 "Not Mac compatible" | 2008-06-19 |
| - Reviewed By blueskies |
I am using this camera, and it is nice. However, my biggest gripe is that it is not Mac compatible. Many creative types use a Mac, which comes with very nice movie software. I have both Macs and PCs, but would have preferred to use my Mac.
Because it wasn't compatible, I purchased Sony's Vegas, but would have been much happier using iMovie.
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 "Sony, always improving" | 2008-06-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: AFUDRFVA0DNY6 |
Sony, getting better all the time: This is not my first video camera, I started about 20 years ago with the Betamovie and with it I've made videos with such good quallity that I didn't change it by the next one, the Video 8 because it still wasn't better until the first Hi8 appeared which was really better than the Video 8 and the Betamovie, after it I've been changing my video cameras each three or four years and once I've tested a Panasonic which wasn't bad but, I've always felt better with Sony, and each time I buy a new one, I find new good surprices, beeing them in the head of those products's tecnology.
The only one thing I would complain about this last one, the HDR-SR7, is not having the red light for the photo camera which you need to get focus in dark. |
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| "Good cam tough format." | 2008-04-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: AWIVU8I6MLDTX |
I think the obvious has been stated.
The camera does a great job with good lighting. Low level lighting is an issue.
I knew that before I bought.
I also knew to have Sony Vegas primed for the AVCHD formatted files.
Playback is difficult on slower processors and editing via a laptop even with core2 duo processors is rough.
I hook the camera up to the TV via the mini hdmi/usb thumb drive via PS3/USB cable to PS3/SD DVD with AVCHD as BR on PS3.
The battery life has been ok for my usage. A backup will be necessary for vacation/long shoots.
Controls and interface are user friendly and the "easy" button is nice for instant settings and shoot.
I am very happy with this camera. |
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| "The camera is good but format is a problem" | 2008-03-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1CSE4H9HZA9BK |
| The camera has shot good videos but to play them you need a powerful computer. So unless you have a dual core high speed processor you may not like to view the videos... I returned mine as i didn't want to upgrade my laptop just for the sake of AVCHD video format... i don't know when this format problem will get resolved or probably i will wait till my current laptop is completely obsolete... |
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 "Sony HDR-SR7 AVCHD Camcorder (handycam)" | 2008-03-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2TOYARY5S71XO |
- Excellent design, 5.1 sound effect is too good
- I actually returned back this piece and opted for traditional Mini DV camcorder Sony DCR HC 96.
Reason for my frustration in SR7 was its compatibility issues. Its like once you buy this one, you would have to (almost) buy HD TV, HDMI cable and may be few costly softwares to work with high quality video format. Also it would require large amount of storage capacity and processing power (Yes, even though this is a hard drive model, processing is costly). And when I through of all these collectively, that package is something I cannot afford.
> Sony MUST provide HDMI cable with this buy when you are paying $1300 for it
> Since toshiba has signed off the video format war, sony would definitely come up with one good Blueray camcorder soon.. and then this camcorder would not be this hot.
MiniDV is still my favorite. I can easily get DVD quality, superb sharpness and colors. Yes there are some efforts to convert it from Mini DV to DVD but that one time work is ok if you are getting nice quality. |
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| "Worth the price tag" | 2008-02-12 |
| - Reviewed By naveen307 |
I am writing this review after using this camcorder for 1 full month of trip to Africa.
Why Did I buy This:(buyers have to be clear on this)
I checked out the differences between a High definition video and standard definition video. I totally fell for high definition. The pixel ratio in high definition is nearly twice as much as standard definition video. Result - life like colors, better quality video.
I have plans to buy a HD tv in the future. So, this would fit perfectly to the package.
I wanted to store each and every part of my trip.
Now for the Pros:
The colors are absolutely rich and fantastic - both in the video and still images. I liked the photos I took using this camcorder more than my digital camera.
The night shot is amazing. Not many camcorders give a better night shot than this. The video quality in the night shot is rendered by CMOS Vid sensor.
