Sony HDR-SR5 AVCHD 4MP 40GB High Definition Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom

Manufacturer: Sony
Customer Rating:
List Price: $919.99
Sale Price: $1,499.95
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Record high-definition (AVCHD) video directly to a 40GB HDD
1/3-inch ClearVid CMOS sensor for high-quality HD or SD images
2.7-inch widescreen hybrid touch-panel Clear Photo LCD Plus display
Professional-quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens
Easy one-touch disc burn; Handycam Station included

After A Year and a Half

Review Date: December 5, 2009

Reviewer: Sephethus, Philadelphia, PA

This has to be the most useless camera I have ever spent a ridiculous amount of money for. The primary reason for buying a digital camcorder is so that I can edit them in any given piece of software, convert them to a common format and upload them to the internet or view them in any player. Not possible. Trying to get Sony's proprietary AVCHD m2ts format converted to anything useful is an extraordinary amount of time wasted.

Problem 1: You can't just plug in an ordinary USB cable to upload videos to the computer, no, you have to have the platform it sits on and a unique kind of USB connector plugged into the platform.
Problem 2: Proprietary video format, you can either A: burn a DVD or B: convert it to something that no codec can open. See 3.
Problem 3: You can't upload it to Facebook without buying a $50 piece of converter software that will put it into a common format. Oh, when you convert it, forget the HD, it goes bye bye.
Problem 4: The software that comes with it is only for PC's, Sony hates Apple. So I have to launch a VMware Windows XP session if I even want to use their useless as tits on a bull software that thinks it is user friendly but really only complicates things.
Problem 5: The "video stabilizer"? A joke, get a good tripod if you expect to have any video that doesn't vibrate more than a jackhammer during an earthquake.

Why can't it just record in a common format or at least have a built in converter that allows you to choose the format you want on the camera hardware itself.

From what I have learned, if you really want a video editor that is compatible with this camera, look forward to spending an extra $200.

I don't know what camcorder you should buy, or what I will try to get next, but don't buy Sony, they wouldn't know a computer if it bit them on the @ss.

Great Starter Camera

Review Date: August 23, 2009

Reviewer: Nathan Knarreborg, Los Angeles, CA USA

This camera is simple to use and has great recording quality for the price. I recommend the an additional extended battery and the polarized lens for outdoor use. This camera can be used as for simple recording or you can explore the many menu options to add effects or fine adjustments. The digital zoom is amazing up to 20X before it starts loosing most of it's quality. The still camera option is great and takes photos as good as most consumer point and shoot cameras. I've had this camera for more than a year and haven't had any problems.

Make sure your video editing software can handle AVCHD format and that your computer has a big hard drive (500GB+). When these HD videos are in their uncompressed format they can be very large. The following videos have all been shot with the HDR-SR5 and edited in iMovie (mac). [...]

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Sony HDR-SR5 AVCHD 4MP 40GB High Definition Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom

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