Technology and Innovation

We ran the gamut in our real-world tests, trying to see both how fast and how slowly we could drain the battery. The worst we could get was 4 hours of recording time. This test was conducted using our Sony FX7 camcorder with the flip-out LCD on. recording to Mini DV tape in HDV mode, along with Anton’s ElightZ shining the whole time. Four hours. The best we could get was a little over 7 hours of recording with one ElipZ battery. This test had our camcorder recording to Mini DV tape in HDV mode without using the flip-out LCD or the ElightZ light.

Auto exposure gave us accurate exposures for all normally-balanced scenes we shot. We could easily compensate for strongly backlit scenes by pressing the backlight button or switching to manual. If a subject is predominantly bright or dark, the AE shift does a good job adjusting for these extreme values.
You select white balance (WB) modes through menus. The default requires four steps, but you can move this and other buttons to an earlier menu page if you prefer. Our WB tests shooting a Macbeth ColorChecker chart revealed that manual WB is somewhat more accurate than auto. Manually white balancing provides a one-percent average variance from color neutral toward blue-green. Auto WB gave us a nine-percent average variance toward red-green. The included WB shift feature will get you even closer. The HC7 buffers its auto WB adaptation to different lighting conditions by taking about ten seconds to fully adjust.

The HC7 uses a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens and a single 112.9″ CMOS sensor with 2,280,000 effective pixels. We were impressed with the overall image quality. Colors are vibrant but not over-saturated; sharpness is very good, even to the edges of the frame; and, while some noise is apparent in dark areas of a normally

Sony designers have done a good job balancing accessibility with function in such a compact camcorder. You access most functions using the HC7’s 2.7-inch-wide touch screen. In the default mode, you have three pages each with six large touchscreen function buttons. Press the Easy button on the left side of the camcorder, and you get only one page of four main functions. A nice feature if you want just the basics.

The spring-tensioned mode dial cycles through selections for camcorder, playback and photo. When the HC7 is on a table, a small indicator light adjacent to descriptions for each mode lets
you know which feature is engaged. However, we found our fingers covered the descriptions while the camera was in use, which is not a big deal, since both the viewfinder and LCD temporarily flash a large description during mode changes.

Compact, capable and affordable. Sony’s new HDR-HC7 is bound to spark interest among beginning or casual shooters looking for their first HDV camcorder and even serious hobbyists looking for an unobtrusive second camcorder. But don’t let the size fool you; this little HDV/DV camcorder is packed with features, good optical quality and, in the right hands, it could even be pressed into doing some serious work.

For the first time ever, record high definition directly to Memory Stick PRO Duo media! This miniscule recording media allows the HDR-CX7 to be smaller and lighter weight with fewer moving parts for quieter operation and simpler service. It also downloads quickly and directly to your computer and the media can be replaced when it is full, unlike a built-in hard drive.

You’ve got enough stress without seeing your critical footage undermined by glitches, dropouts or digital artifacts. Sony Professional Media is co-developed with Sony recorders, so your precious assets get maximum protection from shoot to playback to archive — in SD or HD. Sony also keeps you productive with worldwide technical support, recovery and conversion services, highly trained dealers and the largest dedicated pro media sales team in the US. Our 10-year strong Rewarding Recording’” loyalty program even boosts your bottom line. No wonder Sony is the world’s #1 brand of professional media. Stress less with Sony