Ideal for the casual user who wants quality (Sony Handycam DCR-PC5)

Member Name: seanlev

Product:	Sony Handycam DCR-PC5
Date:	25/07/01 (321 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Size, Weight, Quality

Disadvantages: Only 10 optical zoom

I bought this camera after trawling around the Internet and various shops for opinions and advice.

I wanted a decent quality camera but it needed to be small - the theory being that I would far more be likely to carry around a small camera than a big one.

I am happy to say my choice has been excellent. Although the zoom doesn't match up to some of the bigger cameras, it is plenty good enough and can do really close up work. The output quality is brilliant, whether it is straight to TV/video or to a PC.

The zoom is slightly fiddly, but easy enough to use even with my banana fingers. The still photos are only 640x480 so not brilliant but okay for web shots.

I get about 1 hour out of the standard battery, which is not fantastic, but how many times do you film something for an hour? I mostly shoot 5-10 minute shots anyway and then lose interest. I'm not making the Blair Witch so don't need hours of battery life - although I must admit that I have bought a second battery just in case.

Check out the following sites for camera prices: unbeatable, sdb-electronics, empire-direct or try the comparison sites such as pricerunner and shopsmart.

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