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Very bad cassette deck.
By: David Oren
December 15, 2008 @ 2:15 PM
I am a veteran videographer, using almost exclusively SONY products ever since video started.
A year ago I have purchased two DCR-HC96 camcorders at the same time from the same vendor. They came in their original boxes brand new – there was nothing wrong with them (unless they were refurbished, but there was no indication that they were).
They worked great for almost 11 months, until one of them developed a problem where the cassette compartment refused to close with or without a cassette in it, telling me to “reconnect the power supply” – but it was connected…..
I sent the camera for repair and paid SONY $129 for the labor.
Two weeks later the same problem showed up with the second camera.
This time I suspected there might be more than just a random event here and called Tech Support.
To my amazement I have learned from them that in this camera there is some kind of a “chip” that sometimes gets stuck with “memory”, and the camera needs to be drained from the electricity in it using the following procedure:
Remove the battery and put the camera in the “ON” position for 60 seconds. Then turn it off, re-attach the battery, turn it on again and everything will be all right.
Well, IT WORKED!!!!
With the technician still on the phone I have made a recording and then a playback and everything seemed to be fine.
I thanked him from the bottom of my heart, but also took the liberty to tell him that I am surprised at SONY for concocting such a stupid design for this camera, as in my entire career as a videographer I haven’t encountered anything like that.
Well, a week later I took the camera to a shoot, and at a certain point I wanted to check the video and put it in the “playback” mode.
The moment I pressed the “rewind” button the camera flashed the message “please re-insert the cassette”….
But the cassette was in!! I just recorded on it!! So what gives???
I opened the cassette compartment, took the cassette out, examined it – it was all right, re-inserted the cassette and tried to close the compartment —- it won’t close…..
No matter what I did, it refused to close.
I even repeated the draining drill the technician taught me about – to no avail.
I was furious.
I called SONY and asked that they will repair the camera for free, given that it was the second one this is happening to in less that a month.
It took SONY another month to approve the free repair of the second camera.
At the moment I don’t have any camera with me.
The first one is on its way back from the repair, and I hope the repair will hold.
The second one is on its way to be repaired and I’m crossing my fingers that it will solve the problem.
The bottom line is, as far as I am concerned, that it appears that SONY may have a lemon here – a major design flaw in this camera model.
Because for the same problem to occure in 2 cameras, that were purchased at the same time, within 2 weeks is a little bit too much.
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Video Resulation
By: Juano
January 2, 2008 @ 11:05 AM
I am doing promotional videos for my company and am planning to go for a camera that gives me better resolution. Do you think Sony DCR-HC96 is a good option to for editing and good resolution? Anyone that can help me?
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
It's an absolute shame!
By: Marcus Goldade
June 17, 2007 @ 11:16 PM
The fact that Sony has decided to reduce their selection of MiniDV Camcorders is a real disappointment! What is even more of a disappointment is that now only the top camera on their line has a LANC port.
Sony has always been the camera of choice for skydiving. Our helmets are constructed around the Sony line. Unfortunately the DVD and HDD camera’s will not stand up to the vibration and elements we subject them to. The MiniDV is the only stable choice for us! Having a LANC port is necessary to connect the camera to the "Cam-eye II" on the helmet (a device to allow us to remotely control the cam while it is enclosed in the protective shell mounted on the side of our helmet which includes a visual aid to let us know the state of recording during freefall).
The real bonus here is that sony has reduced both the size and weight substantially! Believe me, when you are falling at 120mph to the earth and open a parachute, that weight makes the difference between a chiropractic visit or a beer. Sony has always lead the way with their handycams for us. The PC10, the PC100, the list goes on… and so does the quality!
While most of you will never strap a camera to your head and jump out of a plane, I do. And to know you are buying a camera that will stand up to that vigarous of an environment should help you make an informed decision on your purchase.
Now, maybe some techie from Sony will read this and either make a better HDD cam to stand up to our sport, or they will expand their MiniDV line for the needs required by extremists like myself (BTW, there are thousands world-wide!). To see what kind of resolutions we get with sony handycams, check out the video at http://www.skydivingmovies.com
I would say that 99% of the video in our industry is shot on Sony MiniDV.
My review? I give this cam a 9 out of 10. How could you make it better?
-Better battery
-include the firewire cable
Another great job by Sony!
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Is this the top from SONY??
By: Robert
November 23, 2006 @ 8:16 AM
I bought few years back the lower quality model HC46 and I was surprised to see the bad quality on the pictures and most video shots in low light situations. I tested the HC46 camera for almost two weeks and decided to return it to the store.
Starting two months ago I decided to look again for a camcorder and again after taking out other manufacturers I decided to try again SONY. Iâm planning to use the camera most of the time for underwater video so one of the reasons I choose SONY is because there are housing for SONY more than Panasonic, etc.
Is a mistake⦠not sure yet, quality of video and still is definitely better but I was expecting much better for an $800 camcorder â best model from SONY for MiniDV camcorders.
Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No
Video Resolution
By: F Fortuny
November 3, 2006 @ 3:32 PM
You don’t mention in your review that this camera has 2056K pixels to capture the video image, as opposed to, let’s say, 384,000 the classic Sony TRV10 came with. 2056K pixels supplies a lot more information to work with when downsampling to the SD size of 720×480 pixels (384,000). This camera will ALWAYS generate less artifacts than others. It is one 2056K cmos device, instead of, let’s say, 3-CCD devices 600K pixels each. It is that huge device for video resolution that generates such better images when downsampled to 720×480.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful. Was this user review helpful? Yes | No