Sony DCR-PC100 90's camcorder review 

isn't there something missing from your list of cables in the description? like a thunderbolt 2 to firewire 800 adapter or something?

I’m having trouble with the wires the FireWire 400 to 800 adapter doesn’t fit the Apple dongle am I missing something?

Hey ,you here?😀, I need some help from ya, I bought a pc105e handycam just like you have , but my Macbook can't read the cam in any case , I'm using the dv-firewire800 and firewire800-thunderbolt adapter . So do you know what's going on ？Sorry for bothering BTW. 😀

I'm 45 yrs old and am both astonished and hyped that these camcorders are coming back into style. I've been a video editor for 30 years and spent about 18 of those years digitizing footage like this. I got my first mini-dv camera, the JVC GRDVM5U, in the mid 90s and oh boy was I excited. I was around 16 and we filmed EVERYTHING on that. Going from 8mm to Mini DV was like going from filming on a potato to Hi-Def. Mini DV started my career as a filmmaker and it'll always have a soft spot in my heart. Good luck with the camera and thanks for the Log+Capture tips!

Yo Chris, to get rid of the shaky fisheye turn off the IOS (image stabilisation) on the camera

This camera was our first new video camera as a family my dad purchased back in the spring of 2001 to take on trips with my mom and the family. I think we paid $1600 after tax for the whole package. I quickly became the family videographer and it alone got me into what I do now with video. We documented just about everything that my family was involved in be it school plays, baseball games, church events, family Christmas, birthdays, etc…the usual things families document. It was a great camera till it finally bit the dust 10 years ago.

By the way, a few things to consider :) if you transfer the videomaterial from the DV tape to your computer, make sure the resolution and quality is not sized down. MiniDV in NTSC is 720x480 with a 4:3 aspect ratio, if you didn't use the 16:9 anamorphic mode. Those mostly cropped the image on those cameras sadly and only very few (most of the later models) had an actual native 16:9 anamorphic mode and only cropped the image for the 4:3 mode so it all worked together. This model here is a native 4:3 camera so i'd say to keep the most quality, don't change the recording mode to 16:9 and leave it 4:3. Also make sure the audio is set to 48Khz 16 Bit and also SP (not LP). This makes sure the tape can be played back without issues on other MiniDV camcorders. Since the LongPlay mode for the DV format was never really standardized and was also not very reliable. And you may also want to avoid empty gaps between recordings because the camera records a time code to your recordings from the beginning till the end of the tape. However... every blank tape is empty and has no timecode. It only has one if you have recorded something on it from start to finish. Normally when you just turn on record and turn off the camera, it will always continue at the last position. However if you switch to VTR mode and rewind, it will not be at the same position anymore where you stopped your recording. So i'd say wait with dumping the content of the tape to your PC tilll you filled your tape. This way you know you have a complete Timecode on your tape and can ALWAYS automatically "batch" from the tape if you edit your video project in a Video editor that can take needed video files from a DVcamcorder again by checking for the timecode and just transfering the parts from the tape that are actually needed. I had to do that before like that and it saved me time and my old Editing project could be 100% restored with all cuts and just as they were. If the tape has "holes" between videos on the tape, the timecode cuts off and starts at 0 again once a new recording starts after a gap of nothing on the tape. That can cause issues later if you want to automatically "Batch" from a tape again. Trust me. You will thank me later for it :)

Been wanting this camera with lens for a while now and finally decided to go ahead and order this month.. so excited to get to know the ins and outs and start editing footy

Nice smile, nice cat

Hello friends, which lenses could I adapt to this camera? Could anyone recommend it to me? I would like to adapt 16mm and 35mm lenses, is it possible?

I bought the camera before finding this and now I feel like I made the right choice lol awesome vid!

Yo! Couple things I'm observing from starting to watch this video. Perhaps you figured them out later, but for others reading if nothing else. First is the lens wobble you're talking about. I'm quite sure that's because you have the Steadyshot turned on. It's trying to correct the camera shake but it's designed for the whole image to be in frame, not the small lens circle of the fisheye, which is why you see it moving around so much. Turn off the Steadyshot to fix it. The second is that I don't think you're getting the most quality out of the footage, it seems like a poor deinterlacing method is being used that's only keeping one field rather than interpolating. That's why everything has very jaggy edges. That isn't actually normal. I recommend using a more sophisticated deinterlacing method in your editing software, or process the footage before editing.

