Sony DCR-HC40ES Digital Camcorder

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Product Description
The DCR-HC40 MiniDV Handycam HC40 is a spectacular option for those looking for great video and stills in a compact camcorder. Offering a 1.0 Megapixel CCD imager, this high quality camcorder delivers 10X Optical/120X Digital Zoom and Carl Zeiss optics for incredible picture clarity. Megapixel performance for crisp video and Digital still images 2.5-inch Hybrid SwivelScreen Touch Panel LCD puts fun at your fingertips Get up close with 10x Optical and 120x Digital Zoom Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens helps you shoot like a pro Super portable size lets you take it anywhere, anytime Spectacular video and sound in a versatile, compact design Email stills and mini movies via Memory Stick Media 1.0 Megapixel (Gross) Advanced HAD CCD Imager 1/5-inch Advanced HAD (Hole - Accumulation Diode) CCD with 690K (effective) pixels provides excellent detail and clarity, with exceptional video performance (up to 520 lines of horizontal resolution). Realize great looking digital still images utilizing 1000K (effective) pixels. The Megapixel technology enhances your digital videos and digital still photography performance. MiniDV Recording - Offers up to 520 lines of horizontal resolution, 3X colour bandwidth (vs. VHS) and significantly higher S/N ratio, to provide stunning video performance. 10X Optical/120X Digital Zoom - The optical zoom helps to bring the action up close from far away

Manufacturer's Description
Sony DCR-HC40E compact MiniDV Digital Handycam provides a combination of high picture quality and ease-of-use. It features a new horizontal body design and incorporates a range of enhancements including Carl Zeiss lens, NightShot Plus, Easy Handycam operation and Memory Stick Duo slot.The new model is not only compact and lightweight, but is ergonomically sound. It incorporates touch-screen technology for access to the Handycam menu system and a built-in lens cover for enhanced convenience. Among the advancements, one in particular is the new NightShot Plus system that allows for recording in darkness, while delivering more natural colors to videos. That ensures no residual images even when shooting fast moving objects.To provide beginners with a one-stop solution, the new Easy Handycam button simplifies the choice of menu features with a limited set of commands for basic operation on the LCD screen in large, easy-to-read characters. With almost all settings on automatic, learning to shoot videos is much easier. The camcorder can resume to the normal function Regular Mode, making the model perfect for both beginners and advanced users.The DCR-HC40E comes equipped with Sony's new video editing software - Picture Package - that offers an extremely easy way to create music videos on Video CDs. By connecting the Handycam with a PC via a USB or i.LINK (IEEE1394), users can modify their videos with music or special effects and burn the videos directly onto Video CDs.The DCR-HC40E offers Sony's unique Mega Pixel Engine and a 1 Mega Pixel CCD for high definition videos and excellent color reproduction with an ultra compact Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens for superior image capture. The Mega Pixel Engine uses ultra high speed signal processing to convert analog signals to digital signals at high speed, resulting in superior color reproduction. In addition to providing true 16: 9 wide screen mode by using the whole area of the Mega Pixel CCD, it also allows for direct recording in 16: 9 mode onto the tape. Users can take full advantage of the wide screen functionality to play back videos on 16: 9 screen televisions.

