Sony HDR-SR12 10.2MP 120GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
by Sony
Our Price: $1,999.95
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: SonyRelease Date: 2009-11-30
Model: HDR-SR12
Color: Black
Product features:
- Record 1920 x 1080 Full HD video to 120 GB hard drive
- 10.2-megapixel still image capture
- Face Detection technology for video and still images
- ClearVid CMOS sensor with Exmor technology
- 3.2-inch widescreen touch-panel Xtra Fine LCD screen
- Pinnacle Studio HD V14 [OLD VERSION]
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 [OLD VERSION]
- Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection V14 [OLD VERSION]
- Nero 9 [OLD VERSION]
- Roxio Creator 2010 [OLD VERSION]
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony HDR-SR12 10.2MP 120GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
Customer Review: Expected More. But still worth the price.
Summary: 3 Stars
Expected More. But still worth the price.
-Low light picture quality: vey grainy - pointless to shoot in low-light, must use a light, or the night shot.
I am very happy that sony continues to incorporate the Nite Shot feature in to their cameras. This has been a sony staple almost since they started their Handycam line. Sony is the only one who that I know of that still has this as a standard feature. I think Samsung had it on a couple cameras. It seems features get taken away as time goes on, but I'm glad Sony decide to keep this great feature. Hint: Record Night Shot in B&W for a much better pic quality.
Autofocus: struggles to find a focus point and stay there - very irritating. I've tried changing all kinds of settings to rectify - it still has this problem. Isn't that the point of face recognition - to focus on the subject? Doesn't work on my camera. The solution is to use manual focus (or a lot of unnecessary editing, which makes the video cut in an out too much on one scene! And very time consuming). But to use manual focus, you have to change the setting via the touchscreen menu to dedicate the ONE KNOB on the front of the camera for focusing. But I like to use the knob for white balance control - too bad, it can only be used for one function at a time. And if you want to adjust white balance (or ANY other setting for that matter (well, not focusing)) you must do it via the touchscreen menu. Really? I have to bump my camera several times while recording to change something? Yes that's right you do. Then you can't see the image b/c the screen is covered with it's menu options! Does nobody see how ridiculous this is?!?!
This brings me to:
Lack of easy to use controls - very cumbersome to stumble through multiple menu levels to change simple settings while recording.
In case you haven't picked up on it, I'm not a fan of the touchscreen. But it's not just sony, ALL consumer grade cameras are like this. Yeah it's neat for about the first five minutes, but you get over this "novelty" really quick. Maybe it would be okay for post-recording or playback functions. Trying to change settings while recording is just a joke. Even if it's on a tripod, the camera shakes all over the place. I don't even try to change anything anymore while recording - very disappointed in this. I've been relegated to the "easy" button. The easy button works pretty good, but not always how I want.
I had a camcorder in the early 90's. Big 'ol thing that recorded on VHS tapes. That camera had more functionality than this one that was made 20 years later by the biggest and supposedly most innovative electronics company. Why, you ask? Because my 90's camcorder had BUTTONS AND KNOBS. Some like the lack of knobs and buttons - understandable. But it would be nice if there was a consumer priced camcorder that had buttons and knobs for those who like more control
The only way to get buttons and knobs is to buy a $12,000+ professional grade camera. You don't see touch screens on those, it's buttons and knobs.
Another function that most consumer camcorders now lack is the viewfinder. That is one reason I decided on this camera - it is one of the few with a viewfinder. However, my last camcorder (not 90's) had a telescopic viewfinder. I used this a lot. This one does not have a telescopic viewfinder. Not sure why features like this are being removed as time goes on.
Picture quality in good lighting (when focused) is phenomenal. 5+ stars for this.
Audio quality is top notch. 5 stars for this.
The view screen (/touchscreen!) gives an incredible picture during recording and playback. 5 stars for this.
Supplied recording software. I use Vegas 8.1 for my editing. But for grins I thought I would just see what "picture motion browser" could do. It doesn't. Never got it to work on my brand new powerful PC. Froze up every time I tried to use it. FYI Vegas 8.1 works great, but it has a high learning curve. Pinnacle works good too, much better for the less-technically inclined user.
Hint for home movies: Edit, edit edit! Don't just burn your vidz straight to DVD/Blu-ray. Nobody wants to watch 20 minutes of an unedited birthday party! Or you on the beach over and over and over. You will get much more from your vidz if you take the time to learn the software (pinnacle is great for newcomers) and edit your movies to make them enjoyable - get rid of all the jittering and out of focus shots, and the 10 minutes of the same thing. Throw in some still shots and pan across them. You can make some great quality movies with the tools available to anyone these days. Take advantage of it!
A note on computing. Unless you have at minimum a fast dual-core processor with a ton of ram, and a large hard drive, you will be frustrated. Plan on adding another 2K to the cost of this camera for a new computer. My computer is quad core 64 bit with 8 gigs of ram, powerful Nvidia Graphics cards (SLI), a 1.5 TB HD, running vista x64. Even with that, there is still some (very little) stuttering when editing in Vegas 8.1 Also, you will want a Blu-Ray burner drive, and Blu-ray discs for your finished videos - more cost. You must burn your videos to Blu-Ray in Hi-Def. If you are only going to downgrade the video to standard quality and burn to DVD, then you are wasting your money on this camera to shoot in Hi-Def. Then of course you are going to want a monitor capable of view 1920 x 1080 HD, add another 400 minimum. Seems nothing is easy these days.
However, with all that said, you can play your videos straight from the camera directly to any TV - Standard or Hi-Def.
In summary, I'm very glad I purchased the camera - it really is a good buy. Are some things irritating? For me, yes. But the main point is: HD. You can take some awesome HD vidz with it - something unheard of only 5 years ago (at anywhere near this price). If you are ok with the easy button, you can't go wrong with this camera.
Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Version 12
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Description of Sony HDR-SR12 10.2MP 120GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
The HDR-SR12 delivers everything you need to shoot stunning Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution video and 10.2 megapixel still images. With Hybrid recording technology, you can record to either an internal 120GB hard disk drive or removable Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo media. A professional-quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens and ClearVid CMOS sensor (with Exmor technology) and BIONZ image processor let you capture every detail in video and still images. Additionally, Face Detection technology helps everyone put their best face forward, while the Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization system helps ensure images remain sharp and true.Camcorders
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