If you are considering either of the two cameras (both of which happen to be the top of the line SD consumer camcorders in their respective brands), the first place you would want to check for an accurate and detailed review is [...]. The review accurately declares Panasonic PV-GS500 as the winner. Nevertheless, I chose to perform some amateur testing on the two camcorders and here is a summary of the results of my tests:
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br /1. Video performance: GS500 has a three 1/4.7" CCDs, while HC-96 has one 1/3" CCD. The three CCD configuration produces excellent and faithful reproduction of colors in bright light condition. I tested both the cameras outdoors in auto mode. HC96, in an attempt, to produce richer colors, would sometimes produce inaccurate colors, while GS500 consistently produced accurate colors. If you are not a professional and cannot keep your hand steady for a long time, you will notice that HC96 will introduce quite a bit of noise. This is primarily due to two reasons: One is that HC96 uses Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) which is quite inferior as compared to the Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) used by GS500. The other reason is that HC96 sometimes struggles to find the right focus. This occurs quite randomly (and more prominently indoors). I viewed the results by hooking the two cameras directly to my 32" LCD TV. The Panasonic produced superior results than the Sony, though the Sony video was good too.
br /2. Low light (indoor) performance: Here HC96 (in `easy' mode) performs better than GS500 (in `auto' mode), though HC96 again was not accurate in reproducing colors. But wait, don't jump to conclusion so quickly. Simply select the `low light' scene mode for the GS500 and it outshines the HC96. (Surprisingly, HC96 produces a worse image when white balance was set to `indoor' mode than `easy' mode). During day time too, if you are shooting indoors without light, you will find that the `low light' mode of GS500 does wonders. The more advanced users might be inclined to tweak the gain (IRIS) and white balance. But my elementary tests found that simply selecting `low light' mode and letting the camera handle the rest gave excellent performance. Both the cameras have modes for shooting in extremely poor light - HC96 provides `nightshot' while GS500 provides `magicpix' mode. In a nutshell, although 1/3" CCD of HC96 is technically supposed to give it an advantage, but here too, GS500 with its easy to set, `low light' scene mode beats HC96.
br /3. Ease of use: I found both the cameras quite easy to use (Disclaimer: I am generally comfortable with electronic items). Panasonic has a convenient joystick while Sony has touch screen LCD. Professionals generally despise the touch screen LCD, but it is not as bad as it may be made to sound. Ergonomically, I found the GS500 more comfortable to hold (though it is heavier) - it has a solid feel and a steady zoom button. The zoom button and the overall construction of HC96 seemed a bit flimsy - not what you would expect in top of the line camera. The most annoying thing about HC96 was its docking station (or as Sony calls it the `handycam' station). This is made of cheap plastic - easy to break and lose. Also, if you hook up the camera to the handycam station, you cannot use the tripod. The handycam station is the biggest downgrade introduced in HC96 over its predecessor HC90.
br /4. External mic: GS500 has an input for an external mic while HC96 does not. This alone is a big enough reason for most buyers to not consider HC96 (infact none of the consumer camcorders of Sony have an external mic input). Your only option would be to buy an expensive Sony hot shoe mic if you need better sound. Now you may say that for most of your recording, you would be fine with the built-in mic of the camcorder - true - but picture this scenario... you are sight seeing London in the hop-on, hop-off bus and are listening to the audio narration of the places of interests using the headphones provided. Now, instead of the headphones, if you simply provide the audio input to your camcorder and take a video, you get an awesome video with professional and accurate narration!
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br /In conclusion - Panasonic PV-GS500 wins hands down over Sony DCR-HC96. If you shop around, you will notice that the lowest price tag on the two differ by only $[...] or so (Sony being cheaper). But over time, your Sony may need much expensive accessories (including extra battery and charger) than the Panasonic and the total tag may run higher. As far as I am concerned, I am keeping the GS500 and returning the HC96. The GS500 produces excellent video for my 32" HD ready LCD TV and is a good solution until HD technology matures in camcorders.
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Francesco has done a great take on maximizing use of the DCR-HC96 and on its good features. I am a first-time camcorder buyer and want to provide a non-geeky take on this purchase. (I'm a geek in other parts of my life, but I'm missing the camera gene--I just don't care: I want the pictures. Please.)
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br /First: I nearly had a stomachache over this purchase (DVD or DV? Sony or Panasonic? Etc.), but now that I've had the camcorder for a couple of weeks, I love it. It feels nice, it's fine for small hands, and the buttons are all different enough so they're hard to confuse. The menu on the LCD is very easy to toggle through, and the lightest of touches will work. The manual was clear, though I understood what to do almost without reading it.
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br /Even more to the point, in Easy mode, this camcorder does great, at least for my needs. Yes, you can get more out of the camera if you venture into the menu. But I took some short clips around the house, at night and during the day, and then Ifilmed a church service, with great results--all on Easy mode. The colors were pop-out bright and clear, the pictures had lots of definition, and there were no odd tones. Yes, it's true: this camera performs well in low light, and by "low light" camcorder manufacturers mean anywhere indoors under normal indoor lighting conditions. It even performs ok when the conditions are worse than that, and I have the "cute cat moment" tapes to prove it.
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br /You may wonder why I didn't go for the DVD camcorder. First, I wanted more editorial control over the files than the current generation of DVD camcorders allows. I've been very satisfied with editing files with the OEM version of Nero that came with my Memorex DVD burner (again, very easy to use). Second, I bought this camcorder primarily for indoor taping of church services. DV lasts an hour or so; DVD, 20 minutes, plus you have to finalize the DVD in the camera before changing it out. There's nothing difficult about popping in a DV tape, and the transfer proved (almost) easy, though see my discussion of Firewire, below. Nevertheless, I can see where the DVD counterpart to the DCR-HC96 would have its appeal. In three years we'll be using something different, anyway!
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br /As for the case, after contemplating several cases that have STEAL ME I'M A CAMCORDER written all over them, and also seem huge, I'm going to do what I did for my laptop, and sew a custom case made from quilted fabric lined with foam, and then it's going into a backpack or a purse, depending on the trip. This thing is SMALL; I took it to church in a large ziplock bag tucked in my purse--not recommended for general transport, but that gives you the idea! You might not want to buy a case until you've seen the camcorder, in any event.
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br /I have not purchased an external microphone, and probably won't for a while. Indoors, with the camera a few feet from a family member, it wasn't needed. The voices were remarkably clear, and I did not hear the camcorder's own sound. At church, the voices were clear (I was taping three pews back; note that everyone in the pulpit was miked). Is it professional-quality sound? Of course not, but it's decent enough for most of us (the Easy button crowd). I may move up to a microphone, but I don't feel I have to, anyway.
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br /The docking station is a dumb idea, because if you're using an external tripod you've just lost the benefit of a quick-release shoe, which you have to remove to dock the camera. Sony, what were you thinking? The camcorder gains almost nothing from putting those ports on a second dock. Other than that, the dock doesn't bother me. You don't need the dock to charge the camcorder (but thank you, Francesco, for anticipating the "which battery" question I was just researching).
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br /On the other hand, the automatic lens cap is wonderful. Sony, you understand me!
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br /The Sony software, included, does a fine job transferring the files to my computer. It couldn't be easier.
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br /I bought a tripod, and yes, that's a good purchase. Amazon has a number of tripods under $20. You don't need the most expensive as long as you aren't going to wander away from the tripod with the camera on it. I compared filming I did with and without the tripod, and even with the camcorder braced against my face (using the viewfinder), there's a tiny bit of a "Blair Witch Project" wiggly feel to the non-tripod films. Still, if Baby gets up and starts taking her first steps, don't feel you need to set up tripod, reflector, external mike, etc.--just pick up this camcorder and let 'er roll! You are almost certain to be very pleased with the results (and again, I found closing the LCD and using the viewfinder resulted in much less wiggle).
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br /The first purchases you should make (aside from several DV tapes) are a Firewire card and cable. Save yourself frustration: do not believe the Sony manual that you can successfully burn DVDs from film transferred to your computer with USB. I spent many weepy hours learning this the hard way. See camcorderinfo.com for many instances of people learning this the hard way. This isn't unique to Sony, incidentally. I am using a high-powered laptop for this work (connected to an external hard drive), and I bought an external Firewire card for $30 and a Firewire cable for $15.
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br /In any event, for the price (which on Amazon keeps dropping--and I bought from Amazon because I've been shopping here a long time and felt nervous about using a new e-tailer for what is for us a big purchase), this is a great camcorder, particularly if you just want to point and shoot in indoor settings.

