thetaxiguy's Full Review: Sony Handycam® DCR-SR200 Flash Media, Hard Dr...
I was looking for a new camcorder. It seems like I get a good 5 years out of one before something better comes along that I simply must have. First it was the jump from analog to "Digital Camcorders" and this time it is several factors that have me jumping to a new one.
Compact Size, Hard Drive storage, and 5.1 channel audio were my major "Must have" factors when buying this camcorder.
The Sony SR200 has a great little compact size. I previously owned a Digital 8 camcorder and this is about half the size of that one. The whole thing is about the size of a coke can. (actually a tad bit fatter then a coke can but about the same length). It is very easy to carry around and not weigh you down.
My second factor was the Hard Drive storage. No more tapes!!! This is nice but it is also a little scary. Tapes were expensive to keep buying but they were also always there for a last resort "back up" incase I ever needed them. I could always keep the original tapes of an important event just incase I ever needed to re-capture them to other media. The hard drive is great for not having to buy tapes anymore but once you erase movies from the hard drive you either have to hope the DVD you made never becomes corrupt or you have to store the files somewhere on a back up drive somewhere. The hard drive holds about 8 hours of the highest quality video before it fills up. You can get about 28 hours if you lower the quality setting.
The third thing that caught my eye, or Ear rather, was the ability to capture 5.1 channel surround. When I first heard of this I though it was proposterous for Sony to claim that you could record in 5.1 channel surround sound. Then I started thinking about it and reading about it and realized that it could be done from a small built in Microphone. The Mic is on top of the camcorder. This takes away a little bit of the camcorders ability to pick up distant sounds out in front of it, but by gosh, it sure does create a surround sound environment. I WAS AMAZED that this thing actually did record in 5.1 channel surround. When watching your video it really does create a nice feel that you are really there. (if you have surround sound at home of course).
Though I am pleased overall, let me list some of the bad things:
First off, I have no idea why they eliminated the view finder. If you want to see what you are recording, you have to open the side LCD screen. You can no longer do it old style where you hold it up to your eye.
Second, there is no place to secure a neck strap. They have a strap that holds it to your hand (as they all have) but there is no place to put a strap that will allow you to carry the camcorder around your neck.
Third, It does not have the ability to do hi def. However, Hi def is in a real struggle right now with Blu-ray vs HD DVD so its best not to spend the extra and get comitted to one format at this time. Just be patient and stick with standard Def camcorders for right now.
Fourth, I feel that too much is done with the LCD touch screen. I liked having actual buttons for turning features on and off. Now you have to navigate your way through a whole menu and tree of options before you can adjust things like auto focus and other options. This is not so bad but the LCD feels delicate and I'm almost affraid to over use it and break it.
Fifth, The standard battery is only good for like an hour of recording. The hard drive holds 8 hours!!! You almost have to immediately buy the larger battery for 100 bucks to have a decent recording time.
Sixth, I am a bit dissapointed in the zoom. There are cameras out there with 20 and 30 times optical zooms. This one only has 10x optical. Some of sonys cheaper models come with a better zoom. I fail to see why they put a weak zoom on one of their higher end cameras.
Seventh, The setup to get it working with your PC is a bit tricky. Its not hard but if you dont do everything just right and in the right order you have to start all over. However, when you do get it set up correctly it is AMAZINGLY simple to burn a DVD at the touch of a single button.
THE POSITIVE:
The One Touch burn will kick off my section on the Positives of this camera. It is a GREAT feature, and one I had to see to believe. but sure enough it works just as it says it does.
I also like the true 16:9 format. In the past my camcorders have "faked" 16:9 widescreen by chopping off the top and bottom of the picture. This was a cheap way to get widescreen and it took away from resolution. This camera is built the oposite way. This is true 16:9 and if you want 4:3 then it chops off the sides.
As I mentioned above the camera uses a hard drive instead of tapes. This means money savings in tapes and it means lightning fast transfer times of video to the PC. You can have your movies over to the PC and be editing in no time at all.
The camera has beautiful color and a great picture. This is, afterall, what we want most in a camera.
Everything works good. Besides the dissapointments I listed above I really am pleased with the overall camera.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 747.00 Recommended for: Home and Families - Keep Memories of Family Vacations
40-gigabyte hard drive stores over 25 hours of long-play video or over 8 hours of high-quality video 2.1-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor for crystal-cl...More at Amazon Marketplace
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