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Sony DCR-SR45 30GB Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom
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| Price: | Too low to display |
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Ships from and sold by Ace Photo Digital
25 new or used available from $291.60
Average customer review:
Product Description
records video to a built-in 30GB hard disk drive * 680,000-pixel image sensor (410K effective) * digital photo mode * 40X Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar® optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 2000X) * Super SteadyShot® *
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #38 in Camera & Photo
- Brand: Sony
- Model: HDR-SR45
- Released on: 2008-01-31
- Dimensions: 6.00" h x 10.00" w x 8.00" l, 3.00 pounds
- Display size: 2.7
- Included Software: Yes
Features
- Capture video to hard disk drive; 30 GB storage
- 40x optical zoom, 2000x digital zoom; Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens
- 2.7-inch widescreen touch-panel Clear Photo LCD
- Built-in zoom microphone with 5.1-channel recording
- Memory Stick Pro Duo media slot
Editorial Reviews
From the Manufacturer
The DCR-SR45 gives you the option to store video and still images on your choice of either its built-in 30 GB hard disk drive or removable Memory Stick Pro Duo media. A generous 2.7-inch wide1 (16:9) touch panel LCD display puts all the controls at your fingertips as you compose shots, and the high-power 40x optical/2000x digital zoom gets you close to all the action. Meanwhile, the professional-quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens and Super SteadyShot image stabilization system captures everything as clearly as if you were still there.
DCR-SR45 Highlights
1/8-inch Advanced HAD CCD imager 1/8-inch Advanced HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCD with 680K (effective) pixels provides stunning detail and clarity with exceptional video (up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution) and still image performance.
40x optical/2000x digital zoom The optical zoom helps to bring the action close up from far away. In addition the Digital Zoom Interpolation means that extreme digital zooming is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zooms.
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Built-in zoom microphone with 5.1-channel recording Featuring Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator, the built-in zoom microphone focuses audio recording on your subjects in sync with the camera's zoom lens, helping memories ring true with clear dialogue and crisp, discrete sounds.
Easy Handycam button Using a camcorder can be intimidating for some people. With a press of the Easy Handycam button, most of the advanced features of the camcorder are "locked out," letting you focus only the buttons essential for recording.
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Hybrid recording to hard disk drive or Memory Stick media Hybrid recording technology delivers a new level of flexibility for transferring your video footage and digital photos from the camcorder to compatible viewing devices. Record to the camcorder's internal hard disk drive, or choose instead to record to removable Memory Stick Duo media or Memory Stick Pro Duo media. You can even select from various dubbing functions to easily copy video or still images from the hard disk drive to Memory Stick media -- without using a PC. Images recorded or transferred to Memory Stick media can then be played directly on a PS3 or PC to share your memories with friends and family.
Memory Stick Pro Duo media slot Capture still images directly onto Memory Stick Pro Duo media (sold separately) for easy transfer to PCs for emailing, printing, or sharing with other compatible Memory Stick devices (sold separately).
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USB 2.0 interface The USB 2.0 interface provides an easy way to connect your camcorder to a PC for fast transfer of video and still images for editing.
InfoLithium battery with AccuPower meter system Unlike NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries, Sony's rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries are not subjected to a life shortening "Memory Effect," so you're free to charge the battery at any time. Additionally, Sony's exclusive AccuPower meter displays the battery time remaining in minutes, in either the viewfinder or on the LCD screen.
Stamina Battery Power Management System When using the Sony InfoLithium Battery, the Stamina Battery Power Management System helps the camcorder prolong battery life for extra long continuous recording times from a single charge.
Battery information At the touch of a button, battery information is displayed on the LCD screen when charging and when the camcorder is turned off. When using the LCD screen or viewfinder, the display will show how much the battery is charged -- in 10-percent increments -- and the recordable time left.
Fader effects Enhance your personal videos by adding professional looking fader effects. Choose from Black and White.
