Sony HDR-HC1

However, the HC1 has one significant downside for the enthusiast: tapes load from the bottom, making this a difficult camcorder to use with a tripod - even the flawed HC1000 had a top-loading mechanism. The proprietary accessory shoe is also irritating, as you're either forced to buy only Sony accessories, or track down an adaptor. The Super SteadyShot image stabilisation doesn't use an optical system either, although Sony's electronic implementation is one of the best.

Since we looked at the FX1E, HDV editing has moved on apace, with most of the semi-professional apps now supporting the format. FireWire is the primary computer capture interface, offering HDV recording back to tape as well as output. We tried Canopus EDIUS Pro 3.31, Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 with the HDV plug-in, Media Studio Pro 7 with its HDV plug-in, and Pinnacle Liquid Edition 6.1. All were able to capture and edit the HDV footage without a hitch. The Sony can also down-convert HDV to DV, so you can edit the footage as widescreen DV. Both regular AV and component analog outputs are included.

But the most amazing thing of all about the HC1 is just how cheap it is, considering its capabilities. At roughly half the price of the HDR-FX1E, it's only marginally more expensive than high-quality enthusiast three-CCD models. If you can handle the bottom-loading tape mechanism, the HDR-HC1 produces awesome-quality high-definition video for a truly mainstream price.

Author: Bentley Dean