tucked in my purse--not recommended for general transport, but that gives you the idea! You might not want to buy a case until you've seen the camcorder, in any event.
I have not purchased an external microphone, and probably won't for a while. Indoors, with the camera a few feet from a family member, it wasn't needed. The voices were remarkably clear, and I did not hear the camcorder's own sound. At church, the voices were clear (I was taping three pews back; note that everyone in the pulpit was miked). Is it professional-quality sound? Of course not, but it's decent enough for most of us (the Easy button crowd). I may move up to a microphone, but I don't feel I have to, anyway.
The docking station is a dumb idea, because if you're using an external tripod you've just lost the benefit of a quick-release shoe, which you have to remove to dock the camera. Sony, what were you thinking? The camcorder gains almost nothing from putting those ports on a second dock. Other than that, the dock doesn't bother me. You don't need the dock to charge the camcorder (but thank you, Francesco, for anticipating the "which battery" question I was just researching).
On the other hand, the automatic lens cap is wonderful. Sony, you understand me!
The Sony software, included, does a fine job transferring the files to my computer. It couldn't be easier.
I bought a tripod, and yes, that's a good purchase. Amazon has a number of tripods under $20. You don't need the most expensive as long as you aren't going to wander away from the tripod with the camera on it. I compared filming I did with and without the tripod, and even with the camcorder braced against my face (using the viewfinder), there's a tiny bit of a "Blair Witch Project" wiggly feel to the non-tripod films. Still, if Baby gets up and starts taking her first steps, don't feel you need to set up tripod, reflector, external mike, etc.--just pick up this camcorder and let 'er roll! You are almost certain to be very pleased with the results (and again, I found closing the LCD and using the viewfinder resulted in much less wiggle).
The first purchases you should make (aside from several DV tapes) are a Firewire card and cable. Save yourself frustration: do not believe the Sony manual that you can successfully burn DVDs from film transferred to your computer with USB. I spent many weepy hours learning this the hard way. See camcorderinfo.com for many instances of people learning this the hard way. This isn't unique to Sony, incidentally. I am using a high-powered laptop for this work (connected to an external hard drive), and I bought an external Firewire card for $30 and a Firewire cable for $15.
In any event, for the price (which on Amazon keeps dropping--and I bought from Amazon because I've been shopping here a long time and felt nervous about using a new e-tailer for what is for us a big purchase), this is a great camcorder, particularly if you just want to point and shoot in indoor settings.
Pricey But Impressive Performance June 8, 2006
Ramesh Shankar (Foster City, CA United States)
47 out of 49 found this review helpful
I've used this camcorder for about three months now. Most of the shooting has been indoors - parties, babyshowers etc. The camcorder output when played on a TV screen is very sharp and shows lot of detail.
I am impressed with the low light performance. Color is good, with pleasing skin tones. The sound quality captured by the onboard mic is not great, but adequate.
I have uploaded a picure showing the camcorder on my palm. I was surprised that it is so small (and light).
Choosing this camcorder involved two compromises for me -
1. 1-CCD over 3-CCD
I wanted a 3-CCD camera for more vivid colors, but a 3-CCD will have worse low-light performance. Since most of my shooting was going to be indoors, I decided to go the 1-CCD route. This camera has superb low light performance and I am happy with the colors as well.
2. MiniDV over DVD
Most of the newer camcorders write directly to DVDs. Some even write to built in hard disks. However, the technology is fairly new and involves early adopter problems. The hard disk camcorder is susceptible to shaking / movement, and it will likely be the first component to fail. The problem with DVD recording is that the format uses lossy compression (meaning your raw camera output is compressed using an algorithm to DVD format).
The MiniDV format, though old fashioned, is raw digital 1s and 0s - original uncompressed video data. So you can use the MiniDV takes as your high quality backup source to transfer the video to your computer. Then you can edit the video on your computer and transfer it to DVD.
Of course, this assumes that you have the time and the patience to do video editing, but leave the door open on that possibility.
Being a minimalist, I am against buying all kinds of bells and whistle accessories. However, it would be a good idea to get these two -
1. LCD screen protector. You will be using the LCD touch screen everytime you use the camcorder, so it makes sense to protect against smudges, scratches and dirt. Get the 2.7" LCD screen protector on Ebay. It's about $5 shipped.
2. The provided NPFP50 battery is woefully inadequate. You will be constantly looking at the battery life indicator instead of concentrating on the subject. You need a backup battery anyway when you are shooting a special occasion. Get the NPFP90 battery. This is a fat battery that looks akward on the camcorder; my wife remarked that it makes the camcorder look pregnant (see my uploaded pic in the user images). However, it lasts for about 5 hours or so, so you can just plug it shoot as long as you want.
The only negative so far that I have on this camcorder, is the vertical smearing that shows when you shoot against a bright light source (a person standing against a window on a sunny day, or a bright light within a room). The image shows a vertical stripe that washes out the background. I searched the net and this seems to be a characteristic of the Sony HAD CCD. Nothing can be done about that, but it is a minor quibble.
