Sony DCR-SR45 30GB Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom by Sony
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Our Price: $115.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Digital Camera See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Sony DCR-SR45 30GB Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom
Digital camera Review: Good camera for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
We did a lot of research before buying this camcorder. The reasons we purchased this particular camera were: (1) Sony name, (2) One button DVD burn directly from the camera, (3) hard drive. We have not been diappointed. The picture is good. It is not professional quality but you can't really expect that in this price range. We also purchased the Sony ACC-TCH5 battery/charger kit. Using both the battery that comes with the camera and the purchased battery - we were able to record video almost all day on our recent vacation. The small size takes some getting used to but is very convenient when travelling. Do not buy this to take digital still pictures. You will be disappointed. You will want to take your digital still camera for those pics. The zoom is GREAT but you will want (need) a tripod to take zoom shots. All in all this is a great little camcorder.Digital camera Review: Good camera, but should be better
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a good Camera for the price, but I think you should find a better one for additional $70-100. It's compact, has a very nice zoom and HD capacity, accepts MS cards and has a useful touch screen that allows you to access all functions. But it has a very limited CCD, that doesn't allow you to have very high resolution recordings. The movies look nice in the small 2.7 screen, but it will be not so good for presenting in bigger screens, like a 32" LCD or higher.
If you like Sony, I recommend you to look for DCR-SR65 or better.
Digital camera Review: Good for price, but grainy still pics
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great little camera for the price, but be forewarned: it will not replace your digital still camera. The maximum setting for stills is 640 x 480. This is one of the lowest settings on my Canon A540. The SR45 is about half the price of my old 8mm, so I wish now that I had spent $100-$200 more for the SR65 or SR85 which both have higher quality settings. Even so, there are many great features: easy to learn and use, no more tapes, easy to transfer pics/videos to a laptop or DVD, the "Quick On" button remembers your current settings and powers down into a standby mode. Beware: there is no viewfinder, so recording in bright light is almost impossible.Digital camera Review: Good for the cost
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this camera for the first few weeks and I am still in the process of learning how to use it. However there are a few things I can comment on. First, it is correct that the absence of optical vewfinder is a real problem with sunlit bright scenes: you just cannot see what you are filming, the LCD is not strong enough to fight the glare from the sun, so you are left blind.
The software that comes with the camera is bizarre, in the sense that it describes various operations but without any explanations as to what they really are or why it is good to have them, or what it does in the end. For example, following the downloading of the images into one's computer, the software goes through "analyzing" the videos. I still do not know what that does and why this is good to do. (When I download the images via MS, there is no such requirements, and I can still use the images, play the videos, make them part of Premier Elements clips, etc.) Plus the extra files (.modd and .moff) that are created are anybody's guess as to why they are useful. Bizarre, bizzare.
Another negative, although I did not read this from anybody else. The strap that allows to hold the camera while filming is too small for my hand. In other words, when my right hand is through the loop I cannot easily have access to the control (record, zoom, etc.) I am trying now to rig something up that will allow full flexibility, but at the same time prevent the camera from slipping through my fingers and falling. (Note: my hands are standard size for a 6 ft adult but are also strong)
On the plus side; (1) the stability system is quite good, you can actually film maximum zoom (with an added telelens) and get a viewable image. (2) Another plus is the touch screen control. This is convenient (when there is no sun!)and the user interface is not too bad once you have read the manual. (3) This is one of the rare cameras for which you can find different lenses, such as tele, fisheye, or wide angle, so you can play more. (4) I also found that the still images that the camera takes are not bad at all (at least using the hard drive to record them on). I am not using this really because I have a SLR to does a much better job, but the results from the video camera are quite OK.
Overall I still have a ways to go to get to use it well. But this camera is OK, particularly when one is coming from an analog technology.
Digital camera Review: Good for the money, but went back anyway!
Summary: 3 Stars
Like everyone else, I researched this to death. Read all the reviews, compared prices, compared models, compared brands, etc. I ended up purchasing the Sony DCR-SR46 (same as DCR-SR45 only with 60GB harddrive instead of 30GB). The camera itself is really nice. It fits well in my hand, controls are easy to use. I particularly like the touch screen. It was easy to figure out - I don't like to read the instructions, and didn't have to. This is a really nice camera for the money. Unfortunately, it did go back, and I ended up purchasing an HD camcorder. So here's my two cents worth:
I have three kids who are into sports and music. I was recording their games and concerts with my Canon Powershot S3-IS. It takes nice video, but it's not a video camera. So I decided to purchase a new one. (My JVC Mini-DV camcorder died on me, so I'm left with all those little tapes and nothing to play them on - come on JVC! talk about lost memories!) Anyway, I bought the Sony camcorder and took it to my daughter's basketball game. It was very easy to use, figured it out right away - not a big learning curve. I took some still shots and a bunch of video. The zoom was really great, the battery seemed OK for my use. It gave me 115ish minutes at full charge. The display was clear. I really liked the camera and how it felt in my hands. The problem came when I got it home and plugged it into my TV. I have a Sony 46" HDTV. The picture quality was very grainy. Video was shot on the highest quality setting (per previous reviews). I will say that it seems to perform better on close up video; the larger the image,the better the quality. But when I zoomed out to get the whole game, the girls were too small on the court and the quality went way down. Had it not been for her number, I would not have been able to point her out. I transferred the video and photos onto my computer thinking the quality would be better being a smaller screen. It was a little better, but not much. The photos were terrible, but that's not a deal breaker for me. I have a good camera, so if I really want a good picture, I'll use my camera (it would only be an added bonus to do dual duty). As far as the software, I can't comment too much on that. I'm not that big into video editing. I did burn a DVD and it was no problem at all. And the DVD plays on my DVD player without any problems.
Bottom line: I can't say it's the worst camcorder I've ever seen (the reason for 3 stars instead of 1 or 2). Sony makes a lot of fine products, and I really wanted to like this one. We have a house full of Sony products and love them all, but the video quality just wasn't great for me. I may have higher than normal expectations. I was going to wait for Sony to release the HDR-CX100/B, but by that time, basketball and wrestling season will be over and I'll have missed out. So back it went and I purchased the Canon HG20.