So far, I haven't had any major problems with this camera. I am new to the camcorder experience, so you might want to check out some of the other experienced reviews, too. Both the picture and video quality for this camcorder are quite excellent. They also transfer over to your computer well. I have yet to try making DVDs out of my captured footage, using the programs provided or other outside sources, so I honestly can't say anything about that at the moment. The battery life, for the battery that came with the camera, lasts a long time when its fully charged. The only draw back I see so far is the video file type. The AVCHD file format is what the camera records in. As of right now and as far as I know, it is hard to get this file type to play in many of the video and video editing programs used in computers, hence the need for its own video editing software. This software comes with the camera, but it is limited in its abilities, and I prefer other video and video editing programs that are already on mine and other computers. So, with that in mind if you want to use other software that can't read AVCHD files, you may have to wait until those programs get updates that include the new file type or get conversion software, like Elecard, that can convert the AVCHD files to useable file types. I believe, that is about it for now.
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I bought this camcorder for my husband as an anniversary gift, and I was very nervous about making the purchase without his opinion. I read every review and visited it at the store more than once.
He loved it. The high definition quality is great and we captured our anniversary as though we were still there. We have been completely happy with the camcorder. We have played it back on high definition TVs and it compares with the travel channel.
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Great camcorder. From what I can tell It's the best one out there right now. I do have a few complaints, but nothing's perfect
Pros:
Compact
Amazingly crisp outdoor quality
Easy menus
East to dump files to computer
Quick Start feature is a plus
Decent quality on still shots
Accessory shoe on top is nice for light and mic attachments
Has a little LED light for low-light situations (not very strong though)
Cons:
Editing software is VERY basic.
Low light situations make grainy vid quality (To do better you need to spend at least $3000 on a camcorder).
When dumping to computer, the camcorder needs to be connected to power source which is a pain.
24p Cinematic mode is useless, panning is very jerky and choppy when turned on.
Over-all great camcorder. Would definately recommend
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I got this through a secondary seller on amazon and it was quite the buy. Best buy was selling it for around 930 and i got this one new for 630. Its light weight and very straighforward. the few issues i have had are with the battery life and the software package. While recording in high def the battery barely scrapes it to an hour half max. The softwares that come with the camcorder called correl video and inter video win dvd are quite cumbersome to use. The video files that are saved on my computer cannot be played at once for some reason and i have to select it one clip at a time. The camcorder in general works very nicely and only sees some problems when recording inside the house at night. The picture has a grainy texture sometimes. Im not sure if they are still selling for this price but if they are its a great buy. Otherwise it wont be a bad idea to check out sony's SR lineup.
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The only downside to this camcorder is it records in AVCHD format for Hi-DEf. Thats great if you have a newer PC or Mac with the system requirments to compliment the camera. In my case, I ended up returning the camcorder because my Powermac G4 and imovie6 doesn't recognize it. I guess I'll have to upgrade my system if I want to use the HD technology on the Mac. I don't think you PC users will have a problem as long as your PC was purchased within the last couple of years. The picture Quality was very impressive!
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