/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Sony

Name

HDR-HC3

HDR-SR7

European name ?

HDR-HC3E

HDR-SR7E

US name ?

HDRHC3

HDR-SR7

lowest US price

911 $

1659 $

On the market since

March 2006

June 2007

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Sufficient

not yet tested

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV

AVCHD

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

Built-in hard disk

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

15 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

60 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Carl Zeiss

Optical Zoom ?

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

41,3 mm

40 mm

Filter diameter ?

30 mm

37 mm

Image Stabilization ?

electronical

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/3 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

1434000 Pixel

2280000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/auto

1/500

Maximum shutter time ?

auto

1/2

Apperture control ?

auto
AE-Shift

Infrared recording ?

Yes

Expanded Focus ?

Peaking ?

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70%
100%

Histogram ?

Yes

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Black Strech ?

Knee ?

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Custom Presets ?

Set Time Code ?

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

via accessories

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

3.5 mm mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

500 g

Weight (with battery)

600 g

610 g

Battery type

Sony NP-FP60

Sony NP-FH60

Battery capacity

1000 mAh

Charger ?

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

82 mm

75 mm

Width

78 mm

81 mm

Depth

139 mm

149 mm

Relative Size ?

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

123200 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

Color

Display size

2,7 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

211200 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker

Manual Focus ?

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Exp Lock ?

Gain ?

White balance ?

Push AF ?

Audio Levels ?

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal

Mini-jack external
5.1 Internal

Audio Control ?

auto

Audio levels ?

Still

Recording Medium ?

Memory Stick Duo

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

1991000 Pixel

3040000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

2304x1728
2304x1296

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

&"Smooth Slow Record" slow motion mode: 3 seconds are recorded with 200 half frames/sec., resulting in a 4-fold slow motion.However, the recording is without sound and in poorer image quality.

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures