Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Red)

Comments

1. D. Spino says:

   September 19, 2010 at 2:09 AM

   Review by D. Spino for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Red)
   Rating:
   Im a student film maker and was looking for a cheap camera just to get me going. If you want an amazing camera you cant really expect to pay less than 600 bucks, but i took the risk and im proud I did. This camera is a standard class of video, but it excels beyond the class and could even be compared to cameras of 100 to 200 dollars more.

   -Out of the box the camera lacks some color to it, however if you adjust the settings things look great. Its NOT HD, but the quality is still fantastic for some reason. It does lack some saturation to some colors (greens and somewhat blues) but its all adjustable to an extent. I kinda wish it had that “film” effect that some Cannon cameras offer so i dont have to add it in via Sony Vegas, but im happy with the resolution it has now.

   -The zoom is absolutely out of this world. I was just screwing around with it and decided ill look down and zoom in on my shoe laces. I could literlly see grains of dirt all over my shoe lace, my shoes are completely clean to the naked eye. I was also zooming in on letters in long distances and was completely able to read everything clearly. The zoom does get a little pixelated when you put it on a TV (i have a Samsung HDTV) if you go too far or move around alot. However the stabability of the camera is phenominal, normally a zoomed in shot would be real shaky and un watchable, not with this camera.

   -Like i said im a film maker, but i prefer to use the screen. I was using it outside and its not bad at all, you can put a screen of it or you hand or something and see clearly. The camera is TINY! I couldnt believe it was so small, fit in the palm of my hand without a problem.

   -Sound is pretty good. When im filming its completely quiet all around me so i can hear the people talking and what not just fine. It sadly has no option for an external mic though. Its a CLEAR mic that will pick up alot of noise though, wind blowing or something. The Directional Mic that it has does a pretty good job of cutting out some back noise, but id still love for it to have an external mic.

   -The cool thing for film makers like myself, is its a extremely good intro camera that you can afford. Not only that but Sony offers a TON of accesories for it. Wide Shot lenses, Camera saturation covers, underwater casing, external lights, and things of that nature. I thought that was extremely neat and bought the lenses myself.

   -I forget the file it records in, but it uses the file so that it can burn directly to DVD. The feature is neat if you have a DVD burner for it (about 100 bucks) but you need to convert the file on your computer if you want to edit it. Its all good though, and if you have a good program you wont lose alot of quality.

   -The built in HDD is amazing, so much space i couldnt believe it. Not only that but the memory cards it uses are the same as the PSP, they are cheap as heck. So you could add over another 16GB to it with a single card. One reason i bought this camera over its competitior is purely the fact that it uses a hard drive and not just memory cards, trust me its alot cheaper and alot cleaner.

   -How the camera runs is great. Flip the flap open and bam its on within seconds, push record and its almost instant. It also has a built in lense protector, so press the switch and it shuts or opens, the camera will also warn you if its close obviously. The touch screen is impressive, i was expecting a delay or inaccurate intereactions but it worked well. Its nice not having a wall of buttons on the side of the camera for you to accidently push while recording.

   The bad things i can think of. It has no external mic option, however you can buy Lepel mics and just match up the audio if you wanted. The battery it comes with kinda sucks, only lasts 90 minutes and even less if your filming in the best quality. The single shot pictures are not the greatest, can get a little grainy, but you dont buy a camcorder for that. Its not HD, while i wish it was, you have to buy some of the newer models for 500 to 600 if you want HD and i cant afford that right now, the quality is still amazing though.

   I tried to touch upon everything here if nnot ill try to update as I come across things. So far im extremely happy with my purchase. I love Sony products as its usually quality and this camera is no exception, if anything its advertising the other cameras they sell that ill probably end up buying in the future. Right now though this is what I could afford and to me it seems like i got a 500 to 600 dollar camera for 300 and thats not a bad deal in my books.
2. Greg J. Harrison says:

   September 19, 2010 at 2:53 AM

   Review by Greg J. Harrison for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Red)
   Rating:
   Easy camera to use, does exactly what it is supposed to do. In anticipation of my daughter’s dance recital, we purchased this camera at a local electronics store just before the recital. I was hoping that getting it up and running would not be too difficult given the short amount of time I had to familiarize myself with it. Upon arriving home, I had it unboxed, and the battery charging while I changed and got ready for the recital. Once at the recital, I opened the viewfinder, it came on, and I was able to start recording without first reading the manual. During the intermission, my wife and I marveled at how small the camera actually is, and how it felt natural in both mine (large) and her (small) hands; it was also lightweight with just enough heft.

   Before the purchase, I had read online reviews here and elsewhere claiming that when the camera was connected to a TV, the video quality was less-than-acceptable. I did not find this to be the case. Back at home after the recital, we were anxious to show the performance to some neighbors. We have a 43″ high-def plasma, and the video quality looked like normal “standard definition” when played on a “high definition” TV. That is, it was not crystal clear, but it looked how any normal standard definition video should look. Having said this, if you want crystal clarity when played on your high-def TV, consider purchasing the high-def camcorder. Hooking the camera up to the TV was easy, as was connecting it to our computer, which runs Windows XP Professional. I had to update XP to Service Pack 3 in order for the included software to be installed, but once installed, it was able to pull the video from the camcorder to the computer without fuss and was able to immediately start editing and such.

   Given my brief experience with the camera, I give it 5 stars. It records movies/audio very well, the picture looks fine on both the TV and computer, and the software allows organizing and editing (only minor editing, albeit) of videos and still photos. All things considered, I am happy with this camera.
3. A. Howell says:

   September 19, 2010 at 3:50 AM

   Review by A. Howell for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Red)
   Rating:
   I bought this camcorder based on the better zoom compared to others in its price range. I was able to start recording with this camcorder right out of the box. It is very simple to setup and quick review of the manual will answer all your questions. I have not used the software but was able to use the USB cable to transfer the video to my computer in a matter of minutes. The sound was fantastic and the video looked better than expected. Overall this is a great camcorder, easy to use, easy to setup. I would recommend one extra battery as the one that comes with it last 90 min.
4. Charles D. Mosbruger says:

   September 19, 2010 at 4:03 AM

   Review by Charles D. Mosbruger for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Red)
   Rating:
   The DCR-SR47 is my first camcorder. I wanted a camcorder with plenty of storage and extra zoom capability for a land/sea cruise to Alaska. I have not used all the features; the following comments are based on using the camcorder for two weeks on the cruise and another week editing files after we returned.

   This is not a hi-def camcorder. It does, however, have two video settings. I chose the HQ setting and am happy with playback quality on both my PC and , from a DVD, on my 40 inch LCD TV. A 470 GB DVD holds about an hour of HQ video. Although the HQ files are recorded in MPEG-2 format, other software applications don’t seem to recognize them.

   My biggest issue was the lack of a viewfinder. Camcorder viewfinders are apparently becoming rare, so this issue isn’t confined to this model. I’m also not sure a viewfinder (unless “through the lens”) would have worked at some of the higher zoom levels I tried using. Nevertheless, the LCD was useless in some conditions (I could see nothing but reflections) despite trying different angles and brightness settings – very frustrating when trying to record a whale breaching! A second negative is the low resolution of still images. The specs I found on one web site say the effective resolution of still images taken with this camcorder is 0.34 megapixels. Needless to say, I also took my digital camera on the trip.

   Otherwise, this camcorder was an excellent choice. The camcorder is small, easy to hold, and easy to use. I expected jitter problems at higher zoom levels because I chose not to take a tripod. I had jitter problems, but my overall results were generally better than I expected. I learned to zoom slowly and not past the point where I could stay on the subject.

   I have used the included Picture Motion Browser (PMB) software to play the videos on my computer, to trim files, to capture frames, and to create DVDs:

   – Each file in a folder can be played individually. Screen show mode plays all files in a folder sequentially.

   – The trimming operation is used to define “in” and “out” points and save the segment between those points as a new file. The original file remains unchanged, so additional segments can be created from it (e.g., a “bad” portion in the middle of a video can be effectively removed by creating segments before and after that portion). One feature I haven’t found is the capability to combine two or more videos into a single file. Because each file written to DVD becomes a chapter on the DVD menu, a “join” capability would cut down the DVD menu size.

   – The frame capture capability is used to create JPEG images from a video file. Clicking the frame capture icon while playing a video opens a new window displaying the frame at the click point. This window lets you move forward or backward through the video a frame at a time and capture as many JPEG images as desired. Changing frames is a slow process, but I found these images to generally be of better quality than those taken in the camcorder’s “still” mode.

   – Creating a DVD is fairly easy. PMB moves all files in the starting folder into the “record” window, but individual files can be deselected. Files from other folders can then be added. A graphic shows how full the DVD is getting. Any file selected for recording can be trimmed here as well. Trimming at this stage neither creates nor changes any files. PMB simply records the portion of the file between the trim points, offering some additional flexibility for fitting files onto the DVD.

   One quirk of PMB – All files are initially downloaded to a folder on the computer (my camcorder defaulted to “My Pictures” instead of “My Videos”, but that setting can be changed) and analyzed. When I reorganized the folder structure for ease of editing, PMB found the files in their new locations but I had to manually remove their icons from the original download folder.

   I also purchased a Sony ACCFH70 Accessory Kit w/NPFH70 Battery & LCS-VA30 Case for most Sony Camcorders, which I’ll review separately.
5. R. Lin says:

   September 19, 2010 at 4:29 AM

   Review by R. Lin for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Red)
   Rating:
   I recorded 400 different videos from my daughter’s first cry to her 1st birthday. I cannot get the recorded videos to play back from any software other than Sony’s proprietary software.

   Sony’s tech support states to “I’m sorry for the difficulties, here is a link describing why Sony’s videos won’t play back on Windows Media Software”
   
   [...]