I have been doing research for months and really wanted to buy a Panasonic PV-GS400. Its video quality, four-way ring, 3.5" LCD, 16:9 cinema mode, and overall prosumer features made it a camcorder legend (read review on www.camcorderinfo.com). I missed the boat, though, since it has been replaced by the PV-GS500, which is not the same camcorder. So I opted for this Sony. This camcorder takes excellent video, make no mistake; just check the reviews on CNET and especially Camcorderinfo for more technical information on this. After all my research, I feel that this is the best overall family camcorder because it is very user-friendly for all the technophobes out there, but it also allows some manual control for the user that wants to explore more advanced (read: manual) features. Word of caution: these more advanced features are accessed via LCD menu, and do not have one-push buttons or rings like the PV-GS400 or other higher end prosumer cameras, but rearranging the LCD menu and putting controls like spot focus, spot meter, focus, exposure, and white balance in the first screen of the p-menu makes this little (literally) camera far more usable. The review on camcorderinfo made it sound like rearranging the LCD menu was a job for the gods of technology. It is not. I read the manual in a half hour, and after another half hour all the menu items had been sorted based on my preferences: it's just a matter of pressing p-menu on the LCD, scrolling all the way down, selecting the p-menu options, pressing the Sort button, and then moving the buttons around according to your preference. Now, it is really important to move all the buttons I mentioned above (spot focus and meter, focus, exposure, and especially white balance) to the first screen if you want to keep your sanity. The reason is simple: you will be using some of these features a lot. White balance, for example, offers four options: auto, outdoor, indoor, and one-push. If you want faithful reproduction of color, take my advice: use one-push. I noticed that the indoor option takes an orangey video, but if you get a white/grey card (you should, it's about $18 for a Kodak one here on Amazon) or use any white surface (the back of a notebook for example) under the same light as your subject, frame it with your LCD and press one-push under the white balance menu option, your video will have a perfect color reproduction. Do you see why you want to have white balance in the first p-menu screen?
br /Other things you should do: enable 16:9 and also 30p (if you have an HD TV or watch your movies on a computer screen) so that you do not have the flickering of 60i interlaced mode; enable the zebra pattern feature (at 100) to see what parts of your frame are over-exposed; enable 16bit audio (default is 12bit) for higher audio quality; enable guideframe (the criss-cross-like option to help you shot video according to the rule of thirds. If you do not know what the rule of thirds is, google it. It is a very important composition guideline unless you are Steven Spielberg. Then again, if you were Steven Spielberg, you would not be reading reviews on this kind of camera, would you?). Once all this is done, there are a few other things you need to do if you want to convince your friends to watch your home videos and actually enjoy them:
br /- Get a microphone; the on-camera mic is bad. Get the HCM-HST1 with its funny windscreen (you will see and laugh) or the new $199 bluetooth lavalier ECM-HW1 if you have the dough; with the former you have to be close to your subject to get good sound; with the latter, your subject can be up to 30 meters (I think, check the specs) away and still get very good sound. An external mic is, along with extra battery and tripod, a must. You will thank me later;
br /- Get the NP-FP71 battery. It lasts a couple of hours with the LCD open; this way you will not run out of juice while your kid is giving the performance of a lifetime; I was considering the FP90 battery for extra juice, but it is very, very big. Not worth it unless you are planning on shooting the next Sundance indie masterpiece;
br /- Don't forget the Sony BCTRP battery charger since you are at it;
br /- Get the Sony ND filter package (and maybe the Polarizing package if shooot at water, metals, windows...) to shoot outside;
br /- Get a firewire cable to connect your camcorder to your Mac or PC; it is better than the USB cable that comes with the camera;
br /- Get a tripod. People get sea-sick when watching shaky, hand-held home videos. Disable the camcorder's Steadyshot feature when you use a tripod. It is not necessary and reduces overall resolution. Remember to re-enable it if you are forced to shoot hand-held. The Sony $127 VCT870RM is an excellent choice for this camcorder. It is light, yet sturdy and with a pro look and feel. It offers smooth (very important) panning and tilting, and you can control your camcorder directly from the tripod's handle (record/stop, zoom, photo), which is very, very handy; it means you can control your camera without taking your hands off the tripod handle or your eyes off the LCD screen; you'll feel like a pro, which is priceless, especially for guys :) We are grown-up kids after all;
br /- Monitor your audio. Unfortunately this camcorder does not have a headphone out connector, but you can use the AV out and some adapters to connect your headphones. Audio is very, very important, arguably more important than video quality, so monitor it for your important videos (weddings etc...);
br /- Get the Sony DVC premium BLUE (not yellow) tape ($3 each, buy them in bulk) and stick with it until your camcorder dies. It is considered bad to switch tape brands (even though it is subject to hot debates these days), but I have read that Sony uses wet lubricants whereas other manufacturers (JVC, Panasonic, Fuji) use dry lubricants. If you use a Sony camcorder, stick with a Sony tape. Do not get the Sony DVC excellence or HD tapes. They are respectively $10 and $15 each, not worth it; get the premium tape and send me the difference :);
br /TIPS to shoot great home videos:
br /- Use a tripod and external mic;
br /- Keep your panning (horizontal movement of the camcorder) and tilting (vertical movement) to a bare minimum while shooting. If you must pan, do it in one direction and then stop for 30 seconds or so). Do not pan back;
br /- Keep your zooming to a bare minimum while shooting. Zoom in or out before the shot, then take your shot;
br /- Consider yourself as a photographer: your camcorder stays still, only your subjects move within the frame; take hints from Hollywood movies; you'll find yourself looking at Hollywood movies with a different (more critical) eye, once you start shooting yourself, which is great;
br /- Use a reflector (e.g. JTL 36" white/silver round reflector at about $30 on amazon) to reflect light coming from one direction so that your subject is lit evenly;
br /- Use the 30-second rule: shoot at least 30 seconds of your subject even if your subject goes out of frame. This way you will have lots of room for editing;
br /- Shoot the first minute of a tape on something non-important; when DV tapes screw up, they usually do so in the beginning;
br /- Shoot your subject from different angles
br /- Use wide-angle for introduction of scene and Telephoto for emotions. Here is where you may want to use your manual focus option to blur the background when taking a nice portrait shot of your kids (assuming they are not running all over the house J);
br /- Turn your video into a story; don't shoot randomly; shoot with purpose and edit brutally so that the final video is fun and interesting;
br /- Do not use the camera fader and other digital effects; add them in iMovie or whatever editing program you use;
br /- Google great video techniques online. There is plenty of advice. Check out www.current.tv/studio/survivalguide/ for some great tips
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br /Why this camcorder? Great for the family, light and easy to use, takes great, sharp videos even in automatic mode, relatively cheap at $600 or $700, better low-light performance than a Panasonic PV-GS500 at a cheaper price (even though the GS500 is also a good one. It does not offer zebra pattern or headphone out, though). Where to buy it? You can buy it here on Amazon like I did. You might be able to find online stores like Click for Digital that offer it for less, but Caveat Emptor: you will have to deal with pushy Brooklyn salesmen that want to sell you expensive extras because that is where they make their money, and you might wait and wait before you get your camcorder (even though they say they have it in stock). I wanted to buy this toy to shoot my daughter's D-day :) and almost missed because of those guys. I promptly cancelled my order and ordered it from Amazon. No pushy people, and I got the camera the next day. Besides, if you have an Amazon card, that is a $25 gift certificate right there, which brings the price difference down to $60. In conclusion, we are in a transition from DV to HDV. HDV camcorders are expensive, do not offer 24p film-like mode (unless you spend $6,000 for the new Panasonic HDV camcorder), and HDV is slower to edit and impossible to watch on current DVD players (even though you can keep the tapes and rip HD DVDs once they become the standard). So, I bought this HC96 because I feel it is the best transition camcorder. After all, my daughter is not going to wait another couple of years in mommy's tummy :) She needs a camcorder now! Hope this review will help. I've got to go back to my Birth Book now. Ciao.

