Cons: I took videos in low light. By low light, I mean that found in a dimly lit pub. The video started a little dark, but then it seemed the camera adjusted and although you could still tell it was dark in the building, the video was clear. The sound was clear and awesome.While it did connect to my mac and was recognized, my mac would not play the videos. I am used to more ease of use when connecting to my mac and no need for extra software. Perhaps I could have made this work had I tried more then 3 minutes, but I decided to just use my PC since I had that option.
Pros: My mom actually purchased this for the purpose of video taping my wedding. It took excellent and clear movies for this. The lighting in the venue was not super bright and not dark. It was just average. And the videos are excellent.
I installed the software on my PC and it was the easiest camera software I've ever installed. It worked easily the first time and easily made DVDs for me to send to family and friends. I was very impressed with how easy to use it was and how easy it was to pull the videos off.
The buttons are small on the camera, but they are clearly marked and still easy to use.
After the wedding, my mom gave me this for use on my honeymoon and whenever. It's a very nice little camera... and make no mistake, it is small. It's maybe 3X5X2 inches I guess? Maybe? It easily fits into a pocket. It also very easily fit into my hand. My husband had no complaints about the size of it or how it fit into his hands and they are good manly sized hands.
The battery lasts about 2 hours. And with the standard memory will take between 2 and 4 hours of video. It will take another SD card for even more video. If you are going overseas, I'd recommend taking a spare battery that's all charged.
I like that it comes with all the cables you need to connect to your TV or to your computer.
The instruction manual is clean and easy to follow.
I would recommend this item definitely without reservation for videos. I did not try to take any pictures with this item as I have a camera for this purpose and would prefer to use the camcorder for the purpose for which it was intended... videos. =)
The best thing about this camcorder is no tapes or discs! It uses 16GB internal flash memory and can also use Sony Memory Stick DUO or SD flash cards for additional space. Then you just convert the MPEG-2 (DVD quality) movie files to a PC or to a DVD, DVR, or VHS recorder via the included cables.
It also has a photo mode, but found it's VGA quality to be poor for good photos. Stick with a regular digital photo camera or you can capture frames from video on this camera to create a jpg file, that is better quality than the VGA photo mode.
The camcorder comes with a USB cable, RCA video cable, 1 battery (about 2 hours), and Windows software for converting movies. You can also access the camcorder like a flash drive if you do not want to use Sony's software.
Overall, I recommend this camcorder from Sony. It is a good replacement for my Digital 8mm tape camera, which does not function so well after accidentally dropping it. The moving tape parts are out of alignment. Thus the need for non-moving flash technology with this SX63 camcorder.
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UPDATE August 29, 2010
I used this camcorder for 2 vacation trips this summer. I added a 16GB SD card (about $30 on Amazon) and was able to fit most of my videos on the internal memory and SD card. I also purchased a 2nd, longer lasting Sony battery, which was necessary for long days away from the hotels. And I purchased a Sony pouch to easily carry the camcorder and extra battery on my belt (great portability!).
I transferred video from the camcorder to my laptop during the trip, and burned DVDs before even reaching home. For a small camcorder, it takes really good videos, even in LP mode, which allows more video to be stored in flash memory and on DVD. It's not a HD camcorder, but it has satisfied my needs to capture memories. I had no problems during either trip, which were about 2 weeks each.
Buy Sony DCR-SX63 Flash memory Handycam Camcorder Now
I previously owned a Sony Handycam with a hard drive. I was satisfied with the camera but out of warranty it failed. I wanted an SD camera again as I don't want the hassle of dealing with the huge file sizes and haven't heard a lot of good things about the lower priced HD cameras.This camera is a very good SD camera. I like how it has 16GB internal memory plenty for my needs and also gives you the option to use SD or memory sticks.
PROS: Construction of the camera is very good. The small doors are all solid and the few actual buttons feel good. Other high points quality of SD footage is great with good proper widescreen ratio, sound capturing with highly sensitive internal mic, smooth footage, ease of viewing of files on PS3, TV, PC. No hard drive and very few actual buttons on the camera. Size of camera is small but feels good in the hand.
CONS Low light performance, touch screen menu system sometimes too touchy and crammed menus. Some people dont like the MPEG2 format.
This is a great camera. This is NOT HD quality so don't expect it. The footage is very smooth and the camera performs well in decent lighting. The camera has an LED that acts as a "flash" to brighten up the scene. They removed the nightshot/nightvision to add this. I would have rather them kept the nightshot mode as they did in previous years.
I returned a competitor product to get this one and am not disappointed!
Read Best Reviews of Sony DCR-SX63 Flash memory Handycam Camcorder Here
purchased for hunting trip to africa,works fine in the house or low light. takes good videos,light,easy to use zoom is great only problem when in sunlight almost impossible to see flip out screen, which means you dont know what you are taping, missed some very good action shots because u cant see screen tried to hold hat over top still didnt work. sony needs to adress this ruined a very good trip to africa because couldnt capture half of the things i wantedWant Sony DCR-SX63 Flash memory Handycam Camcorder Discount?
If you are like me, and don't want to haul both a camera and a camcorder to events and on vacations, this IS NOT the camcorder for you. It takes really bad grainy photos. I should have done more homework. The HD camcorders can take 3 MP photos. This SD camcorder takes photos around 640k! :(The other issue is the size. It's just too small. I can't imagine this being natural to use for anyone with decent sized hands. The menu is akward to use and the buttons are cumbersome.
On the plus side, the video is good. Very clear and no problems with low light conditions.
If you have small hands, and don't care about being able to take photos with your camcorder, then go for it. Otherwise, I recommend against it.
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