Review: Sony Handycam DCR-HC35E

One of the perennial problems manufacturers seem to have with digital camcorders is where to put the buttons – they need to be easily accessible but they mustn’t get in the way.

Sony gets around this by employing a touch-sensitive screen as the main point of access for the DCR-HC35E’s controls. It works pretty well to, as long as you have nimble fingers.

As well as keeping the DCR-HC35E’s compact body free of button clutter, Sony has minimised the number of ports and sockets on the device by relegating virtually all of its connections to a docking station.

The dock, which is supplied in the package, features USB, analogue audio/video output and a bidirectional Firewire port. The two-way Firewire is particularly useful in that the camera can be used to record digitally from another source, such as a Firewire-equipped PC or another DV camcorder.

Like many camcorders in its price range, the DCR-HC35E has little in the way of support for still photography. There’s a photo button on the unit’s shoulder, but all this will do is save a sub-1megapixel photo to miniDV tape.

Thankfully, the DCR-HC35E is extremely good at its day job, producing a beautifully crisp video image with very little of the type of bleeding colours or over-saturation that is sometimes associated with the miniDV format.

The camcorder’s 20x optical zoom lens comes up a little shorter than is common at this price point, but this shouldn’t adversely affect a buying decision. Crucially, the DCR-HC35E is small, light and comfortable to hold, while an image stabiliser helps to reduce the wobble-cam effect.

Video enthusiasts might bemoan the lack of manual controls or added features, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more competent camcorder at this price.

Also consider:
Canon DC95
An entry-level camcorder that records straight to DVD

Sanyo VPC-CA6
Looks good, but the awkward design and high price let it down

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