Amazing video camera for the price until HD is common

Apr 2008 - First let me explain the problems with other forms of camcorder media on the market and then I'll review this camcorder.

There's a problem with current High Definition (HD) camcorders like the Sony HDR-SR5. Google "AVCHD video: The hardware is willing, but the software is weak" for the story, but basically there's no decoders yet for PCs, so they can't play the videos on a PC. Even if they could play them and edit them and everything there are no blu ray recorders currently (or if there are they're very expensive and very hard to find), so the only thing you can do it burn the HD video to a DVD-R which can only record about 15 minutes of video. After it's on DVD-R it can only be played in Blu Ray players, which currently cost $300+. So HD camcorders are not the camcorder you want if you want simplicity, at least not until everyone has a Blu Ray player hooked to their TV and Blu Ray recorder in their PC.

Mini DVD camcorders are no good. It takes about 30 seconds to initialize a mini DVD and another minute to finalize it when you're done recording. Also those Mini DVDs only hold 30 minutes of video (they're only 1.4 gigabyte) and they're a few dollars each so it becomes expensive.

Mini DV are not good because they're tape based so you're still dealing with a tape that has to rewound and fast forwarded and everything else. Want to preview what you just recorded? Sure, no problem, just rewind for a minute... hey look they're about to start again I want to film this! Oh sorry you can't, unless you want to record over everything just just filmed. So tape's out.

Flash memory camcorders still lack storage capacity. Current 8 gigabyte Pro DUO memory cards cost about $100. Cheaper to just get a hard drive camcorder.

Hybrid camcorders would actually be the next best thing to hard drive camcorders because they offer usually around 4 to 8 gigabytes of built-in flash memory plus a Mini DVD recorder. So you record everything on the flash memory, then burn it to the Mini DVD when you're done.

Hard drive camcorders offer everything. No expensive media to record onto, no tape or Mini DVD that can get "stuck" inside. Immediate access to all your videos without rewinding and with hard drive sizes currently ranging from 20gb to 100gb you can record many hours of video before you fill the hard drive. Also many (like the DCR-SR62) allow editing right on the camcorder so you only need to save what you really want.

So now that I've gotten that out of the way let me proceed with the review.

A relative of mine had a VHS-C camcorder from around 1999 and they asked me for help finding a new one because an important event was coming up and they wanted to record it. The Sony DCR-SR62 is the camcorder I chose for them. The video quality is excellent compared to VHS-C, about on par with a Digital8 I still use from time to time.

One feature I really like about the DCR-SR62 is the Handycam Docking Station. It works far better than I had expected. I installed the included software, restarted the PC and plugged in the Docking Station and it really works like advertised: I can press the button on the Docking Station and it'll automatically record whatever new videos are on the camcorder to DVD. This is perfect for anyone that wants a 1-button solution to put movies on DVD. Creates the menus and everything. Doesn't do anything fancy so if you're one of those people that like custom menus and such then you won't want to use that feature, but it does make it very easy to put videos on DVD. Wish my digital camera was that easy! I'm constantly saving photos to different folders on the computer and eventually losing track where I put the photos, I'd love a one-touch button that burnt the photos to a cdrw or dvdrw or uploaded them to a website so I don't lose them.

The DCR-SR62 is also very compact, a little larger than a standard 35mm camera, and it only weighs 3 lbs, much lighter than older tape-based camcorders.

Two sets of zoom controls are nice too. One is a switch in the standard place on top of the camcorder, but the other set are two buttons to the left of the LCD that zooms in or out slowly. This is nice if you're holding the camcorder at an angle, like far above your head or close to the ground, and can't reach the switch on the top very easily.

The "Active interface shoe" on the top of the camcorder is a nice feature if you ever want to add a large light, a camera flash or larger infrared LED for filming using nightshot at night.

Now onto the complaints.

I don't care for the touchscreen. My fingers seem to take up the entire 2.7" screen when I try to press a button. I'd prefer the old method with a click-wheel or mini joystick or something to guide my way through the menus. There's nothing on the screen that absolutely requires the touch screen anyway and it feels gadgety rather than necessary.

The included battery only lasts about an hour.

There's no built-in light. My old Sony Digital8 had one built in and I don't understand why they left it off this model.

You can't take a still-shot photograph while recording, even if you have a memory stick in the camcorder. Not sure why this is, even the old VHS-C that this camera is replacing allowed that.

Well that's all I can think of for now, I'll add more information if I think of it but so far I've been very happy with the DCR-SR62.