| Customer Reviews: Average Rating: 4.5/5 |
| A PLEASURE TO OWN: Rating: 4/5 |
| I FOUND THIS CAMCORDER EASY TO USE IT'S NICE AND SMALL AND THE VIDEO QUALITY IS VERY SATISFACTORY FOR MY USE.IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR MORE THAN HALF ZOOM TO USE A TRIPOD OR YOU END UP WITH A VERY SHAKY VIDEO. |
| Very good; only a few small drawbacks: Rating: 4/5 |
I bought this to get better wildlife movies than with my cheap digital camera (which takes 30-sec clips). I'm basically very pleased with it so far. I didn't want the "Picture Motion Browser" software so I didn't install it. I just connect the USB, browse to the Handycam's hard drive and copy the files onto my PC exactly as I would for any portable drive, and it works brilliantly. The movies are .mpg and play in Windows Media Player; I discovered that basic editing (trimming) can be done easily in Windows Media, too. (In your start menu, go to Windows Media -> Utilities -> Windows Media File Editor.)
In "high quality" mode, the picture is excellent on the PC, displayed at 100% size. I record in the 4:3 proportion as I prefer it to widescreen and it displays well on a regular TV and in Powerpoints. If you enlarge it to full-screen the image quality isn't quite as good of course, but it's really not bad!
The sound quality is excellent.
The only drawbacks I've found so far:
1. The lack of a viewfinder makes it really awkward for older SLR camera-buffs like me to use; I liked to stabilise the camera against my face (and I need glasses to see the screen, but not to see the real-life I'm recording!) but no camcorders have them nowadays....not a lot you can do about that!
2. The autofocus often focuses on the background rather than a small subject, like a bird on the bird-table. Not a lot you can do about that either!
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| so far so good: Rating: 5/5 |
| i have only used it couple of times so far and its good. actually the ease of using hard drive is exelent. |
| Fantastic Sony camcorder: Rating: 4/5 |
I bought this before Christmas 09 to replace my trusty 10yr old Panasonic which sadly and suddenly failed, despite it having cost a fortune and was classed as state of the art 10 yrs ago!! This Sony is fantastic and far superior. It is very small but has tremendous zoom and is so simple to use. The touch screen controls are so easy. I like the port to charge the camera directly. I loved the automatic switch on and off facility by just opening the screen, although I found it easier to hold the camera using the screen rather than the side gripstrap, as the unit is very small in my beefy mitt. There is no need to press the Easy button on the side - it reduces the picture quality and there is no need to do it anyway. My 4 year old grandson used it straight out of the box.
Well done Sony and Amazon - a fantastic purchase.
Dave M., Banbury. |
| Rare Sony disappointment: Rating: 2/5 |
I bought this to update my current sony camcorder which works with 8mm tape. I wish I had stuck with using my tape camcorder. This hard drive camcorder does not provide the detail or sound quality compared to 8mm. I was quite disappointed with the quality of recording.
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