The DC-HC48 is a great camera very nicely sized and easy to use. I chose this version instead of the HC38 due to the support for stills and the improved CCD.
br /
br /The picture quality in good light is great. I actually displayed it on my 60 inch TV and the picture was as good as normal television. I was very impressed with the picture. It was also nice how easy it was to switch aspect rations to either 16:9 (wide-screen) to 4:3 (standard). However as it got darker outside and the light got lower inside I notice much of the "color" from the picture began to fade and the picture became somewhat mono-tone. This seems to be a common complaint for cameras in this price range with low-light.
br /
br /I took the camera into a dark room (I couldn't see a thing) I turned on the night mode and was very impressed. People and things showed up great in the pitch black. The IR light emitted by the camera was picked up nicely and acted like an flashlight that only the camera would pick up. The subject had to be 5-10 feet away and of course the image was best in the center. The effect was very much like Survivor's night shots, or the Blair Witch Project.
br /
br /The camera has two modes of operation. Normal node , which allows you to custom set settings like set Focus, Exposure, White Balance, or Effects like Old Film etc or set the settings to Auto. And Easy mode, which lets you basically turn beeping on and off and leaves all settings set to Auto.
br /
br /The issue I found is in Easy mode the Still Pictures did not work. Also you have to stop recording to switch between Easy and Normal mode. The still photos are a fine quality for considering its a 1 Mega-Pixel camera. I wouldn't recommend using this as your primary still photo camera though its nice to have the option.
br /
br /The touch screen I found to be somewhat cumbersome since you have to scroll through looking for the choices that you want. So if you want to make a setting change quickly and if you are unfamiliar with the camera it might take a while to find. I also tend to shake the camera some when I use the touchscreen. A nice feature is that you can create your own custom activity list so settings you set frequently are more accessible then those you don't use.
br /
br / Where I was most disappointed was with the accessories. The standard battery it ships with lasts 1.5 hours, which seems like a reasonable time considering a MiniDV tape only holds 60-90 minutes depending on your setting. But like all batteries the 1.5 is ideal conditions and not real world turning the camera on and off and playing with the features and zooming in and out etc. Additionally the Battery takes an 1 hour and 40 minutes to charge which is surprising. Unfortunately the battery is not the newer ActiForce batteries which charge in approximately 20 minutes (with the actiForce charger).
br /
br / Also to take still photos you'll need to buy a separate Memory Stick Duo card. (Not a Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo has a smaller form factor). The USB cable that ships with the camera lets you get the Still photos from the camera (attached to the dock) onto your computer. However it does NOT let you get the video. Instead you need a fire-wire cable which is not included. Sony sells this cable for around $40. Belkin makes that cable for around $12. The fire-wire (i.Link) cable only allows you to download video onto your computer (not the still photos). Again you must be attached to the docking station. If your traveling and wish to download to a computer you'll need to bring the docking station with you (it is pretty small but my be a hassle to bring with you). The docking station is one way to charge the camera or you can connect it to the wall with the supplied cables. Unfortunately there is only one power cable for the dock and the camera so if you plan to just bring the power cable you'll have to disconnect it from the docking station.
br /
br /In short the camera is great just be aware you might be buying some more cables, batteries, chargers, memory sticks or other accessories that will end up affecting your total price of ownership. And that the Sony brand name versions of these accessories can be surprisingly pricey.

my skill level: beginner
br /
br /I picked up the latest Canon ZR800 from a local store and tried some shooting with it, since there were no reviews of that latest model - but i was totally disappointed with the quality - video had granulation the worst part was - it has a motor noise which gets dubbed on the tape :(
br /
br /so i ordered this Sony HC48 i am really really impressed with the performace, great video quality (no granulation) sound too. As some of you are curious, it has infrared light which is great plus point for shooting in night time. Infact, when i tried shooting in dark with the NightShot Plus turned on and i tried to put my hand in front of the infrared light, I could see a patch of light on my hand, i was really thrilled by that, seeing its actually a light coming out of the camera. Ofcourse you probably need to use a tripod to shoot in night light for better stability.
br /
br /Also, it has various other features/modes that i didnt notice in canon. for instance, it has a color mode to bring out colors more effectively in low light, a shooting mode to capture minute objects like insects etc..
br /I am glad i returned the Canon ZR800 and bought this one