   I understand that Sony cannot support every 3rd party software, but why does Canon and Samsung and Apple product have videos that are supported by Windows Media Player? Sony support states that their videos require a special codec. What the heck do I care? All any user wants is to be able to record and edit on any PC or Mac. Well you can’t do it unless you stick to Sony’s software which is limited for video editing.
   
6. Fede says:

   September 19, 2010 at 4:42 AM

   Review by Fede for Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder with 60x Optical Zoom and 2.7-inch Widescreen LCD in Red + 8GB Deluxe Accessory Kit
   Rating:
   I bought this kit a couple of months ago, being using it since then with no problems at all.
   
   The price is unbelievable, I can’t really understand why is the camcorder so cheap, nut it’s great, I’ve been using it in low-lights conditions and the quality is really good.
   
   it has an 80GB HD that’ve never used so far, using the SD card is so much easier. I’m really happy with my purchase.
7. R. M. Rees says:

   September 19, 2010 at 4:55 AM

   Review by R. M. Rees for Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder with 60x Optical Zoom and 2.7-inch Widescreen LCD in Blue + 8GB Deluxe Accessory Kit
   Rating:
   Ordered as a gift for my daughters graduation present so I can’t speak to the camera, but with all the extras it was a great deal.
   
   The overnight shipping was about double what I expected to pay but the order arrived fast. Ordered Wednesday and received Friday all the way across the country.
8. D. Spino says:

   September 19, 2010 at 5:43 AM

   Review by D. Spino for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Blue)
   Rating:
   Im a student film maker and was looking for a cheap camera just to get me going. If you want an amazing camera you cant really expect to pay less than 600 bucks, but i took the risk and im proud I did. This camera is a standard class of video, but it excels beyond the class and could even be compared to cameras of 100 to 200 dollars more.

   -Out of the box the camera lacks some color to it, however if you adjust the settings things look great. Its NOT HD, but the quality is still fantastic for some reason. It does lack some saturation to some colors (greens and somewhat blues) but its all adjustable to an extent. I kinda wish it had that “film” effect that some Cannon cameras offer so i dont have to add it in via Sony Vegas, but im happy with the resolution it has now.

   -The zoom is absolutely out of this world. I was just screwing around with it and decided ill look down and zoom in on my shoe laces. I could literlly see grains of dirt all over my shoe lace, my shoes are completely clean to the naked eye. I was also zooming in on letters in long distances and was completely able to read everything clearly. The zoom does get a little pixelated when you put it on a TV (i have a Samsung HDTV) if you go too far or move around alot. However the stabability of the camera is phenominal, normally a zoomed in shot would be real shaky and un watchable, not with this camera.

   -Like i said im a film maker, but i prefer to use the screen. I was using it outside and its not bad at all, you can put a screen of it or you hand or something and see clearly. The camera is TINY! I couldnt believe it was so small, fit in the palm of my hand without a problem.

   -Sound is pretty good. When im filming its completely quiet all around me so i can hear the people talking and what not just fine. It sadly has no option for an external mic though. Its a CLEAR mic that will pick up alot of noise though, wind blowing or something. The Directional Mic that it has does a pretty good job of cutting out some back noise, but id still love for it to have an external mic.

   -The cool thing for film makers like myself, is its a extremely good intro camera that you can afford. Not only that but Sony offers a TON of accesories for it. Wide Shot lenses, Camera saturation covers, underwater casing, external lights, and things of that nature. I thought that was extremely neat and bought the lenses myself.

   -I forget the file it records in, but it uses the file so that it can burn directly to DVD. The feature is neat if you have a DVD burner for it (about 100 bucks) but you need to convert the file on your computer if you want to edit it. Its all good though, and if you have a good program you wont lose alot of quality.

   -The built in HDD is amazing, so much space i couldnt believe it. Not only that but the memory cards it uses are the same as the PSP, they are cheap as heck. So you could add over another 16GB to it with a single card. One reason i bought this camera over its competitior is purely the fact that it uses a hard drive and not just memory cards, trust me its alot cheaper and alot cleaner.

   -How the camera runs is great. Flip the flap open and bam its on within seconds, push record and its almost instant. It also has a built in lense protector, so press the switch and it shuts or opens, the camera will also warn you if its close obviously. The touch screen is impressive, i was expecting a delay or inaccurate intereactions but it worked well. Its nice not having a wall of buttons on the side of the camera for you to accidently push while recording.

   The bad things i can think of. It has no external mic option, however you can buy Lepel mics and just match up the audio if you wanted. The battery it comes with kinda sucks, only lasts 90 minutes and even less if your filming in the best quality. The single shot pictures are not the greatest, can get a little grainy, but you dont buy a camcorder for that. Its not HD, while i wish it was, you have to buy some of the newer models for 500 to 600 if you want HD and i cant afford that right now, the quality is still amazing though.

   I tried to touch upon everything here if nnot ill try to update as I come across things. So far im extremely happy with my purchase. I love Sony products as its usually quality and this camera is no exception, if anything its advertising the other cameras they sell that ill probably end up buying in the future. Right now though this is what I could afford and to me it seems like i got a 500 to 600 dollar camera for 300 and thats not a bad deal in my books.
9. Greg J. Harrison says:

   September 19, 2010 at 5:57 AM

   Review by Greg J. Harrison for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Blue)
   Rating:
   Easy camera to use, does exactly what it is supposed to do. In anticipation of my daughter’s dance recital, we purchased this camera at a local electronics store just before the recital. I was hoping that getting it up and running would not be too difficult given the short amount of time I had to familiarize myself with it. Upon arriving home, I had it unboxed, and the battery charging while I changed and got ready for the recital. Once at the recital, I opened the viewfinder, it came on, and I was able to start recording without first reading the manual. During the intermission, my wife and I marveled at how small the camera actually is, and how it felt natural in both mine (large) and her (small) hands; it was also lightweight with just enough heft.

   Before the purchase, I had read online reviews here and elsewhere claiming that when the camera was connected to a TV, the video quality was less-than-acceptable. I did not find this to be the case. Back at home after the recital, we were anxious to show the performance to some neighbors. We have a 43″ high-def plasma, and the video quality looked like normal “standard definition” when played on a “high definition” TV. That is, it was not crystal clear, but it looked how any normal standard definition video should look. Having said this, if you want crystal clarity when played on your high-def TV, consider purchasing the high-def camcorder. Hooking the camera up to the TV was easy, as was connecting it to our computer, which runs Windows XP Professional. I had to update XP to Service Pack 3 in order for the included software to be installed, but once installed, it was able to pull the video from the camcorder to the computer without fuss and was able to immediately start editing and such.

   Given my brief experience with the camera, I give it 5 stars. It records movies/audio very well, the picture looks fine on both the TV and computer, and the software allows organizing and editing (only minor editing, albeit) of videos and still photos. All things considered, I am happy with this camera.
10. A. Howell says:

    September 19, 2010 at 6:50 AM

    Review by A. Howell for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Blue)
    Rating:
    I bought this camcorder based on the better zoom compared to others in its price range. I was able to start recording with this camcorder right out of the box. It is very simple to setup and quick review of the manual will answer all your questions. I have not used the software but was able to use the USB cable to transfer the video to my computer in a matter of minutes. The sound was fantastic and the video looked better than expected. Overall this is a great camcorder, easy to use, easy to setup. I would recommend one extra battery as the one that comes with it last 90 min.
11. Charles D. Mosbruger says:

    September 19, 2010 at 7:20 AM

    Review by Charles D. Mosbruger for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Blue)
    Rating:
    The DCR-SR47 is my first camcorder. I wanted a camcorder with plenty of storage and extra zoom capability for a land/sea cruise to Alaska. I have not used all the features; the following comments are based on using the camcorder for two weeks on the cruise and another week editing files after we returned.

    This is not a hi-def camcorder. It does, however, have two video settings. I chose the HQ setting and am happy with playback quality on both my PC and , from a DVD, on my 40 inch LCD TV. A 470 GB DVD holds about an hour of HQ video. Although the HQ files are recorded in MPEG-2 format, other software applications don’t seem to recognize them.

    My biggest issue was the lack of a viewfinder. Camcorder viewfinders are apparently becoming rare, so this issue isn’t confined to this model. I’m also not sure a viewfinder (unless “through the lens”) would have worked at some of the higher zoom levels I tried using. Nevertheless, the LCD was useless in some conditions (I could see nothing but reflections) despite trying different angles and brightness settings – very frustrating when trying to record a whale breaching! A second negative is the low resolution of still images. The specs I found on one web site say the effective resolution of still images taken with this camcorder is 0.34 megapixels. Needless to say, I also took my digital camera on the trip.

    Otherwise, this camcorder was an excellent choice. The camcorder is small, easy to hold, and easy to use. I expected jitter problems at higher zoom levels because I chose not to take a tripod. I had jitter problems, but my overall results were generally better than I expected. I learned to zoom slowly and not past the point where I could stay on the subject.

    I have used the included Picture Motion Browser (PMB) software to play the videos on my computer, to trim files, to capture frames, and to create DVDs:

    – Each file in a folder can be played individually. Screen show mode plays all files in a folder sequentially.

    – The trimming operation is used to define “in” and “out” points and save the segment between those points as a new file. The original file remains unchanged, so additional segments can be created from it (e.g., a “bad” portion in the middle of a video can be effectively removed by creating segments before and after that portion). One feature I haven’t found is the capability to combine two or more videos into a single file. Because each file written to DVD becomes a chapter on the DVD menu, a “join” capability would cut down the DVD menu size.

    – The frame capture capability is used to create JPEG images from a video file. Clicking the frame capture icon while playing a video opens a new window displaying the frame at the click point. This window lets you move forward or backward through the video a frame at a time and capture as many JPEG images as desired. Changing frames is a slow process, but I found these images to generally be of better quality than those taken in the camcorder’s “still” mode.

    – Creating a DVD is fairly easy. PMB moves all files in the starting folder into the “record” window, but individual files can be deselected. Files from other folders can then be added. A graphic shows how full the DVD is getting. Any file selected for recording can be trimmed here as well. Trimming at this stage neither creates nor changes any files. PMB simply records the portion of the file between the trim points, offering some additional flexibility for fitting files onto the DVD.