Cheers for this. Got the cables and giving it a bash but when I import footage the sound cuts in and out. It's fine when playing back on the camera but the sound cuts in it and out once I have exported it. Ever had that trouble?

Dude! Why doesn't this have more views?! Great video and insanely helpful for the broke boys who cant afford a vx. Definitely getting this camera now, also your footage is what really prompted me to get it you got a great eye!

Would this camera work with a clear click video to digital converter instead of using all these cables?

hello there, does anyone know where i can get an apple thunderbolt 1 cable.. can't seem to find one : (

you have to turn off the stabilization so t soendt shake with the fisheye. i had the same issue with my dv cam before

Is this still relevant in 2022 for making youtube videos?

I have this camera, I do not however have a mac...I've been stressing trying to figure out how to transfer this bizz.

bro what do we actually need to transfer videos to a laptop, u went over that bit wayy too quickly

is there an amazon link for the thunderbolt 1 cable?

Thanks for the video. I am floored at how many current comments are below. I was expecting this whole affair to be 10+ years vintage. I was curious as the what kind of equipment you were filming on. It looked as it if might have been the camcorder. I have the handycam pc-101. Picked it up at a pawn shop about 8 years prior. Forget why but I think it was because I had a lot of mini format dv tapes I wanted to digitize and my other camera's motor threw craps. I do remember that the sales guy at the pawn shop asked me why I was buying such an old piece of technology at the time. Ironically I'm sitting here with it on my desk watching your video as a refresher for what it can do and what it can't. I am on the verge of posting my first piece of content my channel so I am sorting through all my equipment to see what will suffice. Or weather or not I need to go out and spend $1000.00 for for a cam and lightling and a mic for that very polished looking production . I got a couple old Iphones which people often use think. Some ancient editing software on a CD in my dusty closet, a couple androids, namely a S8 that does nice video edits. And a really nice Nikon DSLR that really belongs to my daughter so that is iffy. Oh yeah and web cam I use for zoom meetings .

turn off the stabilisation in settings and the lens will stop shaking 👍

Your a legend thank you!

The "lens shake" is due to stabilization. Gotta turn that off.

The lens shake is beavaise you have video stabilization on you can turn it off

I put my pc110 on the shelf cause I couldn’t figure out how to transfer files to my computer. This is absolute GOLD. Thank you so much. Do you think the same cable combo would work with an iPad on imovie?

Hi Chris! the video was really helpful & i just wanted to ask if you know if it’s working with the pc120e too?

Is your nightshot really dim too?

i use the sony dcr pc110 from the year2000

u gota turn of the steady shot for the lens not to wigle

just found my dads old camera, and its this one. THIS INFORMATION SAVES ME SO MUCH TIME AND STRESS. THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU

Idk if you’ll see this but how do you save videos on it?? Is there like a save button or do the recordings save automatically?? cause I closed mine thinking it would save automatically. Just asking to make sure??

You legend!!!!!❤️‍🔥📹🎞

How do you change the aspect ratio from 16:9 to 3:4?

Wow! I bought the same camera a while back after watching the video you referenced. Have a ton of tapes with footy I’ve been sitting on cause I didn’t know how to transfer to my Mac. Super helpful!

do you know how to import to a windows pc?

Thx for the video, helped a lot

it's is SONY DCR-PC101 is about same like SONY DCR-PC100? mean same cable, same Lenses adapter and yes, battery pack..

Wow! looks so good but is really old camera. I have any video on my youtube channel. I would like recover to use it again. You motivate me. I like looks that this camara get.... but i need adapter

Still one of my absolute most favorite late 90s MiniDV camcorders. Not just for the fun formfactor (i have a soft spot for those vertical brick-format DV camcorders) but especially because of the sheer amazing image quality the megapixel CCD inside this camera produces. And yes, i dare to say, it looks WAYYYY superior than 99% of all the MiniDV camcorders that were released after. At daylight the image sensor struggles a little with the typical hard contrast look that is so typical for Video but in lowlight conditions or indoor with available light, this camera really shows its true powers.

do you mind sharing what software you use to edit and export settings? Many videos I see online are de interlaced but your footage seem to keep the interlaced "look". Thank you!

u are a g

You are the greatest person ever for making this video. Literally thank you!