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Progressive shutter system A mechanical shutter system that provides progressive scan performance while utilizing an interlaced scanning system. Digital still images will be sharp and clear with excellent definition.
Scene Selection Modes Scene Selection modes make recording easy even when filming in challenging situations. Choose from Beach, Candle, Fireworks, Landscape, Portrait, Sports Lesson, Spotlight, and Sunrise & Sunset.
Picture Effects Get creative when recording or playing back your videos with Sony's Picture Effect Modes. Effects available in Camera mode: Monotone, Pastel and Sepia. Effects available in Playback mode: Monotone, Pastel and Sepia.
Face Index Face Index makes it easier than ever to find and play back the right video scene. Using Face Detection technology, Face Index indexes your video footage according to the faces detected in each scene. When it's time to play back video, simply search for what you want by selecting from among the detected faces displayed in the index.
Film Roll Index Like chapters in a book, Film Roll Index helps you easily find desired scenes in video footage. When using this feature, the camcorder previews the beginning of scenes and can create scene indexes set at specified display intervals (3, 6, or 12 seconds and 1 or 5 minutes).
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Manual focus Manually adjust the focus of the camcorder using the touch panel. Manual focusing also allows the user to control the focus in difficult situations where either the environment or the subject does not allow the camcorder's auto focus to perform optimally, such as when shooting through a window or in a crowded environment.
One-touch disc burn Easily burn a DVD copy of your footage using the supplied software. Simply connect the camcorder to your PC via a USB cable and press the One-touch disc burn Button.
Multi-language menu Change the menu display from English to English (Simplified), Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, or Brazilian Portuguese
Customer Reviews
Excellent Product
I gave this camera as a gift for Christmas. The person that received it has enjoyed it very much.
Blurry video, no image stabilization, no focus. 
I bought this camera in a hurry without doing much research. What lured me into the purchase is that one can transfer mpeg video files straight from camera to PC via USB and not mess with firewire and minidv tapes. Also I was trusting "Sony" brand and thought that if it is Sony then the camera would perform reasonably well. Boy, was I disappointed!
After shooting few videos it became apparent that camera has no image stabilization and therefore has trouble focusing. Lack of image stabilization makes 40x zoom useless. All my indoor videos appeared blurry, washed-out and with dull greyish colors. I thought that may be I have low light problems, but when I took the camera outdoors the image did not improve, still blurry and out of focus. The only time I managed to get the image into focus is when I placed the camera on a steady surface and filmed the movie this way. I tried to turn off autofocus in the settings and play with manual focus, but you cannot set easily the distance - it starts from 0.1m goes to 1.2m ant then quickly jumps to infinity. I was not able to set 3-4m distance.
To be on the fair side, copying the files from camera to PC was very easy - I just plugged the camcorder into my PC via USB and copied the files. I did not need to install any supplied camera software to do that (which is a big plus since supplied camera software is usually not the best one). I gave this product two stars instead one star because of that.
Based on my experience I would not recommend this product since you can get many minidv camcorders much cheaper with much better video quality. Despite the loss of restocking fee I returned mine back to the store.
Mac Users beware
This camera is okay, easy to use, pretty good picture quality, etc. Videophiles can be pretty harsh and often expect the moon for a penny.
My biggest issue is that it does not work with Apple. I let my son do his own research on this and he swore that it would. We have both learned a good lesson on this one!
Quicktime Pro made it sound like it will import the files, so I upgraded. It cost me $20. Then I discovered that you need a plug-in for playback. Another $20. The plug in imports the VIDEO ONLY. NO AUDIO! I just want the damn thing to work.
I called Sony and they tell me that this camera only works with Imovie HD, the version that is bundled with the latest version of iLive. It is $80!
So now the camera is $30 less than it was at Christmas, I have spent $40 extra dollars and now I have to spend another $80. He loves his camera but 14 year-old kids want to put video on the internet and he can't do that yet. I would post a video review BUT WE CAN'T!