    One quirk of PMB – All files are initially downloaded to a folder on the computer (my camcorder defaulted to “My Pictures” instead of “My Videos”, but that setting can be changed) and analyzed. When I reorganized the folder structure for ease of editing, PMB found the files in their new locations but I had to manually remove their icons from the original download folder.

    I also purchased a Sony ACCFH70 Accessory Kit w/NPFH70 Battery & LCS-VA30 Case for most Sony Camcorders, which I’ll review separately.
12. R. Lin says:

    September 19, 2010 at 7:24 AM

    Review by R. Lin for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Blue)
    Rating:
    I recorded 400 different videos from my daughter’s first cry to her 1st birthday. I cannot get the recorded videos to play back from any software other than Sony’s proprietary software.

    Sony’s tech support states to “I’m sorry for the difficulties, here is a link describing why Sony’s videos won’t play back on Windows Media Software”
    
    [...]

    I understand that Sony cannot support every 3rd party software, but why does Canon and Samsung and Apple product have videos that are supported by Windows Media Player? Sony support states that their videos require a special codec. What the heck do I care? All any user wants is to be able to record and edit on any PC or Mac. Well you can’t do it unless you stick to Sony’s software which is limited for video editing.
    
13. Charlie Caldwell says:

    September 19, 2010 at 7:25 AM

    Review by Charlie Caldwell for Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    Just bought this camera from Circuit City about two weeks ago. The first camera I had to return the next day because the image on the LCD was stuck upside down. The camera powers up pretty fast and you can begin recording in just a couple seconds. I love the fact that you can browse through the video and play anything on the fly. I would have thought at this price point it would take better still shots (only 1mp)but that wasnt really the reason I bought it anyway. Low light is ok.. it’s no better or worse then my JVC Mini DV. I like the Sony ‘night shot’ feature. It allows you to take video in total darkness with a built in infrared mode. Do yourself a favor though and purchase an extended battery. The one that comes with it is pretty worthless at only a 1 hour rated life. I purchased the extended 9 hour battery and can realistically get about 4-5 hours without having to charge. The touchscreen is a little different but you get used to it quick. Kinda wish it had a viewfinder but that’s on the next model up.

    Mainly I purchased this because I was sick of dealing with tapes… I have a whole box of VHS and Mini DV tapes that I now have to take the time and convert to usable formats on my PC. The beauty of this camera is that all that goes away and the video is going to be in it’s purest form for this level of camera. It doesnt take hollywood level video but at least you are removing one step out of the equation when having to re-render it. The software that comes with it is pretty worthless. about the only thing I liked was it has the ability to archive any changes from the camera whether video or photo and auto back it up with one click.

    Don’t buy the SR-40 or SR-60 you will be disapointed with the features vs. price. If you are looking to upgrade from tape go with this one the SR-80 becasue it is the best value over the two lower models. If you can afford it (i couldnt) Get the SR-100 becasue it has the better camera (3mp) and a viewfinder.

    Compare the reviews of Sony vs JVC before you buy a HD Camera!!
14. Ganesh Kumar Eswaran says:

    September 19, 2010 at 7:33 AM

    Review by Ganesh Kumar Eswaran for Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    This camcorder does capture good video. But the main drawback is that it records in MPEG2 format (DVD quality). Initially its nice and easy to capture video and watch it on your computer by downloading the files using the USB 2.0 connection. It gives you instant gratification. But after capturing 4 or 5 hours of video, you will notice that your videos aren’t so great as you expect it to be. Its not the fault with your camcorder. Its because all of us shoot extra footage, unwanted scenes, shakes, etc which we want to edit. You may want to add a title or two, add transitions, add backgroud music, combine your photos with the video, etc. Basically you may want to edit your footage. Its here when you find the major drawback of this camcorder. The MPEG2 quality video is not good for editing. The video quality is so compressed that you won’t have sufficient bandwidth to edit the video.

    MPEG2 is a LOSSY compression technique used to compress large video files into smaller files that can be fit into a 4 GB or 8 GB DVD. Since the camcorder compresses the video and then writes to the hard disk, the source file that you download to your computer is already compressed and has lost much of its data during the compression. If you edit this already compressed file, you lose more data during the process thus resulting in poorer video quality.

    When you edit these videos, add some transitions or special effects, increase/decrease brigthness or noise, etc, the newly edited video loses further clarity and thus makes your video look ugly and pixelated.

    In summary please don’t buy this camcorder if you are serious about your videos and would like to edit them. But if you are not bothered about editing and want to watch your unedited footage forever, then go for it.

    That said, if you still think you want to go for this camcorder, please read the review on its other features:

    1. Super NightShot Infrared System: Not a useful feature. Its amazining to initially see how this camcorder is able to “see” using infrared light. But the moment you shoot your subject using infrared light, you never want to shoot again as they will appear like devils when shot using this infrared light. Remember infrared footage appears almost black-and-white and not color. And the subject’s eyes really look like devil.

    2. 2.5-inch wide SwivelScreen LCD display with touch panel capabilities: Sony convenietly “forgot” to mention that this screen is NOT widescreen. Most of the camcorders now-a-days come with widescreen LCD. Its a good feature if you always want to shoot in widescreen. In fact I would suggest you to shoot in widescreen only as all future TVs and current LCD/Plasma TVs are widescreen. You can future proof your video by shooting widescreen. This camcorder DOES support widescreen video but the LCD is NOT widescreen. So when you shoot widescreen, you see black bands on the top and bottom.

    3. Digital still photos: Please don’t rely on this feature. The best photos from this camcorder as as good as the worst photos from any popular digital camera. Technology has still not matured to the point where a camcorder can shoot as good as a digital camera and vice versa.

    4. 20x optical/120x digital zoom: Optical zoom is very good. You can handle upto 10X optical zoom without a tripod. Any more zoom requires the use of a tripod. I was able to zoom in and read a car tag from the top of Sears tower, Chicago. I love the zoom feature in this camcorder. Don’t use the digital zoom feature. Turn it off. As mentioned above, MPEG2 compression already makes the video bad in quality. The digital zoom further makes it worst.

    5. Professional-quality Carl Zeiss lens: Yes its good. The image quality is truly great. No doubt about it.

    6. Super SteadyShot picture stabilization system: Good enough to avoid small vibrations caused when going on a ship for example. But not good enough for the shakes encountered when walking with the camcorder. Don’t expect to get great footage in such conditions. For great footage, you must still rely on a steady hand or a tripod.

    7. On-screen zoom and record buttons: Not an useful feature. The camcorder tends to shake more when you use these zoom buttons on the LCD because the LCD is always projecting outside when shooting video. Hence you shake the camcorder more when you touch the LCD than when you touch the camcorder’s body.

    8. USB 2.0 interface: Good interface. Fast enough to download 30 GB in 1.5 hours. Firewire interface would have been great. But USB 2.0 is also good enough

    9. Image Mixer Software: Very useless software. The free Picasa software from Google is far better in organizning your videos and pictures than the software that comes with this camera. Forget about this software.

    10. InfoLithium battery with AccuPower meter system: Great battery life. I could shoot for upto 1 hour 20 minutes with one battery. Remember we always don’t shoot continously in everyday life. We turn the camcorder on and off repeatedly when shooting. This battery last for 1 hour 20 minutes during normal shooting as explained above. If you shoot continously you may get longer battery life.

    11. NOTE: This camcorder does NOT have an Active Interface shoe. Other Sony camcorders do have this feature. This allows you to add other Sony accessories, for example, extra flood light. If you are not planning to add any accessory, then don’t worry about the absence of this feature.

    12. DVDDirect compatibility: This feature allows you to directly burn your video and photos to DVD. I don’t think this is a very useful feature. Its always better to download to computer, and burn only the good files and photos to DVD instead of burning all of them.

    Overall summary. Buy this camcorder only if you are not serious about editing the videos. Its a good buy for point-and-shoot-and-view pleasure only. In my opinion, a mini-DV camcorder (DCRHC42 for example) is still a better bet than a DVD or hard drive based model. The only inconvenience in a mini-DV model is that you have to be a bit techy to download video to computer. If you are ok with that, the mini-DV still provides good value for money as its far cheaper than DVD or hard-drive models.
15. Alok Mathur says:

    September 19, 2010 at 7:49 AM

    Review by Alok Mathur for Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    I agree with the previous reviewer. The low light performance of this camera is pretty bad. Deeps reds are more like deep pinks…but other colors are quite natural, though a bit flat.
    
    It is a nice camera otherwise: very compact, HDD makes a world of differenc in ease of use. Handgrip takes some getty used to.
    
    Stills are useless. No built-in flash makes situation even worse.
    
    Would have liked to have component video out so that we can get widescreen output diretly from the camcorder to TV.
    
    I may end up trading this for the big-brother DCR-SR100….
16. S. Liss says:

    September 19, 2010 at 8:14 AM

    Review by S. Liss for Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    This camera is working out great for me. I love that I can play back movies instantly. The microphone works very well. Better then I expected in fact. I would agree that shooting in low light is not great, but it is adequate. It is also annoying that the image is shot in 16:9, but the LCD is 4:3. When I playback on my 16:9 TV I find that there are things in the shot I didn’t see on the viewfinder. That’s good actually, because the image on the TV is better than what I thought I was going to get.

    Overall I am very happy with this camcorder and would certainly recomend it.
17. Anish Chidanandan says:

    September 19, 2010 at 9:06 AM

    Review by Anish Chidanandan for Sony DCR-SR80 60GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 12x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    This Handycam is Great for only one reason – the 60gb hard disk. It means never having to worry about tapes or DVD etc. It’s small and light.

    I returned a Sony DVD handycam which malfunctioned within the first 30 days of receiving it and bought the SR80 instead.

