Can't provide much info of a technical manner, but for home use this camcorder performed perfectly. Most of the video shot so far has been in a gymnasium of my daughter's basketball games. I've had trouble with the same type of setting with both digital cameras and camcorders because at zoom, the light levels record very low. This was not the case with this camcorder, which is the main reason I decided to purchase it in the first place. Overall the camcorder is very easy to operate, it's very point and shoot. When finished shooting it's very easy to put in it's dock and transfer video either directly to DVD or to your computers hard drive for editing and back up. My only complaint would be battery life and cost of extra batteries. The battery that comes with it performed as advertised but it's just a little too short and the purchase of a second battery is a must.
Buy Sony DCR-SR60 30GB 1MP Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Zoom Now
I bought this camera thinking that Sony would have improved on the success of their DCR-SR100. The SR60 is a nice camera that is just as compact than the SR100, it weighs less than the SR100 and is still very managable. I love the automatic lens cover and the menu is very easy to use. I hear a lot of people complain about the menu setup, but for me (a point-and-shoot home movie person who almost always relies on automatic mode) it was fine.It gave GREAT looking outdoor video but I wasn't too hot on the indoor quality; the picture came out a little too blue when an area was lit by overhead lights. When the lighting became even more dim, the picture became very grainy. I'm not saying that the picture was not usable; but for the cost of the camera ($600), I expected a little more.
Like i said earlier, the picture outdoors was very good, everything appeared clear and all the colors appeared correct. I used the camera in several action shot opprotunities and the focus appeared fast enough for me and never gave a blurry image.
The format of the camera (HDD) is awesome. I simply connect the camera, via USB2, to my computer and it detects it as a hard drive. From there its just drag and drop and you're all done. It takes a matter of minutes to tranfer the information, way better than the real time transfering from miniDV tapes. With its 30gb Hard drive, almost 7.5 hours of video, that's 15 miniDVD's. The Hard drive is just more convenient than other formats.
I used the included software and it was very easy to use. One bad thing I didn't like was the software showed the file name on the screen throughout the entire DVD. I could not figure out how to remove it and when I contacted Sony, they said you can not remove it. If you use the direct DVD burn function (burns directly from the camcorder's hard drive), then it creates the video without the name. The direct DVD burn function is great for the making video from the camcorder's hard drive, but if you already tranferred video to your computer's hard drive, then your forced to use Sony's software (or preferrably another 3rd party program).
I was overall pleased with the camera except for its indoor performance and since that is the majority of my video, I returned it and opted for the SR100, which I find to perform better indoors but at a higher price. I would have liked to have upgraded to the SR1 but I couldn't afford its $1500 price tag and I wasn't sure if the HDTV would survive its upcoming war with Blu-ray or EDTV.
If asked if I would recommend this camera, I would still say yes but give my experiences with the indoor quality. If one could look past that, then I would also advise to consider the SR80 instead, it appears to be the same camcorder but with a larger (60 gb) hard drive. During this Holiday season, I've seen the SR80 go for only $100 more than the SR60, not too bad for those really long extended trips.
Hope this helpsThe Sony DCR-SR60 is a great camera, light weight and great resolution, i recieved it the next day i ordered, i was thinking on buying another with more HD capacity but i'm realizing that 30 GB is enough for everyday recording. I wish it had frame by frame video recording but i guess this features may exist in the professional cameras only.
The software is very friendly and simple and has everything you need to interact with the PC.
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Bad engineering in the connection between the camera body and the touch screen rendering the camera useless. Used this camcorder for a total of 36 minutes (one recording) since purchase. During the first 5 minutes of recording the LCD screen began to black out. Only by constantly opening and closing the screen was I able to see any of the film subject. By the end of the 36 minutes of shooting the screen was completely black rendering the camera useless.Contacted Sony through their repair website. Website stated camera out of warranty by a few days (nevermind it was only used for a total of 36 minutes); also stated no authorized repair centers around Atlanta??????, camera had to be returned to Sony along with a credit card payment of $211 upfront which would cover 'normal' repairs. Noticed a tiny grayed-out asterisk above the $211 figure so I found the very tiny, very pale gray disclaimer at the bottom of the page '$211 payment did not cover repairs to LCD screen' (paraphrasing).
Clued me in that Sony knows there's a problem with the screen connections so did a web search and found several complaints about the DCR-SR series of hard disk camcorders.....all the same complaints....LCD screen goes to black rendering camera useless, Sony will not repair.
BTW...I am a wildlife and underwater photographer and know how to handle and care for cameras (I have several) so this was not a case of user error or abuse. Plain and simple bad engineering by Sony and Sony refuses to accept responsibility.
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