SONY | SONY STYLE.COM

Excellent Camcorder/Camera

Pros: Sharp images and 10.2 mp still camera

Cons: Remote control not so good

Have had this camcorder for more than 16 months now. Have used it in Hawaii, Cancun, at my son's graduation party, and several other events. Very easy to use and takes great still pictures. Video is also excellent. Hawaiian sunsets phenomenal. Would strongly recommend - for the video as well as the 10.2 mp camera. None in the market in the same price range.

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Best camera - iMovie for Mac, PC Software included

Pros: Great Quality, Touch screen, Great value added with PS3

Cons: None

Using happily since last 16 months, I download videos and photos to my PC's External 1TB drive in managed folders. I view photos/videos with PS3 hooked up via network. I can always enjoy Videos in Full HD quality. DVD Making (DVD quality) is easy as well. I use Sony Vegas Studio Platinum 9.0 (great low cost video editing software) to edit videos. Also, Sony tripod adds great value to this camcorder.

Great Product, but...

Pros: Small, light weight, huge capacity!!!

Cons: No software!

This is a great product but the it comes with no software!!!!

A Great Buy

Pros: Great Video Quality, Impressive Slow motion, Small Size, Long Recoding Time, Touch Screen

Cons: Auto Focus Issues, software needs to reformat AVCHD Footage for editing

I have been loyal to Sony Camcorders and out of 17 years of camcorders, this has been the best. The most impressive feature for me is the Slow Smooth Record function which records slow motion footage for about 3 seconds. The full HD recording is great compared to standard def hi8 tapes and the touch screen is a big plus. Does well in low lighting conditions but needs more light for taking a photo then it does a video. I sometimes have a focusing fit where the camcorder focuses in and out rapidly until the camcorder gives up and asks you to restart it. Then you must wait 10 seconds for it to try and focus before showing the video feed again. Trying to manually focus during this is impossible. You will need software to view and edit footage captured by the camcorder since the format is in AVCHD. Otherwise it is a great product and I would recommend it to friends.

DEFECTIVE SO SOON AFTER PURCHASE

Pros: WELL BUILT, STORAGE CAPACITY

Cons: RELIABILITY, ERGONOMICS

I WAS VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEW HANDY CAM AS THE PREVIOUS ONE I OWNED WAS OVER 10 YEARS OLD. I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL SONY USER, SPECIALLY IN THE LAPTOPS AND OWN OVER 8 LAPTOPS AND HAVE RECOMMENDED MANY MORE DUE TO THE RELIABILITY THAT ONE GETS WITH THE SONY BRAND. TO MY DISSAPOINTMENT THE UNIT IS NOT WORKING SO SOON AFTER. I'M TOTALLY DISSAPOINTED!

Great Camera

Pros: Hard drive, light, easy to use, compact, no tapes

Cons: cost, you need the bigger battery

I don't know of any other cons. This works great, superb quality, and I love the touch screen. I had over 500 video clips before I finally downloaded them to my lap top. This thing has plenty of room to shoot hours and hours of footage. The price is kind of high but "you get what you pay for" fits here.

One of the Best Cmacorder

First of all i am a sony Fan. This was my birthday gift from my lovely wife. I thank her for this beautiful gift. the camcorder is awesom. What u can not do with this small machine?? U can do anything and everything. the HD graphics is stunning and also the HD 5.1 channel surround sound recording. Colors are true color. i am really in love with this sony product. It has thousands of gagets that will keep you bz for a while and you will love it.

Almost Perfect, but one major flaw...

Pros: Awesome record time, great still camera (even while recording!), high resolution and simple to use.

Cons: No manual audio level control, CAN NOT RECORD IN LOUD ENVIRONMENT

I tour with a hardcore punk band and we travel all over the world, so I purchased this camera to replace my Sony HDR-HC3. This meant I didn't have to keep buying HDV tapes and more importantly keeping up with tons of them while out for a month or so on tour. So, first impressions were great! The recording quality is awesome and you get up to 15 hours of record time at the highest resolution which is amazing! The still camera is top-notch and great resolution and has the amazing ability to take a snapshot of something WHILE you a recording video! And best of all, you don't have to have a Sony MemoryStick to store the photos! They save to the hard drive just like the video. But, after the initial test period of shooting stuff while driving and/or walking around I set it up to record one of our shows and that's when I started having issues. The first problem is that in the audio settings you get the automatic setting or you get a low-level setting and that's it. This means you can't monitor the levels and when the sound gets too loud and thus distorted turn the record level down. Ok I figure, nothing some gauze taped over the mic can't fix right! Well, as the show begins I hit record with the remote and all seems well...for about 10 seconds. Then I get a blue screen with a "BUFFER OVERRUN" error. It takes about 15 seconds for this to go away and for the camera to go back into Standby. So I hit record again and same thing. This unit WILL NOT RECORD A ROCK CONCERT unless you're waaaaaaay back away from the speakers (which is impossible in a small loud club.) I even tried turning off the drop sensor (a protection that senses a drop or major vibration) and stops the drive to protect it, but even this did not work. I can set this on top of my bass player's amp, hit record, and then thump the strings for about 5 seconds and it will shut off like clockwork. So, if you're looking for a camcorder that's small enough to put in your backpack, cargo shorts or purse that takes very high quality video while walking around, visiting with family, or anything "tame" this is one of the best around! If you want to record loud stuff like concerts, space shuttle launches, drag races or bike night at your local biker bar (or you're in a band and want to capture the great memories of a European tour) DO NOT buy a camcorder without a solid state hard drive or you will end up very disappointed like me!