Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5335 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Sony
• Model: DCRHC62E.CEH
• Released on: 2008-03-03
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .86 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Simple and affordable DCR-HC62E is perfect for video fun. It offers Megapixel quality movies with powerful 25x Carl Zeiss lens. A touchscreen LCD and a high-quality widescreen color viewfinder make it easy to use. Widely available DV tapes make a great choice if you're into editing your own shots. DCR-HC62E also features DV (i.Link) input function for video editing with connected PC.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Good Camcorder
First of all I have to start with a gripe. You get the camcorder and you are instructed to install the software and driver before registering the product via a USB cable. You follow the instruction and guess what? It won't connect. I telephoned Sony technical who were worse than useless. They had no idea what the problem was or how it can be solved. Whilst waiting for a return call from them (which I never got) I managed to solve the problem myself (more luck than judgement) if I am honest. I wish companies would write instructions that is crystal clear that a 2 year old would understand.

Anyway, on to my review of this camcorder now. As you expect with a Sony product the camcorder is stylish and comfortable in the hand. It does what it says on the box and does it well. The LCD display is clear and adjustable. There are a host of adjustments for those who seek perfection in their videos. For those like me who just want to point and shoot the Easy Handycam feature does this automatically.

My main reason for choosing this model is I like to edit my videos on the PC, make DVD`s to view and make a backup copy by copying it back to the camcorder DV tape. I then store it away for safety. To do this you need a camcorder that has DV in and out. This Sony has it and it works beautifully.

I started this review with a gripe but for the price this camcorder is well worth the money. You would be hard pressed to find a better camcorder than this Sony.

Pretty good; a little weak for interior work
The must-have feature that clinched the buying decision for me was DV-In so I could record back to tape after editing. Very few budget camcorders have that. I edit using iMovie 2 on an old Mac PowerBook and this model works just fine, both in and out of the Mac's FireWire ports.

Time lapse recording is great; leave the Camcorder on a tripod and it will take one frame every 2 to 120 seconds and produce those time-lapse sequences you see on TV. Very cool.

My gripes are:
(1) the automatic light level setting seems dark to me when filming inside. Any backlighting at all can cause the foreground image to be quite dark. There is a backlighting compensation control, but you often don't realise you needed it until you view the footage later on.
(2) Also in mediocre light, the unit seems to try to refocus occasionally, resulting in sudden moments of fuzziness in the middle of a sequence. Not quite bad enough for me to feel I can claim it is faulty, but nevertheless irritating.

If you have a chance to try before you buy, do your testing indoors under artificial light. That's the weak spot.

Overall I'm pretty happy and am learning to live with and work around the couple of limitations.

Sony DCRHC62E Mini DV Camcorder
This is my third mini DV camcorder and my second Sony Handycam. I had considered moving to the direct to memory card or disk format but I personally like to edit the film on my PC (this is the fun bit for me!) and I like the quality end result that I get from the Mini DV format at the slight sacrifice of the convenience of the more "instant" media.

Mini DV is also cheap and reliable. Part of my selection criteria was to get a camcorder with "DV in" which gives me the added option of sending my edited film back to tape if I want to with minimal loss of quality, in addition to the facility to burn to disk. This camera has this facility, many of them, including my last Handycam, do not have this facility.

The "widescreen" option was a nice to have when I bought the camera but having used it I love it as it gives you an added dimension should you wish to use it.

This is a good looking and easy to use piece of kit. The picture quality is excellent and it is intuitive to use. Don't be put off by the X25 zoom. My last camera, also a Sony had a X40 zoom which was pretty useless unless the camera was on a tripod. The addition of the remote control, which again, you don't always get, is a nice bonus.

I would give this product five stars for my particular application which is filming family occassions and use on holidays.