My HC96 is about 3 weeks old and I thought others might be able to benefit from more online feedback.
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br /Why you may want to buy it:
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br /Low Light Ability: The ability to take home movies both indoors and out, in all sorts of lighting, was among the most important criteria for me...and this is where the HC96 tremendously outshines others in this price range.
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br /Ease of Use: Not much is easier than pressing the "easy" button, and the results are still great. Simple for the whole family to use without having to read a manual. Again, best in this price range.
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br /Video Quality: Great results, with a picture that seems as good as the 3CCD camcorders out there. Competitive with best in this price range.
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br /Size: I personally like the size, able to be held and operated comfortably with one hand, small but not too small, and buttons are in logical positions (I didn't like the button placement on the last version of this camcorder, the HC90..again personal preference...my suggestion is to go to a store and try them out before buying).
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br /DV Tape: I realize that this is "old camcorder technology", but it takes great quality footage...and can be edited easily on PC or Mac... which is why I stayed away from DVD camcorders.
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br /Why you may not:
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br /Manual Control: It has some, but most is imbedded in touchscreen menus. If you are a manual video control freak, this is not the best option compared to others I tested in this price range.
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br /Size: The camcorder actually got a little bigger from the HC90 I tried (nothing significant). While I consider it small and portable for what it does, others may want a smaller "matchbook style" camcorder that increases portability further. I couldn't hold the matchbook style options with any comfort.
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br /Media type: Some people may not want to tinker with their recorded footage. If this is the case, I'd just go with a DVD camcorder in this price range with a similar 1/3 size CCD (larger is better for low light ability). As for the hard disk options I looked it.. personally, the video quality was not in the same league as Mini DV and DVD footage.
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br /Handycam station: It's an addition to last year's model, and I don't like it. To me, it's another extra component to carry, store, and keep track of. I'd rather have the connections directly on the camcorder. Some, though, may prefer the station approach (hook it up once, then just set the camcorder into it to connect to PC or Mac...P.S. it works seemlessly with Mac OSX 10.3 and IMovie HD)
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br /Conclusion:
br /This camcorder is for point and shooters who want to computer edit great quality footage. If you are willing to spend the extra for a larger CCD to get the low light and video quality, this is the camcorder of choice. Serious hobby shooters and artists may want to stay away...they should opt for something else for the controls they'll need.
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br /4 1/2 Stars for family movie point and shooters. 3 Stars for Hobby and Film Artists.
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I've used it for a week, got it to shoot a wedding so indoor light and audio performance are important to me.
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br /- low light color accuracy is really good. Incandescent lights don't make everything really yellow.
br /- low light sensitivity is good. Much better than my previous sony miniDV, seems to increase gain at the expense of a little more grain.
br /- audio is sensitive but picks up tape hum. I can record someone speaking from 20 feet away but tape hums quite a bit. The buzzing sound can get annoying. I'm considering getting a mic mounted on top. Sometimes the hum goes away so this may just be a bad model.
br /- body feels plasticky. Not like the Canon powershot cameras that I have, with sturdy metal bodies.
br /- touch screen interface can be learned after reading the manual. It was not intuitive but now that I've read the manual and configured it the way I like it, I find it's ok.
br /- progressive 30p mode is great! My videos are meant primarily for computer display so I don't like interlacing. Shooting at true 30p is just wonderful.

