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| Date Reviewed: 04/20/2007 |
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Strengths: * Ultra-compact design
* Carl Zeiss lenses
* Sony slim looks
* Light weight
* Roomy 60GB hard disk
* One-button DVD recording feature
* Convenient docking station
Weaknesses: None
Summary: If you are like me, your previous/current camcorder is as old as your youngest child. Well, my old Sony Hi8 Handycam recently celebrated its 12 years. I have been looking for a replacement, since JVC came out with the first hard-disk based digital camcorder. I am glad that I waited long enough for this beautiful unit to come out. Needless to say, DCR-SR82 is much lighter and smaller than my old camera. The 60GB on DCR-SR82 is roomy enough to record any imaginable family or social event. My favorite feature, however, is the one-button DVD recording. You dock the camera in the provided docking station, insert a blank DVD in the DVD burner of your computer, press the button--and you are done! For your information, I am a computer systems engineer and I KNOW how to use a media converter, edit raw video clips, etc. This is precisely why I crave for the simplicity of one-touch recording. I love it!
 94% of People (49/52) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/10/2007 |
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Strengths: No tapes, included docking station, one button transfers/burn, useful 25x zoom
Weaknesses: Lack of viewfinder, no simple way to delete (may be a good thing)
Summary: I've finally upgraded from miniDV to HDD and don't miss those tapes! All competing units are similar in size, and most take great videos (JVC has questionable compression artefacts) - so for me it is all about convenience, and simplicity.
Since the menu is all touch screen, there are very few buttons on the unit itself. This is good for the non-techie folks to be able to pick it up and start shooting (or to hand to a friend or relative so you can get in the shot). They won't hit the wrong button and you won't spend 5 minutes explaining how to operate.
I considered other brands (JVC and Panasonic) but didn't like what I read about JVC video quality and the panasonic thumb "joystick" would be a real nuisance to newbies using it. Too easy to press that button rather than the record start/stop button. Plus, the high def Panasonic unit only recorded to SD card, no internal hard drive. SD cards just don't have enough capacity for the average consumer taking videos of a family trip or event. It isn't "convenient" to have to swap cards every 40 minutes or so. When SD has higher capacity, and video editing with their format is better, that might be the time to upgrade to high def. maybe add an internal hdd for more convenience too.
Now for the Sony line. I chose the sr82 for its hdd capacity and larger screen than the sr42, and more usable zoom than the sr200/300 series (they're slightly larger also, and more money). The sr200/300 video quality increase wasn't enough to justify the limited 10x zoom and bigger price tag.
The one thing missing from this unit that the sr200/300 has is an automatic lense cap. the 42/62/82 line has a manual cap. I can see we will forget to close it when done filming.
91% of People (10/11) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/13/2007 |
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Strengths: Solid body construction, natural feel in hand, very light, both hard and soft controls are very responsive (no delays or lagtime), docking station works well with software, accessory shoe.
Weaknesses: No viewfinder, LCD washed out in sunlight, audio quality could be better, non-removable hard drive
Summary: This model was a well deserved upgrade from a Canon MiniDV camcorder. The Canon was bulky and heavy. While recording onto MiniDV is the cheapest solution, my wife and I never looked back at our recorded videos because of the process required to playback the tapes. The overall experience was not pleasurable. Looking for a new camcorder, we reviewed both MiniDVD and Hard Disk models. MiniDVDs may seem convenient at first but hears the downsides: 1) If a disc burn error occurs, the entire video could be lost, 2) Disks must be finalized before viewing on DVD players, 3) MiniDVD-R or -RW record about 30mins of video MiniDVD-RW DL can accommodate up to 55mins or recording time and they range around $9-15/disc. This model solved all those problems. Video is recorded to MPEG format for viewing on computers. Software allows for easy DVD creation.
90% of People (28/31) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/20/2007 |
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Strengths: Small compact size, 60GB hard disk, Carl Zeiss lens, one-button DVD record, 25X Zoom, Remote Control, software included, LCD can be rotated in many directions.
Weaknesses: Battery needs to be attached to camera to get charged, no viewfinder, speed of zoom hard to keep controlled, a lot of wind noise, 1 megapixel still images a waste of time, a bit dark in some shots.
Summary: If you are trying to decide if going the hard disk drive route is worth it, I'd say definitely so. The 60GB hard drive on the DCR-SR82 stores all you would need on the average outing. I loved the small size, it fits in the palm of my hand. I recommend getting a camera bag big enough for the docking station, a spare battery and the cords. The one-step DVD button is easy enough for even the tech-challenged. I found it super easy to review my footage while on my outing. I had a little trouble controlling the speed of the zoom, but that may just take some more practice. I am disappointed that I need to have the battery on the camcorder in order to charge it. I have already purchased a spare battery, an external mic jack adapter, a protective filter and I plan on buying a separate battery charger which adds to the expense of the camera. Overall I highly recommended the Sony DCR-SR82.
89% of People (33/37) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 10/25/2007 |
- tenalirama
from GA
- Member Since:
Mar 2006
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Strengths: Huge hard drive (60 GB). Best Hard drive Camcorder less than $550 will buy. One touch DVD Recording
Weaknesses: None I could find.
Summary: I am very pleased with my purchase. This camcorder is very light, and is almost the size of a digital camera. For a 60 GB sony camcorder, I can't believe the price I have paid. Recording was of excellent quality. I couldn't find any weaknesses so far. Some people say lack of viewfinder is a weakness, but in all my past camcorder use, I have always used the LCD to view what I am recording, and not the viewfinder even when there was one. So that was not a weakness for me. And I just love the one touch DVD recording this camera allows me to make.
