408 of 412 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome!
I am in no way a computer geek, I had no idea what optical zoom and finalizing disc's meant. But I am a mom that wanted quality home videos of my girls and wanted to spend less than $450. So here is my opinion. I returned my Samsung 164 for this camera. It was the same price but this has the Super Niteshot. The camera is very light and easy to control with one hand...
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
very disappointed with sony
After doing a lot of research on camcorders and based upon the rave reviews of other customers for this camcorder model, I bought this one. However, it's not compatible with any remote control items. You don't find this out until you try to order a remote control and/or tripod from the accessories brochure. Even though I called Sony customer service and ordered a...
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
I am in no way a computer geek, I had no idea what optical zoom and finalizing disc's meant. But I am a mom that wanted quality home videos of my girls and wanted to spend less than $450. So here is my opinion. I returned my Samsung 164 for this camera. It was the same price but this has the Super Niteshot. The camera is very light and easy to control with one hand. The lens is made of glass versus the Samsung which is made of plastic. The zoom is amazing on this camera, I stood across my kitchen was able to zoom in on the small print on my calendar, AMAZING! I am so glad I took the Samsung 164 back - the indoor quality of that camera was horrible. This is excellent even in low light situations. Very pleased. I was also able to record on the DVD -R's which do not require formatting - just put the disc in and record. Oh and finalizing is just when you are done recording you go the menu on the camcorder press finalize and it does in about 1 minute it says it is complete and your done. Not as complicated as I thought it would be.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
This unit records video straight to mini-DVD disks. You can plug the unit into a TV and play back, you can play back on the LCD, you can finalize the disk and put it into a standard DVD player, or a computer DVD drive. The unit comes with software to install on your PC that you can then use to edit the video clips, then re-burn to a new DVD if you have a DVD burner on your PC. The Zoom function on this unit it so powerful it's absurd. It has a standard 40X optical zoom that is more than enough. On top of that it has a digital zoom that you can program for 80X or a totally insane 2000X. I can zoom in on a single letter of a word, in a small print book, from 50ft away, and then the letter disappears and turns to pixels.
It has a "widescreen" setting in the video options, and the manual does not say that this model records in widescreen, but it does! It also has a really cool nightshot feature that uses Infrared Radiation so you can film in total darkness. The sound quality of this unit is what most impressed me. Very clear, and it has a dolby 5.1 surround converter. It weighs less than 1 pound, and the battery lasts for 90 recording minutes on a full charge.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
I have had quite a few camcorders over the years (none of them Sony), and when I was looking for a new one, I did my usual 3-4 weeks of researching, etc. I chose the Sony DVD handycam because it was easy to use, the menu was pretty straightfoward, it had a 40x optical zoom (compared to 32x) and it was DVD. I was skeptical about the dvd part because I had heard about the minimal recording time, etc but I didn't understand the different disk formats I guess. Anyway, I am very pleased with this camcorder, and being able to shoot in a 16:9 format is also a nice feature I didn't even think about at first. So, although I am new to Sony camcorders, I am really enjoying this one. My only advice would be to go ahead and buy the memory stick and the disk pack when you buy the camera because you will want them!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
I research the daylights out of everything. So I wind up usually buying a menage of names since I don't believe any manufacturer is good at everything. Since my college days in the mid-80s, I've hated Sony products. I've always believed they waded into far too many product lines and their quality suffered. So, up until this purchase I've owned nothing Sony for 20 years. Based on the reviews, though, I just purchased this camcorder and broke it in during a trip to Berlin. You cannot beat the price for the quality. Superb zoom (optical really counts as digital blurs the picture and is artificial), easy menu, great night shot capability. All in all, a wonderful purchase. Do not hesitate to buy this Sony. Tip: get a pack of DVD+RWs to play with since you can re-record and get a pack of dual layer Rs once you're comfortable because they have much more recording space but you CANNOT re-record on them.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
This is the first electronic gadget I have bought in years that I was able to figure out in minutes!
Out of the box, after a 2 hour charge (gave me a chance to watch the tutorial and scan the manual) I was
making movies! I have not used the high quality setting yet but the mid-range is pretty darn good! The
most impressive feature is its "anti jitter" filtering. Any other Camcorder I have ever tried makes my
movies look like I am in the middle of an earthquake! Not with this one! (unless you are at max zoom) The
optical zoom is far more than needed so I never expect to even use the digital zoom. There is an "easy"
mode that automatically sets the camera to adequate settings. And it actually works.
The only thing I am having problems with is getting the camera to connect to the PC. The camera says
"connecting" and just hangs. I have a call in with Sony and will report back. I suspect better editing
software will cure that. The software provided is very basic. The workaround for now is to just insert
the DVD directly into the PC then use the software to read and edit it. It would be nice if you could
"finalize" the DVD on the PC rather than in the camcorder.