I picked up the Sony DCR-HC48 Handycam just three days before heading out for a southern California vacation (had to replace my Panasonic from 2002 because it just wasn't cutting it anymore).
br /
br /I was expecting about the same picture quality I was used to with my old Panasonic DV-103, boy was I wrong. After returning home from a week in the sun and editing the footage with Premiere Elements 3.0 and burning the finished product to DVD I was astonished. I have never seen such detail in a home movie in my life. The colors were so vibrant I thought maybe I had hit a time warp and ended up back in Hollywood. Truly an amazing camera. Even the paltry sized battery that was included with the unit lasted a fairly reasonable amount of time.
br /
br /As a general warning to those in the market for a new camcorder I'll include the follwing side note:
br /
br /My friend, who was with me in Cali, was also shooting with a Sony camcorder. However the unit he was using was the Sony DCR-SR62 HDD Handycam. After attempting to edit the footage on his PC and burning a DVD, the scenes were of poor quality...very shakey with tracers trailing every movement in the frame.
br /
br /This is (from what I understand) because of the MPEG 2 files HDD (and DVD) camcorders use. Apparantly these files are useless to edit with because of the degradation involved in encoding and transfering MPEG 2s on a PC.
br /
br /Too bad...wish someone had told my friend that before the trip.
br /
br /For now anyone who is intresting in editing their video footage on a PC should stick with MiniDV camcorders. I highly recommend the Sony DCR-HC48 Handycam as a quality consumer level camcorder with a decent price tag (especially online).
br /
br /Neccasary Accessories:
br /
br /- bigger battery (I recommend the Sony NPFH70 H Series)
br /- carrying case
br /- The Sony VF-30CPKXS 30mm Polarizing Filter Kit with protective lens cover (this may seem like an excessive accessory for some but when shooting at Santa Monica Beach I got a tremendous amount of sea breeze on the lens, which had me stopping at the local Office Depot for a lens cleaning kit. A bit frustrating considering I'd owned the camera for less than a week).
br /
br /

I hope to give a more in depth review later, but wanted to be sure to make it clear to everyone that a Firewire cable (the so-called iLink) is not included with this product.
br /
br /The camera itself is intuitive and easy to use out of the box but also highly customizable. The video and sound quality are excellent, and the LCD screen is gorgeous and uses touch screen buttons in addition to the button bar beneath it. But Sony has a way of making fantastic products and then alienating the purchasers of those products (a la the PS3). So understand that in order to do the very basic and essential task of transferring your DV images to your computer requires you to shell out $35-70 more to buy a Firewire cable. The provided USB cable is for transferring stills from the Memory Stick only. Thus, this camera can only receive 4 stars due to Sony's cheap skate approach. Caveat emptor...

Purchased this for my husband - we are both happy with the Camcorder. We originally bought a Panasonic upon a friend's recommendation - NOT HAPPY WITH PANASONIC! Compared to the Panasonic, the Sony is far more superior: easier to use, lighter, and most importantly - MUCH BETTER PICTURE QUALITY AND IMAGE STABILIZATION FEATURE.

Plus *****
br / Compact
br / Good picture and sound
br / nightshot mode
br / 25x zoom
br / powers on quickly
br / price
br /
br /Plus/ Minus ***
br / Touch screen interface
br / mini DV!!!
br / Looks
br / dock with connection ports
br /
br /Minus *
br / Wind noise
br / Manual lens shutter
br / no video recording possible on memorystick
br / viewfinder blanks when lcd is open
br / steadyshot doesnot seem to work at high zooms
br / poor 1 mp still pictures on memory stick, worse than webcams and cellphones!
br / Short battery life
br /
br /
br /Accesories Not supplied! (I am not complaining) but you need to buy a
br /Firewire cable, tapes, memory stick, video editing software, carrybag, PC with a big hard drive..... and lots of spare time to copy, edit and create dvds of your movies