I've used this camcorder for about three months now. Most of the shooting has been indoors - parties, babyshowers etc. The camcorder output when played on a TV screen is very sharp and shows lot of detail.
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br /I am impressed with the low light performance. Color is good, with pleasing skin tones. The sound quality captured by the onboard mic is not great, but adequate.
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br /I have uploaded a picure showing the camcorder on my palm. I was surprised that it is so small (and light).
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br /Choosing this camcorder involved two compromises for me -
br /1. 1-CCD over 3-CCD
br /I wanted a 3-CCD camera for more vivid colors, but a 3-CCD will have worse low-light performance. Since most of my shooting was going to be indoors, I decided to go the 1-CCD route. This camera has superb low light performance and I am happy with the colors as well.
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br /2. MiniDV over DVD
br /Most of the newer camcorders write directly to DVDs. Some even write to built in hard disks. However, the technology is fairly new and involves early adopter problems. The hard disk camcorder is susceptible to shaking / movement, and it will likely be the first component to fail. The problem with DVD recording is that the format uses lossy compression (meaning your raw camera output is compressed using an algorithm to DVD format).
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br /The MiniDV format, though old fashioned, is raw digital 1s and 0s - original uncompressed video data. So you can use the MiniDV takes as your high quality backup source to transfer the video to your computer. Then you can edit the video on your computer and transfer it to DVD.
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br /Of course, this assumes that you have the time and the patience to do video editing, but leave the door open on that possibility.
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br /Being a minimalist, I am against buying all kinds of bells and whistle accessories. However, it would be a good idea to get these two -
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br /1. LCD screen protector. You will be using the LCD touch screen everytime you use the camcorder, so it makes sense to protect against smudges, scratches and dirt. Get the 2.7" LCD screen protector on Ebay. It's about $5 shipped.
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br /2. The provided NPFP50 battery is woefully inadequate. You will be constantly looking at the battery life indicator instead of concentrating on the subject. You need a backup battery anyway when you are shooting a special occasion. Get the NPFP90 battery. This is a fat battery that looks akward on the camcorder; my wife remarked that it makes the camcorder look pregnant (see my uploaded pic in the user images). However, it lasts for about 5 hours or so, so you can just plug it shoot as long as you want.
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br /The only negative so far that I have on this camcorder, is the vertical smearing that shows when you shoot against a bright light source (a person standing against a window on a sunny day, or a bright light within a room). The image shows a vertical stripe that washes out the background. I searched the net and this seems to be a characteristic of the Sony HAD CCD. Nothing can be done about that, but it is a minor quibble.
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br /Good luck with your choice.
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br /P.S. I appreciate the film making process now after seeing the horrible quality of my home movies. The constant shake because of handheld movement makes the viewers sea sick (inspite of optical stabilization). The best way to avoid it is to use a small tripod whenever possible.
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br /Also, in movies or TV newscasts, how many times does the camera zoom in and out? The answer is never or very rarely, but with a camcorder everybody itches to zoom in and out constantly. This makes the video look very amateurish.
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br /I am now trying to edit the videos to make a slick and interesting presentation. This seems to be a whole new world. Very interesting though.

I had to decide between this camera and a Panasonic. we trust the Sony brand a little more, so we went with the Sony. We were looking for an easy-to-use camera that we could just pick up and record our daughter...nothing professional but good enough quality to enjoy years later. I also wanted a camera that could take still photos so we wouldn't need both a digital camera and a camcorder when we take vacations.
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br /Here's what I think so far:
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br /Great camcorder to do exactly what we want -- picture looks great inside and out, VERY easy to use, and small enough to carry along almost anywhere.
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br /Still photos are not fantastic (only 3MP), but good enough for me. Color and resolution are acceptable.
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br /Not easy to understand the LCD touch menus, but you can configure the buttons once you figure out which buttons you will use the most.
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br /I got the bare minimums for accessories...bought a 1GB memory card (memory stick duo pro)...glad I did this since I will be taking stills and short video clips to email to the grandparents. Also got a carrying case, DV tapes, and an extra NP-FP71 battery. I'll be purchasing a firewire cable soon (I'm sure you've heard, the USB cable is inadequate for downloading video).
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br /Handycam station doesn't really bother me that much, but I can see what the fuss is about.
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br /All things considered, I'm extremely happy with my purchase. I think this is a perfect camera for a first-time camcorder buyer who needs an EASY button (there's one on the side of the camera). A little more expensive than some of the others, but the price is dropping.
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br /Best of luck!

I bought HC96 to replace my five year old trv11 which was Sony's top line consumer model at the time. After using HC96 for one week, I have the following observations.
br /1) The camacorder and the charger are much smaller than trv11. The build quality seems to be decent. I don't like the docking station design, but it is not a show stopper.
br /2) The video quality for in door/out door shooting is only slightly better than trv11 despite of great reviews I read on the internet. Widescreen is a nice new feature to have compared to the trv11.
br /3) Focusing under low night is a bit slow, I really wish to have the manual focus ring when taking my daughter's Christmas stage performance.
br /Potential shopper should also check out the GS500 which is a close competition.

I just bought this camcorder before Christmas, after many hours of researching, I had been deciding whether to buy the DVD505 and HC96. The miniDV format can recorder longer (1hour vs. 30mins), hence I bought HC96.
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br /The bright light video quality is very good. The low light quality is so so. The super nightshot gives distorted color, as you would see in the DVD505. I do not know if the 3CCD cameras would do better.
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br /This camcorder is pretty easy to use. The touch screen is big enough to operate on.
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br /There is good and bad for the handycam station. The good thing: you do not have to plug the wires, cables into the camcorder. The bad thing: if you want to put camcorder onto a tripod, you can only do so after you charged your battery, since a handycam station won't fit.
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br /The software provided by Sony is almost useless. It only can import 320x240 video, and does not provide compressed output format. A 10 min video requires 3 GB storage. I could not find where I can change this setting. If some one knows, please let me know. So I end up using Microsoft Movie Maker, which is more convenient and flexible. The Movie Maker can only export a maximum of 720x480 resolution, which is probably enough.
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br /Another thing, I could not find a way to print the shooting date and time on to the video frames transfered to the computer. Is that the problem of the Movie Maker? You can see shooting date and time when you play back on the tape. Anyone knows how to do it?
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br /I thought I would have time editing movies, but I do not. If you do not need editing, I would recommend buying HardDrive camcorders, it directly saves as MPEG2 format, and requires almost no effort to transfer the video to a PC.
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This camcorder uses MiniDV tape, which is mainstream but is becoming less supported as DVD and hard drive recorders become available. So why buy it? There are several reasons.
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br /(1) The "on" process takes a few seconds. Some of the DVD-based recorders can take 20 sec or more to be ready to shoot. This one is as close to instantaneous as I can find, and is much faster than my older Sony Hi8 (tape) camcorder.
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br /(2) Since MiniDV is a mainstream standard, there are many choices for software for editing or converting DV format video to DVD or other compressed formats. In addition, since tape units have been around for a long time the bugs have been worked out of the mechanical parts of the camera. It's not clear to me how reliable DVD or hard drive systems will be until they are "field tested" for a couple of years.
br /
br /(3) Hard disk units can have significant limitations. The one that discouraged me was a note in the manual of one camera that said "do not use above 9,000 feet." The reason for this is that hard drives use air to float the read/write head over the disk platter. Thin air menas less float and possibly a head crash, which would kill the drive and destroy data. It's easy to go above 9,000 feet in mountainous areas, and in many cases how would one know if it was safe to use the camera?
br /
br /(4) Tape (or DVD) permit umlimited amounts of storage to be carried with the camera. A hard disk must be offloaded once full. If it fills up on a long vacation, one could end up out of luck.
br /
br /(5) Good video and sound quality is important to me. This camera has both. Especially welcome is the 1/2" CCD, which gathers more light than the 1/6" CCDs found is lower-end units. This permits video capture over a wider tange of lighting conditions than with less capable units. Regarding audio, reviews of many current camcorders indicate that audio quality is only fair, due to motor noise or other reasons. The sound quality on this camera meets my needs with the built-in microphone.
br /
br /(6) The camera provides a mechanism to convert analog video to digital DV format. I have a library of analog video from my old camcorder to convert, and have found using this camera works better than capturing through my computer's video card.
br /
br /(7) This camera can use 30mm add-on lenses, such as wide angle or telephoto. For about $5 I bought a 30-37mm step up ring that lets me use my older Sony lenses with the new camera. The only downside to this is that the lenses partially cover the flash, which causes shadows in still photos. There is no problem with video since the flash is not
br /used.
br /
br /Other comments
br /
br /Although I did not buy it for use as a still camera, it fully uses the large CCD to take good quality, relatively high resolution still images (3M pixels). The flash works well indoors, and the "super night shot" feature can be used for still photos as well.
br /
br /The swivel LCD display is bright and clear. The touch screen is responsive and easy to use, although navigating the menus is somewhat tedious. Fortunately, dealing with the menus is infrequent since the camera works well when used in a "point and shoot" mode.
br /
br /It's pleasant that the camera has a small speaker so video can be viewed with sound.
br /
br /I didn't like that the still photo memory requires a proprietary Sony memory stick rather than a more standard Secure Digital card. I also felt Sony was nickel and diming me by providing an A/V connector without an S-Video connection -- that's an add-on expense for geting higher quality pictures when capturing analog video to convert it or to watch videos from the camera connected to a television.
br /
br /The "Picture Package" software that comes with the camera is very primitive. I prefer other tools for interfacing with the computer.