Initialy, I purchased the Camcorder alone to see how I like it but I just ordered ALL the options!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
This is very easy to use. Very compact and lightweight. I wish Amazon would state up front what comes in the box, which includes for this model: AC Adaptor, Power Cord, A/V Connecting Cable, USB Cable, Rechargeable Battery Pack NP-FH40, CD-Rom "Handycam Application Software and operating guide. The remote the one reviewer was talking about states it comes with models DCR-DVD308/DVD708. This manual covers multiple models-not just the DCR-DVD108.
Anyway, if you want to start shooting right away, that is after you charge the supplied battery that came with it (takes 125 minutes for the NP-FH40) make sure you order some 8cm Mini DVD-RW, DVD+RW to have on hand, and for still pictures get a Memory Stick Duo, or Memory Stick Pro Duo Do not get any other type, it will not be compatible.
I ordered an extra battery from Amazon for backup as well as the polorizer filter set. Amazon prices beat Sony's hands down, even with the 15% they give you when you register online. I had problems getting my registration completed on their website and was able to do so later on. I cannot wait to get the video captured loaded onto the computer with the software supplied. This is a great feature to have on a camcorder!!!
Amazon rocks!!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
The LCD screen on my one-year-old DCR-HC21 miniDV camcorder stopped working so I figured it was a good time to upgrade to a mini DVD camcorder I've been wanting for a while. The DVD108 is great, and so much more user-friendly than a miniDV camcorder. I love that there's no more rewinding, fast-forwarding or searching for scenes on a tape. There are nice thumbnail images on the DVD making it easy to find scenes. Also there's a play button in record mode, so no need to toggle the dial back and forth between play and record. And it's nice to be able to review scenes, then start recording again right away without having to find the end of the last scene. You can't accidentally record over footage on a DVD.
The SP quality on miniDV tape looks slightly better than SP on miniDVD. So I'm switching to HQ recording, which will only give me 20 minutes of recording on a 1.4GB miniDVD, but they're cheap enough to buy a bunch.
Now, I purchased another Sony because I read that the batteries are compatible with both my old and new camcorders. This was important because I could use the 3 other (very expensive) extended Sony batteries from my old camcorder. A little side note about Sony, they are lunatics with proprietary technology. In other words, their products will often work only with their own branded accessories. I bought an off-brand battery before which fit on my old camcorder, and it powered up for a few seconds before telling me to use a Sony brand battery, before it shut down.
Anyway, I try to attach my "old" batteries to the new camcorder and they don't fit. However the new battery fits and works on my old camcorder. I then realize that Sony intentionally changed the locking tabs design on the new batteries so that they would be backward-compatible with older products, but the tabs on the old batteries would not fit on my new camcorder. Therefore I have to buy new extended batteries for my new camcorder. I just can't believe the ways Sony will screw with consumers and force them to buy more of their products.
Well that's my only tirade about this camcorder, otherwise it's fantastic. I mostly bought it because I burn all my miniDV tapes to DVD anyway, so this way I can save a lot of time.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
After doing a lot of research on camcorders and based upon the rave reviews of other customers for this camcorder model, I bought this one. However, it's not compatible with any remote control items. You don't find this out until you try to order a remote control and/or tripod from the accessories brochure. Even though I called Sony customer service and ordered a remote control from a group of 4 remote controls they said are compatible, they're not. When I called them back about it when I wasn't able to install it, that's when they told me I had been misinformed. Also, you cannot edit the movie once you download it from dvd disc to the computer. I called Sony about this also. They said you have to buy separate software to edit from the computer, but you can't even do that with this model. The instruction manual provides either inconsistent or just plain wrong information. Sony customer service does the same thing. When I asked them why the enclosed material indicates that you can edit movies on the computer, but then find out you cannot, they had no answer except "I'm sorry for the confusion." I am having to send back all 3 items to Amazon and will have to begin my research all over again. Very disappointing.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
I love this camcorder. It's simple to use and I love the fact that you just hit one buttom and it formats the disc and then it's ready to go into your DVD player. It has all the right features, but not so many that you'll never use them all. I love the clear, precise focus and the night shot option for filming indoors and outdoors. I've had this product for about 3 months now, I've completed one disc and I'm very satisfied with it's performance.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This review is from: Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Electronics)
when it comes to buying camcorders, i personally like the one with the build in memory. but after using this camcorder i was forced to change my mind.
unlike other sony camcorders, first of all, it offers upto 40x zoom which is a lot. its a good use of your money. you can have it for under $400 and still works better than a lot of choices out there. easy to use, touch screen, takes still photos, has a good speaker so it's easier to record video and voice, fits into your palm so to speak, and if you use rewritable mini dvds, you wouldn't have to worry about go out of memory.
so when it comes to sony camcorders, i would say the better quality of this one would get the job done properly.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
(
Saving...