    I’ll focus on the negatives:

    a) VERY POOR low light performance. Shooting indoors is a pain. For example – you try to shoot a dance floor in a night club – forget – this camera can’t deliver. I am about to purchase the light attachment hoping to alleviate this problem. The only way to get halfway decent low light shots it to shoot in a party mode where the image loses all sharpness.

    b) The original lens that comes with this camera ahs a very narrow focus – it’s like you have tunnel vision. I bought this in time for my daughter’s 6th birthday party and the results were terrible. It was impossible to get a decent shot unless I was at least 10 ft away from the subject – and I am talking about trying to get more than one person in the frame. I bought the wide angle lens for about $40 and this has made a lot of difference. The lens however is not sharp when you have zoomed out to the max. I also found that I cannot use the camera in most conditions without the wide angle lens. Why Sony would sell a camera with such a poor lens is beyond me.

    c) Sound is OK. It’s supposed to be Dolby Surround. It provides only mono sound with the Bluetooth remote sound attachment.

    d) Super night shot is useless beyond a few feet. Trying to shoot our Christmas tree was a nightmare. The wide angle lens also blocks the infrared light that is supposed to light up what ever.

    e) 1 mp Digital stills: Why do they even have the option? Results are terrible. There a cell phones which shoot better pictures?

    Pros:

    1) Image stabilization is excellent.
    
    2) I already mentioned the benefit of having the large hard disk.
    
    3) Good battery life.
    
    4) Nice wide LCD makes it easy to operate even for people with big hands.
    
    5) Easy to navigate interface.
    
    6) Hot shoe for external attachments like additional light and Bluetooth microphone device is necessary.
    
    7) Day light shots are great.
    
18. E. Saville says:

    September 19, 2010 at 9:37 AM

    Review by E. Saville for JVC Everio GZMG130 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 34x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    My fiance and searched high and low for a good camera that would fit in our budget. Our inital reason for needing one is to record our wedding, but with kids and whatnot in the future, we wanted a camera that wouldn’t be obsolete next week.

    We were going back and forth between a Sony SR-42, which is Sony’s newest model in HDD, which was $599 at Best Buy, compared to the $499 we paid for the JVC. The Sony supposedly has a better lens, but we couldn’t tell. The salesman at Best Buy said that unless you were looking for differences you really wouldn’t see them.

    The biggest difference we found between the two cameras was the optical zoom. When you were set on a higher zoom, the JVC was able to keep focus better. With the Sony, if you were at a 30x optical zoom and moved the camera everything went blurry and it took some time to re-focus. At the same zoom the JVC didn’t do that. That is what really swayed us towards the JVC.

    We would have rated the JVC with 5 stars if there had been a port to plug in a microphone or external lighting to the camera. The Sony didn’t have that either-you had to buy a more expensive model of either brand in order to get those features.

    The software seems to be pretty user-friendly on our XP operating system, but we haven’t needed to burn anything (30GB holds a lot of stuff!). Hopefully that will go smoothly.

    We’ve been happy with picture quality so far, and we don’t exactly have the latest and greatest in terms of our TV. The functions are pretty easy to use on the camera. We preferred buttons to the touch screen on the Sony. The LCD on the camera is really nice and swivels in just about every direction. The camera is so light you forget you’re holding it.

    We haven’t purchased an SD card for the still-photo portion since we both have digital cameras, but switching back and forth between the still function and video function only requires a flick of the thumb on the on/mode button.

    Overall we’ve very happy with the camera. We went to Best Buy to purchase it and got the warranty, which covers cleanings, and just about any form of damage (including if I drop it, which could very well happen) except loss or theft. Hopefully we’ll continue to be happy with our purchase.
19. S. Stoessel says:

    September 19, 2010 at 10:03 AM

    Review by S. Stoessel for JVC Everio GZMG130 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 34x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    We had the camera about 3 weeks now. Recorded my daughter’s school musical with it, slightly over an hour long. The white balance seems a little off, but it should be correctable. The direct back-up of these files onto DVD disc fails — no idea why, because the program and “manuals” are more point and shoot than the camera. (You can examine the user manuals at JVC website to satisfy yourself of this point.) However, the files are backed up by the camera into a deeply buried folder called “My Works” on the computer.

    I then used the provided cyberlink software to try to edit out the dead spots. I was able to do something only because I have used Roxio programs. Explanation and documentation of the cyberlink program is generic and minimal. So after I produce the movie, I get the news: TO BURN A DVD DISC, ONE MUST PURCHASE THE UPGRADE!!!! My independent Nero burner program will not recongize the mpg files, and I can only produce a disc readable by Windows media reader, and not a DVD player.

    To make a fair comparsion to other cameras, add $100 to the price tag, because in spite of all the talk about making your own movies, you still have to pop out $80 more to do it. The Cyberlink programs looks to be a poor program nor will you get much help to get it working. [...]
20. Thomas H. Pickard says:

    September 19, 2010 at 10:11 AM

    Review by Thomas H. Pickard for JVC Everio GZMG130 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 34x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    I have had this for about a month and have taken a few movies. Some of my family who I don’t see all that often. The 16.9 aspect on the camera screen is great and easy to change to regular screen size if that is you preference. It is great to have my home videos in wide screen format and the picture looks good on my 42 inch plasma. Made one dvd so far with out to much hassle. If you play around with the files in the camera you can edit down video before putting in your computer. It allows you to make shorter files from original footage then you just delete the parts you edited and anyway it works great and is pretty user friendly if you are at all computer savvy since screens on camera and controls make sense after a few wrong button pushes. Great size and weight. Can’t wait for our vacation to really put this thing through it’s paces. You will need an extra battery, bigger is better and a wall charger is very handy especailly if you are traveling. Amazon had best price. Originaly saw at B.J.’s and almost bought but better price and no tax or shipping with Amazon. Had to wait a few days for the free shipping to kick in but I don’t mind. Good luck if you decide to go with camera. Alot of features and quality for the money. OH yeah, terrible still pics but that’s why you have a digital camera.
21. Christian McNeal says:

    September 19, 2010 at 10:36 AM

    Review by Christian McNeal for JVC Everio GZMG130 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 34x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    I really like this camcorder. I have NOT had most of the problems any of the other reviewers have had. Except i agree that the still photo function is not very good but i have a digital 8.0 megapixel compact point and shoot as well as a Nikon digital SLR. The still photo function should not be used for prints but if you just want to take a quick photo for your MySpace page or something similar then it works just fine. Oh and the light for the camera is only good if you are shooting up close at night and the night vision feature leaves allot of tracers.

    JVC offers a variety of attachable lens, including a telephoto and wide angle lens as wells lens filters. All of which work great. I have no problems editing using the powerdirector and powerproducer software that comes with the camera. Although to use the advanced features you have to purchase the upgrade but the basic model has plenty of easy to use features to make some great videos without upgrading. all of the features in the software and on the camera are very user friendly especially for the novice.

    I have had no problems shooting great high quality videos that look great on a regular tv as well as my 42 inch LCD TV. I love the fact that you have the option to shoot in 16:9 widescreen or in regular modes (although if you don’t have a widescreen tv dont record in widescreen as it will make everything look stretched out) and editing the videos and burning them to a DVD using the Everio software is simple and the DVD’s are easily viewed on ANY DVD player with no problems. I recently shot a friends wedding and reception using this camera and the quality and sound was fantastic and they were very pleased. Although i do wish this camera had an external mic input.

    This is the best camera for the price and i am extremely pleased with it and if your a first time user or just a novice then this is the perfect camera for you, anything more would just be over kill and would leave you with a bunch of features you either don’t know how to use or will NEVER use.

    The in camera functions are so easy to use, you hardly need the instruction manual and with the built in camera modes there is hardly any reason to use the manual settings at all.
22. soccerchick says:

    September 19, 2010 at 10:38 AM

    Review by soccerchick for JVC Everio GZMG130 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 34x Optical Zoom
    Rating:
    This is my first camcorder, but I think this thing is pretty awesome if you want a basic, reasonably priced camcorder. I’d read somewhere that if you format the HDD before you record any videos, that helps in the grainy department. I did that, and haven’t had any issues yet as far as the picture goes. It’s really clear and sharp. So if you aren’t sure if you want to get this because of the “grainy images” complaints, I’d say go for it. It isn’t like what they’re describing. If you’re looking for a camcorder that you want to have around for those moments you want recorded, this one does the job. The user interface is really easy to figure out, and not having to worry about having enough tapes/discs around is great.

    The pictures this thing takes aren’t too wonderful, as mentioned before. But I didn’t buy this to take pictures with. That’s what my digital camera is for. I’d say having that feature is good for those times you want to take a picture, but don’t have your digital camera on you. The images wouldn’t make very good prints, though.

    I’ll have to agree with a few other reviews about the software. It’s… okay, but there are better programs out there. The program that JVC includes does suck up a lot of system resources and seems to lag when I try to playback directly from the camcorder (I blame it on the usb connection, as opposed to firewire). I found that saving them to the computer and playing directly from that gets rid of the lag though. Also, the software is limited in some areas because you can’t get certain features without paying for the “deluxe” version of it. But the software is good to have if you don’t have anything to convert to mpg, avi, real media, etc.

    Overall, I really like this camcorder, and haven’t had any issues yet. It’s easy to hold, the buttons and joystick make it easy to navigate, and the picture quality is really good, given the price range of this camcorder. Definitely would recommend to anyone who’s a first timer, or wants a reasonably priced camcorder.
23. D. Spino says:

    September 19, 2010 at 11:17 AM

    Review by D. Spino for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    Im a student film maker and was looking for a cheap camera just to get me going. If you want an amazing camera you cant really expect to pay less than 600 bucks, but i took the risk and im proud I did. This camera is a standard class of video, but it excels beyond the class and could even be compared to cameras of 100 to 200 dollars more.

