ProductCritic: Sony DCR-HC36 Reviews

PC World (75)

At $400 (as of 5/2/06), the Sony DCR-HC36 is very affordable. But, unfortunately, it produced some of the lowest-quality video among recently tested MiniDV camcorders

Macworld (60)

The Sony DCR-HC36 MiniDV Handycam is a budget camcorder that takes adequate video in daylight, but its poor performance in low light will be a problem if you want to shoot videos indoors—at a party, for instance.

CNET (60)

The good: Very compact size; lightweight; easy to use; low price.

The bad: Mediocre video quality; short battery life; no accessory shoe; low-quality stills.

The bottom line: Unless this camcorder’s low-resolution, low-quality stills are important to you, you might as well go for Sony’s less expensive DCR-HC26.

Camcorderinfo.com (58)

Sony has a good thing going for the non-techie portion of the population, but this particular camcorder is not the best deal. Shop around and compare. You’ll see that the under $500 has a lot of compelling choices—and you’ll likely want to steer clear of this one.