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 I hate this cameraJul 15, 2010
I've refused to buy any of the current generation of consumer camcorders because they lack a viewfinder. This one came into my possession because my mother bought it, and it was too complicated for her to use.
I absolutely hate this camera. How could they have gone to such lengths to make a technologically advanced product that is so asinine to actually use??!
Most significantly, it's nearly useless in sunlight because it lacks a viewfinder. In sunlight, you can make out some silhouettes on the LCD screen if you shade it with your hand, but you can't recognize faces, or even read if it is recording or in standby. What kind of idiots decided that this was acceptable????
The zoom button uses left and right motion, which lacks any intuitive instinct regarding which side zooms in and which side zooms out. A front-to-back control would be perfectly intuitive. Side to side is not, so you have to think about it every time you use it.
The spot focus and spot light-meter are nice ideas, but you have to jump through a bunch of menus to access them, so by the time you set it, you will have already missed the shot. To be useful, these need dedicated buttons. Push it, and a dot appears on the LCD, and the dot moves to wherever I touch on the LCD screen while I am holding the button, or I move the camera until the point I want focused or metered is under that dot. I wish. And while they are at it, put a white-balance button too, just like my old Sony Super-beta had.
They had a really cool idea of making one button to start/stop recording, and a different button to take still pictures. But WTF?? You have to set the camera into still or movie mode first. Why couldn't it be modeless, and I simply push the button corresponding to the action I want to take? Maybe even take a still photo while it is recording.
They put a lot of thought into including a lot of esoteric functions that few people will ever use, while obfuscating the rudimentary functions that users need constantly: start, stop, zoom, focus, exposure, and maybe white-balance for an old-school videographer. These should be so intuitive, accessible and unmistakable, that I shouldn't even have to read the manual to use them.
 camcorder is exceptionalMay 15, 2010
Well, I bought this wondering if I was going to like it or not. Verdict is in, I love it. Pictures are great, even while set on easy play. Night vision works very well. I bought filters and other equipment that makes this camera run great. If I can figure it out anyone can.
Great cameraJan 23, 2010
Look, this is a great camera. I see the reviews that say that it's a big problem that you can't edit video on a Windows PC easily. My answer is get a Mac. Believe me, I'm not a Mac guy. I hate those "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials. Apple is the new evil empire. This camera is the new way to get great video recorded and edited for you memories. I love it. Bought it from a pawn shop for $200 and I have never spent better money for what I will get. Go with Sony when possible, you will be happy.
 WHAT A JOKENov 09, 2009
VERY POOR QUALITY VIDEOS/PICS. MY 69.OO KODAK TOOK BETTER VIDEOS AND PICS, DIFFICULT SOFTWARE,POOR DVD BURNER, HAVE TO CONVERT FILES/FORMATT TO EVEN MAKE A MOVIE,A REAL PAIN! THIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE WORST CAMS ON MARKET!! STAY AWAY!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
DCR-SR45Oct 18, 2009
I was looking for a inexpensive camcorder with Night shot and stablization for our Paranormal investigation group. I also wanted a hard drive so we wouldn't have to change DVD's or tapes every hour. I found this display model SR45 for a little more then $200.00. I was really pleasently surprised by what I got.
I found that I could record on HQ for almost 6 hours and on standard for over 10 hours. The night vision was perfect, and the cameras internal Mic picked up sound just as well as out top of the line olympus DVR. The FH100 battey powers the camera for 5 hours(battery was extra) When you attach the camera to a wall plug in, on a tripod, and with a large IR emitter you get the best night shot video I've ever seen. Later we transferred all the video's to a DVD via a DVD burner....the group was very impressed. For an older model Camcorder we couldn't have found anything better at 4 times the price.
Its light , easy to handle, instructions are simple, easy to transferr videos, and you can also do videos or stills on the memorie card.
If your looking for a low budger Video camera we recomend the SR45
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based on 65 reviews