    -Out of the box the camera lacks some color to it, however if you adjust the settings things look great. Its NOT HD, but the quality is still fantastic for some reason. It does lack some saturation to some colors (greens and somewhat blues) but its all adjustable to an extent. I kinda wish it had that “film” effect that some Cannon cameras offer so i dont have to add it in via Sony Vegas, but im happy with the resolution it has now.

    -The zoom is absolutely out of this world. I was just screwing around with it and decided ill look down and zoom in on my shoe laces. I could literlly see grains of dirt all over my shoe lace, my shoes are completely clean to the naked eye. I was also zooming in on letters in long distances and was completely able to read everything clearly. The zoom does get a little pixelated when you put it on a TV (i have a Samsung HDTV) if you go too far or move around alot. However the stabability of the camera is phenominal, normally a zoomed in shot would be real shaky and un watchable, not with this camera.

    -Like i said im a film maker, but i prefer to use the screen. I was using it outside and its not bad at all, you can put a screen of it or you hand or something and see clearly. The camera is TINY! I couldnt believe it was so small, fit in the palm of my hand without a problem.

    -Sound is pretty good. When im filming its completely quiet all around me so i can hear the people talking and what not just fine. It sadly has no option for an external mic though. Its a CLEAR mic that will pick up alot of noise though, wind blowing or something. The Directional Mic that it has does a pretty good job of cutting out some back noise, but id still love for it to have an external mic.

    -The cool thing for film makers like myself, is its a extremely good intro camera that you can afford. Not only that but Sony offers a TON of accesories for it. Wide Shot lenses, Camera saturation covers, underwater casing, external lights, and things of that nature. I thought that was extremely neat and bought the lenses myself.

    -I forget the file it records in, but it uses the file so that it can burn directly to DVD. The feature is neat if you have a DVD burner for it (about 100 bucks) but you need to convert the file on your computer if you want to edit it. Its all good though, and if you have a good program you wont lose alot of quality.

    -The built in HDD is amazing, so much space i couldnt believe it. Not only that but the memory cards it uses are the same as the PSP, they are cheap as heck. So you could add over another 16GB to it with a single card. One reason i bought this camera over its competitior is purely the fact that it uses a hard drive and not just memory cards, trust me its alot cheaper and alot cleaner.

    -How the camera runs is great. Flip the flap open and bam its on within seconds, push record and its almost instant. It also has a built in lense protector, so press the switch and it shuts or opens, the camera will also warn you if its close obviously. The touch screen is impressive, i was expecting a delay or inaccurate intereactions but it worked well. Its nice not having a wall of buttons on the side of the camera for you to accidently push while recording.

    The bad things i can think of. It has no external mic option, however you can buy Lepel mics and just match up the audio if you wanted. The battery it comes with kinda sucks, only lasts 90 minutes and even less if your filming in the best quality. The single shot pictures are not the greatest, can get a little grainy, but you dont buy a camcorder for that. Its not HD, while i wish it was, you have to buy some of the newer models for 500 to 600 if you want HD and i cant afford that right now, the quality is still amazing though.

    I tried to touch upon everything here if nnot ill try to update as I come across things. So far im extremely happy with my purchase. I love Sony products as its usually quality and this camera is no exception, if anything its advertising the other cameras they sell that ill probably end up buying in the future. Right now though this is what I could afford and to me it seems like i got a 500 to 600 dollar camera for 300 and thats not a bad deal in my books.
24. Greg J. Harrison says:

    September 19, 2010 at 11:48 AM

    Review by Greg J. Harrison for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    Easy camera to use, does exactly what it is supposed to do. In anticipation of my daughter’s dance recital, we purchased this camera at a local electronics store just before the recital. I was hoping that getting it up and running would not be too difficult given the short amount of time I had to familiarize myself with it. Upon arriving home, I had it unboxed, and the battery charging while I changed and got ready for the recital. Once at the recital, I opened the viewfinder, it came on, and I was able to start recording without first reading the manual. During the intermission, my wife and I marveled at how small the camera actually is, and how it felt natural in both mine (large) and her (small) hands; it was also lightweight with just enough heft.

    Before the purchase, I had read online reviews here and elsewhere claiming that when the camera was connected to a TV, the video quality was less-than-acceptable. I did not find this to be the case. Back at home after the recital, we were anxious to show the performance to some neighbors. We have a 43″ high-def plasma, and the video quality looked like normal “standard definition” when played on a “high definition” TV. That is, it was not crystal clear, but it looked how any normal standard definition video should look. Having said this, if you want crystal clarity when played on your high-def TV, consider purchasing the high-def camcorder. Hooking the camera up to the TV was easy, as was connecting it to our computer, which runs Windows XP Professional. I had to update XP to Service Pack 3 in order for the included software to be installed, but once installed, it was able to pull the video from the camcorder to the computer without fuss and was able to immediately start editing and such.

    Given my brief experience with the camera, I give it 5 stars. It records movies/audio very well, the picture looks fine on both the TV and computer, and the software allows organizing and editing (only minor editing, albeit) of videos and still photos. All things considered, I am happy with this camera.
25. A. Howell says:

    September 19, 2010 at 12:11 PM

    Review by A. Howell for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    I bought this camcorder based on the better zoom compared to others in its price range. I was able to start recording with this camcorder right out of the box. It is very simple to setup and quick review of the manual will answer all your questions. I have not used the software but was able to use the USB cable to transfer the video to my computer in a matter of minutes. The sound was fantastic and the video looked better than expected. Overall this is a great camcorder, easy to use, easy to setup. I would recommend one extra battery as the one that comes with it last 90 min.
26. Charles D. Mosbruger says:

    September 19, 2010 at 12:51 PM

    Review by Charles D. Mosbruger for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    The DCR-SR47 is my first camcorder. I wanted a camcorder with plenty of storage and extra zoom capability for a land/sea cruise to Alaska. I have not used all the features; the following comments are based on using the camcorder for two weeks on the cruise and another week editing files after we returned.

    This is not a hi-def camcorder. It does, however, have two video settings. I chose the HQ setting and am happy with playback quality on both my PC and , from a DVD, on my 40 inch LCD TV. A 470 GB DVD holds about an hour of HQ video. Although the HQ files are recorded in MPEG-2 format, other software applications don’t seem to recognize them.

    My biggest issue was the lack of a viewfinder. Camcorder viewfinders are apparently becoming rare, so this issue isn’t confined to this model. I’m also not sure a viewfinder (unless “through the lens”) would have worked at some of the higher zoom levels I tried using. Nevertheless, the LCD was useless in some conditions (I could see nothing but reflections) despite trying different angles and brightness settings – very frustrating when trying to record a whale breaching! A second negative is the low resolution of still images. The specs I found on one web site say the effective resolution of still images taken with this camcorder is 0.34 megapixels. Needless to say, I also took my digital camera on the trip.

    Otherwise, this camcorder was an excellent choice. The camcorder is small, easy to hold, and easy to use. I expected jitter problems at higher zoom levels because I chose not to take a tripod. I had jitter problems, but my overall results were generally better than I expected. I learned to zoom slowly and not past the point where I could stay on the subject.

    I have used the included Picture Motion Browser (PMB) software to play the videos on my computer, to trim files, to capture frames, and to create DVDs:

    – Each file in a folder can be played individually. Screen show mode plays all files in a folder sequentially.

    – The trimming operation is used to define “in” and “out” points and save the segment between those points as a new file. The original file remains unchanged, so additional segments can be created from it (e.g., a “bad” portion in the middle of a video can be effectively removed by creating segments before and after that portion). One feature I haven’t found is the capability to combine two or more videos into a single file. Because each file written to DVD becomes a chapter on the DVD menu, a “join” capability would cut down the DVD menu size.

    – The frame capture capability is used to create JPEG images from a video file. Clicking the frame capture icon while playing a video opens a new window displaying the frame at the click point. This window lets you move forward or backward through the video a frame at a time and capture as many JPEG images as desired. Changing frames is a slow process, but I found these images to generally be of better quality than those taken in the camcorder’s “still” mode.

    – Creating a DVD is fairly easy. PMB moves all files in the starting folder into the “record” window, but individual files can be deselected. Files from other folders can then be added. A graphic shows how full the DVD is getting. Any file selected for recording can be trimmed here as well. Trimming at this stage neither creates nor changes any files. PMB simply records the portion of the file between the trim points, offering some additional flexibility for fitting files onto the DVD.

    One quirk of PMB – All files are initially downloaded to a folder on the computer (my camcorder defaulted to “My Pictures” instead of “My Videos”, but that setting can be changed) and analyzed. When I reorganized the folder structure for ease of editing, PMB found the files in their new locations but I had to manually remove their icons from the original download folder.

    I also purchased a Sony ACCFH70 Accessory Kit w/NPFH70 Battery & LCS-VA30 Case for most Sony Camcorders, which I’ll review separately.
27. R. Lin says:

    September 19, 2010 at 1:37 PM

    Review by R. Lin for Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    I recorded 400 different videos from my daughter’s first cry to her 1st birthday. I cannot get the recorded videos to play back from any software other than Sony’s proprietary software.

    Sony’s tech support states to “I’m sorry for the difficulties, here is a link describing why Sony’s videos won’t play back on Windows Media Software”
    
    [...]

    I understand that Sony cannot support every 3rd party software, but why does Canon and Samsung and Apple product have videos that are supported by Windows Media Player? Sony support states that their videos require a special codec. What the heck do I care? All any user wants is to be able to record and edit on any PC or Mac. Well you can’t do it unless you stick to Sony’s software which is limited for video editing.
    
28. Sloper Dude says:

    September 19, 2010 at 1:57 PM

    Review by Sloper Dude for Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
    Rating:
    The first video I took with my SDR-H40 camcorder was of a small conference inside a moderately illuminated, windowless hangar. Since I was new to the camcorder, it was set to auto-white balance. The video came out fine, and better than I expected. When it was accidentally unplugged I was glad to see that it automatically fixed the video file in just a few seconds. Outdoor video is excellent, as is it’s optical stabilization. Panasonic uses a larger image chip than many manufacturers do in this price range.

