I bought this camera two weeks back and find myself comfortable to write review on it. I did my research on mini-dv, hdd, DVD format and evaluate them on all fronts. With my budget of 40K this dvd model is the best choice as per my understanding. I don’t believe in writing too much description and straight away come to practical things. I have mentioned all the points here as a user and which will help you to take decision.
*Important Technical Specifications -
*• 4.0MP Still Image Capture
• ClearVid CMOS
• Record Direct to DVD
• 1/3"(5.9mm) 2304H ClearVid CMOS Sensor
• Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* Lens
• 10x Optical / 8x/80x Digital zoom
• 2.7" WIDE Touch Screen LCD
• Imaging Sensor Type: 1/3"(5.9mm) 2304H ClearVid CMOS Sensor
• No. of Pixels(Gross): Approx. 2100K pixels, No. of Pixels "MOVIE" Rec(Effective): Effective: Approx. 1430K pixels No. of Pixels "STILL" Rec(Effective): Effective: Approx. 1490K pixels
• Viewfinder: Colour, Auto shutter lock
• Minimum Illumination: 1.5 lux(Auto Slow Shutter ON, 1/25 Shutter Speed)
• Recording: Dolby Digital 5.1ch, Dolby 2ch(with optional mic)
• Image Size: 4:3 4.0M(2304 x 1728) 1.9M(1600 x 1200) VGA(640 x 480) 16:9 3.0M(2304 x 1296)
• Compression: JPEG
• Remote Control: RMT-835
• Accessory Shoe: Active Interface Shoe
• Format: DVD-R/-RW/+RW/+R DL
• USB Terminal: Yes(mini B / Hi-Speed USB 2.0)
*Good about this Camera –
* 1. It is 4MP camera so you need not to carry digital camera.
2. Video Quality is good in low light(in house) thanks to 1.5 Lux
3. LCD panel got finger touch protection(unlike hdd model sr-42e)
4. CMOS sensor and Sonnar T* lenses works well in day light and you can shoot clearly in bright sun light.
5. Finalize the disc and you are ready to watch yr video on tv or computer/laptop in a minute. For 30 min recording cd, it takes 1 min 17 sec to finalize.
6. Auto-shutter lock, very good grip for one hand operation.
7. Random access for your recorded video and you can delete your videos( if you use dvd-rw and vbr mode in the handycam)
*Bad about this Camera –
* 1. Handling CD is difficult as storage capacity is limited for anyone.
2. Recording time max is 1 hours and not good for shooting in concert or tv program unless you are carrying 4-5 cds.
3. Buying 1 hour recording cd is costly as 1 cd cost rs. 425 L
4. While finalizing the CD you can’t move/shake yr camera.
5. Even if you use double-layer DVD for recording(1 hour recording capacity) you can’t use it for continuous 1 hour as 1 side can record only 30 min(in standard mode) and again you have to change the side. There is no mechanism for continue operation.
6. Battery which is supplied with this handycam last for 1 hours only(fp-70)
*On camera front –
* 1. Red-eye comes in close-up photos. Software provided is not good enough to remove red eye.
2. Photo quality is ok for indoor –operation. Flash is not powerful as digicam. I haven’t used camera for daylight operations.
3. If you use vbr mode in camera for recording yr video you will be able to delete videos on the fly but wont be able to run dvd directly on computer/dvd player(except sony).
Other media type -
I compared it with HC 96e(mini dv) and SR-62e(hdd model).*
*Mini-DV
* 1. Biggest problem with mini-dv is that you need to rewind/forward to access any particular recorded scene. Also there is probability to loose recorded video if you forget to reverse back to free area for your next recording.
2. You need to buy fire wire cable and yr comp should have that port for data transfer. If you use USB cable then you loose video quality.
3. You need lotsa disk space to download videos from cam to HDD.
4. HC 96e got lotsa features and it’s the smallest/lightest one. But you wont get cmos sensor here.
*HDD
* 1. Very convenient and you need not to worry abt recording time but I would recommend to buy only sr-300e model. This is very costly right now(arnd 70K in India).
2. You can’t use them on Airplane, high altitude and low temperature as HDD don’t work properly.
3. Despite 3G-protection, I heard that one lost his handycam after dropping it. I am not sure HDD can be replaced so easily and how much it cost. These were the reasons to drop my idea for hdd model. HDD models are costly right now and risky to handle but very very convenient in use…
My Verdict –
If you can manage with short shooting duration(i.e 30 minutes) then this is the best camera in Sony for this price range(below 40 K). It got almost all the features for your day-to-day operations.
