Sony HDR-SR12 10.2MP 120GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Sony
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony HDR-SR12 10.2MP 120GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Customer Review: Expected More. But still worth the price.
Summary: 3 Stars
Expected More. But still worth the price.
-Low light picture quality: vey grainy - pointless to shoot in low-light, must use a light, or the night shot.
I am very happy that sony continues to incorporate the Nite Shot feature in to their cameras. This has been a sony staple almost since they started their Handycam line. Sony is the only one who that I know of that still has this as a standard feature. I think Samsung had it on a couple cameras. It seems features get taken away as time goes on, but I'm glad Sony decide to keep this great feature. Hint: Record Night Shot in B&W for a much better pic quality.
Autofocus: struggles to find a focus point and stay there - very irritating. I've tried changing all kinds of settings to rectify - it still has this problem. Isn't that the point of face recognition - to focus on the subject? Doesn't work on my camera. The solution is to use manual focus (or a lot of unnecessary editing, which makes the video cut in an out too much on one scene! And very time consuming). But to use manual focus, you have to change the setting via the touchscreen menu to dedicate the ONE KNOB on the front of the camera for focusing. But I like to use the knob for white balance control - too bad, it can only be used for one function at a time. And if you want to adjust white balance (or ANY other setting for that matter (well, not focusing)) you must do it via the touchscreen menu. Really? I have to bump my camera several times while recording to change something? Yes that's right you do. Then you can't see the image b/c the screen is covered with it's menu options! Does nobody see how ridiculous this is?!?!
This brings me to:
Lack of easy to use controls - very cumbersome to stumble through multiple menu levels to change simple settings while recording.
In case you haven't picked up on it, I'm not a fan of the touchscreen. But it's not just sony, ALL consumer grade cameras are like this. Yeah it's neat for about the first five minutes, but you get over this "novelty" really quick. Maybe it would be okay for post-recording or playback functions. Trying to change settings while recording is just a joke. Even if it's on a tripod, the camera shakes all over the place. I don't even try to change anything anymore while recording - very disappointed in this. I've been relegated to the "easy" button. The easy button works pretty good, but not always how I want.
I had a camcorder in the early 90's. Big 'ol thing that recorded on VHS tapes. That camera had more functionality than this one that was made 20 years later by the biggest and supposedly most innovative electronics company. Why, you ask? Because my 90's camcorder had BUTTONS AND KNOBS. Some like the lack of knobs and buttons - understandable. But it would be nice if there was a consumer priced camcorder that had buttons and knobs for those who like more control
The only way to get buttons and knobs is to buy a $12,000+ professional grade camera. You don't see touch screens on those, it's buttons and knobs.
Another function that most consumer camcorders now lack is the viewfinder. That is one reason I decided on this camera - it is one of the few with a viewfinder. However, my last camcorder (not 90's) had a telescopic viewfinder. I used this a lot. This one does not have a telescopic viewfinder. Not sure why features like this are being removed as time goes on.
Picture quality in good lighting (when focused) is phenomenal. 5+ stars for this.
Audio quality is top notch. 5 stars for this.
The view screen (/touchscreen!) gives an incredible picture during recording and playback. 5 stars for this.
Supplied recording software. I use Vegas 8.1 for my editing. But for grins I thought I would just see what "picture motion browser" could do. It doesn't. Never got it to work on my brand new powerful PC. Froze up every time I tried to use it. FYI Vegas 8.1 works great, but it has a high learning curve. Pinnacle works good too, much better for the less-technically inclined user.
Hint for home movies: Edit, edit edit! Don't just burn your vidz straight to DVD/Blu-ray. Nobody wants to watch 20 minutes of an unedited birthday party! Or you on the beach over and over and over. You will get much more from your vidz if you take the time to learn the software (pinnacle is great for newcomers) and edit your movies to make them enjoyable - get rid of all the jittering and out of focus shots, and the 10 minutes of the same thing. Throw in some still shots and pan across them. You can make some great quality movies with the tools available to anyone these days. Take advantage of it!
A note on computing. Unless you have at minimum a fast dual-core processor with a ton of ram, and a large hard drive, you will be frustrated. Plan on adding another 2K to the cost of this camera for a new computer. My computer is quad core 64 bit with 8 gigs of ram, powerful Nvidia Graphics cards (SLI), a 1.5 TB HD, running vista x64. Even with that, there is still some (very little) stuttering when editing in Vegas 8.1 Also, you will want a Blu-Ray burner drive, and Blu-ray discs for your finished videos - more cost. You must burn your videos to Blu-Ray in Hi-Def. If you are only going to downgrade the video to standard quality and burn to DVD, then you are wasting your money on this camera to shoot in Hi-Def. Then of course you are going to want a monitor capable of view 1920 x 1080 HD, add another 400 minimum. Seems nothing is easy these days.
However, with all that said, you can play your videos straight from the camera directly to any TV - Standard or Hi-Def.
In summary, I'm very glad I purchased the camera - it really is a good buy. Are some things irritating? For me, yes. But the main point is: HD. You can take some awesome HD vidz with it - something unheard of only 5 years ago (at anywhere near this price). If you are ok with the easy button, you can't go wrong with this camera.
