Sony Handycam HDR-HC7

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http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/camcorders/0,39029967,49288968,00.htm

Reviewed 4 April 2007

Reviewed by Lori Grunin

The HDR-HC7 continues the tradition of Sony's excellent series of consumer HDV camcorders. Incorporating Sony's 1/2.9-inch 3-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor, the HC7 outspecs its 2-megapixel predecessors and the HC5 to rise to the top of Sony's single-chip consumer HDV camcorder line.

It's not alone up there. With the exception of recording media type and the resultant design issues, the HC7 is essentially a twin of the DVD-based HDR-UX7. And we wouldn't be surprised if the eventual follow-up to the hard-disk-based HDR-SR1 made them triplets.

Design
Weighing around 680g with battery and tape, we found the HC7 quite comfortable to hold and shoot -- only using the touchscreen required an awkward two-handed balancing act.

Though inconvenient for menu navigation, the LCD otherwise works well, and remains visible in harsh lighting. We generally prefer shooting with an eye-level viewfinder, though, and wish Sony had padded the hard plastic eyecup.

Features
The sensor and a few random features differentiate the HC7 from the HC5. They share the same Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 10x zoom lens, though the tiny difference in sensor sizes results in a relatively insignificant disparity in focal lengths.

In contrast to the HC5, a dial on the HC7 lets you assign one shooting adjustment setting -- manual focus, exposure compensation/exposure shift, white balance shift (toward red or blue) and shutter speed -- to control via the rather slippery dial. And the HC7 supplies a microphone input and headphone jack.

For shooting convenience, Sony provides its excellent SuperSteadyShot optical image stabiliser and Active Interface Shoe, plus Super NightShot infrared mode for when you need to tape in the dark. A nice selection of jacks populates the HC7, including HDMI 1.3 and component outputs. And while most camcorders have a FireWire port -- i.Link, if you're Sony -- Sony actually bundles a cable with the unit. Other niceties include a built-in electronic lens cover, a LANC connector and a flash for still photos.

Like most of Sony's consumer models, the HC7 incorporates the love-it-or-hate-it touchscreen interface -- we fall more into the hate-it camp, especially on the HC7's smaller 16:9 69mm (2.7-inch) LCD. Within the menus you'll find eight scene modes; 24-step exposure shift; manual, indoor, outdoor and auto white balance; and manual shutter-speed adjustment between 1/2 and 1/800th second. Spot Focus and Spot Meter take advantage of the interface by letting you literally point at your subject.

Though Sony emblazons '6.1 megapixels still image recording' on the HC7's lens barrel, that claim's a tad misleading -- especially when you can spot '6.1 megapixels' from over a metre away and 'still image recording' requires an up-close-and-personal read. In fact, it delivers an effective video resolution of 2.3 megapixels in HD mode and 1.7 megapixels in SD mode. Either is more than enough for downsampling to 1,920x540 pixels (a single 1080i field) and 720x480 pixels (SD).

Photo resolution depends upon your current video mode. If you take photos while in tape mode (as opposed to memory mode), it records to the Memory Stick Duo but fixes the resolution at 4.6 megapixels (16:9) and 3.4 megapixels (4:3); in camera mode, you have the option of 6.1 or 3.1 megapixels for 4:3, as well as VGA resolution.

That's pretty confusing, especially since the area of the scene covered by the 4.6 megapixel, 16:9 aspect version is a letterboxed crop of the 6.1 megapixel, 4:3 aspect version. In practice, since most people are likely to be shooting HDV and simply snapping the occasional photo, the typical photo size you'll see is 4.6 megapixels.

Performance
All that said, the HC7 generally produces excellent video, and depending upon the subject, photos that print nicely as large as 16x9 inches. The auto white balance could be slightly more neutral, but overall the colours are pretty accurate and saturated. As usual with the Zeiss T* lenses, video renders sharply, especially when shot in conjunction with Sony's great Super SteadyShot optical image stabiliser. It helps that the lens doesn't have to stretch beyond 10x zoom -- that means neither the optical system nor the stabiliser face undue challenges.

The autofocus and metering systems also perform fairly well. The HC7 renders correct exposures in a variety of situations ranging from overcast midday skies to glaring low-angle desert light. Though CNET Labs' tests can't yet substantiate Sony's low-light claims of 2 lux, in a typical single-lamp living room environment it fares better than many competitors for sharpness, noise and colour. And the autofocus adapts relatively quickly to changes in position and zoom.

Conclusion
Although far pricier than the typical home-movie camcorder, if you've got the extra few quid to spend, your baby and holiday videos will look far better shot with the Handycam HDR-HC7 than if you shoot them with the typical SD model.

Additional editing by Kate Macefield