5 comments about RCA EZ105 Small Wonder 60 Minute Point-and-Shoot Camcorder.

1. Very compact, and the video quality while viewing on the Small Wonder is great, but when you transfer it to your PC, video is of lower quality.
   It's ok for fun but not for recording your childs graduation or wedding.
   The key here is compact.



2. We bought the camera to use on a trip to Paris and it worked great! The picture and sound quality will not win any awards, but for the money and the fun, it is great. The software and usability of the product is very good.



3. an amazing thing ,takes good video,great sound quality, and i have a dvd recorder which i can hook up to to make permanant copies with. I take this on hiking and kayak trips with its small size i find it perfect, however the drawback is the under sunny conditions you can't make out the display screen so its pretty much point and shoot which so far has been good , but indoors thats not a problem, it doesn't take stills which would be nice, but over all i love this thing



4. I read a lot of reviews and bought this based on those.
   
   The camcorder is small and very easy to use. However, viewing the video on my computer shows how poor the image stability is. Every little movement of the camera shows as a very distracting gray screen long enough to make the recordings worthless. I am now looking for a better product.
   
   Don't waste your money.



5. this is adequate if you use it indoors to take pictures of baby's first steps but you cannot see the display outdoors at all. the video quality is barely acceptable, battery life is terrible, sound is adequate. i bought one at amazon for 129 then found walmart has it for 99. amazon does NOT price match or guarantee lowest price, so i paid 30 bucks too much for a 99 buck toy

5 comments about Panasonic SDR-S150 3.1MP 3CCD MPEG2 Camcorder w/10x Optical Zoom (2GB Card Included).

1. I enjoy this camera alot.
   Friendly and photo video even in very low light conditions.
   High quality video is eventually going on the tv or computer.
   I have some problems with taking out the movies using the program but it's simple to copy the movies through the micromate reader.
   I think it's the best product I have ever bought.
   
   Meiri



2. This really is a first class camera for its size... easy to use, good quality output.
   Only one thing to bear in mind... the microphone is at the rear of the device... perfect for picking up "heavy breathing" - or side comments on the action.... can be a bit of an embarrassment....



3. I needed a camera that fits in my handbag to carry around everywhere I go. This was my primary priority, second was image quality and the third was to be able to record on a memory based media. And this camera is the best you can get considering all these factors. It is not the smallest camcorder in the world but small enough to fit your coats pocket, very easy to use, just pop the lcd screen and lens cover slide open and you are ready to shoot. There is an auto everything and manual switch where you can override all or some auto functions. I rarely use manual overrides, because not only auto shooting does a decent job but also manual functions are very deep in the menu system that makes it hard to control, and this is one of my few complaints about SDR-150. I wish there was a few quick access manual adjustment buttons.
   Image quality is surprisingly good, 3CCDs are really make a huge difference, accurate vivid color rendition, no visible compression artifacts etc. very very good. Another cool function is the Image stabilization system "OIS" works really good. It is hard not to shake this camera in your hand, it is not shoulder mounted, and your grip is even weaker then the old big DV camcorders. There is a finger grip that comes with the package that you can screw on the tripod mount, this way you can also use your ring finger instead of only index and middle finger for additional grip.
   For the recording and editing SD cards, or any memory based recording system is the future of camcorders, long gone the days of magnetic media tapes, dv, dvd, hard drive all kind of rotating mechanisms, motors, gears, pulleys, belts etc. which makes the camcorder heavy, big, unreliable, vulnerable to dust, water, shake, vibration, heat and cold. These systems also need bigger batteries because they need lots of energy to drive the mechanisms. Another drawback of some older systems that you have to transfer your files to your editing application in real time. 1 hour video will transfer exactly in 1 hour. With this camcorder you can transfer hours of video in minutes. Editing software is altough not very advanced pretty decent, simple and easy to use. It can also output to DVD.
   
   After I bought this camcorder, we have been using it almost everyday, every other camcorder we had owned before was stored in a bag somewhere at home occasionally used. With this camcorder, we have recorded more than our entire collection in just a few months. Yes there are certainly better camcorders out in the market, but you just can't carry them with you all the time.
   