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Version 12
Vegas Pro 8 [OLD VERSION]
Sony VCL-HGA07 HG Wide Angle Conversion Lens 0.7x for 30/37mm
Customer Review: Very close, but with a few problems...
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this camera months ago and love it.
There are some things that you need to know about it though....
The auto focus is HORRIBLE. I know that all cameras sometimes focus at the wrong point but this camera has a NASTY habit of getting completely out of focus for no good reason and it's a huge pain getting it back into focus. For $900.00 I want a camera that wont ruin small sections of the video.
Another irritation is that the editing software that comes with the camera (AVCHD Player or whatever) wont play the video even though I have a very fast PC. VLC and MPC both have it choppy (Codec problem)...I was AMAZED that Windows Media Player played the video crisp, clear, and at full frame rate. That's a win for Microsoft I guess.
Another thing is that I had the camera on a mount on my motorcycle and it had a buffer overflow in no time. This camera HATES to be on anything that's vibrating (such as on a car dashboard, etc). A bit annoying but an understandable limitation.
I did have this in a duffel bag which fell off of my motorcycle at 45mph. It dented the battery and there was a mark on the LCD (Obviously the camera took a good hit when the bag fell). 1 of the screws holding the LCD on came out when it fell and I had to take apart the LCD assembly and retighten it. Overall I'm VERY impressed that everything survived the fall. I would not have guessed it.
The nightshot feature works great but only at close range (4 to 5 feet). This is a very nice feature to have. Hopefully they put a better infrared LED next time. (The one they have now is fine, but a brighter one would be even better!).
This camera works great for most applications. The pictures (Both still and video) are fantastic. If the camera didn't have the focusing problem and slightly better low light (without nightshot) capabilities it would easily justify commanding a $1000.00 price tag. I paid around $850ish for it and think it was worth about that. When I heard that some people paid $1500.00....well, they got ripped off. The modified shoe-horn is a pain as none of your current accessories will fit this camera (You have to buy what accessories Sony says your allowed to use). The battery life is reasonable at 90 minutes of record time with the standard battery. The tripod screw is METAL. I had a Canon camcorder that had plastic threads where the tripod attached....needless to say you can guess how that turned out. The harddrive stores a TON of video so you really only need to perform back-ups of whats on the camera, but you dont need to delete anything. Personally I wouldn't use it to film an episode of "Man vs. Wild" but it's ALMOST that good.
Customer Review: Good Handicam but very delicate
Summary: 3 Stars
Good Handicam but very delicate
The camera is by far wonderful in the quality of pictures and the ease of use but Sony in its aim to sell accessories did not provide any kind of wrist strap or even privition to add one that you can buy their solution is "Sony LCS-SRC Carrying Case" in spite of the warnings on the review I bought the case it. While it is a very good camcorder you need one hand completely dedicated to handle. If you are with kids and they need your help then you need to put the camera into a case or something. No easy way to just hang it around your neck or even on your wrist or. I thought the case would be handy and bought it, but with my wide angle lens the camera barely fits in even after expanding it. Bottom line my wife was handling the camera my daughter asked for help with her shoe lace, she put the camera in the case and closed the cover but the Velcro did not lock properly I guess the camera fell from the case. I took it to a Sony service center they say the lens assembly is gone going to cost me $450 to get it fixed. A simple thing like a wrist strap would have been very helpful and simple fall on a soft surface should not make this much damage, I guess the smaller they make these things the more delicate they become. I love the quality of the videos but $450 is still a lot of money over what I paid for the camera.
Customer Review: Horrid machine, horrid service
Summary: 1 Stars
I was very excited about everything I'd read about this camera and happily bought one. However, the first time I used it for more than 20 minutes (which, alas, was after the time I could have returned it), the hard drive completely failed. I would get the warning "Buffer Overrun" or "Cannot Access HD" and it would shut down. After it happened once, the camera could not be used for more than 3 minutes without the same warning.
After I spent 97 minutes on the phone with various "Sony Customer Satisfaction Centers," I was allowed to return the camera -- at my expense -- to them for repair. They promptly and courteously sent it back with a nice little note saying they couldn't find anything wrong with it.
So I plugged it in and, after 20 minutes, "Buffer Overrun."
Uh, guys, it's the hard drive. It's faulty. Just replace it.
Sorry that this isn't so much a review of the camera. I'm sure it's a magical delight once the thing works. Just be warned that if you get this expecting to make a nice little video of your cat or your kids or a vacation, order it six months in advance and beef up your cell phone plan. You'll be spending a lot of time trying to get someone to make your $1400 work.
Customer Review: Sony customer service is the issue
Summary: 1 Stars
Sony HDR-HC7 6.1MP MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom
I do not own this camera but please see my review of the HDR HC7 camcorder under that model information on Amazon. While Sony is barraging the market with new and innovative camcorders which do produce stunning video, it is product quality that becomes the issue if the camera has a problem. Sony customer service is incredibly frustrating and poor. Warranty information does not disclose astronomical repair charges and should be embarrasing in comparison to the ten year warranties we are seeing on complex machines like automobiles. If your product is well designed, well built, and reliable then the warranty should include internal flash memory tracking of actual customer usage. 90 day labor and 12 month parts warranties are worthless for devices which sit unused by purchasers for most of their existence. At the same time, Sony's rush to saturate the market with new products seems to occur at the expense of reliability.