    My only disappointment was that it doesn’t have a very wide angle lens. Personally, I’d be willing to trade the long 42x telephoto for a decent wide angle shot. Unfortunately, this problem is widespread among most camcorder manufacturers.

    What I like is the simplicity of operation, it’s excellent video, it’s large hard drive capacity which gives many hours of use, it’s ability to also record on SD & high capacity SD cards, it’s small size (you could fit three of them inside my old 8mm camcorder,) optical stabilization, and value. The software gets the job done, though it isn’t feature-rich. That’s fine with me, and preferable to software with a steep learning curve and lots of features that I’ll probably never use.
29. E. McIntosh says:

    September 19, 2010 at 2:21 PM

    Review by E. McIntosh for Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
    Rating:
    I searched long and hard for reviews on the new SDR-H40 camcorder from Panasonic with very few results. I decided to go ahead and buy it from Amazon and just try it out. Amazon was the least expensive price by the way. This camera is exactly what I was looking for and fits my needs to film my two little boys perfectly. I was buying it to replace a 10 year old panasonic vhs-c camcorder that was well worn out. Right out of the box I could not believe how small this camera was. It literally fits in the palm of my hand. The 40 gig hard drive holds over 9 hours of video on the highest quality setting. More than enough for me I think. The sound was very crisp and clear. The video was average I thought but for the price I paid I have no complaints. I was actually between buying this camera and the Sony DCR-SR45. I opted for this Panasonic because of the price and my satisfaction in the old Panasonic vhs-c camera we owned previously. If you are looking for an entry level, low priced hard drive based camcorder, I strongly recommend the Panasonic SDR-H40. The only complaint I have so far is the included software which is no big deal.
30. Dan says:

    September 19, 2010 at 2:59 PM

    Review by Dan for Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
    Rating:
    Purchased the Panasonic SDR-H40 about a month ago and have been pretty pleased with it so far. Filming indoors is pretty grainy as I would suspect most cameras in this price range will be. Turning all lights on and up when filming indoors helps though. Sound is OK, but good for basic use.

    I’m running it on a MSFT XP system and the software that comes with it – to pull the video files off the camera in a viewable format is clunky at best. I’d recommend upgrading to a more sophisticated or 3rd party video editing software vs. using the standard tool that comes with it. I’m running Adobe Premiere Elements now and it is a much better user experience — from transferring files to editing the video.

    On the positive side, the Zoom with optical image stabilizer is fantastic. The menu, interface, design, features/functionality are great — easy to use yet flexible enough to meet most average users filming needs.

    If you are looking for a basic HDD camera, I’d give this one serious consideration.
31. P. McKenna says:

    September 19, 2010 at 3:34 PM

    Review by P. McKenna for Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
    Rating:
    I’d been contemplating a camcorder for several months, and when the funds became available, after careful thought, I bought this one. Why:

    1) The built-in 40 Gig hard drive is a huge blessing. More than adequate for my needs
    
    2) Small size and ease of use and learning for a first timer like me
    
    3) A lot of good features for the price
    
    4) Better optical zoom than many in this price range (42X optical, 2000X digital)
    
    5) More than acceptable sound quality

    I was also aware of some of the limitations of such a unit. For lighting, I did purchase a small LCD movie light that definitely helps in dim situations, (I may een get an infra-red light for night shots). Other thing to keep in mind is that there is NO external audio input, just the built-in condenser mic which is actually pretty decent.

    Ah, the infamous enclosed software question. Simple, I DON’T USE IT!

    Instead, I just simply copy the video files onto my 500 Gig external HD when the unit is hooked up to my PC. Then, I edit them in different software altogether (in my case, uLead/Corel Video Studio 11, which works way better than the enclosed Panasonic software by far and offers much more functionality and features, not to mention ease of use).

    No, it’s not going to produce a cinematic epic (you’d need at least a $40,000 broadcast quality unit to do that with) but it’ll not only capture your life’s moments but it can be utilized to produce a pretty cool low-budget film if you’re so inclined, heck I’ve produced some comedy videos with footage from this thing in part and was very pleased.

    My only real MAJOR gripe is the battery, I just wish it could last more than one hour! Are there batteries compatible with this unit that will go 2, maybe 3 hours? At least they were kind enough to include a charger/power supply.

    Looking for a good place to start camcordering, this is a good one!
32. Simcha Evron says:

    September 19, 2010 at 4:17 PM

    Review by Simcha Evron for Panasonic SDR-H40 40GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 42x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
    Rating:
    so a month after buying this camcorder i had a chance to record my grandson’s football( soccer) game in barrington il. seeing that it was my first time using it, it took me a few minutes to get used to steadying the camera. after that it was easy. the mic worked good with the audience noise( chanting) and the finger and thumb controls are comfortable enough for my big hand.
    
    after i got home i had to install the software and transfer the movie to my computer. easy enough. the problem was that i shot in 16:9 and my movie came out on 4:3. now i had to resort to another programme to transfer it to 16:9. not good. you should be able to transfer from the camera to the pc in the same mode and screen type.
    
    thats my only problem with this camcorder, the transfer.
    
    the pictures(movie) were very good quality in my opinion.

    one more thing. as of today, april 22, 2008. the batteries are very expensive and hard to get.
33. Antonio T. Lima says:

    September 19, 2010 at 4:58 PM

    Review by Antonio T. Lima for Sony DCR-SR88 120GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder with 60x Optical Zoom and 2.7-inch Widescreen LCD + 8GB Accessory Kit
    Rating:
    Questions This Sony DCR-SR88 120GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 60x Optical Zoom and 2.7-inch Widescreen LCD + 8GB Accessory Kit is Includes?: With a built-in 120GB hard disk drive, the Sony Handycam SR88 Silver 120GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder eliminates the need for tapes or discs. The professional-quality Carl Zeiss 60x optical zoom lens delivers clear, sharp images and Hybrid recording technology offers the flexibility to record video to the hard drive or to Memory Stick PRO Duo media.Key Features & Benefits: 1/8″ Advanced HAD CCD ImagerProvides stunning detail and clarity for exceptional video and still image performance 60x optical/2000x digital zoom lensLets you get up close to your subject with professional-quality Carl Zeiss precision ground optics 2.7″ Clear Photo LCD displayProvides exceptional viewing clarity with 230K pixel resolution Additional Features: 120GB hard disk drive Face detection technology LED Video Light for low-light situations Dolby Digital stereo recording with built-in zoom mic Record & zoom controls on the LCD Accepts Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo and SD/SDHC media Direct Copy to external hard disk drive without a PC Includes Sony Picture Motion Browser software USB 2.0 interface 120GB hard disk drive: A built-in 120GB hard disk drive can record and store up to 91 hours of video footage in SD LP mode. In addition, “HDD Smart Protection” gives you peace of mind by preventing any recorded video and images from being lost if the camcorder is accidentally dropped. 2.7″ Clear Photo LCD (230 K) display: The 2.7″ Clear Photo LCD (230 K) display provides exceptional viewing clarity with 230K pixels resolution. The display rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles, as well as provides sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback LED Video Light: The DCR-SR88 features a light that can assist in low-light situations. 1/8″ Advanced HAD CCD Imager: A 1/8″ Advanced HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCD Imager provides stunning detail and clarity for exceptional video and still image performance. Includes Sony PMB (Picture Motion Browser) software: Sony Picture Motion Browser software offers a simple, intuitive way to transfer, sort and view your video and still images on your compatible PC Face Index function: Face Index makes it easier than ever to find and play back the right video scene. Using Face Detection technology, Face Index indexes your video footage according to the faces detected in each scene 60X Optical / 2000X Digital Zoom: 60X optical zoom help you capture close-up action while keeping your distance. In addition, Digital Zoom Interpolation means that extreme digital zooming (up to 2000X) is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zooms Direct Copy to external HDD w/o PC: Store your memories in a whole new way with the ability to copy videos from your camcorder directly to an external hard disk drive, all without a computer Hybrid Recording to HDD or Memory Stick Duo and SD media: Hybrid recording technology delivers a new level of flexibility of capturing and transferring your video footage and digital photos from the camcorder to compatible viewing devices. Dolby Digital stereo recording with Built-in Zoom Mic: The built-in zoom microphone focuses audio recording on your subjects with the camera’s zoom lens, helping memories ring true with clear dialogue and crisp, discrete sounds. Record and zoom controls on LCD: The DCR-SR88 features an additional set of record and zoom buttons on the LCD screen, give you more control and flexibility when holding the camcorder, especially in overhead or low angle shots. Media Card Slot: For convenient storage and sharing of your images and videos, the camera accepts Memory Stick Duo / Memory Stick PRO Duo / Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo media and SD/SDHC media. Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with SteadyShot: The DCR-SR88 features a professional-quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens designed specifically for compact camcorders. Face Detection: Face Detection technology recognizes faces anywhere in the frame and automatically adjusts exposure to help capture faces brightly and clearly. Power On by opening LCD display: Power on your camcorder by simply opening the LCD display. Direct connection with DVD burner: The DCR-SR88 supports a direct connection with the VRD-P1 DVD burner (sold separately), which allows you to burn DVDs directly from your camcorder without the need for a PC One Touch Disc Burn: Easily burn a DVD copy of your footage using the supplied PMB (Picture Motion Browser) software. Simply connect the camcorder to your compatible PC via a USB cable and press the One Touch Disc Burn Button USB 2.0 interface: A USB 2.0 interface provides an easy way to connect your camcorder to a compatible PC for fast transfer of video and still images for editing. Thanks, Antonio
34. E. Kim says:

    September 19, 2010 at 5:30 PM

    Review by E. Kim for Sony HDR-XR100 80 GB HDD High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    I have been using a previous generation Sony HDR-SR7 high def 60GB hard drive camcorder and been overall happy with that model.

