I'm on HDR HC3.
Is there an easy way to know how much tape you have left?

Unfortunately, looking at the tape is tough as it's so dark in the window.

Yesterday, I saw a small rectangle on bottom of display with - and + sign, but was not sure what that was for. thanks.

i find mini dv tapes are around 1 hour 2 minutes 20 to 25 seconds usualy,the viewfinder tells what tape has been used unless there is a unrecorded break in it.

I believe most Sony cameras have a menu option that controls whether the time remaining is displayed. Sorry, it's not something I've used but have noticed a "time remaining" item on the menu. If you try to play a tape past the recorded section the timecode display should change to a number which represents how many minutes into the tape you are, so that should be one way to answer your question. Just fast forward past the end of what you've recorded.

As you get near the end of the tape (perhaps around 57 minutes?) you should also get a flashing tape icon in the viewfinder.

I'm on HDR HC3.
Is there an easy way to know how much tape you have left?It should simply show you this information in the LCD screen at top right corner, just below the time elapsed. If it doesnt, then thats the first sony cam i know of that doesnt do that..

Of course it's right there. Hard to miss it, in fact. But if the REMAINING setting is in auto mode, it only shows up when you switch the camera on or press pause / play for a few seconds. Set it to ON.

Page 69 of your manual.

Thanks guys!