Sony DCR-SR42 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom by Sony
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Digital camera reviews of Sony DCR-SR42 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom
Digital camera Review: Nice for the money
Summary: 4 Stars
Needed good audio and a decent optical zoom. This camera does this for my
purpose. I would say that you probably will want to record in Hq which will bring your record time to about 7+ hours at a time before deleting
some of the video. No problem if you transfer to DVD... software is
useable but does not have editing for fades, chapters etc., at least that
I was able to find. It did produce a nice dvd at the resolution that this
camera records... This is NOT high definition.
It records dvd in mpeg2 so you will probably need a new dvd player if yours is over 5 years old... probably...
Definitely better than the older tape based analog in my opinion, and not
quite as good as the high definition. Of course this would require a high
defintion Monitor etc... but I ramble.... a very good unit for the money.
Digital camera Review: Great camera, but not perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this from AMZN for Christmas for my wife. I was seriously considering buying the JVC Everio GZMG130 as it seemed the nearest comparable product. I looked at both models closely at Circuit City for quite some time, but ultimately chose the Sony.
What I like:
- Great size.
- Superior picture quality (by my own unsophisticated testing) to the JVC. Several user reviews I read elsewhere about the JVC seem to confirm this.
- NO MEDIA!!!! This is HUGE!
- I like the NightShot feature that uses infrared.
What I don't like:
- No USB interface directly on the camera, (I think the JVC had this) so you have to carry the stupid docking station (albeit quite small) with you if you wish to connect to a computer while away.
- The bundled software is useless.
- As others have mentioned, you'll have to get an MPEG-2 decoder from a 3rd party to use the video files from the camera directly on your computer.
- The touch screen was a selling point for me when I was looking in the store, but I've decided it's actually a minus, not a plus. The idea of touching/pointing at the thing you want to do seems great, but too many controls (for example, volume) are buried in the on-screen menu and do not have an external control button/knob. Also, you get greasy fingerprints all over your viewscreen and you can't use it with gloves. :(
- No viewfinder (although I think most cameras in this price range do not have one).
Lessons Learned:
- Trying to plunk through the useless software and being unable to view the video footage natively on my PC caused me no end of frustration. A Google search for MPEG-2 decoder will yield TONS of results, and you'll have to do a lot of wading/experimenting, but you CAN get a decoder for free to solve this problem. However that was a frustrating experience.
- My solution to both problems (usable editing software and a good decoder) came in Adobe Premiere Elements.
All complaints aside, this really is a GREAT camera and is a huge improvement over the 8mm tape camcorder it replaced in terms of features, battery life, and picture quality. In my personal opinion, the HDD-based camcorders are the sweet spot in the consumer segment and are worth the extra expense compared to the DVD or tape solutions.
Digital camera Review: Not so good
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this product mainly because of its HDD feature. I liked the fact that the videos and pictures could be transfered and saved in a computer rather than disks and cassettes. But the video and picture quality is extremely poor. My Nikon camera does a better job than that. Digital camera Review: Far from perfect.
Summary: 3 Stars
I've had this camera for 5 days now and am not too happy with the video performance. I have an older Sony TRV118 Super 8 camera and the video on it is at least as good as this one. Forget about taking nice videos unless the lighting is VERY bright. Outdoor videos are semi fair if you don't mind a bit of fuzziness. The bottom line is that even in the best lighting situations the videos are not all that great. I paid 450.00 for this camera and wish I could have tried it out first. I think that Sony put most of their money in the hard drive feature and dwindled on the most important components, being performance. By the way, forget about the still pictures. Those cheap 5.00 keychain cameras take better pictures. Over all, I'm stuck with this camera unless I want to return it to Amazon and take a big hit on the refund. I'll just keep it and maybe use it on those really bright sunny days.Digital camera Review: Good product
Summary: 4 Stars
It's a good product, it lives up to Sony's brand image. It's very compact. It's easy to carry. Good quality video is being captured...