    I then waited patiently for Sony’s new “XR” series of camcorders and am very pleased with the Sony HDR-XR100. This newer camcorder is the lowest end model of the four new XR series models, which include the HDR-XR100, XR200, XR500, and XR520.

    SONY HDR-XR100 PROS:

    1. Feels significantly smaller than the previous generation Sony SR models. The dimensions are 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 5 1/8 inch (69 x 68 x 129mm). The numbers may seem only slightly smaller than the previous generation SR models, but in the hand it feels noticably smaller.
    
    2. This camera without battery weighs 11oz (330g) or with battery 14.5oz (410g). The numbers again may seem like only a small difference with the older SR series, but in the hand it feels significantly lighter.
    
    3. Extraordinary convenience of having an 80GB hard drive versus using tape. Just as with the SR series, the use of a hard drive continues to be amazing. I cannot imagine ever going back to using tape. One simply uses the camcorder and everything is instantly saved on its hard drive. Whenever one is ready to export their video files, you just connect it with a USB cable and the computer will automatically download your video files. 80GB allows for 9 hours and 40 minutes of recording at the highest “FH” mode. At the lowest quality mode LP, 80GB will allow for 33 hours and 30 minutes of recording time.
    
    4. Wonderfully easy to use LCD touch screen with intuitive menu options. Even without reading the manual, one can quickly understand how to use their camcorder.
    
    5. Nice indexing of your recorded videos that allow for easy selection of playback through the camcorder LCD. Faces can also be indexed so that you may select your videos by a person’s face in an index.
    
    6. Very detailed image quality of the video
    
    7. Allows for capturing still photos at 4.0 megapixels. There also appears to be a “smile shutter” feature that allows the camera to detect when your subject smiles, and then capture a photo. I have not tried that feature yet.
    
    8. Supports same rechargeable lithium batteries used in previous generation Sony SR series, e.g. model no. NP-FH60 or NP-FH70.
    
    9. Can also record on Memory Stick PRO Duo instead of hard drive

    WHAT IS NOT AVAILABLE ON THE XR100 (BUT AVAILABLE ON XR200):

    1. GPS
    
    2. Flash for photography
    
    3. Larger 120GB hard drive
    
    4. Active interface shoe to power accessories that can mount on top of camera
    
    5. 15x optical zoom (the XR100 has less at 10x optical zoom)

    SONY HDR-XR100 CONS:

    1. The video has a jittery quality to it when the camcorder is not on a tripod. The more drastically you move the camcorder during recording, the greater the effect. It seems less pronounced when on a tripod, but this jittery quality still remains. It is for this reason that I suspect the jittery quality is not entirely related to the image stabilization feature.
    
    2. There is no optical viewfinder on the XR-100. I do have one on my older SR7.
    
    3. There is no docking station, which I did have on my older SR7. A docking station made it even more convenient to upload videos than having to fiddle with a USB cable.
    
    4. Noisy low-light video quality is still present. I cannot detect any improvement over my older SR7 for low-light video as it remains quite noisy. Please note that the higher end Sony HDR-XR500 and XR520 have some type of special “backlit CMOS” sensor that Sony reports has improved low-light with low noise capability.
    
    5. As is usual for Sony, you will have to use Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick PRO Duo format if you want to record onto flash memory instead of the hard drive.
    
    6. My previous generation Sony HDR-SR7 had the lens cover open automatically, but in my XR100, I have to manually flip a small lever near the lens to open it.

    CONCLUSION:

    Overall I’m very happy with the Sony HDR-XR100 because it is significantly smaller and lighter than the previous generation HDR-SR7 I own, with all of the great convenience that comes from using a built-in hard drive coupled with a wonderfully easy touchscreen LCD. I did not think there were enough differences for me to purchase the more expensive XR200, but you may want to consider the even more expensive XR500 for its possibly improved low-light video capability with the “backlit CMOS” sensor technology that only the Sony HDR-XR500 and XR520 have.

    ADDENDUM 5/24/2010:

    I recently bought a Canon HF-S100 camcorder, which is considerably more expensive than this Sony, but I nevertheless needed to amend my review of the Sony XR100. I initially thought the Canon HF-S100 had less of a jittery quality, but after more use realized that both the Sony HDR-XR100 and the more expensive Canon HF-S100 suffer from a jittery quality. I have not yet tried to reduce the picture quality of the recording to see if that will smooth the abrupt transitions between frames. I reduced the rating from a 5/5 for the Sony to a 4/5, but am not certain if there are any prosumer high-definition cameras that can produce a smooth, jittery-free image.
35. HD Evaluator says:

    September 19, 2010 at 5:54 PM

    Review by HD Evaluator for Sony HDR-XR100 80 GB HDD High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    When I purchased an HD camcorder I expected an HD quality picture. Not the case with this camcorder – in normal evening indoor lighting the video is extremely noisy, it was so bad that I burned a disc and took it to the Sony Style store to compare — I must have received a defective unit? Nope, it seems to be a common problem with this model….the rep in the Sony Style store even admitted that the video quality was really bad. The white balance was also a bit off. The other problem is that the picture is jittery even with the “Steady Shot” turned on and trying to hold the camera as steady as possible. It performed OK in brighter lighting but you shouldn’t have to use an old fashioned video floodlight to get a decent indoor image!!!

    Back it went for a refund. .If you’re interested in purchasing this model check it out in a store first and take it into the lower light home theater room and shoot a sample video before you buy!
36. Dale C. Leonard Jr. says:

    September 19, 2010 at 6:42 PM

    Review by Dale C. Leonard Jr. for Sony HDR-XR100 80 GB HDD High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    The high definition video quality in daylight is excellent. That being said, this camcorder has some serious drawbacks:
    
    1. The PMB (Picture Motion Browser) software does not work on Windows Vista 64-Bit
    
    2. The image stabilization is terrible (it will literally give you motion sickness watching video if you walk with this camera).
    
    3. The low-light video quality is very poor.
    
    4. There is no view finder.
37. Bonny J. Hill says:

    September 19, 2010 at 7:35 PM

    Review by Bonny J. Hill for Sony HDR-XR100 80 GB HDD High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3AVY5FVLL2BJK If you are looking for a camera that shoots great HD outside, then you have found the camera. The quality of shooting outdoors is very good. But when you go indoors and you do not have a lot of light coming in from the windows then the camera will start picking up noise. What I did is pick up a headband flash light and took the band around the camera to attach the light. Adding that extra light has help. You can change some gain and aperture settings. But it isn’t enough like pro camera can do. I do love the small size of the camera.
38. Kris says:

    September 19, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    Review by Kris for Sony HDR-XR100 80 GB HDD High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
    Rating:
    This is certainly a good buy for the price and the quality. Since every item is not perfect, even this has few drawbacks. Its doing ok in low light as compared to others, but in day light quality is the best. Creating a HD DVD is easy but to convert to a regualar DVD is realy pain. It takes for ever almost 4 hours for writing a regular DVD. The quality of conversion is bad. The other one When viewed connecting directly to TV, you get the best results. Regarding zoom, its just 10X optical which limits the coverage range. Well I bought this to for personnel home recording, so I scarificed range to quality.
39. P. D. Bigio says:

    September 19, 2010 at 9:09 PM

    Review by P. D. Bigio for Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Included)
    Rating:
    This is a great video camera, it feels light, compact, neatly put together, and there should be no doubt about it, its a Sony product – they are all like this! However, I couldn’t tell why this camera was better than DCR-SR40, or DCR-SR42 – which are at most $200 cheaper. So I had to call Sony Sales to have them explain to me that this camera DCR-SR62 has a VIDEO resolution which is 3 times better than DCR-SR42. If you go to the Sony website you find that DCR-SR62 offers 670K Pixels, while DCR-SR42 offers only 260K Pixels. This pixel increase made the decision clear for me since I didnt care about the decreased Zoom for DCR-SR62 (25X and not 40X as DCR-SR42).

    A few other things to consider:
    
    This camera is so easy to use – it doesnt need the EASY Button feature that it offers (except for the fact that the Easy Button is the only way that I was able to get the Image Stabilization Feature).

    The camera doesn’t bring its own case, or light – you would need to buy those, and cost around $40 for each.

    Finally, there probably is another camera (JVC, Panasonic)out there that offers the same basic features as this camera, 30gb, stabilization, battery time etc. Since you are buying the camera on Amazon and don’t get to try the camera features, you should make your decision upon the video resolution they offer. Look for Actual Video resolution information in the company’s websites or call the company’s sales department. The range of resolution for this price should be somewhere between 300-700K, 700 being the best resolution.
40. Gary W. Mccullough says:

    September 19, 2010 at 9:32 PM

    Review by Gary W. Mccullough for Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Included)
    Rating:
    The first Sony product I remember was a reel-to-reel tape recorder my mother purchased nearly 50 years ago. It may be biasing my review, but I’ve always trusted Sony products since then. So when I was looking for a start up camcorder, I naturally started my search with…JVC??? Yeah, I saw the entry level JVC hard drive camcorder at Best Buy. I liked the way it felt in my hand, and the price was about $100 less than the comparible Sony. (Thoughts started percolating in my mind that Sony must be better to be able to charge more for roughly the same camera.) So for the next couple of weeks I was doing my homework. Checking out online reviews (nearly useless), comparing specs and prices. First off, online reviews by people that have bought the product (like me?) are biased by the fact they bought it. I don’t want to admit I spent $600 for a piece of junk (I didn’t). So reviews like the one you are reading right now, need to be taken with a “grain of salt.” So what can I add to the conversation that hasn’t already been said?

    First, Macintosh users CAN download and manipulate clips from this camera, despite what others have said. Get MPEG Streamclip, a free download from the Apple website, and QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback ($20 from the Apple Store online). When you attach the camera to your Mac, the camera appears as a hard drive. Click and drag the clips from the camera to your computer. Open Streamclip and convert the clips to DV (under the File menu). You can then use iMovie to put the clips together with typical Mac ease-of-use and a few special effects, transition effects and even import music from iTunes. If you want to get a little more advanced, buy Quicktime Pro ($40 from the Apple store).

