Digital Trends

Sony DCR-HC96

May 1st, 2006 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

Before we get into the DCR-HC96 Handycam, let me distill the camcorder shopping experience by taking a quick look at the Sony MiniDV line-up. For occasional birthdays and family gatherings, there's nothing wrong with the DCR-HC26 for $349. It has a 20x optical zoom, a 680K pixel imaging device and takes videos—period. Spend 50 bucks more for the DCR-HC36 and you basically get the same camcorder with a memory card slot. Why you would want one to capture bogus 640 x 480 pixel stills is beyond me. More appealing is the DCR-HC46 for $499. This one takes fairly decent 1MP stills, has a less powerful zoom (12x) but a more potent CCD. It also has a 2.7-inch widescreen LCD so you can properly frame 16:9 videos. Go whole hog with the DCR-HC96 and you get better lens quality and the ability to take 3.3MP photos because of its potent CCD. Granted there are other features to ponder in this quartet but these broad strokes are the basic roadmap for MiniDV camcorder shopping.

Naturally we're drawn to the best toys and the DCR-HC96 is it for MiniDV this year—at least from Sony. You can always walk over and check out a Panasonic three-chipper such as the PV-GS300 ($699) that takes 3.1MP images and has optical image stabilization, a terrific feature no matter if you're buying a camcorder or a digicam. We're expecting a review sample soon and when we get it we'll compare it to the HC96. Stay tuned.

The Sony DSC-HC96 is an extremely compact camcorder. Although not as slim or convenient as a digicam like the Sony DSC-T9, this baby is very trim. It measures 2.9 x 3.7 x 4.75 (WHD, in inches) and tips the scales at just 1.2 pounds including the tape and battery. One of the reasons it's so small is the fact it comes with a docking station that has all of the various outputs (USB, Firewire, A/V) plus it recharges the battery.

The camcorder has a minimum of buttons and nice, rounded edges. It's not as cool as a Motorola RAZR or an iPod but it's fairly attractive. The front is dominated by the lens which has a built-in cover so there's no fumbling with clunky lens caps attached by string to the hand grip. The lens is a 10x Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* type (pronounced T star). You'll also find the mic and flash to enhance still quality. The left side has a swing-out 2.7-inch touch-screen LCD with a 16:9 shape for framing wide-screen videos. Above the lens are three buttons for Backlight, Display/Battery Info and Easy. You use backlight to handle difficult subjects such as a family member standing in a window. Display shows the current settings and battery info tells you to the minute how much juice you have left. We've always loved this feature. The Easy Button is basically an Auto switch that non-techies would use all the time since the camcorder makes all the settings and adjustments. You just point, zoom and record. When you pop open the LCD, you'll find the Memory Stick Pro Duo slot and speaker on the camcorder body. On the bottom of the LCD frame are very handy controls for record start/stop, adjusting the zoom and choosing between standard screen mode (4:3) and wide screen (16:9). The LCD swivels 270-degrees so you can shoot in a variety of positions.

Image Courtesy of Sony