I really like my TRV-20, but the zoom is not always working correctly, still very usable, but a bit temperamental. So it was time for a new one.
br /
br /this review is done based on minimal use at this time.
br /
br /the pluses over the TRV-20:
br /smaller and lighter means it goes more places and gets used more
br /3mp still camera vs 1mp
br /more responsive still camera
br /great video, but so is the TRV-20
br /
br /the minuses
br /I don't really like the touch screen, though it seems to work well
br /no output directly from the camera, it has to be in the cradle. This is especially a bummer since I used the TRV-20 on a tripod to capture video to my ibook via firewire. I can't mount the HC96 on the tripod and feed my computer.
br /goofy attachments required if you want to use headphones - still haven't decided if I'll get the adapter.

This is a great little camera so far, I've got tiny hands and yet it fits like custom tailored :p, the low light performance is outstanding, it's really easy to use but also has got some tricks for the aspiring artist, youtuber, movie-maker and journalist (me); fair price too! It's a Sony, so I know it's gonna last a good while. About the MiniDV Vs DVD Vs HDD, I spent months trying to make up my mind and all experts (including a major real movie editor) told me to go with MiniDV, some said it was a bad time to buy a cam because of the current format debate, but if you want it, MiniDV ensures easy safe storage, hundreds of both beginner and advanced editing features and strenght. It's up to you anyway!

I like this camcorder very much; especially the excellent video quality.
br /
br /A reviewer remarked: "if you want to put camcorder onto a tripod, you can only do so after you charged your battery, since a handycam station won't fit."
br /
br /If you look at the back of the camcorder, then you'll see at the right hand bottom corner a tiny flap with the text DC. If you open that, you'll find a DC connection!
br /
br /

We have been very pleased with this Sony Handycam HCR-HC96. The only drawback to this camera is the station in which this camera sits. When used on a tripod, we have to strap the camera and the station together as the two tend to separate when tripod is moved around. Would have been much better if Sony had incorporated the station function directly into the camera.

This camera has a lot going for it, the quality is great as is the low light sensitivity which is important for me for indoor shooting. I can get used to the cradle thing as I don't normally stream live to a PC so that is not a big concern for me. The camera IS compatible with XP SP2, just because the driver doesn't have Microsoft's "blessing" it still works perfectly. The still imaging capability is a little less than I was expecting, the flash is very close to the lens which forces you to remove any kind of additional lenses when using the flash. I didn't find the small zoom range to be very limiting but as with all my camcorders, a wide angle lens is a must if you don't want to force yourself up against a wall trying to get everyone in the video when shooting indoors. The time lapse feature is great! Also very good is the speed contol of the zoom lever, it's very smooth. I wouldn't mind having a "couple" quick access buttons on the unit itself rather than having to use the touchscreen menu each time, but being able to customize the quick menu helps make the most commonly used features more accessible. The battery supplied gives me a little more than an hour of constant use, will certainly need another one! No memory card supplied with the unit either, that's consistant though with other Sony products. Overall I'm very happy with this camera, it is replacing a previous model from Sony which quit working just over the 1 year warranty so I didn't think twice before buying the 4 year extended warranty.

I got this camcorder for a week. Overall it is a nice camera.
br /
br /The goods:
br /1. The color is much more accurate then those use sony lens(Or non T* carl zeiss lens).
br /2. It is very easy to use as a point-and-shoot.
br /3. Overall the connections to computer is OK for both USB and 1394. For USB connection, you'll need to go through the menu and make a selection before it can start. I had some difficulties in getting the 1394 cable working at beginning.
br /4. Auto exposure can get reasonable result in most conditions.
br /5. Frame lines are very useful during filming.
br /6. Digital zoom result is very usable. Thanks to the 3.0M CCD sensor.
br /
br /The cons:
br /1. Poorer room light performance than TRV608.
br /2. Focus is slower.
br /3. Not enough dedicated button for functions. Like exposure, etc.
br /4. No focus ring.
br /5. Bundle software is useless. It only allows you to create VCD discs.
br /6. 10x zoom is OK to me but might be a problem to other people.
br /7. Not so good still pictures. Very noise to me. But it is OK to get some snap shots. You'll still need to carry a digi camera for serious pictures.
br /
br /Overall I like it, just can't give it a 5 star. Actually I like the high end models of Digital8 camcorders. The bad things my old camera died too late for me to catch a nice digital8 camcorder.
br /
br /

i bought this camera in april and am very pleased with it. i had researched digital camcorders for over a year, and actually returned one panasonic because it would not work with imovie. this camera is easy to learn to use, takes great pictures and has good sound, and interfaces easily with mac's imovie. you need to buy a firewire to download to a mac computer. don't know about other computers. i bought a longer life battery and a charger, but the one that comes with it is fine also. pictures taken in low light seem to show up fine also. all in all i would highly recommend this camcorder to a non professional movie maker. also amazon makes it really easy to buy everything you need.

Perfect product as per specifications. Easy functions and well explained instructions. Great performance for home video use. Good product.
br /
br /Does not come with standard carry belt/shoulder strap. It some time becomes difficult to carry in one hand all the time as you can not hang it around. Must buy a shoulder strap separately.
br /
br /Also, the software is not to updated. Slow and takes a long time to save on computer. Must go for alternative software to save video shot in computer. I also need to figure how how to transfer content from camera to computer.
br /
br /Standard battery has too short life. Must go for additionl battery with longer life.