   Highly recommended !



4. I've owned this camcorder for a couple of months now. I really like it. I paid just under $400 for it. For the price, I can't imagine a better standard definition flash camcorder.
   
   Pro's
   -Tons of manual controls. They're fun to play with. I'm just learning videography, and this was exactly what I wanted.
   -The "easy" mode works well. So if you don't want to fuss with the controls, you'll still like this camera. I find most of the menus easy to navigate.
   -Really nice image quality when viewed on my 22-inch monitor. I was surprised when I viewed my first footage -- the color was pretty much perfect (vivid but natural, not hypersaturated), no noise under decent lighting, auto focus worked perfectly. The motion was very natural looking.
   -Works with my 16gb SDHC card. So I can store about 15 hours worth of video at one time.
   -The still-photo mode is also fun and includes tons of manual controls. You shouldn't buy this just for the still camera, but it's a nice extra.
   
   Con's
   -Some of the controls are less intuitive. In particular, the four-way macro/ backlighting control is sort of confusing (to me, not necessarily to you).
   -Neither photos nor videos look all that great in low light. Even the special low-light video capture is not terribly effective (though still fun to play with). But I did not deduct any points here because I believe that you don't get good low-light images at this price point -- no exceptions. If you want really good low-light images from a flash-based camcorder, then you have to move up to a higher price range.
   -The design is slightly awkward. There's really no way to maintain a comfortable, relaxed grip on the body. (Contrast w/ the body of the Samsung SC-MX10 and HMX-10, which allows the camcorder to rest more naturally in your grip). But I'm really nitpicking here because the grip's really not a problem in real-world use (just not ideal).
   -Neither the camcorder nor the editing software are Vista-compatible out of the box. You can get them to work with Vista, but it is a bit of a pain. It involves separately downloading a series of drivers and firmware upgrades. The whole process took about 2 hours.
   -Panasonic's US website is 99% worthless if you're looking for support for the s150. I had to Google around until I found the upgrades on the Panasonic global website.
   -The editing software is of marginal quality.
   
   Conclusion
   -I'm very happy with the camcorder itself. All the problems I mentioned are really minor and don't even come close to outweighing the camcorder's many virtues. The biggest problem I had was getting it to work with Vista. But I think it was worth the minor hassle.



5. I don't like to take video for many reasons. You end up with a lot of bad scenes in the middle of the tape, if you review the tape you have to forward to the point where you can begin taping again and it takes far to long to transfer the video to the PC if you want to burn it to DVD. This camcorder solves all those problems. Because of random access of the SD flash media, scenes where you accidently filmed your leg for 10 minutes and didn't notice it till later can be deleted on the fly. It automatically begins to record at the end of the series of scenes so there's no fast-forwarding to find the spot where you can record again. And copying the video to your PC is as easy as pulling out the SD card and plugging it into your computer. You can begin burning a DVD immediately. Now I don't hesitate to video. With 3 CCDs, quality is much better than the previous few single-CCD miniDV camcorders I've owned from JVC, Sony, and Samsung, particularily the white balance and color correctness. On a big screen TV the difference is very noticable. It is dead silent when you video something. With a 4 GB card (which only cost me $29) I get about an hour of video at the highest quality setting. This means an hour worth of high-quality taping will copy to a single current generation DVD. The video camera is very small but feels very high quality and substantial. I ordered this from J & R and they did a great job getting it to me as promised and I paid a very reasonable price.

No comments about SVP HDDV-3001 12MP Max. 6-in-1 Multi-Functional Camcorder with Rare Huge Flip LCD! (Tripod Included).

No comments about Sony Handycam DCR-SR85 60GB Hard Disk Drive HDD Digital Camcorder w/ 25x Optical Zoom DCRSR85 - 0.45x Wide Angle Lens - 2x Telephoto Lens - 1GB PRODuo Memory Stick - Extra Battery - Quick-Rapid Charger - 3 Piece Filter Kit + MORE! BigVALUEInc Accessory Saver Accessory Bundle.

5 comments about JVC Everio GZMG555 5MP 30GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom (Includes Docking Station).

