3 Responses to “Sony DCR-SR40 30GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam with 20x Optical Zoom”

1. Atherton says:

   September 19, 2009 at 8:53 pm

   This camcorder is a good video capture. But the main drawback is that it records in MPEG2 format (DVD quality). Initially, pleasant and easy to capture video and watch it on your computer by downloading files via the USB cable 2. 0 Connection. It gives you instant gratification. But after taking 4 or 5 hours of video, you notice that your videos are not as important as it is provided. It is the fault with your camcorder. Its because all of us shoot extra scenes, unwanted scenes, shakes, etc., we want to change. You may want to add a title or two, add transitions, add music, combine your photos with video, etc. Basically, you may want to change the sequence. Its here when you find the major drawback of this camcorder. MPEG2 video quality is not good for editing. The video quality is so compressed that you will not have enough bandwidth for video editing.
   MPEG-2 is a compression technique lossy used to compress large video files into smaller files that can fit in a 4 GB or 8 GB DVD. Since the camcorder compresses the video, then writes to the hard disk, the source file that you download onto your computer is already compressed and has lost much of their data during compression. If you modify this file and the compressed data are lost during processing, resulting in a lower quality video.
   By editing these videos, add transitions and special effects, increase / decrease brightness or noise, etc., the newly edited video loses further clarity and makes the video so ugly and pixelated.
   In short, please do not buy this camcorder if you're serious about your videos and you want to change. But do not worry about editing and want to see the unedited footage forever, then do it.
   However, if you still think you want to get this camcorder, please read the criticism of its other features:
   1. Super NightShot Infrared System: Not a very useful feature. Your amazining first to see how this camcorder is able to "see" using infrared light. However, when shooting the subject with infrared light, never want to shoot again as they will appear like devils when shot using this infrared light. Remember infrared images seem almost black and white, no color. And the subject's eyes not really look like hell.
   2. 2. SwivelScreen 5-inch widescreen LCD with touchscreen display capabilities: convenietly Sony "forgot" to mention that this screen is NOT wide. Nowadays most cameras come with widescreen LCD. It is a nice feature if you still want to shoot in widescreen. In fact, I suggest you shoot in widescreen only as all future TVs and current LCD / plasma televisions widescreen. You can test the future of your video shot in widescreen. This camcorder does not have video, widescreen, but the widescreen LCD is NO. So when you take the big screen, you see black bands top and bottom.
   3. Digital photos: Please do not rely on this feature. The best photos from this camcorder as as good as the worst photos from any popular digital camera. Technology has not evolved to the point where a camera can shoot as good as a digital camera and vice versa.
   4. 20x digital zoom Optical/120x: The optical zoom is very good. You can manage up to 10X optical zoom without a tripod. Any zoom requires the use of a tripod. I had the opportunity to expand and drive to read a label at the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago. I love the zoom on this camcorder. Do not use the digital zoom function. Turn it off. As mentioned earlier, the MPEG2 compression already poor quality video. The digital zoom, it is even worse.
   5. The professional quality Carl Zeiss: Yes, that's fine. The picture quality is fantastic. Undoubtedly.
   6. Image Stabilization Super SteadyShot system: good enough to avoid small vibrations caused when going on a boat, for example. But not enough for the shakes encountered when walking with the camcorder. Do not expect to get beautiful images in these conditions. For large images, still must have a steady hand or tripod.
   7. Zoom on the screen and the buttons on the record: no useful function. The camcorder tends to shake more when you use these zoom buttons on the LCD because the LCD is always projecting outside when recording video. So most of the camcorder shake when you touch the LCD screen when you touch the camcorder body.
   8. USB 2. 0 interface: Good interface. Fast enough to download 30 GB in 1. 5 hours. Firewire interface would have been great. However, USB 2. 0 is also quite good
   9. Image Mixer Software: Software very useful. The Google Picasa is a free software is much better organizning films and photos that the software that comes with this camera. Forget about this software.
   10. InfoLithium Battery with battery metro: the battery life. It could take up to 1 hour and 20 minutes with a battery. Remember to not shoot continuously in everyday life. We turn the camcorder on and off several times to shoot. This battery lasts 1 hour 20 minutes during normal shooting as explained above. If you can shoot continuously for greater battery life.
   11. NOTE: This camcorder does not have an active interface shoe. Other Sony cameras have this function. This allows you to add other accessories from Sony, for example, the light of further flooding. If you've decided to add an accessory, do not worry about the lack of this feature.
   12. DVDirect Compatibility: This feature lets you record videos and photos directly to DVD. I do not think this is a very useful feature. It is always best to download onto your computer, and recording only the photo files to the good and the DVD instead of burning them.
   General for investigation. Buy this camera if you're serious about editing videos. It is a good buy to aim and shoot-and-pleasure viewing only. In my opinion, a mini-DV camcorder (DCRHC42 example) remains a better bet than a DVD or hard drive based model. The only inconvenience in a mini-DV model is that there must be a little cranky to download the video to the computer. If you agree with this, the mini-DV still provides good value for money as much less expensive than the models of DVD or hard drive.
2. Dallon says:

   September 19, 2009 at 11:50 pm

   It is interesting to see how people will give this review a shit really based on a property, or the inability to RTFM before making a purchase (or at least make a purchase in education).
   It is a device very easy to use. The starting time is very fast, and how you can beat the silent operation of a hard drive based camcorder? The touchscreen is also very easy to use, but it is easy to see how it can hinder some people, especially those who do not like fingerprints on screens.
   NightShot mode, as always, is a bonus but this camcorder could benefit from accessory shoe improved – but it's fun NightShot low-light situations, suffers from a lack of color range. An accessory shoe could allow the use of light, which would add more capacity to use this device.
   Connectivity is also good. I could mount the drive in Windows and Linux with ease. The videos are stored in MPEG-2, which is quite universal, just drop them into your video editor of your choice. The included software is somewhat basic, allowing you to backup your DVDs, create DVDs quickly and easily. Those who have a desire to make quality films are other programs tailored to their needs, such as CyberLink PowerProducer.
   The approach is very good in normal situations, but suffers a lot in low light, such as automatic exposure settings. Although the unit has no manual settings, forget it creates for children Aperature higher light (). The parameters not only in this direction.
   Video in three recording modes, it is recorded in 720×480 resolution, and there is no right on the main menu that lets you switch between 4:3 and 16:9. However, the picture quality is not as clear as that in most high-end MiniDV camcorders. Detail is resolved, but it lacks the clarity necessary to make films very strong. There is very little noticeable degradation of image quality switching between headquarters and the SP modes, even in LP mode has a very noticeable change in detail and color noise in low light.
   Overall, this camcorder is very good and very useful. However, like all hard drive camcorders, some level of organization needed, or you may find yourself trying to save some good memories, only to find the hard drive is full and it is far from your computer to unlock the Space.
   Overall, however, is a great entry level camcorder hard disk drive for people who want to make videos for download on the network, camcorder or occasional user. This is also very suitable for holidays, where the luggage space is critical!
3. Anonymous says:

   September 20, 2009 at 1:25 am

   I bought for my wife, who teaches music and needs in connection with a video camera to record events of the music. I shot in low light at the back of the room with lights, only the distribution of musical and both my wife and I were pleasantly surprised by the quality of production. However, several things I did not realize before buying the plugs are not displayed, but they have influenced my decision about this device: no USB device. You must put it in the USB cradle to transfer files to your computer. And the only thing is that if the camera is running the power cord plugged into the wall – do not recharge the battery. You can change the camera and begins charging the battery – this time not a show stopper, but a little boring for me.
   I love the camera but these small things distract me an excellent rating.