"Ted" <tedb@spamno.com> wrote in message news:403bc0dd@clear.net.nz...

[...]

> I have found 2 major reviews of the Sony PC330. The first is at:

> http://www.dvspot.com/reviews/sony/pc330-review

> The second review is at:

> http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/sony-dcr-pc330-camcorder-review.htm

>

> In the dvspot review, Jeff Keller found that there was no motor

> noise issue on this camcorder. This is reassuring, is this the

> experience of other users of the PC330?

I have not used this one, but with several other Sony models of this

"upright" body-format, the sound has been very good, and with

minimal pick-up of camcorder noises...

> In the camcorderinfo review, Robin Liss said that the microphone

> on the DCR-PC330 is located in possibly the worst location.

> (It is located on the top of the camera, more towards the back

> of the camcorder than the front.) She said that you shouldn't

> expect to get any good audio out of it. I wondered if any user

> of the Sony PC330E could give their experiences on this point.

> Is operator handling noise a major issue when a microphone

> is placed on the top of a camcorder, rather than in the front?

I often wonder if RL actually uses the gear she reviews...;-)

With careful placement of the two hands, I never found

handling noise with this style Sony camera a problem - but

it can be with the "horizontal" style, with the mic under the

lens where a finger often wants to go...;-)

> Robin Liss also said that the major problem with vertical style

> camcorders is that they are awkward to hold with two hands,

> making it hard to hold your camcorder steady. She concluded

> that you could hold the DCRPC330 in one hand for a good

> 10-20 minutes (because it's very well balanced) though

> eventually the weight would get to you. I wondered if anyone

> could tell me whether it is possible to hold the DCR-PC330

> with two hands for longer periods of time?

I prefer two-handed use of these cameras - one hand in

the comfortable place on the right, the other with fingers

extended to just touch the body top and bottom (without

the useless LCD panel extended, at least for daylight shooting).

> The low light performance capability of the DCR-PC330E is

> not regarded highly by Robin Liss who scored it as 11 out

> of 20 in her ratings, but she did say that the low light

> performance is "pretty good". Jeff Keller said that the low

> light performance was poor and that it was "worse than

> average". The Sony PC330 has a 7 lux rating, so would

> the low light performance be much worse than a camcorder

> with a 5 LUX rating?

Not much worse, but certainly worse. These megapixel

cameras tend to look very good to just short of their

low-light limit; ones that go lower look worse as they

approach their slightly lower limit (has to do mostly with

pixel-count and chip size...).

> Strangely, Robin Liss preferred the Panasonic PV-DV953

> over the DCR-PC330 even though she conceded that the

> PC330 offered better stills and low light performance

> than the PV-DV953. It seems that the Sony's 3 megapixel

> stills are the best available on any camcorder.

> Ted

But "still" not very good - forget video cameras for taking

stills, except for web-work (the stills tend to be noisy in

resolutions above 640x480).

--

David Ruether

d_ruether@hotmail.com

http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com