1. I bought is camcorder about about two months ago. I used it at eight events day and night time shooting and the videos came out great. I also shoot photos at a wedding, I loaded the photos on my computer. The prints were like a pro.



2. I recently just got this camera and boy is it frusterating! Now don't get me wrong the video quality is just pure excellence compared to the last camera I used. Another pro is the night alive feature which allows you to turn on a light built in the camera if necessary. Now with the cons. The camera files are saved as MOV files which are basically basically mpeg files, but none of my computer editing software can recognize it, including Windows Movie Maker and Sony Vegas Pro. I have wasted nothing, but precious time to solve this, but none of the solutions I've found appeal to me. I don't want to lose any quality and only want to edit the files directly through the programs I have (without converting)and not use the poor editing software it came with. Shame! with it's price tag it should be able to do the basic function what my previous $80 camera was capable of doing.



3. I bought this camcorder about a year ago and haven't used it much... just been taking video here and there. Now I'm ready to do some editing and the file format it records to, .MOD is not recognized by any program except the lame video editing program it comes with. I have Adobe Premiere CS3 with the latest update and it still doesn't work. There are programs out there for converting the files, I've tried one, it's a pain, and I still can't get the audio to work with the video.
   
   Don't just take my word for it, google .MOD and JVC and see what everyone else is saying.



4. This camera is great, only problem is, that almost immediately, two vertical lines appeared on the display. Another line appeared a few days after that. It makes no difference to the recording, but I am afraid that after a while I will not see what's on the display. I bought this for my dad and were able to give it to him after a few month so now I am wondering if I get any warranty help from JVC.



5. I have found this camcorder takes fantastic video as long as you set the indoor / outdoor button properly.
   Negatives I have read about and agree with:
   1) It is a little slow to focus at times
   2) Still pictures don't look good
   3) Records in .MOD format so editing and playback of files stored on a computer can be extremely problematic. I agree the included software for this is not very sophisticated and not user friendly. I found it an unacceptable long term solution.
   
   HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME SOLUTIONS THAT SOLVE THE VIDEO EDITING PROBLEM = Adobe Premiere ($400-$600 I believe)and Pinnacle Studio (multiple versions) support the .MOD format (format support listed on both websites). I use Pinnacle studio "plus" version 11 which I found on sale for $99. It flawlessly recognizes, plays, and edits video from this camcorder and is a much more powerful program the Microsoft Movie Maker which I was previously using. With this software I love the camcorder. Without this software, moving, playing and editing files on anything other than the camcorder was a nightmare.
   So, I would rate this 5 stars except for the negatives above. Without the Pinnacle software I agree w/ the 1-2 start rating a few have given.

No comments about SVP T100-Black 16MP Max. True HD Camcorder with 2.4" LCD.

No comments about Sony DCR-SR45E 30GB Hard Drive Memory Stick(R) Hybrid PAL Camcorder.

5 comments about Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2 7.1MP MPEG4 High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom.

1. Pros:
   
   -Very easy to work with, editable and small mpeg4 files. Great for posting stuff on the internet. Avid or FCP users don't need to capture footage from dv tapes; they just need to import the quicktime files, which is faster.
   
   -Good daytime quality with HD mode
   
   -Small Size
   
   -A few external (but expensive) lenses available
   
   -Decent (though somewhat grainy) pics
   
   -records onto sd cards, which can be 8gb
   
   Cons:
   
   -grainy, significantly worse quality in low light
   
   -As has been noted by many other hd2 users, there is an inherent problem with this camcorder's external audio. External mics, including expensive ones, produce an ugly electrical noise, which seems to be a magnification of the slight electrical noise that one hears in the normal recordings of the internal mic.
   
   - tripod socket made out of plastic instead of metal
   
   - difficulties zooming in and out slowly, though this may vary depending on your luck. My first Hd2 (which I returned due to another problem) was indeed able to zoom in and out relatively slowly. The new one I got can't do the same.The hd2's relatively cheap construction means that the viability of some functions is fortuitous. If you know how to work with avid or FCP you'll be able to add an effect to slow down the zoom, but most people wouldn't want to go through the trouble.
   
