... We knew we wanted a Sony and this machine was right within our price range of £400. All the reviews we'd read about it were favourable, so we decided to go for it and it has proved to be a very good choice.
I will not bore you with any technical details and specifications as these can ... Read review
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Advantages: Easy to use - Extremely Compact - Great Picture Quality Disadvantages: We couldn't get the software to work
...We knew we wanted a Sony and this machine was right within our price range of £400. All the reviews we'd read about it were favourable, so we decided to go for it and it has proved to be a very good choice.
I will not bore you with any technical details and specifications as these can be easily found anywhere online and I would just be copying them anyway. Instead, I'd just like to share my own personal experience with this camera, ... ...connection. We have a Sony RDR-HXD710 (one day I'll write a review on that one too!) and I can simply copy the DV tapes onto DVD discs with a touch of a button. Honestly, it could not be easier! Be aware though that the iLink cable is not supplied with this camcorder. The good news is that you can buy one for under £10 now. They do supply a CD, which is supposed to help you record onto your PC via a USB connection, but we couldn't manage to make ... more
We've had this camera for about a year now. We bought it to record our little boy's development and it does the job perfectly. We knew we wanted a Sony and this machine was right within our price range of £400. All the reviews we'd read about it were favourable, so we decided to go for it and it has proved to be a very good choice.
I will not bore you with any technical details and specifications as these can be easily found anywhere online and I would just be copying them anyway. Instead, I'd just like to share my own personal experience with this camera, hoping to help you make a buying decision.
This camcorder is extremely compact and easily fits in the palm of your hand. It comes with a docking station, which you need for charging the battery. Just plug it into the mains and the battery recharges automatically within an hour or two. The battery life is about 90 minutes, but it can be less or more depending on the type of usage.
I've found this camera very easy to use. I'm a bit impatient and I tend not to read the instructions, for which my husband always tells me off! However, you don't really need any instructions to understand the basic functions of this camcorder, as it is so user-friendly. Just select recording mode, press record and off you go! You can pause the recording any time and restart it. The recording on the tape will be seamless, i.e. no blank space between the scenes, unless you turn off the recorder.
I was surprised to find that this camera records perfectly even in less-than-perfect lighting conditions. Where my still camera would need a flash, the HC39E happily carries on recording with pristine picture quality. And the quality of the recordings is superb! Now, I'm admittedly not a technical expert, but it does seem pretty good to me, the average user. The camera has a microphone at the front, so it will record the sound from the scene you are focusing on really well, but it also seems to record the voice of the person holding the camera just as clearly!
You can record in wide-screen mode (16:9 ratio) or the traditional 4:3 ratio. It seems a good idea to choose the wide-screen option, even if you only have a traditional TV at the moment, because sooner or later all TVs will be wide screen. You can use the camcorder through the view finder, which saves energy, or the LCD screen. I find recording through the LCD screen easier myself.
This camcorder records onto mini DV tapes. If you select the 'Play/Edit' mode, you can rewind the tape using the touch screen functions and watch back your recordings. Be careful though, as it is very easy to accidentally overtape a recording this way!
You can also connect the camcorder to your TV via the docking station to watch back the recordings, but ultimately you will want to record them onto DVD's. This is very easily done if you have a compatible DVD recorder with an iLink (Firewire) connection. We have a Sony RDR-HXD710 (one day I'll write a review on that one too!) and I can simply copy the DV tapes onto DVD discs with a touch of a button. Honestly, it could not be easier! Be aware though that the iLink cable is not supplied with this camcorder. The good news is that you can buy one for under £10 now. They do supply a CD, which is supposed to help you record onto your PC via a USB connection, but we couldn't manage to make this work despite trying several times. (At that time we didn't own our DVD recorder yet, otherwise we wouldn't have bothered!)
This camcorder is also capable of taking still photos storing them on a memory stick. We've never used this feature, as the quality will never be as good as with a digital camera. It's a good back-up though, in case you haven't got your still camera at hand and you want to take some photos.
I know I haven't touched on the more advanced features of this camera and I have to admit that I haven't tried them yet myself because the basic functions suit our purposes just fine. If you're looking for a good quality, reliable, user-friendly camcorder, this model (or one of its cousins) may be ideal for you.
Advantages: Great design, good features, nice imaging. Disadvantages: Lacks auto-weather adjusting system.