The camera has excellent video quality in low, normal, and high lighting. I wish it had a little higher zoom however trade offs must be made when price is part of the purchase criteria. The only real flaw of the camera is Nero the included software for editing and transferring to the PC. The software is difficult to use and is not the full version. So if you plan on purchasing this camera plan on purchasing some software if you are going to burn DVD's.

This is a very good camera. It's definately a point and shoot camera. There are other shooting options you can explore. I bought a wide-angle conversion. (Standard lens is just too narrow for me). I also bought an external mic and light. Both are very helpful and add a little extra edge to the camera.
br /
br /I wish new MiniDVs were not so streamlined, lacking manual controls, headphone jacks etc. Older models certainly had more to offer.
br /
br /Overall, this camera does just great for capturing family moments.

Spent weeks researching which camcorder to get and decided on this one. Why? The large sensor (1/3"), the MiniDV tape format, the hot shoe for either external mic or video light...and the almost universal positive reviews. Do not regret getting it at all, but here are the things that I found lacking...most solved by some ingenuity and throwing more money at Project Camcorder.
br /
br /After I got it, read reviews for the few Sony mics that would work with the hot shoe, and nobody seemed impressed. Oops. However, I bought a mic jack adaptor that fits onto the hot shoe, so I can connect an external mic of my choice. So got a used shotgun and found cabled workaround to use my Olympus stereo digital voice recorder as an external mic. Realized with iMovie that I could even record the audio track separately on the voice recorder (say for a seminar speaker) and replace the soundtrack in iMovie. That would free the hot shoe for a video lamp. Anyway, so far I've worked around all shortcomings, even to using a portable dvd player as a large video monitor.
br /
br /I hope to keep working with the camera, but so far am so satisfied with the picture quality under all circumstances that I have not gone beyond the Easy Mode. I do not do large long programs, but short YouTube programs, and mostly shoot short video segments that are edited together. The still feature is nice also, to get sharper still images to work into the program. Would buy the camcorder again, and might buy another one day to for "two-camera" work.

The DCR-HC96 is a really good camcorder. I debated and debated whether or not to rate it 3 or 4 stars. Perhaps it lies somewhere in between. But in the end, though its grievances were minor, there were just too many to justify a 4-star rating.
br /
br /But let's start with the biggest positives:
br /* Excellent video quality and color, even in dim light - perfect for me, and was the most important factor in purchasing this camcorder, since most of my footage involves recording my toddler stumbling around our house.
br /* Very lightweight and super small.
br /* Tons of features for the advanced user, and a great "easy" mode for novices.
br /
br /Now, the cons:
br /* A soft motor noise is audible on playback, especially if the recording is done inside - this was the real kicker for me. The whole reason I purchased this camcorder was because of its excellent video quality inside, so I'm basically doomed to hearing the motor on most of my footage. It's not horrible, but it's definitely there.
br /* There's no light on the camera. And Night Shot isn't what it used to be. Not impressed with night-time recordings.
br /* The Handycam Station is cumbersome.
br /* Photo stills are good quality, but the color is really washed out.
br /
br /Also, I was really wanting more than a 10x optical zoom. And I'm really not crazy about having purchased a digital-8 tape camcorder in the year 2007. I feel like this thing will be obsolete in 5 years. But, I can't technically hold these complaints against the DCR-HC96 since I knew that going in. But it's worth noting, as these were additional concessions I had to make to get the excellent low-light quality at my $500 price point. The touchscreen seems to be one of the big topics of discussion for this camcorder, many users citing they either love it or hate it. I'm sort of neutral on the whole thing. I don't love having to press on my LCD screen for easy controls, but it works well enough as long as you don't have big hands.
br /
br /I can't stand having spent $500 on a Handycam (after months of research) that I don't adore. And I debated returning it for something else. But in the end, I guess I'm willing to live with all of my complaints to achieve the great "inside-recording" quality... but just barely.

Works well with Windows Vista no software needed .
br /Excellent color.
br /Probably, the best resolution before HD
br /Good low light performance.
br /Good digital stills, carry just one camera. Put the BCTRP battery charger on the top of your accessory list.
br /Using other then the auto settings, may take some time to master.

Perfect video camcorder for outside recording. Crisp picture and excellent sound. Wide screen mode looks great. Extra battery is a must on long vacations or shoots. Do not forget about shoulder strap because you do not want to drop this baby. Also excellent still photos with memory stick option. Easy button is just that EASY. Indoor shooting a little rough without proper lighting so be careful. Overall, great piece of electronics

I bought this product to replace an aging JVC miniDV recorder and am absolutely thrilled. We used it to record a focus group sitting around a table in dim light (using the sony bluetooth microphone) and had excellent results both visually and audio-wise.
br /We also recorded our greyhounds doing their chasing after things thing and the camera had no trouble keeping up with them.
br /Much improvement over the old JVC.
br /Can't wait to use it for some upcoming seminars and some utube stuff.

This is the first digital camcorder I've owned. It replaced our old analog Canon. I researched cameras for months before I decided on the Canon Elura, which very shortly after became very hard to find. We are on a budget, and I wanted the most bang for my buck. So I researched for several more weeks and decided on the Sony DCR-HC96 MiniDV. I wanted to stick with the MiniDV format based on the reported superior video quality (of which I have not been disappointed...much better than our analog), and also because I have many analog cassettes I wanted to transfer to digital. This was one of my main purchasing requirements and this particular camera advertises the analog-to-digital passthrough. However, I have not been able to do the transfers because I would have to still be able to play the analog tapes on the old camera while the transfer is taking place, and our old camera doesn't work anymore which is why we were in the market in the first place. So I'm disappointed about that and will have to figure out another way to play the tapes while they are connected to the new technology.
br /Other than that, I have been pleased with the camera. The only other things I can think of after using it for a few months are: it needs a light!!! Still photo quality is okay, not great; would be better with a light. I will have to (eventually) purchase one for the shoe. Zoom under the right hand placement is a little too sensitive (my Canon had the same kind of toggle switch, but much better sensitivity). A lot of reviews I read stated more than a lack of enthusiasm for the LCD panel. I don't mind it at all and didn't think it was that bad. Of course, I read the instruction manual from cover to cover and played with the functions a while to get used to everything before I did any serious recording. The only disadvantage I have found with it is when I am trying to edit the bank of still shots (I only recently purchased my video card) the LCD buttons cover up the bottom of the photo and I can't tell sometimes if it's a keeper or not, especially if it's a closeup. Too much of the face is covered up by the buttons.
br /I am a mother of three young children and overall this camera serves my needs. I would purchase this camera again. Hopefully, though, in the future Sony will make a few improvements to make an even better camera in this price range.

