167 of 170 people found the following review helpful:
Extremely good for its class
Im a student film maker and was looking for a cheap camera just to get me going. If you want an amazing camera you cant really expect to pay less than 600 bucks, but i took the risk and im proud I did. This camera is a standard class of video, but it excels beyond the class and could even be compared to cameras of 100 to 200 dollars more.
144 of 165 people found the following review helpful:
Don't expect to view your videos on Windows Media Player or other 3rd party software
I recorded 400 different videos from my daughter's first cry to her 1st birthday. I cannot get the recorded videos to play back from any software other than Sony's proprietary software.
Sony's tech support states to "I'm sorry for the difficulties, here is a link describing why Sony's videos won't play back on Windows Media Software"
[...]...
This review is from: Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver) (Electronics)
Im a student film maker and was looking for a cheap camera just to get me going. If you want an amazing camera you cant really expect to pay less than 600 bucks, but i took the risk and im proud I did. This camera is a standard class of video, but it excels beyond the class and could even be compared to cameras of 100 to 200 dollars more.
-Out of the box the camera lacks some color to it, however if you adjust the settings things look great. Its NOT HD, but the quality is still fantastic for some reason. It does lack some saturation to some colors (greens and somewhat blues) but its all adjustable to an extent. I kinda wish it had that "film" effect that some Cannon cameras offer so i dont have to add it in via Sony Vegas, but im happy with the resolution it has now.
-The zoom is absolutely out of this world. I was just screwing around with it and decided ill look down and zoom in on my shoe laces. I could literlly see grains of dirt all over my shoe lace, my shoes are completely clean to the naked eye. I was also zooming in on letters in long distances and was completely able to read everything clearly. The zoom does get a little pixelated when you put it on a TV (i have a Samsung HDTV) if you go too far or move around alot. However the stabability of the camera is phenominal, normally a zoomed in shot would be real shaky and un watchable, not with this camera.
-Like i said im a film maker, but i prefer to use the screen. I was using it outside and its not bad at all, you can put a screen of it or you hand or something and see clearly. The camera is TINY! I couldnt believe it was so small, fit in the palm of my hand without a problem.
-Sound is pretty good. When im filming its completely quiet all around me so i can hear the people talking and what not just fine. It sadly has no option for an external mic though. Its a CLEAR mic that will pick up alot of noise though, wind blowing or something. The Directional Mic that it has does a pretty good job of cutting out some back noise, but id still love for it to have an external mic.
-The cool thing for film makers like myself, is its a extremely good intro camera that you can afford. Not only that but Sony offers a TON of accesories for it. Wide Shot lenses, Camera saturation covers, underwater casing, external lights, and things of that nature. I thought that was extremely neat and bought the lenses myself.
-I forget the file it records in, but it uses the file so that it can burn directly to DVD. The feature is neat if you have a DVD burner for it (about 100 bucks) but you need to convert the file on your computer if you want to edit it. Its all good though, and if you have a good program you wont lose alot of quality.
-The built in HDD is amazing, so much space i couldnt believe it. Not only that but the memory cards it uses are the same as the PSP, they are cheap as heck. So you could add over another 16GB to it with a single card. One reason i bought this camera over its competitior is purely the fact that it uses a hard drive and not just memory cards, trust me its alot cheaper and alot cleaner.
-How the camera runs is great. Flip the flap open and bam its on within seconds, push record and its almost instant. It also has a built in lense protector, so press the switch and it shuts or opens, the camera will also warn you if its close obviously. The touch screen is impressive, i was expecting a delay or inaccurate intereactions but it worked well. Its nice not having a wall of buttons on the side of the camera for you to accidently push while recording.
The bad things i can think of. It has no external mic option, however you can buy Lepel mics and just match up the audio if you wanted. The battery it comes with kinda sucks, only lasts 90 minutes and even less if your filming in the best quality. The single shot pictures are not the greatest, can get a little grainy, but you dont buy a camcorder for that. Its not HD, while i wish it was, you have to buy some of the newer models for 500 to 600 if you want HD and i cant afford that right now, the quality is still amazing though.
I tried to touch upon everything here if nnot ill try to update as I come across things. So far im extremely happy with my purchase. I love Sony products as its usually quality and this camera is no exception, if anything its advertising the other cameras they sell that ill probably end up buying in the future. Right now though this is what I could afford and to me it seems like i got a 500 to 600 dollar camera for 300 and thats not a bad deal in my books.