Thanks for sharing with us bro!! Looks like a nice vintage camera. Can the time stamp be on the video when you upload it to your laptop? Unless I missed u saying that sorry

PC100 very often has the ribbon cable to the tape compartment door fracture and lose connection. The PC110 and the PC120 last many times longer.

my dcr pc100 keeps saying there is an error connecting to my computer I have a desktop, pc, so I just got the firewire straight to usb. Could that be the issue?

Thank you for this video brother I have just picked up my first video camcorder

Hey Chris, i can't be bothered with a taped camera... Do you know of a comparable modernish camera that is small like this that would give a vintage look? ,,

they came out late 98-99.. Bought mine new in 99... still use it

You’re the best, just got my pc100 and now I’m getting those cords

i’ve been looking into getting one, and this video is a life saver

A friend told me last week that he cannot use his firewire UAD Interface no more on mac since apple does not support firewire no more at all.

dude this video is too clutch big ups

thanks for the video! Greetings from Germany :)

If you wanna remove the shakiness with the fisheye just turn off the steadyshot in the settings;)

The camera have a function to desactive a sensor and whit this function off the cámara detect only the movement out of the fish eye and the fish eye not moves :)

cliff burton review sony dcr- pc1

I saw howie d (bsb) also use this camcorder as well back in 1999

Wow! I bought the same camera a while back after watching the video you referenced. Have a ton of tapes with footy I’ve been sitting on cause I didn’t know how to transfer to my Mac. Super helpful!

Thanks dude. That's probably the easiest way to bring those lurknyc vibes into skating videos

Just got mine and I have an error, i put a cassette in and it says there is no cassette yet it says to eject the cassette. I pulled the protect tab so it can record but the error still appears.

thank you so much my video should credit to u

Does it record on the memory stick?

Do I need the adapter or can I just use a 800?

I bought this camera about two years back and sold it within 4 months. Partially because I didn't know the in's and out's and got flustered. Probably one of the worst decisions I've made. I might have to pull the trigger and purchase another.

Thanks for this video. I found this camera in my family’s attic, and I wasn’t sure how to go about watching all of the tapes and saving them on my computer. Thanks so much, was able to keep many memories.

I saw the same video and now making a research xD

Not sure if someone has mentioned it but if you turn the steady shot off while running the fisheye you won’t get that shaky footage

Awesome info about the cables dude, what I was after for sure

Hey Chris, I recently purchased this camera and I can't seem to get the camera to go DV OUT, any suggestions?

Hey I needed some help because on the step where you hit import on iMovie our footage does not load and display on the app and instead gives us a black screen. We have all the cables you have in the video and followed through each step and our only problem was getting the footage to load on iMovie. Please get back to me with some help if you may I'm really looking forward to hearing back thanks! :)

Is the FireWire 400 to 800 necessary or is it possible to go straight with the FireWire 800 Kabel to thunderbolt usb C? 🙌🏽

4:21 if u have stabilization on it will cause it

i just wanna buy it...go out and film everything

does yours make a loud humming/buzzing sound when you start filming/watching back footage? thanks

Can´t wait for this camcorder :) Greetings from Germany!

i have a macbook air 2014 or 15 , so i only need firewire then adapter to that computer?

He Chris. What version of iMovie are you using to import footage? I have the newest version on my MacBook Pro and my PC110 is not being recognized. I bought all the cables from the links that you mentioned as well. Thank you.

You’re a lifesaver for this man i really appreciate it

yo! super helpful video bro. I just found my dad's old sony cam so I'm trying to get it up & running. Do you happen to know the difference from recording with the memory stick or recording on tape? I have the proper cables to transfer footage from the memory stick (just not the right space). I have the right space with the tapes (just not the right cables).

Do you have to a use a new tape every-time you shoot?

hey man when i try this my imovie quits importing and starts over as my tape runs so it's all cut into 2 second clips. you got any advice haha?

I’ve been wanting this camera, but I ended up getting a Sony dcr dvd710. Still a sick camera, but I felt like I settled. I just wanna film skating too lol 😂

Can u import on other types of pc's to?

Youre the best, dude! Thinking of getting this camera now

my PC100 hasn't fared well... that little flex PCB cable that runs from the tape compartment door to the main part of the camera to send information has snapped, and it's unfixable because to replace it you need to take out a little sheet of metal that can't be put back on :(

How to transfer to your iPhone

mine is coming in on friday and i can’t wait to start filming. thanks for the tips 🤝

how much footage can you record with one tape, and why use the tape over the memory card?

Do you need tapes to film on this or can you just use the memory stick alone?

so would i be able to use that setup with my phone?