The camera may be fine, it seems to be. But I interact with the camera through the software, and that's pathetic. All I want to do is transfer video to the computer for editing and creating DVDs. I've done this simply and elegantly for a few years with Hi8 tape and a digital converter (see my review of the ADS converter...I don't have many reviews up). But the software with this thing won't allow more than 10-minute segments of AVI's. Sony Customer Support finally sent me to the software manufacturer, who said "that's normal". I honestly don't understand who would want, say, a 45-minute school play chopped up into 10-minute segments.
br /
br /I guess I'll use Movie Maker. But this is more trouble than using my 10-year-old analog camera was to make DVDs. For the price, I did expect full functionality, not Mickey-Mouse software that even the company can't support. I was warned about Sonys, now I know why.
br /
br /Oh yeah...they also said it supports "firewire" connection, but failed to say it was only a 4-pin, not 6-pin. Seems that the Sony computers have 4-pin, many of the standard motherboards use 6-pin. I learned a computer lesson.
br /
br /[EDIT]: Some folks have commented that my 10-minute issue may have to do with how my harddrive is formatted. Fair enough - - and thank you for the info - - it's more than I got after 2+ hours on the phone with Sony and the software manufacturer, both of whom eventually told me it was a limit of the software. While I know it's not technically the "fault" of the camcorder, I had expected to receive a whole "camcorder experience", with functional software, for my several hundreds of dollars. Perhaps I was expecting too much, and was being naive when believing the description that was written. I have since purchased 3rd party video software and a (2nd) cable so I could use the camcorder, and it seems to work fine (which makes me wonder about the harddrive format thing). I would add 1 star mainly because I've cooled down since then, but to me "camcorder" includes more than the piece of metal and plastic - - it's the "out of box" experience, the ability to actually use the object in a reasonable amount of time and in a reasonably understandable way - - and Sony let me down.
br /
br /Frankly....all of the camcorders technically "work" these days, at least at this price point. They all film videos with essentially indistinguishable quality. It doesn't really matter where what buttons are where...you'll adapt and get used to the physical camera interface. What matters is how easily one can use it to make videos that can be watched on something other than the 2" screen of the camera. In my case, I had to spend another several hours and another $100 before I could use this camcorder as effectively as I had used a 10-year old analog camera and digital converter before. And that's after having shelled out about $600. I therefore was, and remain, dissapointed in my digital upgrade. And I don't think that was supposed to be the case.

Overall, this maybe be the best non-professional camcorder I've personally ever seen, maybe disconsidering only the gs-500, but I was still amazed by the picture quality, and specially, by the vivid and strong colors that the camera providaded, which everybody told me I should expect the opposite... But it's not a perfect camcorder, far from that. The Handycam station, though a conceptually great idea, is incredibly irritating to use, not only because of the fact that it doesn't effectively lock at the camcorder, leaving it open for many outcoming risky situations, but also because it makes impossible to hold the camera over a tripod and connected to some source at the same time. Also is important to say that, despite the fact that the Touchscreen provides possibly many more ressources of menu in the camera, it is also very uncomfortable to be greasing the lcd screen with the finger all the time and to make contorcionism in some situations to be able to reach the menu.
br /
br /Except for those facts, and an extra compleinment about the few-button remote control which makes it pratically unuseful, it's a grat piece of recording machine and I would recomend it to anyone willing to have the best movie-like experience!
br /
br /Bruno S.,
br /Brazil.

We did a lot of research for several months before purchasing this MiniDV Digital camcorder.
br /
br /It's a lightweight piece that gives you enough options without overwhelming a first time user. The 10x optical zoom has been appropriate, we really don't need more for what we use it for (charting our baby girl's days as she grows into a little girl). The night light is actually very good, we've used on a few occasions with surprisingly good results. The picture quality is beautiful even on a big screen television.
br /
br /The bottom line is that you don't need to be a pro to figure this contraption and it's a great value for what you get.

I purchased this camera eight months ago. Since then, I've recorded more than 30 hours of video. The HC-96 has performed superbly in some incredibly demanding environments. The touch screen is very easy to operate (although sometimes I use the tip of a retracted pen to make sure I hit what I intend to). Additionally, the programmable "P-Menu" ensures the features/options you use most are right at your fingertips. The transition from video recording to photo taking is extremely simple and fast. I recently took the camera to a wedding and was very pleased with the speed of the transition back and forth, not to mention the fact that I didn't have to reach for a still camera every time a photo opportunity presented itself. A 3 megapixel image won't win you any awards, but it's plenty clear for an 8x10 photo.
br /
br /Picture Quality- Simply amazing. When people see the detail, color, and contrast that my little Sony is able to recreate, they are always impressed that such a little device is able to produce such incredibly crisp, detailed video. As long as your lighting is right, your videos will look like they were professionally shot. Example: While on a trip to Rome last fall I shot a facade at one of the many basilicas. Initially, I was focused on the outer columns and scupltures, which were in direct sunlight. But I also wanted to shoot the mosaics that were set well back from the front of the facade and in such dark shadow that I could barely make them out with my naked eye, three stories below. I simply zoomed in on the mosaics and as the white marble walls left the field of view, the camera adjusted the white balance so quickly that the mosaics were immediately crystal clear. The description hardly does the performance justice.
br /
br /Ease of Use- Fantastic. The buttons fall under your fingers, it's lightweight, it's very durable (I've dropped mine, spilled Sprite on it, and done a hundred other things the manual doesn't recommend) and it's small enough to be inconspicuous.
br /
br /MiniDV Media- I wouldn't trade my tapes for a harddrive or DVDs. The ease with which I am able to view, download and edit my video is awesome. Plus, each tape holds about 9G of video, for only $2.50. The firewire interface works very well (buy a 4-4 and a 4-6 firewire cable, because not all computers take a 6). Rewinding and playback do use a fair amount of battery, but most of the time I'm viewing I can have it plugged in.
br /
br /Battery Life- The included battery leaves something to be desired. Buy the bigger ActiForce extended life battery. It's definitely worth having. I can have the camera on and recording for more than three hours at a stretch.
br /
br /Other Features I've used:
br /
br /Smooth Interval Recording- Produces fantastic time-lapse shots. Works beautifully. Allows you to choose from 1-120 seconds per frame.
br /
br /Night Shot Super Night Shot- Great for low-light shooting within about 100 feet.
br /
br /Spot Focus- Works very well when you need to manually direct the focal point. Very good for off-center shots.
br /
br /Steadyshot- The HC-96's electro-optical stabilization is amazing. The camera not only steadies out the bumps, it helps smooth out your panning, as well, so the resulting video is very smooth and a pleasure to watch even when zoomed in very tight on distant objects. I've taken it to the lake to film wakeboarding and waterskiing and the picture is incredibly steady- shot from my hand without any kind of external stabilizing equipment.
br /
br /Remote Control- Works very well. Must have a clear line of sight to the front of the camera.
br /
br /Variable Speed Playback- Allows for frame-by-frame viewing and editting. A must-have feature. The controls for variable speed playback are extremely easy to use.
br /
br /End Search- Will automatically cue the tape to the last frame of the last shot you took and seamlessly transition it to the next shot you record. It's extremely convenient.
br /
br /Summary- I'm so happy I purchased this camera. It has all of the features I want and produces video that is every bit as clear as that of much larger, heavier, more expensive cameras. More to the point- it produces video that is so clear I'm amazed every time I watch it. It's hard to believe that such a little device could turn out such a professional looking product. Add to that the convenience of taking still shots to a Memory Stick Pro Duo media card with a quick USB interface and I can't really say much more. It's a great piece of gear and it's held up for eight months. I would recommend this camera to anyone.

