| Brand: | Sony | ||
| Average Rating |
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The DCR-SR85 Handycam camcorder holds on to all your memories. With a 60GB Hard Disk Drive (HDD), store up to 40 hours of video (LP) in amazing resolution with the 1 Megapixel CCD. An industry leading Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens keeps every little detail locked in to perfection. You can easily transfer and share your videos by simply connecting the DCR-SR85 to the included Handycam Station and burn a disc with a single push. Now, it’s easier than ever to capture and share your memories.even gives you the choice to record video to either the internal hard disk drive or removable Memory Stick PRO Duo media. more info
Popularity: 8% [?]
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Very Nice!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Sony DCR-SR85 is a very nice camcorder for a very good value. It has been discontinued and replace with another model, hence the good pricing out there.
The quality of its video and audio on an HDTV is better than expected, and it is very easy to use. I considered purchasing an HD camcorder as I have HDTV, but they are considerably more expensive and the file system is more difficult to edit and work with. The quality this camera generates is more than acceptable, and HD just wasn’t that important to me.
A hard drive camera is the only way to go. The convenience of having 60GB of storage space (plus the Memory Stick) is wonderful. If desired, you can record your video or photos to the Memory Stick, remove the stick and easily insert into a USB card reader to view or transfer your pictures to your computer. Either way, you have to hook “something” up to your computer, so you might as well just use the supplied USB cable and transfer photos or video from the camera’s hard drive. The camcorder acts just like an external hard drive when plugged in to your computer, and it’s simple as can be to use Windows Explorer (file manager) to move (copy) the Sony’s files to your computer.
One of the key items to keep in mind when looking at camcorders is the recording and file format it utilzes. The Sony DCR-SR85 records in MPG2, which is very easy to use and immediately compatible with Windows players, such as Media Player etc. There is no need to install the supplied Picture Browser software. You’re actually better off not installing it. The video can be played immediately. Unlike some other camcorders, the Sony keeps the video and audio together in the same file. Some cameras have a separate audio track that makes editing more work. There are many ways to go to edit and burn to DVD if desired (Ulead DVD MovieFactory) that are far better than using the supplied software.
It’s a terrific camera. Get one while there still available and you can get a good deal on them. You won’t be disappointed.
Very good camcorder for the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I like the clear images and touch screen on the camcorder. Very comfortable in my hand and easy to adjust while operating it. Uploading to my PC was a snap, even though it took a little longer than I like.
Good for all around use
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camcorder for my wife. I found it very easy to use. The video is great. Fairly simple to use for the technically challenged. Good software for downloading. I would definitely buy again from this vendor. My wife loves it–If the wife is happy everyone is happy.
Sony DCR-sr85
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Anteriormente tenía una filmadora minidv. Ahora me compré una sony DCR-SR85 y estoy muy contento con esta filmadora.
Me gusta mucho por que es más fácil y rápido para bajar los videos a la PC, en comparación con la minidv que tenía.
Es fácil para usarla, es compacta, además las imágenes de noche en zonas con poca luz se podría decir que salen bien. Obviamente que mientras más iluminación mejor la imagen.
Otra cosa que me llamó la atención es su disco duro de 60GB. Yo estoy grabando en mi filmadora en HQ, ya tengo grabado algunos viajes, reuniones y todavía tengo para grabar como más de 10 horas!!!
He visto que algunos se quejan de que solo tiene un megapixel para las tomas fotográficas. Pero yo pienso que si uno va a tomar fotografías debería utilizar una cámara fotográfica y no una filmadora.
Para terminar quiero decir que estoy contento con mi filmadora.
Bought again
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
1. Awesome video quality and I mean awesome! No doubt there.
2. Battery charges very fast, very very fast indeed.
3. Drag – one fully charged battery only lasts for about 78 mins.
4. The lens shutter does not close automatically, causing stains.
5. Light weight, easy to carry.
Conclusion – I bought another one after using first one for 2 weeks!!
Cheers and happy recording.
Still not completely impressed
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Great Technology! But after downloading the movie files to my computer, using SONY software to make my movie, and create a DVD the end product video quality was no better than a VHS tape. I was expecting a lot more clarity being a SONY HD Camcorder.
I’ll give an update to this if I can figure out the clarity issue and change my revue to five stars.
Made trip to Aruba even more amazing
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Recently went on a trip to Aruba, taking both a portable point-and-shoot, bulkier Digital SLR camera, and the Sony Handycam with 25x OPTICAL (not digital!) zoom. Out of the three, the Handycam proved without a doubt to be the best device to record memories.
To start off with, my other camcorder is a Canon mini-DV tape camera, which has served me well since 2004. I recently got the Handycam, not to replace my mini-DV camcorder, but to supplement it. I bought this with the intention of taking it for trips during which carrying many tapes would be a hassle. Plus I thought the optical zoom would come in really handy during a vacation where I’d want a lot of footage of the beach, people swimming in the water, etc. Perhaps the best part was the zoom.
