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| Date Reviewed: 04/17/2003 |
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 I was recording my kid's performance and needed to ... Strengths: Nice size and weight, excellent picture quality, and battery life is very good. For most basic functions this is a great camcorder
Weaknesses: Sony made some VERY odd design decisions. Perhaps the worst is the location of the button to change tapes. It is on the bottom of the unit and if you use a tripod it is not accessable. (cont)
Summary: I was recording my kid's performance and needed to change tapes. I had to 1) remove the camera from the tripod, 2) remove the screw-on tripod attachments, 3) change tapes, 3) reattache the tripod attachement, and 5) reattach the camcorder to the tripod. It takes FAR too long. Another feature I use a lot is the fade. Instead of putting this feature on a button, it requires 5 steps on the touchscreen. It is VERY inconvenient and almost impossible to do without shaking the camera so you can fade out. In bright sunlight, where I would rather use the viewfinder, this is also a pain. This is a good machine which was messed up by some bad engineering. If you don't fade or use a tripod, you will probably love it. If you do, you will be frustrated.
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| Date Reviewed: 09/25/2003 |
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Strengths: Portability, optics, battery life, low motor noise, multiple I/O ports, image stabilization
Weaknesses: LCD in daylight, microphone pickup, slow autofocus
Summary: This is a great first camcorder that goes everywhere and records generally high-quality video. Outdoor video is fine, but indoor video is monochromatic and noisy in low light. The 1MP stills don't compare to a dedicated digital camera, but are adequate for travel and field situations with the ability save more than 200 images at the highest resolution on an inexpensive 128MB memory stick. It records low resolution stills on tape for special effects, but the MPEG1 video on the memory stick is too low quality to be useful.
I'm not bothered so much by the bottom-loading tape transport. With practice, remounting the camera adds only a few seconds to tape changes. The plastic case shows some surface cracks after a year and a half of rough handling, but seems to be holding up OK along with the terminal covers. I like the 270° LCD rotation, display blanking button and tactile zoom control, features that apparently are more limited on the new DCR-PC105. The analog-in/digital out feature is handy for converting VHS tapes. The USB and firewire ports fully integrate the camera with a PC.
I rarely use the LCD menus, except for spot meter and spot focus. I never use fader or other functions that can be applied in post-production. With VF-only operation, the standard battery provides a good two hours recording time. The optical zoom is very nice, but digital zoom isn't useful beyond 2x. This camera has been a great tool for home video, and I seldom make trips without it.
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| Date Reviewed: 10/14/2002 |
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Strengths: Size - SO small and extremely portable
Great outdoor video quality
Comfortable to hold... once you get used to the controls
Weaknesses: Sound leaves a lot to be desired
Low light video is marginal
Cheezy plastic door covering the dv in/out
Summary: Bottom line, this is a great camera. If you are looking for something small that is easy to take anywhere, look no further... especially if you'll be doing the majority of your video outside. Video in good light is awesome. The ergonomics and controls of the camera take some getting used to, but once you have, it's great. If size and portability isn't a factor, you may want to go w/ the TRV27 - save $300+, better sound out of the box, and more intuitive controls.
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| Date Reviewed: 09/24/2002 |
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Strengths: Great video quality, easy to hold for a box style camcorder, easy to use, very small.
Weaknesses: cheap plastic cover for DV and AC input will likely break
Summary: If you are looking for a small mini DV camcorder be sure to check this model out. I have tried most of the mini box style camcorders and this one seems to fit my hand the best. The Carl Zeiss lense is fantastic and the vidoe quality super. Still pictures are reasonable at 1mega pixel, but I would suggest getting a seperate still camera for better photos. I was able to use 90% of the features without using the supplied manual due the clever touch screen controls. The screen hides finger prints well (something I was concerned about before getting the camera). I have owned several video cameras and this one is very easy to use! Video cameras get left behind if they are too big. This will fit in a very large pocket, but a purse or small pouch is better. I haven't tried the digital still upload, so I can't comment on that; however, I was editing videos in less than 5 minutes using my MAC G3 and i-movie. The editing worked perfectly. The camera also has Super V, DV and USB interfaces. Great connectivity for a super small camcorder. You can get a smaller camera by going to the Sony Micro DV line but you will lose compatibility with most digital editing software. My only complaint is the delicate terminal cover for the DV and AC input. I think I am going to accidently break it every time I open it.
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| Date Reviewed: 08/30/2002 |
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 I've just purchased Sony DCR-PC101, great size, gr ... Strengths: Great features, easy to perate, and good picture quality.
Weaknesses: High price, poor tech support, still image upload problem...
Summary: 2002-08-30 15:10:56 I've just purchased Sony DCR-PC101, great size, great picture, and easy to operate by using the touch screen panel, but there is a big problm with uploading the still jpg images. I can't upload the still image from Sony memory stick as Sony manual instructed, but I can do it by using other brand memory stick reader. After several tests(tested with other PCs and memory stick readers), we believe there is Sony USB driver problem or the hardware(DCR-PC101) problem. I've returned this camera, because Sony can't solve this problem.
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