Sony DCR-SR55E Hard Disc Drive Handycam Camcorder with X25 Zoom

Sony DCR-SR55E Hard Disc Drive Handycam Camcorder with X25 Zoom Reviews

Nice camera - but not Mac compatible
Bought as a present for a Mac user. However the video is in MPEG-2 format, which is not supported by Macs and therefore this camera does not work with iMovie without downloading additional software and even then it is not smoothly integrated as you would expect on the Mac.

Sony DCR-SR55e, exceptional camera!
I initially intended to buy the Sony DCR-SR35e with the 30gb hard drive, then I saw that the 55e had the optional accessory shoe which allows you to purchase better microphones and lights etc. The quality is excellent for what I need, and the touch screen is a handy extra! For under £300 this is an extremely good camera and I would highly recommend it to others.

Plus points include the crystal clear LCD, 40gig hdd, docking station, included remote, one-touch DVD burn feature and the touch screen. Don't think twice about purchasing this great camera!

Perfect for capturing those family moments
After lots of research I settled on the SR55. The reasons for this were

1. Sony products are normally good quality.
2. 40gb hard drive meant I didn't have to carry lots of DVDs as with other camcorders.
3. Small size meaning easy to carry round on holiday.
4. Not overly priced.

What I have found about this camcorder so far is that it is very easy to set up and use. A novice could easily pick this up and be fully conversant within an hour. The docking station is very effective when connecting to a PC and/or TV. I personally have the station attached to my TV and PC together meaning I can connect to either one at the touch of a button. The software included was easy to install and use and the one touch disc burn is very handy. The file formats mean they can be transferred to any PC unlike some other hard drive camcorders on the market.

If you are looking for professional quality video footage then this camcorder is not for you. If, however, you are looking for a fairly cheap and easy to use camcorder to capture family moments, holidays etc then the quality of this is fine. I would recommend transferring to the high quality setting immediately though as the other settings would not really be suitable for buring to DVD or for playback on a large screen TV. At high quality you can capture up to 10 hours of video. The photographs are not very good quality but I did not buy this for still photos so not an issue for me.

Overall, this is a very good product and I am very happy with my purchase. If you have the money to spend on a Sony High Definition camcorder then go for one of them but if you only have around £250 to spend then go for this. You will definately need an extra battery as the one which comes with the battery will only last for about 90 minutes of recording time before needing to be recharged. i am going to try the ex-pro versions on here as they are much cheaper than the Sony versions but will let you know how this pans out.

EASY PEASY WITH GREAT RESULTS
Got this little Sony Camcorder very recently and have never had one of these before, luckily I have a good friend who knows about this stuff and recommended this SR55 along with the Canon FS10.

So very easy to use and got the hang of it within minutes plus the results are superb, really good feature that swung it for me was the low light sensor that is so good that you can almost go ghost hunting!!!

A 40GB hard drive is huge for the type of stuff we will use it for, only bad thing if there is one is the slightly stingy battery life, no more than 90mins on standard recording. GET A SPARE!!!

Great camera with advanced and very easy to use features in a very well made package, Sony are still at the top of their game.

Better than the Panasonic
I had to make a choice between the Sony SR55 and the Panasonic SDR H40. So I went for the Panasonic as it was cheaper. OMG what a load of rubbish that was. So that went back and replaced it with the SR55. It is 10 times better. picture quality is far superior and working with the finished file was also easier as it is in mpeg2, something that was much harder on the Panasonic. All in all it is light, small, sturdy and a good quality home movie camera. Had a lone of a HD Sony and it was really nice but HD used so much computer resource that it was hard work.