We have only had this for 4 or 5 weeks, but we really like it. I was a bit skeptical about not having a 'real' light, but so far, I find that:
br /1) it works pretty well in very low-light conditions
br /2) the Super Night Shot Plus worked acceptably during 'no-light' situations, though the picture is kind of jerky and colors are okay at best.
br /
br /I LOVE the spot focus and spot exposure modes the latter is great for shooting in backlight or otherwise dim-subject conditions. Again, I thought that using the touchscreen would be awkward, but it works just fine, and for these modes, is very good (though I think that a manual focus hardware button/switch would still be better, but this is the next best thing).
br /
br /good:
br /It comes on quickly.
br /It has a widescreen.
br /Very light and ergonomical
br /Great battery life and very accurate meter
br /Touchscreen customization - put the items you want to access on the first screen rather than having to scroll through them
br /
br /bad:
br /viewfinder shuts off when you open the screen
br /no firewire port on the camera (only on dock)
br /memory stick instead of one of the non-proprietary chips.
br /
br /I am glad we bought this, after a fairly exhaustive search.

I bought this camera for a Mother's Day gift for my Mom. It takes great video, wonderful quality. My mom isnt what I would call tech savvy, and she uses the camera with ease. I've hooked it up so we could watch recorded video on the television, and it looks great there. I cannot comment on the video editing on the computer, becouse I've yet to get a firewire port for the computer. And that would be my only complaint, having to purchase a firewire and a plugin for the computer, but that would be the case with any Digital Video Camera, so I cannot fault Sony. All in all a good camera for the price.

The camera has ok video quality, but cannot be used with direct fire wire input without the dock. If your using it to directly record to a computer or other device do not buy this because it needs to be in the dock to share the video output with a computer. This makes this camera absolutely useless when its on a tripod because it cannot be connected to the dock as well.

The Sony Handycam was very easy to use and record. However, when we wanted to upload it to the computer, it turned out that the USB cord that came with it does not work with the program which comes with the Handycam (on a DVD). This we learned after "chatting" on line with Sony tech support twice for 20 minutes to no avail, and then talking to tech support for 40 minutes. The tech support guy (in India) was finally able to tell us about a Windows program which is compatible with the USB cord, but this is nowhere in the instruction booklet or any of the online materials.

For those wishing to purchase this product, and who also want accessory filters to protect the lens, or to add special effects, although not mentioned, the size of the filter is 30mm. (NOT the 37 mm mentioned at other locations, which caused me to order the wrong size which now must be returned.)
br /
br /Remember, 30 (thirty) mm.

To save time, this will be quick facts; I've had the cam about 3 weeks. These are my preferences, you may have different thoughts about what is important. Overall, yeah, it is a Sony, but you can tell they are not putting a lot of effort into the design. I got this version (minidv) because I still feel tape is more reliable than a hard drive or dvd (lots of people have lost videos on those media).
br /Pros:
br /-Good sound and video
br /-Optical zoom
br /-Good low-light video
br /-Decent still images
br /-Good screen size for people with limited vision
br /Cons:
br /-BIGGEST COMPLAINT: changing modes for video/stills is a pain in the butt. You have to change the video mode (with a little round wheel knob) AND use a different button. Maybe this is a requirement driven by two different storage media, but it gets really irritating. It does seem that Sony should be able to have the still image button be independant and 'steal' images on the fly, even when you are recording to the dv tape. Instead, here is the procedure:
br /----you are recording video
br /----youi must STOP video recording with the video button
br /----you rotate the mode wheel to the still setting (stops your video)
br /----snap your image (button on top of cam)
br /----rotate the mode wheel two or three times to get back to video mode
br /----press button on back of camera to record video again
br /You actually end up doing this a lot, as you see images you want as a still while you are taping. Sure, you can do a digital grab later, if you have time. Point is that it would be much better if you simply could use the still button in any mode.
br /-If you have medium to large hands, it is awkward to get to the buttons while filming
br /-noisy in dv mode; high-pitched whine
br /-Sony proprietary memory stick duo; would prefer microsd or sd
br /-Accompanying computer software not as useful as Canon's; for example, Canon will download images and automatically create date-based folders
br /-Handycam station is a piece of junk. Wish the camera just had a simple USB interface. Cam doesn't like to stay on the station.
br /-Would prefer usb over firewire. firewire may be faster, but usb is more universal
br /SUMMARY: I needed a larger screen and wanted the tape, so this is where I landed. The cam takes good images and video, but just be prepared for really awkward interace both in use and in off-loading. Sony, I'm a little disappointed in this.
br /