POWERFUL OPTICAL ZOOM (DIDN’T CARE MUCH FOR DIGITAL ZOOM)
This has a 25x optical zoom, and 2000x digital zoom. When I bought my previous camcorder in ’04 (which has only a 12x optical zoom, but a seemingly impressive digital zoom), I figured the lack in optical could be offset by its allegedly high-performance digital zoom. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the difference between optical and digital, great optical zoom is a plus, while digital zoom really doesn’t help much. Optical zoom records the subject as if you’re physically closer to them – in other words, you can zoom in without losing quality – while digital zoom is similar to zooming in on a photo on your computer. There is a noticeable lack of image quality! It’s hard to spot the difference on your camera’s LCD screen, but when you move the file to a computer, or TV, it becomes really noticeable due to the larger size. To sum it up, this camera has a very powerful optical zoom which means you don’t have to rely on a digital zoom, so you can in effect see objects very far, without losing quality…I personally didn’t even bother to zoom in digitally.
DOWNSIDE TO 25X ZOOM
The zoom came in much handier than I expected, but to use 25X zoom, you should try using a tripod or resting the camcorder on a steady surface. Otherwise, the video comes out very noticeably shaky. When you’re less zoomed in, it’s not as noticeable. Overall, I’d say the video is pretty stable (assuming your hands are!) unless you’re zoomed in to the max.
HARD DISK IS VERY CONVENIENT
As for the HDD (hard disk drive), this is brilliant. So much better than relying on tapes that are a hassle to carry, and which you have to make a conscious effort not to accidentally record over! The camera automatically splits videos into different files when you stop recording, so you have pre-divided clips on your hard drive that you can more easily import to a video-editing program. Importing from my DV tapes was a big project, but with this I just plugged into my computer and dragged over the files as you would from an external drive. Very convenient!
PHOTO QUALITY
Don’t buy a camcorder to take still photos! While it can take photos, I wasn’t really impressed with the image quality. It’s video quality, however, was superb. Obviously not as good as you’d get with an HD camcorder since this is standard definition, but it’s still great video quality. I think my cell phone took better pictures than this! Still, convenient feature.
In conclusion, great video quality, decent photo quality, and a powerful zoom combined with a VERY convenient hard drive (as opposed to tapes) makes me very happy with my Handycam. The fact you can just plug in and drag files, instead of going through a lengthy import process, is really what pushes this from four stars for a good camera, to five stars for a great one.
Sony DCR SR85 Camcorder
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
A wonderful camera, small, compact, full of features. It takes great pictures but like all cameras, the images on an LCD viewfinder are hard to see in bright sunlight conditions. An additional optical viewfinder would be a good addition. I would recommend this camera.
A plus for ghost hunters
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Im a first time buyer for camcorders, and ive done a lot of researching on this camcorder and had to debate on it for some time because i definately didnt want to end up with something that was a little expensive and not worth a flip.
But this camcorder was exactly what i needed. The night vision is unbelieveable and its very light. It also doesnt have a delay on it when you move the camera. When you move it very fast, no delay at all. I would highly recommend this camcorder for anyone, but especially those who are into ghost hunting. Im definately a Sony fan now.
Very Pleased
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I searched and searched for a very good camera at a decent price. I read all the reviews on various cameras and found this camera to be the best. It is a great camera. I absolutely love it. It is easy to use, affordable, and the video and the still pictures are good. The still pictures aren’t 100%, but it doesn’t take a bad still picture. The software that comes with the camera is easy to use – downloading is a breeze. It has been a wonderful investment.
Good camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Plenty of storage, easy to use, good quality for the money. For the average person videoing vacations, birthdays, etc, this would make a good camera. I did buy a larger battery and portable charger for convenience. I gave 4 of 5 stars only because the lens cover is manual.
Great camcorder at reasonable prie
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I tried the Sony DCR-SR47 at the local BestBuy and I did not like the quality that much. BestBuy has this Sony DCR-SR85 on clearance at $550 and I tried to play around for 5 minutes and it was a big difference. The SR85 has 10x better picture quality than SR47 with similar options. I believe SR47 has lesser pixel than this camcorder. You can compare them on Amazon site by site. I got this from JR at $349 and nobody could beat that price. It’s great camcorder, looks exactly as newer model SR47,SR67, and SR87 but provides more picture quality. Quality does count instead of model year.
Great product for the money
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Awesome camera with lots of srorage space. Easily navigable, and SD picture on big screen still looks pretty good.
Fantastic CamCorder!!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m a Musician and I needed a new camera to videotape my concerts. I used to have a Sony HC-26 Mini-DV Camcorder, It was good, but It didn’t behave very well on a inside place although for outdors was a gr8 camera…but now I’ve found what I was looking for…This camera is simply fantastic…It has a superior video quality, records very well with few light without use the Nightshot, that is good but let people grey…the 60 Gbytes HD let me record without worry about the time (You have to purchase a long life battery)…The functions are very easy to use even for those who never used a camcorder before…It’s easy to export the videos to PC (You need just a USB cable, provided with the camcorder)…
This is a link for a video of one of my performances my wife videotape with the camera…we had low light in the hall…check it out…
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Good
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Pro: Very light and small. Battery life is good enough. So far enough memory for my needs, I did not even bought memory card yet.
Con: Cap lock for battery poorly designed and sometimes opens in my pocket. Zoom is very fast sometimes, but I probably just did not get used to it. It would be nice to have more editing options in addition to just delete the whole scene. It would be helpful to have split option on the camera itself, then one can free more space.
Canon software crashed my Window based laptop. It took me an hour to recover it. I has been using Window Movie Maker now and affraid to use software which came with the camera.