...the DCR-HC39E: This Sony camcorder is always ready to shoot and playback. The Handycam Station is a powered cradle for this camcorder that features an i.LINK connection for digital video editing on a PC or to copy footage to a DVD recorder, as well as USB for Web streaming purposes. Multi AV (Analogue, S-Video and Audio) is also featured for dubbing to analogue tape, as well as playing back movies or still images on a TV!!! Throughout connection, ... ...Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens:
The Sony DCR-HC39E feature a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, with a 12x Optical Zoom capability and a filter diameter of 25mm. This ensures that your footage will be of pin-sharp quality, even when you are zooming in from a significant distance, while the sizable lens guarantees a bright picture. STAMINA:
Sony's STAMINA technology makes sure you have a worry free long recording time on the camcorder. It is powered by info-LITHIUM ...
timuster 25.09.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR HC39E
Advantages: Touch screen, Easy Disadvantages: A bit lack of quality
...it has issue that all sony cameras have - image is a bit gray. The picture is not so colorful as other manufacturer's. If you will watch your video that is captured in quiet environment, on TV you will hear camera's engine hiss. It's nothing horrible, but still unpleasant. If you will film in louder place, like city, the hiss will obscured and you will have nothing to complaint about sound. I don't recommend using night mode or infrared night light, ...
bolders 02.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR HC39E
Advantages: excellent lens quality, widescreen LCD, mega pixel Disadvantages: No DV in
Sony have been the leaders in the camcorder market for years, and with the quality of this new range that shouldn't change. The HC39 is a mid-range model from sony, but don't let that fact give you the impression this camera is inferior in any way because that is not the case. To begin with every sony camcorder includes a lens by Carl Ziess, one of the best lens manufacturers in world. This lens gives amazing clarity, and with a 12X optical zoom, ... ...use. All of the sony models also include super steady shot, so when recording whilst zoomed in, the picture does not shake.
This model also has a memory stick slot so you can take still images and save them directly onto the card making it easier to download to your pc, and keeps the tape solely for video. The quality of these still shots are slightly higher than most camcorders on the market at 1.03 mega pixel. The HC39 is also the first of sony's ...
chapuk 11.05.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR HC39E
Advantages: nice size,looks lovely,great picture for vido and takeing pictures Disadvantages: not so easy to use
this is a lovely looking little camera takes some time to get used to using it.
the battery life on the camera we fount was ok never had trouble with it.
linking it to a computer we fount was very difficult still now haven't linked it up to add videos or pictures to our computer have to use the cd u get in your pack which we have done again and again.
we don't use the camera too much only for christmas,holidays,bitrthdays or like on days out.
...
atoui123 02.02.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR HC39E
Product Information for "Sony Handycam DCR HC39E" »
Connections
Connector Type
1 x composite video/audio output
1 x S-Video output
1 x USB
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK)
1 x DC power input
Expansion Slot(s)
1 x Memory Stick PRO Duo
Manufacturer's product description
One step ahead, the DCR-HC39E Compact DV camcorder from Sony uses the full width of a 1megapixel CCD to always capture and playback your images in true 16: 9 widescreen. A high picture quality and still images are guaranteed and true 16: 9 movies can be played back to the full on a home theater system.Your camcorder is always ready to shoot and playback. The Handycam Station is a powered cradle for the DCR-HC39E that features an i.LINK connection for digital video editing on a PC or to copy footage to a DVD recorder, as well as USB for Web streaming purposes. Multi AV (Analog, S-Video and Audio) is also featured for dubbing to analog tape, as well as playing back movies or still images on a TV. Throughout connection, the camcorder's "infoLITHIUM" battery is powering up, ensuring that the docked Handycam is charged and ready to be picked up and used at any time.The DCR-HC39E Handycam provides true 16: 9 widescreen recording, taking advantage of the full width of the 1Megapixel CCD, results in a wider angle of view than 4: 3 methods. This is ideal for playback on today's popular widescreen TVs and for widescreen playback on the camera itself the camcorders also feature a 2.7-inch Wide Hybrid LCD monitor that ensures that a bright, clear picture can be viewed anywhere, even at high contrast locations. Start and stop record controls and a secondary Zoom button are conveniently placed on the Wide LCD frame for quick access when viewing the subject on the display or for during difficult shooting situations, even when you are holding the camera above your head.The DCR-HC39E features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, with a 12x Optical Zoom capability and a filter diameter of 25mm. This ensures that your footage will be of pin-sharp quality, even when you are zooming in from a significant distance, while the sizable lens guarantees a bright picture.
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