   -slow to focus. Even my cheaper and smaller sd-card mini camcorder, the samsung sc-mm10 (which has a 10x zoom) is faster to focus. On the bright side, the Hd2's fixed auto focus does help maintain the focus.
   
   -may look like a gun, especially with an external lens. If you like to record the police, this little camera may give you problems.
   
   
   Overall, I'd say that the most important change this camera needs is decent external audio. Audio is 50% of your production. If this thing had good external audio I would have given it 5 stars, because it would be a good bargain for the price. I'd like to know what the engineers think is causing the problem. I do know that small gadgets can record good external audio. For example, when I use an external mic with my tiny WS-100 Olympus digital voice recorder I get excellent sound.



2. To preface this lambasting, in all fairness, this camera -IS- quite adept at SD (Standard Definition). But the HD settings look like SD resized to 1440 pixels across. That's not HD in MY book, nor should it be advertised as such.
   
   And it's for that reason that this camera has to rank as one of the worst electronics purchases I've ever made. The HD image quality is atrociously bad: anything in slight shadow or darker becomes deep DEEP black, highlights or anything close to a highlight becomes pure white, not to mention the super-pixelating compression. Completely worthless indoors, at night, or in anything approaching a low light situation. In bright daylight, I was able to manage a super-compressed blobish complexion on my subjects, with a framerate resembling about 15fps. A $600 FisherPrice camera. I was angry to say the least.
   
   Frankly, I am a little surprised that this camera has received the glowing reviews it has on Amazon. It is for this reason that I kept the camera a little longer, fiddling with the settings, reading the manual all the way through, seeing if there was anything I was missing to boost the quality. In the end, it was all for naught. Perhaps I took receipt of a defective model, but all I know is that I returned the HD2, and I am now more than pleased with my HD1000. It's WELL worth the extra $40 if you want solid 720p image quality.



3. I expected the video to be so-so and the pictures to be excellent. Both were miserable.



4. A good camcorder for outdoor use.
   
   However, a full charged battery lasts only about 22 minutes for a continuous recording. You'd better get at least two backup batteries.



5. After owning the HD2 for 6 months I sold it on eBay.
   
   This is a tweener device - trying to be both a video camera and a digital still camera. I thought I was getting the best of both, but really the HD2 isn't great at either. Video and photo quality was fair - despite the 7.1 MP resolution, the picture quality wasn't as good as I had been getting from the 2MP Canon SD200 that it replaced. Sure I had more pixels, but subjectively (mostly - "these don't look as good as your old camera..." from the family) the colors didn't look as good and there was reasonably high noise. Also the "image stabilizer" used cropping so you lose field of view on the wide end (making the 39mm equiv. more like a 50mm), making this hard to use indoors.
   
   But what ultimately got me to put it up for sale was the drop in the number of pictures I was taking. I just didn't like using it as much so I didn't carry it as often and when I did didn't take as many pictures. Part of that was the quality, but more the pistol grip style camera just didn't work for me - I much prefer the standard box shape.
   
   It wasn't all bad, it has a long 10x optical zoom in a small body and pretty high compression (with good quality) on the videos.
   
   After selling it I went back to a standard digital camera, I bought a Canon PowerShot SD870IS 8MP Digital Camera. I'm much happier with this, it is a great digital camera that happens to take good SD videos, my picture (and video) count has gone back up.

5 comments about Sony DCRTRV900 MiniDV Handycam Digital Video Camcorder with Builtin Digital Still Mode.

1. I find it helpful to read the reviews of consumers that have already bought the product. But click on the review from Wayne C4 listed here where it says "Wayne C4 (see more about me)" and he has reviewed 40 + items with many of them using the same words in the review or with only a few words changed. And the items are similar that he reviewed. So he has obviously not purchased these items. So be careful what you read here. Shame on you Wayne C4.