The 60Gb hard disk is quite enough to store nearly 20 hours of video. I could not max out my hard disk in my entire trip. So, I am assuming 60G does a good job of storage service.
For users who do not know how to edit HD video or do not want HD video, this camcorder also offers the option to record SD video. For people who want to convert the HD video to SD, they can do that too using the SONY software that ships with the camcorder.
For professional users, Sony Vegas 7.0 should do the job. I edited my videos using Vegas 7.0 and didn't lose any quality.
The product overall was compact in size and light in weight and I was able to carry it everywhere in my carry on bag.
Not too many cons:
1. The battery that ships with the camcorder lasts for 90 minutes of video. So, frequent users need to buy additional battery for long trips.
2. The sony docking station is an additional piece of baggage that comes with this camcorder. The most annoying part is that you have to charge the camcorder through the docking station(I didn't try to charge it directly through the dc input - users should try that out). And transferring the photos that are stored in the hard disk can only be done through the docking station. Overall - it's an irritating piece and sony should get rid of it in future.
I think overall this is worth the price tag.
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 "Great Camera!" | 2008-02-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1J1ZQ5RYZ2TL8 |
| It's easy to use and wonderfully clear. It did take me some time to figure out how to make it record in normal mode, not hi-def, but once that was done it worked great. Also, I couldn't figure out how to convert the hi-def files into something that could be watched on the computer - like flash or something, but I am new to the world of video editing so that might just be a user problem. The camera is awesome. |
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| "Excellent Camcorder" | 2008-01-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QZI9KALDA9OH |
The Sony HDR-SR7 is a great high-def, consumer camcorder. The ease of use and simple features make it very straight-forward. Having used it for a few weeks, I've only found a few drawbacks. First, it seems unnecessary that Sony used a mini-HDMI connection port. It looks like there was probably enough space to put a standard-sized HDMI port, and thereby would have avoided the need for a special cable (mini-HDMI to HDMI). Second, the camcorder is very light and small, which is nice in one respect, but also requires a steadier hand to operate. Despite the optical image stablization, it is very easy to "wave around" the camera and induce lots of motion to the picture. Third, to the best of my knowledge, there is no compatibility between the Camcorders file format and Mac computers, so editing is limited to a PC.
Nonetheless, if High-Def is what you're looking for, you can't go wrong with this one. |
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| "Great amazon.com customer service!" | 2008-01-25 |
| - Reviewed By dnangju |
This is the first camcorder that I've ever bought. I was looking at hard-drive models (vs minidv or dvd) and there were considerable options from Sony, Panasonic, JVC, and Canon. The 60 gb hard-drive, ability to do Hi-Def, take still photos, and sony reputation were what eventually drove my decision to get the SR7. I used the camcorder on my 3-wk vacation in December and it worked flawlessly.
However, when I got back, I started getting these error messages that said that the database image file was corrupted. Maybe because the hard-drive was full? When I tried to move the data I had captured on my vacation, I was only able to grab 50% of the video, but luckily all of the photos. After 2 weeks I gave up on the file transfer and tried to reformat the hard-drive. It then gave me another error message that said that was not possible. I spent four hours with Sony tech support to diagnose the problem. In the end, they couldn't help me and suggested that the camcorder might be defective.
I promptly requested an RMA from amazon and I got a replacement within a week. I decided to give Sony one more chance, even though I lost half of my video from my vacation.
So far the camcorder is working ok. I suggest transferring the contents of the hard drive periodically, so that it doesn't get full and easily corruptable. It doesn't bode well for long trips. The still images are not as good as a regular digital camera. But the video quality is good. This is my first camcorder, so I have no frame of reference on the video quality.
So far the replacement is functioning ok. |
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| "Sony SR7" | 2008-01-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3SUYHWNEPSDNI |
| Just finished a trip to Barbados and the surrounding islands. The camera did very, very well. The quality of the stills is excellent. With the hard drive, it is very convenient for shooting clips over many days. I've had many Sony video cameras, but for me this is the best. |
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Expedited Available