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Easy camera to use, does exactly what it is supposed to do. In anticipation of my daughter's dance recital, we purchased this camera at a local electronics store just before the recital. I was hoping that getting it up and running would not be too difficult given the short amount of time I had to familiarize myself with it. Upon arriving home, I had it unboxed, and the battery charging while I changed and got ready for the recital. Once at the recital, I opened the viewfinder, it came on, and I was able to start recording without first reading the manual. During the intermission, my wife and I marveled at how small the camera actually is, and how it felt natural in both mine (large) and her (small) hands; it was also lightweight with just enough heft.
Before the purchase, I had read online reviews here and elsewhere claiming that when the camera was connected to a TV, the video quality was less-than-acceptable. I did not find this to be the case. Back at home after the recital, we were anxious to show the performance to some neighbors. We have a 43" high-def plasma, and the video quality looked like normal "standard definition" when played on a "high definition" TV. That is, it was not crystal clear, but it looked how any normal standard definition video should look. Having said this, if you want crystal clarity when played on your high-def TV, consider purchasing the high-def camcorder. Hooking the camera up to the TV was easy, as was connecting it to our computer, which runs Windows XP Professional. I had to update XP to Service Pack 3 in order for the included software to be installed, but once installed, it was able to pull the video from the camcorder to the computer without fuss and was able to immediately start editing and such.
Given my brief experience with the camera, I give it 5 stars. It records movies/audio very well, the picture looks fine on both the TV and computer, and the software allows organizing and editing (only minor editing, albeit) of videos and still photos. All things considered, I am happy with this camera.
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This review is from: Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver) (Electronics)
I bought this camcorder based on the better zoom compared to others in its price range. I was able to start recording with this camcorder right out of the box. It is very simple to setup and quick review of the manual will answer all your questions. I have not used the software but was able to use the USB cable to transfer the video to my computer in a matter of minutes. The sound was fantastic and the video looked better than expected. Overall this is a great camcorder, easy to use, easy to setup. I would recommend one extra battery as the one that comes with it last 90 min.
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The DCR-SR47 is my first camcorder. I wanted a camcorder with plenty of storage and extra zoom capability for a land/sea cruise to Alaska. I have not used all the features; the following comments are based on using the camcorder for two weeks on the cruise and another week editing files after we returned.
This is not a hi-def camcorder. It does, however, have two video settings. I chose the HQ setting and am happy with playback quality on both my PC and , from a DVD, on my 40 inch LCD TV. A 470 GB DVD holds about an hour of HQ video. Although the HQ files are recorded in MPEG-2 format, other software applications don't seem to recognize them.
My biggest issue was the lack of a viewfinder. Camcorder viewfinders are apparently becoming rare, so this issue isn't confined to this model. I'm also not sure a viewfinder (unless "through the lens") would have worked at some of the higher zoom levels I tried using. Nevertheless, the LCD was useless in some conditions (I could see nothing but reflections) despite trying different angles and brightness settings - very frustrating when trying to record a whale breaching! A second negative is the low resolution of still images. The specs I found on one web site say the effective resolution of still images taken with this camcorder is 0.34 megapixels. Needless to say, I also took my digital camera on the trip.
Otherwise, this camcorder was an excellent choice. The camcorder is small, easy to hold, and easy to use. I expected jitter problems at higher zoom levels because I chose not to take a tripod. I had jitter problems, but my overall results were generally better than I expected. I learned to zoom slowly and not past the point where I could stay on the subject.
I have used the included Picture Motion Browser (PMB) software to play the videos on my computer, to trim files, to capture frames, and to create DVDs:
- Each file in a folder can be played individually. Screen show mode plays all files in a folder sequentially.
- The trimming operation is used to define "in" and "out" points and save the segment between those points as a new file. The original file remains unchanged, so additional segments can be created from it (e.g., a "bad" portion in the middle of a video can be effectively removed by creating segments before and after that portion). One feature I haven't found is the capability to combine two or more videos into a single file. Because each file written to DVD becomes a chapter on the DVD menu, a "join" capability would cut down the DVD menu size.
- The frame capture capability is used to create JPEG images from a video file. Clicking the frame capture icon while playing a video opens a new window displaying the frame at the click point. This window lets you move forward or backward through the video a frame at a time and capture as many JPEG images as desired. Changing frames is a slow process, but I found these images to generally be of better quality than those taken in the camcorder's "still" mode.
- Creating a DVD is fairly easy. PMB moves all files in the starting folder into the "record" window, but individual files can be deselected. Files from other folders can then be added. A graphic shows how full the DVD is getting. Any file selected for recording can be trimmed here as well. Trimming at this stage neither creates nor changes any files. PMB simply records the portion of the file between the trim points, offering some additional flexibility for fitting files onto the DVD.