2. I find myself using the DCR-TRV900 as a digital camera almost as a matter of course. I purchased the Sony 64Mb memory card (you need to also buy the PCMCIA attachment that it fits in) and taking pictures is a veritable joy. The supplied floppy drive is next to useless - in fact, I don't know how you'd use it in an active environment. There are manual options: aperture setting (depth of field) and shutter speed (great for darker environments)among them. You can also record stills right on the tape and later extract them on your computer. Transfering video and stills to a PC is effortless; I use the IEEE 1394 (Firewire) interface. To make great movies, including voice over (if needed) and background music, I'm happy with Ulead Video Studio rather than the Microsoft XP Windows Movie Maker program - which appears to be a minimal implementation of Ulead's program. Adobe Premier 5.0 might still be better, but I'm not professional enough to shell out [that kind of money] or so for that program. By the way, Ulead also allows you to create NTSC VCD files, which, once downloaded to a regular CD-
   ROM (I use Easy Cd Creator Platinum), can be played on your DVD player (not all of them, but certainly those produced in the last 2 years). Anyway, a great camcorder and camera; I find myself walking around with it for hours on end - it just feels good!



3. The USB software bundled by Sony for transferring images to computer COMPLETELY [MESSED] UP MY SYSTEM. The installation is very dicey. You need to do things in a precise order. It is prone to getting [messed] up,... it can't be fixed. As usual, the Sony software is a mess.
   Their instructions for unscrambling the mess don't work. They just get you deeper into the woods.
   Be sure to get the extended warranty if you buy this product. You will probably need it. As for the computer, it may require a complete disk wipe and reinstallation. God help you if you have RAID or something else. WHAT A MESS. Sony is big enough that they don't care. They don't have to.



4. I bought the TRV 900 in September of 1999 and have been very pleased these past few years. This camera is lightweight enough to travel with...with me, it's been from Italy to Arizona...and produces clean, colorful pictures. I can also grab "still" pictures from my videos and have a perfectly captured photo (i.e. the perfect smile on someone's face or a moment in which a bird dives into a shot etc.) My only wish with this photo function is that the still photos had better picture quality...as good as the video. Nevertheless, it is still a fun function and allows me to send my photos from trips to others via email. The camera has many special effects which are fun to work with such as black and white, sepia tone, negative (great for manually made titles), slim (make yourself thinner!), stretch (make people on the beach fatter!), posterized effects etc...if you can edit in your head, these effects can save rendering time later. (For editing, I've used AVID EXpress DV. The Sony TRV 900 footage loads nicely into the AVID Express DV editing system and is a pleasure to work with. AVID Express DV editing software is expensive (2K) and does have somewhat of a learning curve but with time and effort is well worth the money. If you get this software and you're new to editing, get a turnkey system from a place such as Promax. )



5. The software mentioned on my May 16th review IS called "AVID Xpress" -- not "AVID Express" -- when my review was edited someone changed the spelling, possibly thinking it was a typo/mistake?

5 comments about Sony HDR-UX1 AVCHD 4MP High-Definition DVD Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom.

1. This is an awesome piece of equipment! This cam produces some of the most stunning video and right now the price has to be the deal of the decade! The dvd format is outstanding and it really is the best of both worlds. I use -rw discs and copy my video to my computer then reformat the disc (which takes about 7 seconds) and use it over and over again so the price of media is virtually nothing, unlike tape which you have to keep buying and buying. The other benefit is unlike a hard disk based cam I dont have to worry about the drive filling up while I'm on vacation with no place to offload the video. And unlike A tape based cam I dont have all the problems associated with tape like head cleaning and trying to dig out tape that is wrapped up inside the cam or having to endure hours of tedious capturing or having to properly tension a tape before use or how big of a box I need to store all those old tapes in or worrying about recording over something I have already shot. I could go on and on and on about it but tape is just an old unreliable pain in the rear. As you can tell I have had bad experiences with tape based cam's so enough of that.
   
   The AVCHD codec is very efficient you will have about 4.5gb per hour of video compared to 13gb per hour of video from a tape based hdv cam and it records audio in dolby 5.1 surround which is alot better than the stereo only that you get with hdv.
   
