 I'm liberated from tapes and other messy media! |
| Review Date: May 17, 2006 |
| Reviewer: David Doostan, California |
Advantages:
1. No tapes or mini-DVD's; record straight onto hard drive
2. Many hours on the hard drive, even in HQ
3. Beautiful colors & resolution
4. Easy to delete and edit clips
5. Records standard MPEG video (easily edited/manipulated)
Disadvantages:
1. No firewire output to computer (USB only; see below.)
2. No headphone output
3. Included software easy, but not powerful
4. Comes with cheap composite video cable; premium S-video cable addn'l cost
I've sorely needed a camcorder for some time now, but I also wanted to avoid a future of buying and storing and fiddling with drawers full of tapes or mini-DVs... so I looked into hard-drive camcorders. Reviews of the exisiting hard-drive camcorders out there were quite mixed, at best - problems with image quality, compression, adaptability to video editing software, etc. So I held on, (unfortunately missing the opportunity to film my kid's first birthday and first steps, etc.) and I bought this machine as soon as it was finally released (initially only to Sony stores) in mid-April. It is surpassing my expectations thus far.
I really do like shooting video directly onto a hard drive. I don't have to worry about wasting tape/miniDVD space, running out of tape, or finding the right spot on the right tape, etc., so I find that it really frees me up to shoot video whenever I'm inspired - and just delete (immediately or later) if the clip isn't interesting. Very liberating. Deleting segments is very easy, just as easy as on a typical digital camera. The clips are organized automatically into folders based on date/time, and within each folder, clips are selected for viewing on the touch screen (or via included remote control), referenced graphically by the first frame of each clip. Simple. One can watch/listen to clips on the 2.7" screen (and speaker) integrated into the camcorder, or hook the camcorder up to TV or computer for playback/preview of unedited footage - resolution is excellent on my 40" LCD TV. I was wondering if I'd be disappointed in the resolution on my big screen, especially considering that nice compact high-def camcorders are now in the $1500 and less range (none with hard disk drives, though), but I'm not disappointed at all; video looks great and crisp straight out of the camcorder - especially since using the "premium" S-video cable I bought for about $35 (which should really be included in the package, I think.)
Creating quality DVDs was my real goal, though, ie. sharing the results with family/friends, and creating a long-lasting archive. Using the included software, I've created a first DVD of about 25 minutes of various length segments of video, mostly of my 15-month old daughter running around and being extremely cute. The DVD looks and sounds surprisingly clear and colorful and vibrant, even on my 40" LCD. The included software makes it fairly straightforward to import video from the camcorder's hard drive onto my computer's hard drive, for editing and authoring DVDs of video. It knows which clips have been imported already, and imports only those that are new. One you've decided what you want on the DVD, it comes out with menus and all, very cool. I haven't yet tried the even simpler "easy-DVD" burn feature, as I've been into editing the clips somewhat before putting them on DVD; I don't know what those results look like. Also, for Mac users, the instructions do include some comments about using the footage with Macintosh computers (I haven't tried that yet.)
Shooting with the camcorder is a breeze. Nice slow smooth zooms are possible, and become easy once you get the hang of it. I was worried that there would be a lag time to initiate recording (after pressing the "record" button) but there is none really. It feels pretty good in my hand. I haven't dropped it, and don't plan to, so I can't comment on whether the hard drive fails with trauma.
Some comments:
1. My computer doesn't have USB 2.0 input (which is the standard for the past three yrs or so), and I've had no luck with various adapters, so the lack of firewire output is rather annoying to me personally, and causes importing of clips to my computer to be rather time-consuming (though easy). It seems silly that Sony is abandoning firewire output on this machine, just like Apple has abandoned it on the newest Ipods. Sucks for me; though my computer is a great but oldish HP with fast Pentium 4 processing, it only has USB 1.1 support. For most of you, though, importing via USB 2.0, it should be quite fast.
2. Sound recording is very good, but I wish the camcorder had a headphone port. Oh, well. Perhaps it's a blessing, as now I have no reason to plug my head into headphones all the time.
3. The included software is really nice for getting the video from camcorder to computer, but editing is primitive at best. I'm waiting for my video editing software suite to arrive at my door (I chose Sony Vegas Platinum, based on reviews); I hope it works well. Compatibility should not be a problem, as the video files are saved, on my computer, as MPEG video files, which are a fairly standard platform.
4. You'll be tempted (like me) to start buying software and accessories (mic, extra battery, new computer with superfast processing speeds, etc.) so save a few hundred (or thousand) for those. Included battery lasts for almost 2 hours of use.
Overall a very nice machine, with a lot going for it. I'm very happy to own it, and I'm using it frequently with minimal problems thus far. I wish it had firewire output and a headphone jack, but it's great even without it.