89% of People (8/9) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/29/2007 |
- gottwins
- Member Since:
Mar 2007
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Reviews
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Strengths: Overall, I really like the camera. It is small and will hold a considerable amount of video, even at the highest quality setting.
Weaknesses: Still picture quality isn't very good, but that's not important to me as this is a video camera, not a digital still, and I can extract decent quality pictures from the video.
Summary: I really like the video camera, it is compact so we can carry both our camera and video camera in our old video camera case. It seems to pick up sound very well but sometimes the bright lite is a detriment.
86% of People (6/7) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/13/2007 |
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Strengths: Lots of recording time!
Weaknesses: Battery Life
Summary: Purchased this camcorder to video our wedding. All images are saved on the hard drive, no DVDs, no discs, no tapes. Love that you can cue any clip with a touch of a button. Haven't downloaded footage yet. Battery life is approx two hours, would highly recommend purchasing battery with a longer life. Also, don't forget to purchase a camcorder bag to hold all of the cords., etc.
80% of People (4/5) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/19/2007 |
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 Not mac compatible Strengths: Great camcorder
Weaknesses: Not compatible with my mac
Summary: This does not work with the mac. It can't stream it and it can't edit it in imovie. To make this work with macs, you will have to buy additional software to take the movie off the handycam and allow you to edit it in imovie.
Currently, the only camcorders that are guaranteed to work with imovie HD are the minidvs that use tapes.
This should be made clearer by sellers and sony itself. Very disappointing.
79% of People (27/34) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 09/09/2007 |
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Strengths: easy to use buttons and touch screen, awesome optical zoom
small size and multi view playback is great
Weaknesses: had to buy special software to make the camcorder work with my mac
Summary: This is the fourth camcorder I have bought in twelve years , all of these were used for the basic family events and vacations and once every so often for work. This camcorder is the best of the four ,very easy to use ,small fits in your pocket, needs no tapes and can be handed to someone and they can figure out how to use it in less than 5 minutes. I like things that are simple to use and do not break . I looked at about 15 different camcorders before choosing this model and I think they got it right this time. The only thing I do not like about this camcorder is that you need special software to make this camera work with a mac and I knew that before I bought it. Overall best camcorder
75% of People (6/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/07/2007 |
- markanthonynessim
from IL
- Member Since:
May 2007
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Strengths: Hard drive is a practical and convenient solution.
Weaknesses: Price is a bit steep.
Summary: This is a great product, although the price is steep, it provides a practical and convenient solution for home use. I would recommend that the package would include a light for the camera as well as an extra battery. Other than that, it is a fabulous product.
75% of People (3/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/28/2007 |
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Strengths: 1) 1.0 Megapixel Advanced HAD; 2) One Touch Wide Angle Shooting; 3) One Touch Disc Burn 4) Super NightShot Plus Infrared System; 5) Multi-Language Menu; 6) Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens .
Weaknesses: I didn't find yet .
Summary: With the DCR-SR82 Handycam camcorder you can store up to 40 hours of video (LP) in scintillating resolution with the 1 megapixel CCD.
Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens reduces glare and flare while capturing incomparable detail.
Now you can burn a DVD with a single click .
It is a good HDD camera of one of the lider in
camcorders industrity - Sony Corporation .
69% of People (20/29) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/07/2007 |
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Strengths: Small size and lightweight, Widescreen recording, 25x Zoom lens, Image stabilization, remote control, and very easy to use
Weaknesses: High price, digital still images are only 1 megapixel, a separate battery charger would have been nice
Summary: This camcorder is very well designed and is extremely easy to use. There is plenty of room on the 60 GB hard drive for any trip you plan to make. Transferring videos and images to your PC are as easy as connecting a USB cable. This model also includes the active interface shoe so you can easily add a video light or zoom microphone. It is a very fun camcorder to use.
67% of People (4/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 03/28/2008 |
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Strengths: Size, Hard Drive is 60GB, Easy to Use, Touch Screen
Weaknesses: Needs base to plug into TVs, Must Carry all accessories
Summary: I was in the market to finally buy a new Camcorder. I had an old mini tape one that I never used and the one before that was a VHS. I wanted something new that would stand the test of time and not get outdated.
As you can see from my reviews, I am a big fan of Sony products (TVs, cameras, etc.). The selling points for this was a large hard drive, the Sony brand, ease of operation, and a small size. It's about as big as some of the large digital cameras.
You can take several videos, delete what you don't want, and then use the software to integrate the whole thing. There are so many features that I haven't even begun to use. I have burned one DVD so far and it was very simple. The clarity was excellent, great picture quality, and the sound was crisp and clear. It picks up sound real well.
I would recommend this product without reservation. I chose 60GB for extra space during vacations.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/07/2008 |
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Strengths: Extremely easy to use, excellent night vision functions. Good quality picture and nice size for a female hand.
Weaknesses: I have not experrience no apparent weaknesses in the functioning. The only weakness I can think of is it needs of it own carrying case to better accomadate in protecting it when traveling.
Summary: I have been a life long purchaser of Sony electronics and equipment,I have DVD, CD, and TV... all by Sony and I am so pleased with their functions and performance until I the next product of Sony comes out. Keep up the outstanding quality and work you put into perfection.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/06/2008 |
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Strengths: Hard Drive, picture quality, size.
Weaknesses: none so far
Summary: I really like this camera. The picture quality is great, even on my big screen TV. It was easy to burn to a DVD, however, I have not tried editing features yet. It is small and compact.
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