Your IP has been blocked. Please perform the action below to regain access.
75.126.130.58-
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Worth the price tag
I am writing this review after using this camcorder for 1 full month of trip to Africa.
Why Did I buy This:(buyers have to be clear on this)
I checked out the differences between a High definition video and standard definition video. I totally fell for high definition. The pixel ratio in high definition is nearly twice as much as standard definition video. Result - life like colors, better quality video.
I have plans to buy a HD tv in the future. So, this would fit perfectly to the package.
I wanted to store each and every part of my trip.
Now for the Pros:
The colors are absolutely rich and fantastic - both in the video and still images. I liked the photos I took using this camcorder more than my digital camera.
The night shot is amazing. Not many camcorders give a better night shot than this. The video quality in the night shot is rendered by CMOS Vid sensor.
The 60Gb hard disk is quite enough to store nearly 20 hours of video. I could not max out my hard disk in my entire trip. So, I am assuming 60G does a good job of storage service.
For users who do not know how to edit HD video or do not want HD video, this camcorder also offers the option to record SD video. For people who want to convert the HD video to SD, they can do that too using the SONY software that ships with the camcorder.
For professional users, Sony Vegas 7.0 should do the job. I edited my videos using Vegas 7.0 and didn't lose any quality.
The product overall was compact in size and light in weight and I was able to carry it everywhere in my carry on bag.
Not too many cons:
1. The battery that ships with the camcorder lasts for 90 minutes of video. So, frequent users need to buy additional battery for long trips.
2. The sony docking station is an additional piece of baggage that comes with this camcorder. The most annoying part is that you have to charge the camcorder through the docking station(I didn't try to charge it directly through the dc input - users should try that out). And transferring the photos that are stored in the hard disk can only be done through the docking station. Overall - it's an irritating piece and sony should get rid of it in future.
I think overall this is worth the price tag.
Rating: 
-
Great Camera!
It's easy to use and wonderfully clear. It did take me some time to figure out how to make it record in normal mode, not hi-def, but once that was done it worked great. Also, I couldn't figure out how to convert the hi-def files into something that could be watched on the computer - like flash or something, but I am new to the world of video editing so that might just be a user problem. The camera is awesome.
Rating: -
Excellent Camcorder
The Sony HDR-SR7 is a great high-def, consumer camcorder. The ease of use and simple features make it very straight-forward. Having used it for a few weeks, I've only found a few drawbacks. First, it seems unnecessary that Sony used a mini-HDMI connection port. It looks like there was probably enough space to put a standard-sized HDMI port, and thereby would have avoided the need for a special cable (mini-HDMI to HDMI). Second, the camcorder is very light and small, which is nice in one respect, but also requires a steadier hand to operate. Despite the optical image stablization, it is very easy to "wave around" the camera and induce lots of motion to the picture. Third, to the best of my knowledge, there is no compatibility between the Camcorders file format and Mac computers, so editing is limited to a PC.
Nonetheless, if High-Def is what you're looking for, you can't go wrong with this one.
Rating: -
Great amazon.com customer service!
This is the first camcorder that I've ever bought. I was looking at hard-drive models (vs minidv or dvd) and there were considerable options from Sony, Panasonic, JVC, and Canon. The 60 gb hard-drive, ability to do Hi-Def, take still photos, and sony reputation were what eventually drove my decision to get the SR7. I used the camcorder on my 3-wk vacation in December and it worked flawlessly.
However, when I got back, I started getting these error messages that said that the database image file was corrupted. Maybe because the hard-drive was full? When I tried to move the data I had captured on my vacation, I was only able to grab 50% of the video, but luckily all of the photos. After 2 weeks I gave up on the file transfer and tried to reformat the hard-drive. It then gave me another error message that said that was not possible. I spent four hours with Sony tech support to diagnose the problem. In the end, they couldn't help me and suggested that the camcorder might be defective.
I promptly requested an RMA from amazon and I got a replacement within a week. I decided to give Sony one more chance, even though I lost half of my video from my vacation.
So far the camcorder is working ok. I suggest transferring the contents of the hard drive periodically, so that it doesn't get full and easily corruptable. It doesn't bode well for long trips. The still images are not as good as a regular digital camera. But the video quality is good. This is my first camcorder, so I have no frame of reference on the video quality.
So far the replacement is functioning ok.
Rating: -
Sony SR7
Just finished a trip to Barbados and the surrounding islands. The camera did very, very well. The quality of the stills is excellent. With the hard drive, it is very convenient for shooting clips over many days. I've had many Sony video cameras, but for me this is the best.
