Choosing a camera
As a man with a wife and 3 kids I was looking for a camcorder, (minidv) which has reasonable indoor filming capabilites, good value for money, quick and easy to grab and start shooting. Also it needs to produce a bright sharp looking image, with natural tones. Digital camcorders have a reputation for not providing great results in low light shooting. Though (generally) Minidv has a better reputation for producing economical/quality results over dvd ram and hard disk drive units. Certainly minidv is more developed and better value for money. Though things are changing. The other formats are getting much better.
Some stores allow you to try the camera out and if you dont like it, you can return it within a certain time frame. (a very good idea) Walmart and Sears are very easy going in that way. The downside is they are not quite so cheap and they have less choice than others.
About the new DCR-HC46
This camera has been the replacement for the DCR-HC42. That camera has had very good reviews. The new one the DCR-HC46, is almost the same camera, but for a few changes. The changes do not affect video quality at all. This is Sony's 2nd most expensive minidv camcorder, at around $500. It has a slightly better imager than the cheaper dcr-hc36 and allows filming in genuine wide screen mode at a higher resolution. The more expensive DCR-HC96 has a 1/3 CCD compared to the HC46's 1/5.5. It comes with remote control and a 'handycam station' like a docking device. It has a decent long lasting lithium ion battery. Last typically about an hour in normal useage. This is quite good .
What to expect
These cameras are for the point and shoot camera fans. This is mostly what Sony seems to cater for. therefore expect a totally easy to use camera. For me thats great because when you get a moment you want to capture, you can run and grab this fun little camera and pop out the lcd and flick the on off button and start recording right away. You can preselect easy mode and that way you have all your settings optimised for the light conditions you have. Exposure white balance, shutter speed and focus are all determined for you. You can switch easy mode off and have some degree of control, with manual focus and exposure. Also using 'program AE' mode you can select presets for various situations like landscape, portrait, sports etc. As with all dv cams this has a digital image stabilisation feature, this does a pretty good job of smoothing out the shakes.
what I like
Easy to use, and get to grips with. Sony quality, feels good and solidly constructed apart from the dock.
Acceptable low light performance. A little noisy, slightly too much blue noise but better than most in price range.
1/5.5" Carl Zeiss imager, provides very good Image quality, very good bright and sharp. Good definition. Little in the way of 'digital glitches'
Wide screen button on lcd, allows selecting of wide screen format easily
what I dont like
Sony has dropped the accessory shoe (from hc42), this allows for a mike or video light connection. this is a bad point.
Sony also dropped the automatic lens cover, in favour of a cap which hangs down.
A few more manual feature would have been nice.
Handycam station (docking device) to me this looks unnecessary. It would be just as easy to connect straight into the camera. This dock looks cheap, it is made in China. Camera made in Japan. Looks like another thing that could go wrong.
Sony warranty, come on, 30 days parts and labour is not good. Sony should give a better warranty than this.
Also I think that analog pass thru (a/v in) has been dropped on this. This allows you to convert your old home vhs tapes onto dvd. You may want to consider another camera after this ommission.
Conclusion
all in all I would say that this is a very good all around user friendly camcorder. The average consumer would be glad to own, those who want more control will look at the Panasonic PV-Gs150, an excellent machine as is the Canon Optura 50. also JVC GR-DF550 (hard to find)
The main gripe is that it looks like Sony has tried to cut costs a little in the DCR-hc46. When they should have made other improvements, & kept it a cutting edge machine, all they decided to do was improve cassette loading position and offer a download feature for their VA10 desktop machines. They dropped 2 important features, the accessory shoe and the auto lens cap feature. I would have given this cam a 4 star, but I think these issues I mentioned have made the camera less of a value for money piece of equipment, so therefore have I given 3 stars.
