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 Buy this camera! Jul 01, 2008
This is my 3rd video camera and my first Sony and I absolutely love it! I have officially become a Sony Snob! It is worth every extra penny! I originally had a Panasonic then JVC and only wish I spent the extra money the first time for the Sony.
I am extremely picky with picture quality and could not be happier! For a personal/nonprofessional camera this is the best! My camera has been on 2 vacations all over the place in low light and bright light, even on a boat and I had NO problems with focus or color.
The touch screen is so easy to use and convenient. I love the setup and how easy it is to watch or delete a video.
I was sceptical about the night vision but think it is just as good as a regular light (I had one on my other camera). The picture is slightly grainy with the night vision which is to be expected in low light but I hands down prefer to not have everyone I am filming squinting from the bright light in their eyes.
I don't know what everyone is complaining about with charging the battery. I do not find this to be an issue- simply plug in the camera and the battery charges..... The battery seems to stay charged for 2-3 hours. I bought an extra one for $50 which works great.
I was not sure if I should purchase this model after reading the reviews of the picture quality compared to an HD model. THIS IS NOT AN HD CAMERA! Based on this, the picture is AWESOME! I could not be happier! This is the best quality I have had in a video camera by far in all areas.
I have not tried to take pictures since I have my own camera and don't think you can expect the best pictures from a video camera. This was not a factor for me.
In my opinion, this is the BEST HDD video camera for the money and I will never buy another brand!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Terrible CamCorder May 16, 2008
I never review anything, but I felt I needed to make a review of this product. We purchased this camcorder just before Christmas. Normally Sony makes great electronic equipment, but this camera has been terrible from day one.
For a long time I thought "Well, maybe it needs perfect lighting" or "Maybe the boys were moving to fast", but then I realized that our ancient camcorder - also a Sony - NEVER had a problem with these issues.
This camera almost never focuses properly. It's off just enough that you rub your eyes thinking maybe its you, but its not. If you watch through the view finder, you can actually stand there and see the picture go in and out of focus - and I'm not even moving.
I like the video to disk thing, but it's not worth much if you go to video you little boy's school play and get home to find everything is out of focus.
It's up to you, but I for one would never spend anything on one of these cameras again.
1 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Bad shopping @ butterflyphoto Mar 18, 2008
I had the worst experience shopping for SR82 at butterflyphoto thru Amazon. I always loved shopping at Amazon but this has been my worst experience. First butterflyphoto put this product as on sale for 570$. I was really waiting for an offer as the last time i got this handycam was in christmas and for $500 thru Amazon. So I quickly hit the checkout and purchased it. I recieved a shipped mail (thru fedex) from butterfly after a few days and on the same day I received the mail that the request had been cancelled. I went in Amazon my stuff section to find my order but it clearly had dissapeared. Initially the money was withdrawn but then they had cancelled the payment.
Now whats so worse when you got your money back you might think. The worst part was the item was shipped to my address and was cancelled half way thru and the only reason I can now find for this is that SR82 rates have increased twice fold.
Why should they provide a sale if its a false one. If they did not have the product I can understand. But it waas shipped and cancelled and so much for customer satisfaction.
This is my first review. Many good experiences do not provoke us to write about them but one bad one does.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Big Hard Disk, 25x Optical Zoom, Touch Screen. A Lot of Features for a good price. Mar 12, 2008
I bought the SR42 1st, Which is Lower Resolution and the WideScreen Features are Not as Good. So I upgraded to the SR82 (The SR62 is the Same as the 82 but only 30 Gig). The SR42 isn't bad, you get alot of features for the price, if you can live with less than perfect video quality.
The Video on the SR42 was just slightly worse than my 10 Year Old Sony Tape HandyCam. I was using a 50" TV in my comparisons. So I got the sr82. The Video Resolution Upgrade is much better on the 62 and 82 models.
The Other thing I notice is the sr42 did not handle the Widescreen the Same way. When I recorded with the sr82 the Picture filled my Widescreen TV whereas the sr42 did not since 4:3 put Black Bars on the Side and 16:9 had bars on the Top and Bottom. It seems as if the sr42 is 4:3 Native and the Widescreen Mode was 2.35 to 1 Aspect Ratio which I did not Like for Home Videos. The sr62 and sr82 are Native 16:9 Widescreen. They can Also do 4:3 as well.
The ActiveShoe Interface allows for adding InfraRed or Microphone or Lighting Attachments.
The Touch Screen is Nice and Works well. It Rotates 270 degrees. So you can Flip it 180 degrees one way and fold it back towards the camera for doing playback or when connecting to the Computer.
I did notice that the Camera Defaults to SP Mode and Not HQ. So the Highest Resolution is not the default. Just a Heads up.
The Battery gets you at least an hour of Recording. There are Larger Capacity Batteries Available.
I use this Camera in 2 Difficult Recording Situations.
1) Recording my Band. Usually from Far away. Music Really Loud. Varying Lighting Conditions (Stage Lights). It works well but you must use Manual Focus.
2) Video Taping my Sons Hockey Team. Hockey Rinks are tough to get Still Pictures in as well. Subjects are moving Fast but Flash cannot be used due to the Glass along the boards. The Netting also plays havoc with Auto Focus. The Sony also worked well in this situation. I got good video using Auto, Snow and Sports Settings. I think the Auto may be the best except when the Metal Halide Lighting is too low in certain rinks it can cause varied brightness in the video.
Overall a great Camera at the Price. Cameras $100 more are probably better. But you get what you pay for. Decide How much you want to Pay and get the Best Camera in that Range. This one Seemed to be the Best one in my Range. Plus I have always had good luck with Sony Products Lasting for 10+ years. Something I cannot say for just about every other brand I have tried. How much did I save when another camera was $50 cheaper but I have to replace it in 4 years...
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Good cam. Feb 27, 2008
Hi,
This was my first cam and it is good. I expect better performance for the ZOOM and Night shut. But it is sufficient.
1. You need a tripod for a good shut. Especially, if you are zooming, it shakes too much.
2. It is good for night shut but could be better.
3. Buy with accessories. I could not do it because of the first seller. They sucked. But be sure to get a good kit, tripod, battery, screen protector.
4. I want to use for wedding, the battery was insufficient.
5. I will buy most probably a cord for shuts without battery. About $25.
6. The included kit was easy to use. You can easily install XP drivers and use the recorded videos. I did not used throughly but did not see any problem. Also, USB cable is standard one, which is a good thing.
7. It's hard disk is perfect. I am very happy about the record medium :)
8. It is hard to select from screen. Cant touch for the first time. I could not select what I want. Perhaps, I am too cautious about the cam when using.
Have fun with it. As I said this was my first cam, so I could not compare with the others.
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