Sony DCR-HC85 Camcorder

[b4u]

Hi there,

I was thinking about buying a Sony DCR-HC85.

Anyone has one? Do they look nice?

I was looking for a camcorder to make some movies (decent family movies ), and after looking at a somewhat lighter model (Sony DCR-HC40), I believe the first one would be a better choice (and a bit more expensive too ).

The integrated flash comes handy for the digital pictures (I think it really works as a standard picture flash), and the 2.11 Megapixel will bring some cool 1600x1200 pictures. That's the most positive reasons that lead me to think a bit higher.

What do you think? Would you choose it over the "lighter" model?

I would also like to make a few questions:

[1] Do you know if the cable that conencts the sony to the PC comes with the pack?

[2] How do I copy the pictures from the memory card to the PC? Via the same cable that makes the iLink to the PC?

Thanks for your opinions!

 

[b4u]

Morning Bump!

 

[x RiSE x]

It most likly wont come with a firewire/ilink cable. I got mine with my firewire card. To get the digital stills to your computer it comes with a USB cable. Its not going to be the same cable as the firewire cable. Hope this helps, sony is a WISE choice for consumer video Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[b4u]

Thanks for the answer.

What do you think about me choosing a better, yet more expensive camcorder?

I mean, the difference between the 2 of them is about 300 EUR (or something like 350 USD), but I will get a 2 110 000 pixels instead of a 1 000 000 pixels still-image capture ... which I believe will also improve in digital movie capture ... right?

Also it appears to have a flash, that will be usefull for night pics.

What makes me think twice, is the fact that this is a camcorder, and the picture ability will be a secondary feature ... I don't have a digital camera, so this will be some sort of 2-in-1 product.

Now for taking pictures, the more resolution the better ... and I believe the 2mpixel will be up to a 1600x1200 resolution, while a 1mpixel will not hit the 1280x960 mark.

What would be your choice? You pros and cons you can think of? Any thoughts are welcome, and if you have a camcorder, then you must have made this kind of thoughts yourself when choosing the model you have.


I'm gonna be a father in about 2 months, and I wanna get all happy moments with my family (my first child), and I would like to start it right now that I can see the movements of my daughter through the mothers belly. Those are special and unique moments, that I whant to get on tape!


Thanks allot!

 

[x RiSE x]

Well the DCR-HC85 is a pretty nice camera, so if you only want one camera to take stills and video then i would definatly go with it. On the other hand you could get the DCR-HC40 and use the left over $ and get a stand alone digital camera that would take better stills then the DCR-HC85. Its a tough call. The thing the sucks about usesing a video camera also as a still camera is that you cant just take a picture whenever you want. YOu have to switch it to camera mode and blah blah. With a digtal still camera you can just snap whenever you want. I choose to have both I have a sony DCR-TRV25 and a canon A80. Hope this helps.