Customer Reviews

Sony DCR-DVD810 1MP DVD Hybrid Plus Handycam Camcorder with 8GB Memory & 25x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this camera when it came out 1-31-08. The camera is a lot lighter than I imagined. What sold me on it was the ability to record to 8Gb of internal memory OR a Sony Pro Stick Duo OR the DVD itself. Before I bought this camera I read a lot of reviews about DVD recording camcorders only and saw a lot of comments about the drive noise and the wait time before you can record. This camera has a 'Quick On' button that I use with the internal memory. No problems! By the way the Amazon description says 8GB Hard Drvie - WRONG!! It's 8Gb of internal Memory. The only negative I found so far is that the lens cover is manually opened and closed - Why??
Because of this I give it a 9.5 out of 10. Also, the standard battery does okay for short recording jobs but I need to buy a larger battery.

After a pretty bad experience with another camcorder, (rhymes with camsung) we were pretty adamant about doing our research. For the price range, I would have to say that the 810 is going to be one of the better cameras you will find.
After letting it charge and getting it going, which was really easy, we have shot more video in the last two days than two years with our other p.o.s.

Positives-
-The zoom is fluid and crisp.
-quick start is a wonderful feature; it actually takes a second to start recording once you hit the quick start button.
-I am glad that I have the option to record to DVD, hard disc or memory stick.
-Light weight.
-responsive touch screen
-have not had any disc errors yet. (Main problem with other hunk of junk)
-Infrared recording. (My wife loves this feature because we can now record our kids while they are sleeping.)
-decent picture quality, if you know how to use the camera feature. But who really uses a camcorder as a camera?

There are probably more to list but I am already getting long in the teeth.

Negatives-
-Screen is a little small, but not small enough to be a huge issue. I just have big hands and my fat fingers sometimes have a hard time pushing the right buttons.
-The battery life is not the greatest around, maybe an hour of actual use. I plan on buying another high capacity battery soon.

I have not had the camera long so I really have no other complaints at the moment. I will update if I find something else that might throw people off.

I would recommend to anyone to buy this camcorder. It does its job well and is really easy to use, once you figure it out.

Terrific little camcorder. Great picture and it records on mini DVD, memory stick or internal memory. Even with infrared in the dark.

Battery life is only about 15 minutes and spare battery is expensive. But if you have acess to 110 volts it recharges in just a few minutes.

I really like it.Sony DCR-DVD810 1MP DVD Hybrid Plus Handycam Camcorder with 8GB Hard Drive + Accessory Kit

I bought this camera a few months back for some night shooting and to take on vacation, as well as to do some ethnographic field work. I am in no way a professional when in comes to cameras and this is my first real camcorder. I have to say that I love this machine. It is easy to use, has a great amount of memory which is doubled with the memory options. It is also really light weight, but sturdy.

I just took this on a 10 day vacation to Disney - I used to memory cards (a 4 and an 8) plus the internal memory. I shot almost all video and didn't run out of space, though if we had stayed one more day I would have had to move to DVD. Transferring files over from Memory to DVD is a breeze if you follow the instructions. I did lose some pics from my first day when moving from internal memory to memory stick, but after reading the instructions again I realized why and how to avoid that in the future.

The night shot feature works OK, certainly better then the ones I have seen on still cameras. It can be a but jerky on the screen but the picture is really clear. I have shot video in total darkness, moonlight, and outdoor low lighting from lamps. They all turned out OK, good enough for my needs at least. The fireworks mode is amazing, I have great video of the fireworks from various parks and they look stunning. The other modes really allow to capture video in any lighting and it is extremely easy to switch from one to the other while recording if you find you need a different setting. Also, the stabilization feature is terrific! I went on the safari ride at Animal Kingdom and was afraid that the video I shot would make people car sick it was so bumpy. Looking at it now you can tell I was in a moving vehicle, but the image is almost completely steady. I also really love the capture photo option which allows you to go through your videos and take still photos out of them.

Transferring files over to a computer is extremely easy to do. All in all this is a perfect camera for the non-pro who wants really good video.

This is one of the easiest cameras I have used. You just point and take pictures plug into your TV and enjoy. It is that easy.

I bought this camera a few weeks ago and love it. It was easy to operate right out of the box. I recorded my husband and brother's MX races and it did a beautiful job. Easy to use and lots of features.

Great size -- fits in palm of hand -- very light and easy to use. Only used twice with basics like zoom, etc. With three ways to shoot and store video (hard drive, memory stick, DVDs), this is really great. Suggest you buy the extended life battery....gives HOURS of use. Battery that comes with camera only lasts for about 1/2 hour. Haven't had the chance to try downloading video yet.

Incredibly fast shipping. I got within 2 days. it was a fantastic buying experience. This is a good buy as it gives 3 media storage-hard Disk 8GB, DVD and Memory card. Very good resolution. I love it

I was immediately surprised how poor and grainy the picture quality was, especially when shooting indoors. I have previously owned a sony MiniDV recorder, which I thought did a better job recording onto digital tape. I am surprised other people are saying the picture quality is good.

Be warned, there are hidden costs with owning this camcorder, such as:
1. need to buy sony pro duo memory stick (plus adapter in my case)
2. need to buy extra battery (unless you record for less than 50 min)
3. cost of mini-DVD's (sony + brand = not cheap)
4. need to buy a camera case.

Pros:
-multiple recording methods
-compact size
-sony quality
-easy of use
-remote control

Cons:
-poor picture quality, especially indoors
-hidden costs of extra battery, discs and memory stick.
-memory stick difficult to take out of camera
-no camera case
-manual switch for lens cover, instead of fully automatic
-poor image stabilization

I realize this is Sony's budget camcorder, and that I probably should be buying a high definition recorder. However, for the amount of money I spent, I was expecting something a lot better. I would not recommend this product.

I bought this camcorder almost 2 years ago and never really got a chance to use it (tag still on it) I have been playing around with it and for the heck of it I switched the AV out (which is displaying on the TV) to a different Sony DVD standard def camera (the DCR-DVD405) WOW! the 405 puts the image quality of the 810 to shame! Seriously what a difference. The 810 is grainy and the color is bad. On the Upside however is the internal memory, the memory stick and the DVD options which will keep it recording for hours and hours if plugged into AC power. So ... depending on the most important qualities required it could be good - I haven't yet tried it outside during the day to see how much extra light will help the image. If a dramatic improvement that would be a big bonus but for indoors be prepared to supply a lot of light.