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18 Reviews 5 star:  (9) 4 star:  (5) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (3)           Average Customer Review 3.9 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   49 of 49 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Great All-Purpose Camcorder, 17 Aug 2004 By A Customer I bought this camera the day before going on my honeymoon so I hadn't any real time to get used to its features. But there was no need as it was so simple to use. Both my wife and I picked it up straight away and were amazed by the quality of the pictures and sound as well as the superb anti-shake feature which is a must-have. If you are going to buy one, make sure that you purchase cassettes with the camera-memory feature included. This way you will be able to quickly scan through your tape to find a particular shot or add titles to your videos. It doesn't explain this too much in the specifications and we got caught out by buying normal cassettes. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   16 of 16 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Camera, but you'll also need to buy ..., 7 May 2004 By A Customer Fantastic camera - I completely agree with what the other two previous reviewers have said. You will need an iLink or Firewire cable to get the best quality pictures from the camera onto your PC. These can be purchased from eBuyer at just £2. The camera software supplied by Sony is a big disappointment - I'd recommend just installing the camera drivers and purchasing something like Pinnacle Studio instead for all your capture and editing requirements. The camera does not come with a case or any mini DV tapes, so make sure that you shop around for these too. You do get an 8MB memory stick, but for a camera with such good picture resolution, this won't last very long, so you may want to buy a larger capacity storage device. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   30 of 31 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Camcorder, 2 May 2004 By A Customer The DCR-HC40 is an all-round great choice. It's small enough to fit in your pocket (at a push), it's simple to use with an easy to navigate touch screen display and captures incredible results in most lighting conditions. The camcorder looks incredible and in my opinion is easy to hold with all the important controls in just the right place. The 10x optical zoom is a big help but could probably be expected from any camcorder in this range. Night shot plus is also a nice extra but I'm not sure just how practical or useful it really is. The built in camera is a handy accessory but by no means will replace any decent digital camera. Connecting to a Windows XP PC is very straight forward but the supplied sorfware is a bit of a disappointment. For serious editing on your computer you'll probably want to buy a firewire/iLink cable (£20 extra), which is essential when using a Mac as the camcorder doesn't seem to connect to Mac via the supplied USB cable. Additionally the supplied software isn't Mac compatible, but it's not a big loss as iMovie is far superior anyway. A different firewire/iLink cable is required to connect to compatible DVD recorders ect. (a further £20 extra!) I also feel that it wouldn't have been any harm to supply a Mini DV tape as standard. Don't forget to purchase one with the camcorder so you can begin using it right away. All in all, I'm very pleased with my purchase. The DCR-HC40 is compact, easy to use and produces great movies, which is what really matters. It's disappointing that all the cables and tapes weren't supplied, but I believe that this will be the case with most camcorders on the market. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 18 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Good but motor noise annoys A noise annoys, as they say, and after a couple of years of the motor noise of this camcorder getting on my nerves I'm going to make *no* motor noise a high priority on my next... Read more Published 15 months ago by P. Haynes 1.0 out of 5 stars DCR HC40E Screen Problem We bought this camcorder in 2004 and to be fair have only used on a few occasions. All in all we liked this camcorder and would have recommeded it, had we not just had a major... Read more Published on 25 Jun 2007 by Mr. G. Sim 1.0 out of 5 stars Unhappy Mac user I have recently bought this camcorder ( and it is totally incompatable with any Apple edit software. The i.LINK gimmick does not show through OS X. Read more Published on 31 Jan 2005 by robert39934 5.0 out of 5 stars Great First-time user purchase I had this camcorder bought for me as a 50th birthday present, after doing a fair bit of research. As a first-time user of camcorders, I wanted an easy-to-use machine which had... Read more Published on 3 Jan 2005 by Andy P 1.0 out of 5 stars Great product,.....shame about the delivery Don't buy this or any other else from Amazon, they promise 24hr delivery, but the reality is they can not deliver in any sort of reasonable timescale.... Read more Published on 17 Dec 2004 4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but slightly flawed I've had this camcorder for about 3 months now. The picture quality, though only on mega pixel, is good enough for filming random things like skate footage and everyday stuff. Read more Published on 2 Nov 2004 by D. Buttar 3.0 out of 5 stars Test before you buy I didn't test this camcorder before I bought it. I wish I had. I thought it would be up to the usual high standards of Sony. Read more Published on 15 Jul 2004 5.0 out of 5 stars sony handycam this is probably the most usable camcorder i have ever had i could use it straight out of the box, the quality is outstanding and the ease of transfer from camera to pc is... Read more Published on 12 Jul 2004 by Mr. K. Bennett 4.0 out of 5 stars A doddle to use, but only a 4 star Had this camcorder now for a week and the first impressions have not yet worn off, i.e. superb design and ergonomics, nicely put together and well thought out, a joy to use,... Read more Published on 29 Jun 2004 by Small Scale 4.0 out of 5 stars Simple to use and great picture It's nice that the HC40 can be used right out of the box (after charging the battery). It really is very easy to operate. Read more Published on 10 Jun 2004 by Mr Neil Brooks Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 18 customer reviews...

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