Nice sharp video much better then the Hi 8 that I had and much better then the hard drive models. Nice cam if you can find it but dont pay over 400 for it.

If you get a working one, this is a really nice camcorder. it is remarkably small, quiet, good ergonomics and is loaded with features. A relatively large 1/3" image sensor promises solid low-light performance, and this is one of the rare models that accepts analog input. It also comes with a hot shoe for a variety of accessories. If you read the reviews and other customer comments, it is clear that a lot of people are very happy with their DCR-HC96. So, why the one star review? Simply put, this is a risky purchase.
br /
br /I was never able to get the Firewire/i.LINK connectivity to work with this camcorder. I tried different firewire cards, different cables, and tried it on an older Windows XP system, a new Vista system, and two different Mac OSX systems. I could connect via USB, but never through firewire, which is the only way to transfer DV files to a computer. From reading on the camcorder info website's forums, there's a number of other people who have had the same problem. Again, we're a minority, but to date, I've seen no sign that there's a fix to this problem. To make matters worse, the Sony support proved to be of little value, offering only simplistic troubleshooting advice (try a different port, turn off the PC, restart the camera). And, they only offer repair service, not replacement service, even though this product is only a few days old. Sony's solution was to have me send it in for repair and do without my new purchase for however long it takes them to fix it. For me, it just wasn't worth the effort, especially during the holidays. They had their chance to keep a customer, but decided not to. And, Sony is very invasive about gathering personal information. Before I could talk to someone or email someone, I had to provide my mailing address, email address and phone number. That is a lot of my personal data sitting in some Sony CRM database somewhere, and I'm not even a customer any more.
br /
br /So, weigh these risks when deciding on Sony. While they can make some nice hardware, their support policies and reliability issues could leave you out in the cold.
br /
br /That is why I'm returning mine for a different manufacturer, probably the Panasonic.
br /
br /I thought I'd post an update, just in case it helps. First, I purchased a Panasonic camcorder, and it connected to my PC with no problems.
br /Also, I should point out that Amazon was great to deal with on this order. Not only did they ship the product quickly, but Amazon also did a great job handling the return. No one likes to get a defective product, but at least one company (Amazon) knows how to stand behind what they sell. If only Sony supported their customers to the same degree Amazon does.

We bought this camcorder to record our daughter and pets. It worked great. The quality was excellent. It was also very portable. It could use an LED light like the old Digital8 camcorder we had. The battery life was ok for what we needed. We decided to return it because we are interested in archiving our media on DVD and this required us to transfer the video to our pc's harddrive. It needed more space than we had available. We are still shopping for a DVD or HDD camcorder. Amazon's customer service was great too. Extremely fast shipping.

I've had this camera now for a few months and love it. The picture quality is great, the 16:9 view works great. I haven't taken too much low light movies yet so I'll have to wait and see how the picture quality is for that scenario. The only difficulty I've had is getting the still images off the card. I have a firewire cable that I've used to capture the video but the image software that came with the camera doesn't seem to recognize the camera when it's attached to the firewire cable. I'll have to get a USB cable and see if that resolves the issue.

They have made several changes - some good, most bad - since I bought my last Sony handicam in 8/2003. First of all, there is no carrying strap. This is very inconvenient if you plan to use your hand for anything else except for holding your camera. I managed to jury rig one but it is a royal pain. The docking station is just one more thing to have to carry and when you want to upload your mini cassettes to your computer, you have to take the camera off the docking station to change cassettes. This messes up my editing program. Fortunately I still have my old camera. The ability to take still shots is better - more megapixels - but not good enough to zoom in or enlarge.
br /
br /While I was told most people prefer to use the LED screen (I don't knoiw why as it eats up more power and you can't see clearly in bright sun) I like to use the viewfinder. It no longer has a tilt up feature so I end up mashing the battery into my cheek.
br /
br /This last complaint is about the batteries. Sony LIED about the amount of time that a battery will hold. The 5 hour battery only charges to 194 minutes on my camera. That's slightly more than 3 hours; It is nowhere near 5 hours. The 7 hour battery does not get anywhere near 7 hours either. Their packages should be accurate. All in all, It is not as good as the older product. There also should be a setting to stop it from running if the rec. button is not being pushed. THIS WILL BE MY LAST SONY UNLESS THEY MAKE MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS.

Just like Francisco wrote above. Excellent low-light (without nightshot infrared), with a color-enhancement low-light feature.
br /
br /Of note: ECM-HW1 bluetooth mic works great, but can't use it as the center channel in a 5.1 audio setup -- this camera doesn't support it.

I've had this camera for 6 months. 4 of those months have been spent fighting with Sony to service it.
br /
br /Stay far, far, far away.

This is a nice camcorder but the Handycam Station makes it less appealing. I have to remember to take the docking station everywhere I travel. What makes it worse is that the Handycam Station is very loosely snapped onto the camcorder. It can easily fall off and disconnect when you try to transfer video/picture through it. The camcorder itself does not have USB or IEEE1394 built-in. All these vital ports are in the Handycam Station. If it were not for this awkward docking station, I would have bought this camcorder.

Yes, this is a great Camera,as many of these in depth reviews show, however the bundled software is incompatible with Windows XP service pack 2, which makes editing impossible as the operating sytem will not recognize the hardware because sony's drivers haven't passed Logos tests. After spending hours on the phone troubleshooting it turns out that Sony's drivers are not service pack 2 approved and they've done nothing to release updated compatible downloads on their website which would solve the problem. So I lodged a complaint and am considering getting rid of the handycam as it is not very handy when you can't edit anything. Basically it's a great camera but the software is plagued with compatibility issues and is not user friendly. I am really upset that I spent this much on a camcorder that claims to be compatible with my system and it turns out that it is not, and it would seem that it would not be very hard for Sony to release an updated driver that would fix this problem. Shame on you Sony.

Is more than perfect for all the family, easy to use and great image. The still pics are really bad but the rest is great.

Bought this camcorder so the kids could compete in a movie making competition. Easy to use and produces a fine product.

I got hc96 two weeks ago at the price of 609.99 in Abe's of Maine. It is excellent! And the still photo is good enough to print a 5' photo. However, the only problem for me is hc96 is not compatible with Lenmar battery I purchased from Amazon. And the original sony battery is too expensive.
br /By the way, the price of hc96 in abe's of maine is even lower. Maybe I should wait and buy it at about 500 bucks?
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