I had a Sony TRV24 (much bucks) which I loved, which got lost on a trip :(
br /after much shopping and angst. I ordered this unit.
br /Major Pros:
br /- Outstanding price/value, half the price of the prior unit.
br /- Video is as-good as my high end unit. Still photo is better and usable, although a little washed. It could be settings.
br /- 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.
br /- The prior unit had a large 3.5in screen, but not touch. This smaller touch screen works very well.
br /- The dock is a nice feature as well as the video/pc upload software. This was not included in older generation units.
br /
br /- Amazon had a factory sealed unit to me pronto! and the return policy is perfect. No restock or other box-store nonsense. Bravo Amazon.
br /
br /Get the tiffen UV lense to protect the Leica lens. cheap insurance!
br /Battery life seems great.
br /
br /Cons:
br /- Not many at all. Overall, its thick plastic, and some actions are purely mechanical latches vs. springs and levers which may prove better.
br /its a simpler mechanical design, but probably more chunky and in the end less delicate.
br /- One design flaw, when you flip the LCD to show it to the subject, you lose the viewfider.... dumb.

Pros-
br /-Very good clarity
br /-No issues with the function of the camera till now.
br /-Good zoom capability
br /-touch sensing panel
br /
br /Cons
br /-Need to buy seperate i394 cable(not included) for video transfer to pc
br /
br /
br /

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).
br /
br /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.
br /
br /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.
br /
br /The cost of this product is also very reasonable. I bought this camcorder for a price that is comparable to Canon A630.
br /
br /I would recommend this product to everyone.

I havent noticed many of the problems others had experianced with this camcorder. We are on our third tape now and no motor noise or anything. The zoom is great I havent read the manual yet so havent used any of the features. I like it and think its good value for money. It can be found for less else where thou...

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.
br /
br /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
br /
br /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
br /
br /Would I recommend this product to others? Not if I wanted my video to look better than theirs. ;-)

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.

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.
br /
br /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.
br /
br /Overall though the camera is a solid buy, and I would recommend it.

I bought this camera after a lot of research and I have sold electronics for over 6 years (TV's, Cameras, Camcorders, and Laptops). Sony has always been a market leader when it comes to camcorders. They have invented almost every format we use today. Needless to say this camera is the best you can get without going to an HD Camcorder. Many people ask why pay for this camera over the HC38 or others. It's the lens and the final result. The HC38 and lower models only produce a final picture of about 350,000 pixels. The HC48 for a $100 or less difference has over 600,000 pixels. That's almost double the picture quality. You be the judge if it's worth it to you, yet to me it is!!! Also, on a personal preference get a polarized lens filter for your camcorder, is protects your lens and improves your picture quality by cutting out sunlight issues and other picture effecting causes. Happy Shopping. :-)

This is a good all around mini-DV camcorder. The only problem I have seen is that, on playback, the color appears to be slightly washed out and not quite as bright as it looked in person. (I am using Sony tapes) It is easy to use and instruction manual is easy to follow.

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.)

I got exactly what I wanted: a camcorder that carries easily under a coat or sweater and can also take still pictures suitable for snapshots. Snapshots up to 4x6 are fine but not as good as my 7 megapixel Olympus, but since I can take pictures immediately instead of waiting for the camera to start up it has worked out that 90% of my still photos are on the HC-48.

its just amaizing, so easy to use and very light to handle. be sure to buy an iLink cable with it.
br /perfect choice.

Pros: great price and compact. it powers up quickly and is ready for to catch that quick shot. Touch screen menu works great (see cons)
br /Cons: did not come with a mem card(but who would expect that). Touch screen works gets dirty and since it is also your lcd i found that i had to clean it often.
br /
br /I have shot mainly outdoors and the video is great, indoors there is added noise, but what do you expect...its a $350 camera.

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.

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.

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.

We purchased this camcorder a couple of weeks ago. even though I did not use it much yet I love it so far.
br /Small size, good video quality.
br /Pics are 1pix, ok quality.

This comes with two calbles
br /USB- but this camcorder does not support USB streaming so you can tranfer from camcorder to computer using it ( sony support confirmed)
br /
br /AV- which generally laptop/desktop will not have ports for..
br /
br /so better shop around a product which has easy to transfer interface.. or be ready to spend another 30$ for ilink wire...