Good luck with your choice.
P.S. I appreciate the film making process now after seeing the horrible quality of my home movies. The constant shake because of handheld movement makes the viewers sea sick (inspite of optical stabilization). The best way to avoid it is to use a small tripod whenever possible.
Also, in movies or TV newscasts, how many times does the camera zoom in and out? The answer is never or very rarely, but with a camcorder everybody itches to zoom in and out constantly. This makes the video look very amateurish.
I am now trying to edit the videos to make a slick and interesting presentation. This seems to be a whole new world. Very interesting though.
perfect first-time camera March 3, 2007
R. Cole (Dayton, OH USA)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I had to decide between this camera and a Panasonic. we trust the Sony brand a little more, so we went with the Sony. We were looking for an easy-to-use camera that we could just pick up and record our daughter...nothing professional but good enough quality to enjoy years later. I also wanted a camera that could take still photos so we wouldn't need both a digital camera and a camcorder when we take vacations.
Here's what I think so far:
Great camcorder to do exactly what we want -- picture looks great inside and out, VERY easy to use, and small enough to carry along almost anywhere.
Still photos are not fantastic (only 3MP), but good enough for me. Color and resolution are acceptable.
Not easy to understand the LCD touch menus, but you can configure the buttons once you figure out which buttons you will use the most.
I got the bare minimums for accessories...bought a 1GB memory card (memory stick duo pro)...glad I did this since I will be taking stills and short video clips to email to the grandparents. Also got a carrying case, DV tapes, and an extra NP-FP71 battery. I'll be purchasing a firewire cable soon (I'm sure you've heard, the USB cable is inadequate for downloading video).
Handycam station doesn't really bother me that much, but I can see what the fuss is about.
All things considered, I'm extremely happy with my purchase. I think this is a perfect camera for a first-time camcorder buyer who needs an EASY button (there's one on the side of the camera). A little more expensive than some of the others, but the price is dropping.
Best of luck!
Why I bought a DCR-HC96 November 14, 2007
GRickM (Houston, TX)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This camcorder uses MiniDV tape, which is mainstream but is becoming less supported as DVD and hard drive recorders become available. So why buy it? There are several reasons.
(1) The "on" process takes a few seconds. Some of the DVD-based recorders can take 20 sec or more to be ready to shoot. This one is as close to instantaneous as I can find, and is much faster than my older Sony Hi8 (tape) camcorder.
(2) Since MiniDV is a mainstream standard, there are many choices for software for editing or converting DV format video to DVD or other compressed formats. In addition, since tape units have been around for a long time the bugs have been worked out of the mechanical parts of the camera. It's not clear to me how reliable DVD or hard drive systems will be until they are "field tested" for a couple of years.
(3) Hard disk units can have significant limitations. The one that discouraged me was a note in the manual of one camera that said "do not use above 9,000 feet." The reason for this is that hard drives use air to float the read/write head over the disk platter. Thin air menas less float and possibly a head crash, which would kill the drive and destroy data. It's easy to go above 9,000 feet in mountainous areas, and in many cases how would one know if it was safe to use the camera?
(4) Tape (or DVD) permit umlimited amounts of storage to be carried with the camera. A hard disk must be offloaded once full. If it fills up on a long vacation, one could end up out of luck.
(5) Good video and sound quality is important to me. This camera has both. Especially welcome is the 1/2" CCD, which gathers more light than the 1/6" CCDs found is lower-end units. This permits video capture over a wider tange of lighting conditions than with less capable units. Regarding audio, reviews of many current camcorders indicate that audio quality is only fair, due to motor noise or other reasons. The sound quality on this camera meets my needs with the built-in microphone.
(6) The camera provides a mechanism to convert analog video to digital DV format. I have a library of analog video from my old camcorder to convert, and have found using this camera works better than capturing through my computer's video card.
(7) This camera can use 30mm add-on lenses, such as wide angle or telephoto. For about $5 I bought a 30-37mm step up ring that lets me use my older Sony lenses with the new camera. The only downside to this is that the lenses partially cover the flash, which causes shadows in still photos. There is no problem with video since the flash is not
used.
Other comments
Although I did not buy it for use as a still camera, it fully uses the large CCD to take good quality, relatively high resolution still images (3M pixels). The flash works well indoors, and the "super night shot" feature can be used for still photos as well.
The swivel LCD display is bright and clear. The touch screen is responsive and easy to use, although navigating the menus is somewhat tedious. Fortunately, dealing with the menus is infrequent since the camera works well when used in a "point and shoot" mode.
It's pleasant that the camera has a small speaker so video can be viewed with sound.
I didn't like that the still photo memory requires a proprietary Sony memory stick rather than a more standard Secure Digital card. I also felt Sony was nickel and diming me by providing an A/V connector without an S-Video connection -- that's an add-on expense for geting higher quality pictures when capturing analog video to convert it or to watch videos from the camera connected to a television.
The "Picture Package" software that comes with the camera is very primitive. I prefer other tools for interfacing with the computer.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 45
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