Customer Reviews
Great camera for the price! 
2008-07-15
I have had this camera for a few months now and I have been pleased. Verily. I don't use it a ton, which is why I wanted to get a cheaper camera rather than paying like $47 million for a hard drive camera. I've had no issues with it so far. I just hooked it into my laptop (which probably helps that that is a Sony too.) via firewire and used the windows movie maker and voila! It takes the video automatically (or manually) right off the camera for editting. I put up a few youtube clips with it that worked perfectly! the only drawback is that it has to upload real-time, but that's how any tape-based media is going to work. Definitely still worth it overall. Only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that I'm not a HUGE fan of the touchscreen interface, although its not as bad as some people make it out to be. Oh and night-mode is freakin' sweet! If you think I'm not going to make some lame Bear Grylls parodies with this you're crazy. (Just to be clear, I'm not saying Bear Grylls is lame....he's awesome.....I'm just saying that I will be lame for making the videos.)
Stop Shopping - This is it! 
2008-02-26
I took several months to research cameras and finally thought I would settle on this camera. I was wrong - I didn't settle, I totally satisfied my desire for a video camera.
Pro's: Compact design / easy to use / works great in low-light / works great inside or outside / effective zoom / the fire-wire connection works seamlessly with iMac and iMovie / provides great sound / clear video - even on my 720p TV / lots of options like still photo, time lapse, and other video editing effects
Con's: Too small if you have large hands or poor coordination / may take a couple of extra steps to get it to work on a PC / still pic's are less than great quality / need the base to transfer video with fire-wire
Would I recommend this product to others? Not if I wanted my video to look better than theirs. ;-)
Very easy to use 2008-02-22
This camera is very easy to use, is lightweight and so far has had great battery life. I've had no trouble capturing my video using the i-link to USB cable as that's the only port available on my laptop. For me it's been great value for the price.
Sony DCR-HC48 1MP MiniDV Handycam Camcorder 2008-02-08
This video camera is smaller than my digital camera. It's easy to use and the only real problem I've had so far is learning to tape with one hand. It takes pictures in darkness beautifully. I've had fun playing with all of the bells and whistles. This is the first video camera I've purchased since buying a huge Panasonic camera in 1987. Lots of changes since then.
Great value 2007-12-28
This is a wonderful little camera. The night vision works great and it records just fine in very little light. I would definitely recommend this camera. You may need to buy accessories like the tapes and the duo memory stick if they don't come with the camera prior to being able to use it.
Great little camcorder 2007-12-26
With a 1 megapixel CCD, the DCR-HC48 MiniDV Handycam camcorder captures every detail of every frame. And you'll get everything in the frame with the 25x optical/2000x digital zoom through the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens. The 2.7" wide hybrid touch panel LCD displays your video in vivid detail while allowing you to easily control the camcorder's features. You even have better control over your video clarity with Super SteadyShot image stabilization and Super NightShot Plus. And with the built-in Memory Stick Duo media slot and the supplied Handycam Station, it's quick andsimple to share everything you've recorded.
What a great item!! 2007-12-16
I received is very quickly and used it right away. I works very well for me. Even the nightshots came out somewhat colorful. I liked that. Very light. I still wish there was a way to clip a light on it though.
Great Value 2007-12-08
I had a Sony TRV24 (much bucks) which I loved, which got lost on a trip :(
after much shopping and angst. I ordered this unit.
Major Pros:
- Outstanding price/value, half the price of the prior unit.
- Video is as-good as my high end unit. Still photo is better and usable, although a little washed. It could be settings.
- Size is very convenient, other units we just enough bigger to not fit in pockets, bags etc. folded up, it safely fits in a big jacket pocket.
- The prior unit had a large 3.5in screen, but not touch. This smaller touch screen works very well.
- The dock is a nice feature as well as the video/pc upload software. This was not included in older generation units.
- Amazon had a factory sealed unit to me pronto! and the return policy is perfect. No restock or other box-store nonsense. Bravo Amazon.
Get the tiffen UV lense to protect the Leica lens. cheap insurance!
Battery life seems great.
Cons:
- Not many at all. Overall, its thick plastic, and some actions are purely mechanical latches vs. springs and levers which may prove better.
its a simpler mechanical design, but probably more chunky and in the end less delicate.
- One design flaw, when you flip the LCD to show it to the subject, you lose the viewfider.... dumb.
Picture Quality Is Excellent 2007-11-01
I purchased this camera as a gift for a friend. As the other reviewers have elaborated, the camera has a lot of features for the price. Perhaps the best feature is the picture quality. The Carl Zeiss Vario- Tessar lens produces brilliant and lucid images as advertised.
One of the cons of this camera is the 2.7-inch widescreen touch-panel Hybrid LCD display, which can get a bit annoying to deal with at times.
Overall though the camera is a solid buy, and I would recommend it.
Good one to own ! 2007-10-14
This is my first personal camcorder. So, I'm very contended with the features offered by this. The quality of the videos are very good. The sound quality is also good. I like the zoom capabilities also. I was able to zoom down to the objects in the street from the 108th floor in Stratosphere tower (Las Vegas).
The night time videos taken without the "Nightshot plus" mode are better than the ones taken with the "Night shot plus" mode. I hate to use the LCD display for play/edit functions. I wish those functions were outside the display.
I wish they had given a Firewire cable with this camcorder. The package just had an USB cable. I had to order the firewire cable separately.
The cost of this product is also very reasonable. I bought this camcorder for a price that is comparable to Canon A630.
I would recommend this product to everyone.