    Second, the Sony SR-62 is point-and-shoot. My wife has a high-end Canon 35mm digital SLR and is spending money, hand over fist, for accessories. I have a Kodak Easy Share I picked up at a big box retailer. I want to record what is happening to me right now. Last year on a road trip to Alaska, a grizzly bear ran across the road ahead of our vehicle. I was the only one to get a picture of it. So when I was looking for a camcorder, I wanted a model that would catch the action. Maybe someday, down the line, I’ll turn into a video geek and need a better camera. But this summer I’m riding my Goldwing through the Rockies to Canada and back. I want to capture the depleted glaciers at Glacier National Park, the wildlife in the Colorado mountains, and the interesting people I always meet on my motorcycle tours.

    Third, the camcorder will record 30GB on the harddrive. You can drag along your laptop (ugh) to download the clips. OR, I found this handy little device called the Hitch. It’s a USB transfer device that acts like a little computer and will transfer files from one USB device to another. I plug the camcorder into the left (input) side, and a DOS formated harddrive into the output (right) side. It only works with DOS (FAT-32) formated memory. I have a Maxtor 60GB One-Touch. Despite that fact it is formated for a Wintel machine, Macintosh computers can read and write to that format. (It isn’t that Mac’s aren’t compatible with Wintel, it’s just the oppposite.) So now I have 21 hours of high quality digital video (according to Sony) that I can record while on vacation. If that doesn’t prove to be adequate, I can stop by a Staples, Best Buy, Office Depot, etc., and pick up another Maxtor One-Touch.

    Fourth, it is a Sony, and that goes back to my childhood memories of a product that was reliable until it was lost in a house fire. You can’t take this part of the review any more seriously than the rivalry between Ford and Chevy types. But I like it. It feels good in my hand. The screen has many of the controls for the camera on it, so I can make adjustments while still keeping my eye on the scene. Some people have criticized this feature because you get finger smudges on the screen. But I’ve found that using the tip of my fingernail is more accurate and doesn’t leave a smudge.

    So, is this the perfect camcorder. No, it doesn’t exist. But it works well for me. I’m having fun making videos of my wife, my students, my life.
41. Juan F. Sanchez says:

    September 19, 2010 at 10:27 PM

    Review by Juan F. Sanchez for Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Included)
    Rating:
    First of all I really need to say that this is a really nice camcorder depending on what you like.

    Pros: This is highly portable. You cannot beat the size, it is like carrying a picture camera. If you buy one of the larger batteries you can record non stop for about 12hrs in low def. mode. You can actually store about 20hrs of video. The larger battery charges in about 1hr and it is ready to go again. The video quality is not the best, but it is not bad either. Once you have the software set up in your computer, the upload to the computer takes about a couple of minutes depending on how much video you have. It is a lot faster than the capturing of Hi-8 and DVD camcorders. The software is really easy to use and to the point. The nightshot plus function is awesome in low light situations. This little camera is one of the best in low light settings for a hardrive camera. The only way that you can get a better video quality in low light setups in a harddrive camcorder is to buy the high definition camcorder that cost over a thousand dollars. For the price it is really nice. Also, you will never need to buy extra media for your camcorder, you don’t have to worry if you are going to be able to find the media on vacation.Even when other media will go out of stile, such as HI-8 and eventually DVD, your memories are in digital format. In the future you will have no trouble tranferring all of your videos from digital format in your computer to blu-ray or HP’s high definition disks. If you plan to be gone on vacation for a several weeks you could easily fit 20 hrs of video into your camcorder, forget about taking 5-10 extra accessories. Did I mention that it is next to weightless?

    Cons: The video quality is lower than even Hi-8 digital camcorders. The cheapest, best picture comes from camcorder that record to DVD. I will use this camcorder for small outings, camping and where I’m not too interested in incredibly sharp images. Like I mentioned above, the video quality is good, just not as good as other currently available camcorders. I plan to keep using my Hi-8 camcorder every time I’m interested in higher video quality. Another bad thing is that the battery included with the camcorder only gives you about 1 hr. 40 min. of recording time and then you have to recharge it. (I highly recomend the purchase of the bigger battery). Here is another thing that is a little bit annoying: every time that you pause recording, the camcorder “chops” the video. Let me explain what I mean, when using a HI-8 or a DVD camcorder and you pause, then the media pauses and it does not “chop” the image. Those will only “chop” the image when you shut down the camcorder (instead of pausing) and then begin recording again later. This will be significant when you tranfer your video to DVD from your computer. When you transfer all you capture videos to DVD, every time you paused recording you will have a pause in the DVD. This is not so on HI-8 or DVD, where the video usually flows flawlessly unless you have shut down recording and started new. Here is another thing that I believe Sony could have done better, the video quality is not as good as others, but certain video editing software can increment the video quality, at least as the DVD burning goes (such as NERO 2007), sadly the Sony software does not. In other words the Sony software will give you a nice video burning, but NERO 2007 will give you a better one. (Here I again bring back the comment that the video quality is not as good as HI-8 and DVD camcorders).

    I give the camcorder a 3 stars out of 5 because I really like it, but it was well below my expectations. I decided to keep it since I don’t have to buy any more media for it. The video quality is good enough for my every day use, special occassions I will use my HI-8. If you don’t mind having a little bit lower video quality, this is the one for you.
42. Maeve of Tara says:

    September 19, 2010 at 11:16 PM

    Review by Maeve of Tara for Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Included)
    Rating:
    I am disappointed. And I thought that I read all the reviews here and made an intelligent choice. Hah! Shame on me. First off, the video quality rates a B-minus; I have 2 other Sony camcorders, a Digital-8 (bought late ’99 or early 2000, can’t remember exactly) and an even older mini DVD. However, both have video quality far superior to this one.
    
    I am about to leave for Europe and don’t have time left to return this and buy/try) another one. Also, it was a chore to get this unit to sit snugly on the supplied power station.
    
    Granted, I just began working with it this morning, and I am rather insecure when it comes to electronics.
    
    One good point: the DCR-SR62 is charmingly light!
    
    However, I am sorry I did not pay attention to what another reviewer here pointed out: the LCD screen is almost useless in bright daylight, and of course there is no viewfinder to overcome the glare. I bought it knowing there is no viewfinder, and had to actually shoot with it to realize how necessary it is.
    
    I’ve tried its Super NightShot feature, and it’s nothing to write home about. By the way, it does take photos on the hard drive, so you don’t really need to buy the MemoryStick Pro right away, just switch the capture mode from video to photo; but bear in mind that the resolution is low. I had hoped that with this one camcorder I’d have a video and photo combo, therefore less gadgets to schlepp around. Especially air travel being as cumbersome as it is these days. Well, yes, you have a movie camera and a photo camera all in one, just not very good quality. If good digital photos is what you want, you will need a good digital camera.
    
    If high quality DVD movies is what you want to record, prepare to spend a few hundred dollars more and get something worthwhile. I am sorry I did not.
    
    Follow up on September 15: Returned it to amazon yesterday. Don’t know how long it will take for the refund to be processed, so am left without a camera for now. But it just didn’t cut it for me. I dusted off my old cameras, checked again the video quality, and could not justify the cost of keeping this one. Mind you, if you’re in the market for your first camera, you might want to buy it anyway, for I see amazon com has just lowered the price from what I had paid. Video quality is poor only because I am comparing it to a Digital-8, and a very old (DCRPC1)mini-DVD camcorder. So, perhaps I am spoiled. At this point I want to save up and up the ante, so to speak.
    
43. KZinFL says:

    September 19, 2010 at 11:23 PM

    Review by KZinFL for Sony DCR-SR62 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom (Handycam Station Included)
    Rating:
    I spent several weeks reviewing camcorders and trying to decide which brand/model as well as which format. For ease of use (no media to carry/swap out), speed of start-up and capacity I decided on a HDD model (and now, after having taken quite a few videos, some of which didn’t come out that great as I was playing around and experimenting, I’m even happier I chose this format). I’ve been happy with many other Sony products I’ve owned, and at the lower price range of HDD cameras the features/abilities/drawbacks are about the same accross brands so I went with Sony again.

    My budget was limited considering I was shopping for HDD camcorders, but the DCR-SR62 is a step up from the base model and provides better resolution. Ultimately, the biggest drawback is still the video quality (hence 4 stars; even though this is at the lower end of HDD cameras it isn’t cheap and could have a bigger sensor)…but I knew going in this wasn’t a three sensor or HD model; I wanted a memory maker with small size, ease of use (my wife and I both find it a snap to use) and decent picture quality, and this camcorder delivers on these points. The picture quality on a computer screen is good…playing back on a normal size TV is where I can tell it’s a smallish sensor, but even then it’s acceptable. Plus, I haven’t tried burning to a DVD or playing too much with manual settings, so there may be ways to improve the picture even more.

    The rest of the camera is great; I like the design, for it’s size it feels solid, the optical zoom is plenty for me (I don’t bother with digital zoom), the screen is a nice size and the menu’s are easy to use and well laid out. The image stabilization seems to work, but so far I’ve found I don’t need it so I keep it off (I read it has an affect on image quality when turned on, but I don’t know for sure that’s true). I’ve also tried the nightshot feature, but haven’t recorded with it yet…it seems to do okay in low light on it’s own, plus low light ability wasn’t a big concern for me; with the active shoe I can add a video light if I decide I need one.

    So overall, I’m satisfied, my wife is satisfied, I didn’t break the bank to get it, and we can carry it anywhere (I have a very small bag that holds the DCR-SR62, it’s cords and accessories as well as a compact digital camera) and capture memories of our newborn daughter, which is all I was looking for out of a camcorder in this class. So if your needs are the same as mine, I think you’ll be very pleased with the DCR-SR62; if you absolutely need top-end video quality look elsewhere and be prepared to pay top-end prices…but for the price this model is great.