Sony's HDR-HC3 HD camcorder leaked

We were so into the HDR-HC1, Sony's portable consumer HD camcorder, that we included it in our 2005 Holiday Gift Guide, and now it seems that Sony is on the verge of releasing another HD cam, the HDR-HC3, that appears to complement the HDR-HC1 as opposed to forcing its ouster. The main differences between the two models seem to be a lower gross pixel count on the the HC3, but higher resolution stills on the new model, along with a higher-res LCD and multi-functional control ring. All of this info is based on a leaked document that is supposedly the user's guide for this supposed-product, so keep that in mind when evaluating the validity of all this.

[Mark @ Feb 21st 2006 7:46AM]

Where is the surround sound capability?

[ralph duncans @ Mar 5th 2006 10:56AM]

well, i live in japan at the moment. i just bought one today. guess what? It came with a 5 year warranty. if the warranty has any thing to do with sony products falling apart, you may what to buy extended coverage. Then Sony could wirelessly upgrade your product to fall apart at the end of the extended warrantee period. By that time, I am sure you would or at least should have bought a newer one.

[Shahryar @ Mar 6th 2006 4:34PM]

Ralph,

Can you tell us a little more about it, or guide us somewhere w/ a review? I'd like to see how it compares with the HC1 and what accessories you got with it to make it better. Also price if you don't mind.

Shahryar

[Bozo @ Jan 27th 2006 7:43AM]

Is it an underwater recorder?

[BJ @ Jan 27th 2006 10:39AM]

No - it isn't an underwater camera - it's another model of a consumer-focused HD video camera. We got an HC1 last year to shoot sports highlight DVDs and we love it, but I wish we would have known about this - we would have waited and saved money!

[slyecho @ Jan 27th 2006 10:43AM]

You have to be a little more specific: what do you mean by HD? High Definition? Hard Drive?

[BJ @ Jan 27th 2006 10:44AM]

By the way, we also learned (after we bought ours) that Scholar Sports (http://www.scholarsports.com) might be giving these away as a promotion if you are interested in using this for sports highlights for high school football.

[asher @ Jan 27th 2006 11:20AM]

You'll only need to wait till that camera is 18 months old before it just magically fails. Like all sony products I'm sure it's built to have a mysterious malfunction right after the warranty is up. I know so many ppl (myself included) that this has happened to that we'll never buy another sony product again.

[Kyle Kennedy @ Jan 27th 2006 2:29PM]

asher - I have owned a 15 year old Sony camcorder, and it still works.

Ofcourse I do not use it, but I have never had any problems with any of their products - nor seen any faults in their products due to warranty expiration.

[Mp3 @ Jan 27th 2006 8:10PM]

Best feature - HDMI out!!

[senshi @ Jan 27th 2006 8:44PM]

i too have owned a sony minidv camcorder for over 8 years and it still works great. Its still used for recording in-car footage in a racecar.

[dynamius @ Jan 28th 2006 12:06AM]

panasonic needs to make an high def version of their consumer level 3CCD camcorders... that's be sweeeet!

[Joe @ Jan 28th 2006 3:59AM]

It seems people are missing the point here. Check out the size of this thing - roughly the size of a current model MiniDV camera based on the hand strap...
FYI:
HDD = Hard Disc Drive
HD = High Definition