Im quite impressed with the new Sony DCR-HC85. I had been looking at some of the Panasonic 3CCD cameras in this price range as well as the Canon Optura Xi (which is a little more expensive). In the end I chose this camera for the following features:
* very large (and sharp) CCD for the price
* 0lux night shot mode, though somewhat gimmicky. grainy, and green in practice, is very effective for taking sleeping baby shots
* reputedly much higher reliability and better repair services (vs the Panasonic)
* large reflective/transmissive LCD thats highly visible in both dark and light
* many videophile-oriented features (more on that below).
* can operate as a webcamUpsides:
* Though many online reviews have questioned whether or not the touchscreen-based interface is a good thing, I found it to be more than adequate for my needs. One of the first things I did was rearrange the menus with my favorite features up front. Very easy to do and makes the camera feel "customized". If the camera werent capable of these customized personal menus, however, Id imagine the somewhat slow and bulky interface would get pretty annoying.
* True anamorphic 16:9 widescreen functionality works great and is easily understood by video importing tools.
* Nice shape, easy to hold. I have shaky hands and prefer a slightly larger camera to hold onto.
* Its optical image stabilization is amazing. Once again, I have shaky hands and was worried about getting steady video. Exceeded my expectations on this point.
* Setting it up as a webcam was straightforward and the quality was great.
* Nightshot Plus is eerily effective. The video aint gorgeous, but it sure does do the trick. Id imagine that the accessory shoe-based IR light that Sony offers would improve the functionality of this feature even more.
Downsides:
* Camera comes with an 8MB card that can only realistically hold 8 photos. Kinda pointless unless one is just test-driving the feature.
* Camera comes with just a single FP50 lithium battery which doesnt hold enough power to record an entire 60min DV tape (unless, possibly, you turn off the LCD, use just the viewfinder, dont use anything on the accessory shoe, and film straight through without stopping). I guess thats what keeps the price down.
* Camera doesnt come with a FireWire cable. I was not able to use Windows Movie Maker 2 using just the included USB cable (although USB streaming with MSN Messenger worked great with that). I had plenty of FireWire cables in my bin of extra computer parts, but just dont see how you can get professional results without one.
* Though the camera supports both progressive scan and true anamorphic 16:9 widescreen (both features helpful in acheiving a film look with a digital video camera), you cant use them both at the same time.
* Some default settings are questionable (but easily changed). Why default to 4-track 12bit audio vs 2-track 16bit? Why default to beeping melodies on key presses? Some odd buttons on the default Personal Menu (which is what you customize).
Overall, Im a big fan of this camera and would recommend it highly.