   Others have mentioned the short recording time and I suppose it may be an issue for someone but it is not for me. Think about it when you are watching tv or a movie how many times does the cam just sit there pointed at one thing without a break for longer than a minute (or even a few seconds)? There is nothing I can think of that I can record for more than 20 minutes (hq mode) straight that I would want to sit down and watch anyways. Now if you have to record something like a childs school play sure maybe a couple times in your childs life you need an hour shot but I dont and even if an event took say 1 hour straight it only takes 15 seconds to change out a disc and be recording again so in 1 hour I would change twice and miss 30 seconds of video, not a big deal. Most all the stuff I shoot is like 1-3 minutes tops and I'm on to the next scene. I have shot a wedding and I was able to get all of it from the time the bride walks in to the time the couple walks out all on 1 20 minute disc. I think most of the people that complain about short recording times are just to lazy to change a disc! As far as the video being noisy in low light well give me a break, it does but so does every other cam that is priced south of $3,500.00! Besides that they do make these things called lights! In the daylight there is no noise at all in the video when played back on my HDTV, just beautiful high def video.
   
   The bottom line for me is that this cam is by far the best bang for the buck available today. Nothing in this price range even comes close to the video quality that this cam produces. It is a snap to record brilliant video and transfer it to the computer. Editing options are limited right now but they do exist and more are on the way so the editing thing is a non issue as well. It has pro type features that are just not found on other cams and I especially like the manual adjustment ring and I would never own a cam again that did not have at least a 3.5" lcd screen. Having used the smaller 2.7" screens before I can tell you that the big screen is way better especially when you are trying to manually adjust elements like focus and exposure. With the big screen you can actually tell what your video will look like, the small screens just dont show enough detail. This cam also takes beautiful still pictuers, I could keep going on and on but the truth is I really enjoy everthing that this cam has to offer and I would not trade it for anything else.



2. FANTASTIC camcorder!! Awesome stills and vids. Highly recommended for beginning user based on low price and ease of use!! Only tough part is converting video's. Still recommend to any user looking for HD quality!!



3. A lot has already been said and there are some excellent reviews here (as well as elsewhere), but I just want to add my 2 cents. I purchased this guy a few months back, and have since purchased a light and a second battery for it (I'll talk about those shortly).
   My favorite features include:
   1. The 3.5" screen, which should be a must for ANY camcorder, as the 2.5" screens common today are worthless IMHO.
   2. The sliding door for accessing the HDMI port as well as the other video ports. This is unique to Sony's UX1 and SR1 HD Camcorders (as far as I can tell) and is the BEST implementation I have seen to cover and uncover ports. Much better than the little plastic plugs that inevitably break-off and are lost.
   3. Beautiful, detailed video.
   
   My least favorite features include:
   1. The stupid little plastic cover plug for the power port. As mentioned above, this camera has a great sliding door for all its video plugs. Inexplicably, Sony used the plastic plug for the power port, which is right next to the video ports and could have used the sliding door. Stupid. Mine is already threatening to break.
   2. Short recording times. It is hard to blame Sony for the short recording time on DVDs. This is just a fact of life and the short time isn't limited to the HD DVD camcorders but it problematic for all DVD camcorders (though less so than here). You make a choice and you live with it. While lots of the reviews mention the dual layer DVDs out there, they are MUCH more expensive and I don't even really consider them an option. Luckily, the lower quality modes still look very good, especially when taping outside. For lower light situations, I would use the higher quality settings. Still, all of the video I take with this thing looks better than any standard def. stuff you may see. Also, related to the DVD issue is that the camera insists on popping up a little comment saying it recommends Sony brand DVDs every time I put in any other brand. This is completely annoying and Sony should rethink the way they try to lock you in to their own brand.
   3. Automatic lens cover. Not having to bother with a cover is a great little addition to this thing.
   
   Features I thought I wanted but could have lived without:
   I haven't yet used the focus ring or the mic in or headphone out yet. I really wanted these, but in retrospect, they were unnecessary for my home use. The mic on this thing is plenty good, and I just don't want to mess with the focus at the end of the day.
   