One quirk of PMB - All files are initially downloaded to a folder on the computer (my camcorder defaulted to "My Pictures" instead of "My Videos", but that setting can be changed) and analyzed. When I reorganized the folder structure for ease of editing, PMB found the files in their new locations but I had to manually remove their icons from the original download folder.
Great quality shots both in light and dark situations. When I first started using mine I thought the quality was just okay. Then I realized that it was set on SP. When I changed the setting to HQ, wow, what a difference. I don't get all the bad reviews on the picture quality. I can't imagine any other SD camera having any better picture. It's SD. If you want perfection, spend the extra money on an HD camera. Also, the videos transfer to your computer easily. Also love the 60gb hard drive and the touch screen. The battery last longer than I thought - about 90 minutes. Would buy it again in a second.
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This review is from: Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver) (Electronics)
I recorded 400 different videos from my daughter's first cry to her 1st birthday. I cannot get the recorded videos to play back from any software other than Sony's proprietary software.
Sony's tech support states to "I'm sorry for the difficulties, here is a link describing why Sony's videos won't play back on Windows Media Software"
[...]
I understand that Sony cannot support every 3rd party software, but why does Canon and Samsung and Apple product have videos that are supported by Windows Media Player? Sony support states that their videos require a special codec. What the heck do I care? All any user wants is to be able to record and edit on any PC or Mac. Well you can't do it unless you stick to Sony's software which is limited for video editing.
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I have found this Sony very easy to use. The picture and sound quality are quite good. The only complaint I have is that the picture quality suffers if you have it zoomed out. Other reviewers mentioned that this camcorder is not compatible with Macs. That is completely untrue. All our computers are Macs and it has been no problem. Sure, the included software with this camcorder won't work on a Mac, but with a Mac you don't need the software. We connect the Sony to the Mac and the video downloads easily and perfectly. But of course, any true Mac lover would already know this.
Don't buy the suggested case that Amazon has on the product page. You could fit about 5 of these camcorders in it!
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This review is from: Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver) (Electronics)
I spent about 1.5 hours recording video with this camera before the
60 gig hard drive went blooey. That's it.
I bought the camera specifically for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to
Europe. I bought it a few months before the trip, so I didn't make any
serious mistakes on vacation. In the UK, the hard drive failed. Nothing
provoked this event. I was simply filming, and the hard drive went
under. Troubleshooting through the manual and through Sony tech
support came up with the same result: send it in to the Sony shop. But
because I did the right thing by spending a few months with the
camera before putting it through the vacation paces, Sony will not pay
for labor to replace the piece of crap hard drive that they voluntarily
placed in the camera. The result is that I'll have to drop another
$90.00 into the camera just to make it work as advertised.
Were I to do it over again, I would have kept the Panasonic that I
exchanged for the Sony.
At least I can use the camera with a memory stick. There are Sonys of
comparable quality available that use only memory sticks for $100.00
less.
Sure, the DCR SR 47 works easily. The marketing reviews will tell you
all of
the good features. I'm here to tell you of the bad feature: customer
support.
If you're looking for a camcorder, the manufacturer of which will
assure that you get a quality product for the purchase price, and are
willing to back it up, go elsewhere, and pay close attention to the
manufacturer's warranty from whomever you buy.
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I bought this as a replacement to my Sony Flip camera. I replaced the flip camera because I wanted something with more memory and battery life. This camera met those issues and more. I didn't realize how poor the quality of my videos were until I used this camera. The quality is great, the zoom level is great, the battery life is great, and it's just as easy to use. It is bigger but it still fits in the cargo pocket of my dockers without any issues. The low light quality is better than the flip cams. It's not great but much better. I use the camera to shoot my nephews soccer games and family functions. I am very glad I decided to go with this camera and wish I had gone with something like this first. I would recommend this camera to anyone who wants to take nice pictures and videos. Only thing else I would say, get a tripod. The zoom works great but it also picks up every little movement and tends to make the video shaky. But I think you should expect that when you zoom in as close as this zoom gets you.
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This review is from: Sony DCR-SR47 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder (Silver) (Electronics)
You cannot cut-out unwanted segements, etc. You cannot use the ever powerful Sony Vegas (yes, a Sony product) to edit. If you try, you will lose 100% of the sound. It does not handle MPEG2 in standard methods. It has its own software...with no cutting abilites, etc. that only allows you to burn to a DVD. ***Did you make a mistake while filming? Hey, too bad! You have to reshoot the whole thing...no power to cut out bad footage!***
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