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A Wonderful Camera
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| Review Date: October 25, 2006 |
| Reviewer: David Lessnau, Bonita Springs, Florida |
I am very happy with the new camcorder. Buy one. I had first ordered a Panasonic VDR-D300 Mini DVD camcorder. It used the small DVDs and only stored 18 minutes on each one. Reading the manual told me I did not want that camera, so I returned it for Amazon (I love their service) and purchased the Sony-SR100
I took practice shots outside and inside, zoomed in and out, took close ups of flowers both in wide angle where you can get to 1/2 inch away and telephoto that you must be 2 feet away. Everything was always in perfect focus.
Each scene shows up on the LCD as a thumbnail. You can play time all or anyone of them, you can play the last scene instantly after you take it and delete if you want. You can make a play list by selecting only those scenes you want to play, and if you want you can rearrange the scenes in any order you want. Still pictures also are shown as thumbnails. You select which one you want to see.
This is all done on the LCD screen, which is a touch screen.
I then plugged into my 60 inch TV and played the pictures. They were crystal clear. MUCH better than those still pictures I took in Africa with my 6 Mega pixel Minolta. Those look good on computer, or printed, but not so hot on TV.
I then plugged the camera into laptop and made a DVD of all the scenes on the hard drive without loading them into the computer first. I then played the DVD on the TV and it was the same as when directly from the camera
I then imported all the images camcorder hard drive into the computer and edited them. You can delete or edit them as you wish. Each scene shows as a thumbnail and you can play each one. You can also cut out frames or a group of frames.
Great camera and easy to use. I figured out all of the above in about an hour.
If a person does not wish to edit, then you just point and shoot and put all the unedited pictures on a DVD and that is it.
The 30 gig hard drive will hold 7 hours of pictures, so that is more than enough for a long trip. I have two lithium batteries that each last about 120 minutes. They recharge in two hours. As you take pictures the readout is always showing you how much time you have left on the battery.
I am sure on my travels I will be taking mostly video and also still pictures with my 6 megapixle camera but a lot less of those than before.
This camera also takes still pictures and it also has a flash. They seem to be good quality when viewed on the TV.
For pictures when it is very dark, it has an infrared light. I have not tested that.
This is an amazing product, and I find dealing with Amazon to be the best. I had one price for this camera $300 less, but when I tried to buy it, they called and asked if I wanted the parts other than the body. They tried to offer it to me complete for $100 less then Amazon, but after that sad experience, I did not want to do business with them.
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Works great with a Mac
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| Review Date: May 17, 2006 |
| Reviewer: F. Bacheller, Utah, USA |
I found this camcorder works great with a Mac -- but you have to download and install two pieces of software first: (1) MPEG Streamclip for Mac OS X, which is free. Do an Internet search for the URL. (2) the MPEG-2 codeck for Quicktime form the Apple online store ($20); Quicktime Pro ($30) might also be required--not sure. I already have it. After installing both pieces of software, connect to the camcorder through the USB connection. The camcorder will show up as a hard drive "No Name." Find your video files on "No Name" and drag them to your Mac. Then use Steamclip to open your movie files. I use these settings: compressor h264 when converting to either .mov or mpeg-4. I get beautiful results.
The camcorder itself is great to use. Video is high quality. Even the 120 X digital zoom was not really so bad. The sound is terrific. Menus are easy to navigate, but I tend to forget where some settings are. Am getting better with practice. |
easy to use and good video quality
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| Review Date: May 29, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Reporter, Paducah, KY |
| I am more than satisfied with my new DCR-SR100. It has exceeded my expectations. It is very easy to use and the video quality is very good. The still camera quality is not as good, but I didn't buy this camera to take still photos. I highly recommend this camera. |
First time mom - This camera is a BREEZE~
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| Review Date: May 13, 2006 |
| Reviewer: MoJo, Fredericksburg VA |
| We ordered a camcorder online, from another website before our 3 month old was born. It took over a month to get to us, and when it arrived - all the accessories where in the box - BUT NO CAMERA~! Horrified we called - and the company blamed UPS! We waited and waited - and finally just asked for a refund. We decided to wait for this Sony after all the reviews we read online. My husband bought this for Mother's day. This was a breeze through Amazon - and upon opening the box and turning the camera on - we were amazed. The on screen function to navigate is wonderful! Like a digital camera! We put our daughter to bed before I opened the gift. The lights were out. I wanted to film her right away. So I laughed that the camera has Night Vision - and as soon as I said that I looked at the camera and there beside the LCD was a little button for Night Vision (how easy was that!!!) The functions offered on the screen touch are as easy to scroll through as your cell phone!! The playback feature on the screen is as easy to use as recording. The surround sound is a wonderful addition (have read that the blue tooth microphone is wonderful for plays and events!! but a little pricey) We love the all around ease and user friendliness of this camera! |
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