   Other notes:
   I purchased a light and an extra battery here on Amazon and couldn't be happier with them. The light is the Sony HVL-HL1 and the battery is the same one that comes with the camera, the Sony NPFM50. The light is just right to give a boost to indoor recording and makes the picture MUCH better in low light situations. It's only 3 watts but seems VERY bright. It attaches to the hot shoe on the top of the camera. It's priced right and works flawlessly.
   As for the grainy picture mentioned by many reviews, I haven't noticed anything distracting. Every camera has positive and negative aspects, but I am more than happy with the quality of video this thing takes.
   I give this Camcorder 5 stars not because it is perfect, but if you weigh the price and the features, I'm not sure there is a better HD or SD camera out there right now. It would not be worth the list price, but at the price they have it for now, you simply can't beat it, as long as you can live with the DVD format. If that is a dealbreaker for you (it wasn't for me, obviously), it's a dealbreaker, but otherwise, this is by far the best buy at this price point.



4. Bottom line, the picture quality that you get is incredible on the standard HQ setting. You can go two levels higher(just higher bitrates) but you shorten your recording time to 20 minutes or 15 minutes depending on which you select. If you have a ps3 ,you can just pop the disk in and watch it on your high def tv. The Dolby Digital recording is excellent as well. I recorded a Disney show at Epcot and the sound was just like you were there. I couldn't be happier with this camera but it may be a challenge for those who are beginners with high def equipment. It also records in standard dvd format if you choose. Nice feature but if that's all you are using it for then you will want to go with a dvd camcorder which is much less money.If you have an external hard drive on your ps3 than you can copy the m2ts files from the stream folder on the dvd and just play them directly from the ps3 when you want. The ps3 downmixes from Dolby Digital to stereo which I hope can be fixed by one of their many firmware updates. If you do purchase this camera then go with the MiniDV-RW media as you can just copy to a standard dvd via the sofware included and then use your MiniDV-rw over many times.The stills are just ok but then again I am used to the Canon S2-IS which really does a great job. You have the options of 4mp,3mp widescreen,or 2mp screen capture during video recording. All seem to do a pretty good job.



5. Picked up one of these about a year after it's release and at a substantial savings vs. when it was first released. Looked at it's replacements the ux5 and ux7 and decided that this model probably fit in between them as the ux5 seemed to have lost features and the ux7 gained. As the price was far cheaper then either, I decided to take the plunge.
   
   Pros:
   
   Very solidly made. This may be a con if you are looking for something light as it is fairly heavy, but the solid feel I think is nice.
   
   Shoots great SD footage and HD footage converts to SD with the included software. Far better picture then the entry and mid level SD camcorders. Nice if you are going to be sending something to someone else, who may not be set up to view the disks in their native format.
   
   In the proper light the HD footage is very nice. Not broadcast quality nice, but still much better then SD footage. Both my parents remarked seperately on how clear the picture was when they first saw it playing on a HD set.
   
   Large 3.5" screen.
   
   Can be edited somewhat with included software, but is very basic.
   
   A hotshoe for adding a light.
   
   Straight to DVD can be nice if you have the means to play the new format (ie blu-ray player or very powerful computer)
   
   Sound is very clear. I'm not an audiophile, but even I noticed the crystal clear sound and lack of any internal noise when I played back my recordings.
   
   Cons:
   
   Digital image stabilizer good but not great, optical would have been nicer.
   
   You need a very fast processor (duo core). I have a P4 3.0ghz, seperate video card, with 2mb of ram and it cannot handle the format well at all. The ram is not the limiting factor, but the processor is. In checking my system utilities, my CPU is maxed out at 100%, with only about 400MB of ram being used. Hence I am getting dropped frames in playback. Also if you wish to take advantage of the DL disks (DVD+R DL's only) you need a DVD drive capable of reading DL disks, which again would limit a lot of computers over 1 1/2 - 2 years old.
   
   Indoor shots full of noticeable noise. Again outdoor well lit video is very nice. Indoors is still nicer then SD, but the noise is noticeable. I'm adding the sony light that goes on the hotshoe which should help.
   
   For the price this is offered at now, It shoots as nice an SD picture as the SD only camcorders priced at or above this model. That you pick up HD is a nice bonus, and in the right conditions you can get great video and audio.