Sony DCR-DVD610 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom
by Sony
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Our Price: $129.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony DCR-DVD610 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom
Customer Review: Hybrid technology makes this a cut above
Summary: 4 Stars
This is in effect a hard drive/ mini DVD recorder. Unlike many others the memory stick can record video. On some/most? other company's camcorders the SD card or what not can record only photos.
Without that cability it is still a fine camcorder. The touch screen is very easy to use and easy to learn, the video quality is very good, colors come out looking fine. But the video to memory stick is very nice. We have an 8gb memory stick. It gives roughly 2 hours of high quality video. Good enough for most situations where you are not on a multi-day vacation.
So you record video to the memory stick. Then connect to your computer via the USB port. A utility comes up with literally one touch copying to a DVD-R. DVD-Rs full size are very cheap. The memory stick works like an R-W disc. And 8gb for instance is much better than even a dual layer capacity. Works out to about 3 dual layer discs. So on most days you do not even need to buy DVDs. But on a vacation you have the flexibility of bringing as many discs as you want.
Finalizing discs does take sometime so it is nice to have 2 hours of capability without having to finalize. Recording straight to DVD we had no problem playing it back on a very old, at least 7 years DVD player.
I am giving it 4 stars because in the wide mode it seems to well widen people even when playing on an HD 16/9 set. Not sure if it is me or the camera but it is annoying.
Bottomline good camcorder with very easy to use and extremely useful hybrid recording.
Couple of updates after vacations. More pleased with the camera now. The video looked good with the exception of too much shake at high zooms. If you think you will be zooming a lot I would suggest one of those mini-tripods. Finalizing CDs took 2 minutes time after time. Not bad. Getting video from the memory stick onto full-sized CDs, not a problem.
Best of all because we were on a long-trip we went down from the highest video quality to standard to get more per tape. No noticable drop off on quality. Lastly on our 16:9 HD TV the width now comes out correctly. Colors were remarkably accurate, friends and family all commented positively on the quality.
As I mentioned though, the zoom does shake. So that brings me to my final advice. I bought this one over the 710 or 810 because of the higher optical zoom. But that is not as functional as I thought, at least without a tripod. The 710 and 810 have more pixels on the sensors and that should lead to better video quality. Something to think about. However very pleased with this little guy. Great results.
Customer Review: Decent Video cam, but mediocre low light/indoor performance, limited recording time, very basic upload software
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a decent video cam that offers some good features:
1) ability to record to mini-DVD's that you can upload with the included software fairly easily
2) Good quality still pictures.
3) Decent upload software.
The negatives?
1) Low light/indoor performance - This video cam is compromised by its performance indoors and in lower light. It seems to go through extensive adjustment to get to "equilibrium' when indoors and we end up with a lot of dark spots on videos. It's not horrible, but have definitely seen better. The quality is worse than my friend's flip camera, which is disappointing.
2) mini-DVD's don't have much recording time (~30 minutes).
Honestly, I find myself making a lot more recordings on my Canon point and shoot camera these days as they turn out good video quality and decent audio. It's a lot more convenient than schlepping a video cam and point and shoot camera.
Customer Review: A great camcorder for home movies
Summary: 4 Stars
This inexpensive and compact DVD camcorder exceeds expectations in video and sound quality. With the option of recording direct to mini-DVD, which can be viewed in both standard and blu-ray DVD players, or on a memory stick for viewing on a PC, this camcorder is great for creating general home movies. This is the first camcorder I've had since the now "classic" days of VHS video and the first thing I noticed is how seamless the stops and starts in recording are on playback. Its best feature may be its excellent 40x optical zoom lens. The downside is that its battery does not last very long. I have found that it needs to be replaced or recharged shortly after approximately 30 minutes of recording. I purchased a second battery for it, but I plan to buy at least one more. Regardless, this is a nice camcorder for capturing those special family moments.Customer Review: Exactly what I was looking for.
Summary: 4 Stars
I wanted a camcorder for my family and this one is exactly what I wanted. Its small, easy to hold. I have a 10 month old and I love the videos that we have made. These movies will bring back great meomories for us. The only thing I would change is the battery life. just need to buy a better battery. and the movie disks only record for 30 mins well a little over that but I would want a longer time. The picture quality is amazing and well worth the money. One thing I recommend is to wait a little while before you buy it. The price of the camera has lowered twice since I bought it a month ago. Also you need to buy a carring case for the camera. Its a great camcorder.Customer Review: Excellent condition for being used but.......
Summary: 4 Stars
I just received my camera today and I was excited when I opened up the box to see that the camera was in excellent condtion and almost looks brand new! I checked to make sure everything was in the box and grabbed the battery to try and charge it but noticed that they DID NOT put the a/c adaptor in the box!!! I was so upset looking through the box to see if had overlooked it and noticed that they forget to put the remote in there too!! I understand that I did buy this camera used BUT if they did not have all the pieces that belonged to the camera, it should have been notated before I purchased it. Other than that, the camera looks awesome!