Sony DCR-SR45 30GB Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom

Excellent Product

I gave this camera as a gift for Christmas. The person that received it has enjoyed it very much.

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Blurry video, no image stabilization, no focus.

I bought this camera in a hurry without doing much research. What lured me into the purchase is that one can transfer mpeg video files straight from camera to PC via USB and not mess with firewire and minidv tapes. Also I was trusting "Sony" brand and thought that if it is Sony then the camera would perform reasonably well. Boy, was I disappointed!

After shooting few videos it became apparent that camera has no image stabilization and therefore has trouble focusing. Lack of image stabilization makes 40x zoom useless. All my indoor videos appeared blurry, washed-out and with dull greyish colors. I thought that may be I have low light problems, but when I took the camera outdoors the image did not improve, still blurry and out of focus. The only time I managed to get the image into focus is when I placed the camera on a steady surface and filmed the movie this way. I tried to turn off autofocus in the settings and play with manual focus, but you cannot set easily the distance - it starts from 0.1m goes to 1.2m ant then quickly jumps to infinity. I was not able to set 3-4m distance.

To be on the fair side, copying the files from camera to PC was very easy - I just plugged the camcorder into my PC via USB and copied the files. I did not need to install any supplied camera software to do that (which is a big plus since supplied camera software is usually not the best one). I gave this product two stars instead one star because of that.

Based on my experience I would not recommend this product since you can get many minidv camcorders much cheaper with much better video quality. Despite the loss of restocking fee I returned mine back to the store.

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Mac Users beware

This camera is okay, easy to use, pretty good picture quality, etc. Videophiles can be pretty harsh and often expect the moon for a penny.

My biggest issue is that it does not work with Apple. I let my son do his own research on this and he swore that it would. We have both learned a good lesson on this one!

Quicktime Pro made it sound like it will import the files, so I upgraded. It cost me $20. Then I discovered that you need a plug-in for playback. Another $20. The plug in imports the VIDEO ONLY. NO AUDIO! I just want the damn thing to work.

I called Sony and they tell me that this camera only works with Imovie HD, the version that is bundled with the latest version of iLive. It is $80!

So now the camera is $30 less than it was at Christmas, I have spent $40 extra dollars and now I have to spend another $80. He loves his camera but 14 year-old kids want to put video on the internet and he can't do that yet. I would post a video review BUT WE CAN'T!

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Low Cost - Low Quality Images

I thought I was upgrading from my Sony TRV 25 Mini DV camcorder (circa 2001). turns out the video quality on this is not good at all. I suspect, from what ive read on the web is that Hard Drive cameras compress too much. Seems that may be true. i did not want to spend $ on High Def camera but it looks like i will have to.

My hand cramped when using the camera for about 5 minutes walking around the house. Its too Small.

Also, even though i never buy a video camera for its still picture capabilities, the still pictures on this camera are terrible. Why do camera makers waste their time with this?

I am going to return this camera, not becasue of the model or the maker, but becasue i suspect bottom of the line Hard Drive cameras deliver the same cruddy quality.
Will have to look at a Hi Def camera.

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Great product for home videos

Ease of use on this camcorder is awesome! Nothing fancy to the settings - which make it very nice to pull out of the box and start using. Download softward is pretty user friendly, and 30GB capacity is great - I have been able to record 3-4 of my son's football games on the HD before even getting close to running out of memory. Picture quality is acceptable for long distance, but much better at close up recording. Easy to view, delete your videos. I recommend getting a larger capacity battery than the one that comes with it - you only have about an hour of recording time. Size and ergonomics are wonderful!

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