Sony Handycam DCR-SR42

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 26 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 9 stars

  Good features, good price, good picture

  by center77 on February 8, 2007

  Pros: Linux friendly, image stablization, easy to use.

  Cons: Camera is very light, which may result in shaky picture.

  Summary: I bought this to record one to five minute videos, and then pull them into Blender for special effects. Linux compatibility was a must. I plug the USB cable to ...

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  Summary: I bought this to record one to five minute videos, and then pull them into Blender for special effects. Linux compatibility was a must. I plug the USB cable to the camera and to my Debian Linux laptop, and the camera appears as a file system. I just drag the video files onto the laptop. No proprietary Windows drivers needed, although it does come with some software. Picture and sound are good.

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  3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Easy to use; GREAT optical zoom; Results!

  by reviewer 1 on May 6, 2007

  Pros: 40X OPTICAL zoom is favorite feature; buttons are all easy access; results meet all expectations; hard drive!

  Cons: hmmmm. not yet.

  Summary: I video horseback riding lessons and shows. The strength of the optical zoom is a great feature for close and distant shots. Often use a tripod, but it is also ...

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  Summary: I video horseback riding lessons and shows. The strength of the optical zoom is a great feature for close and distant shots. Often use a tripod, but it is also handheld quite a bit. Solid fit in palm alows me to hold it steady, no fumbling to zoom, start or stop. Picture quality meets my expectations, and I cast a critical eye. I purchased bigger battery, but mostly use the battery that came with the handycam.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  Great home-movie camera, easy to hold and run, awkward "viewfinder"

  by Walt28 on March 24, 2007

  Pros: Compact, and lightweight, good aim&shoot ability; low-light performance is surprising, considering its 1/6" CCD; easy extraction of movies or stills

  Cons: Absence of any way to aim this camera accurately in sunlight;

  Summary: Overall, its performance seems very similar to that of my previous camcorder, a Sony DCR-TRV103. The small size and light weight are great benefits for my most common application, vacation ...

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  Summary: Overall, its performance seems very similar to that of my previous camcorder, a Sony DCR-TRV103. The small size and light weight are great benefits for my most common application, vacation travel.
  Reviewers of Sony cameras in this same hard-drive storage category (last year's SR40, 80, etc.) universally complained about the lack of an eye-level viewfinder suitable for in-sunlight photography. They were very right. With these cameras, the limits of the frame are a matter of guessing, because you cannot see the image at all when there is a bright sun around. Talk about point-and- shoot... These cameras essentially require the user to do just that. I'd like to be able to buy a simple, easily attached "hood" to clip over the LCD, with a simple lens so I coulde put the camera up to my eye and view the LCD with it in near-darkness. Even though I might not be able to operate the touch-screen (unless there were no "bottom" on the hood), such an addition would do wonders for ability to aim, using the LCD, in sumlight.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 6 stars

  Lots of borderline bad features balanced out by really good image quality

  by Onlies on September 12, 2007

  Pros: Very nice quality image, (noticably better than Panasonic SDR H18), touch screen is high tech... I guess?

  Cons: Zoom takes a while to focus, shakey image on the computer

  Summary: Bias: I hate the touch screen. You don't get the option of not using it, and its a little more navigation than I'd like. But there's nothing ...

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  Summary: Bias: I hate the touch screen. You don't get the option of not using it, and its a little more navigation than I'd like. But there's nothing wrong with it.. it works, its sensitive and etc, you just have to aim pretty well and not have big fingers or anything.
  
  The one salvaging feature of this camera is that the video quality is sharper than the average (I also bought a Panasonic SDR H18 at the same time), although colors are a little pale. Not too bad if you're not comparing it to anything, though.
  
  It's very easy to connect to the computer, and video plays on any of your usual media players- no need to install software just to watch the video. Dragging and dropping out of My Computer is enough.
  
  A con of the base is the connection: if you don't sit the camera on the base just right, it won't charge- and while downloading videos onto the computer, the smallest nudge tends to break the connection.
  
  Also, zoom takes a little while to focus, and when playing videos back on my computer I notice that during zooming or if something is moving too quickly, *the image gets pixelated lines in it*. I tend to forget to close the lens after use, since there's no lens cap- just a switch by the lens.
  
  I went with the Panasonic equivalent, but was sad to leave behind the superior image sharpness. That's the only thing I'll miss, though.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  terrible video quality

  by driandsouza on August 30, 2007

  Pros: hard disk convenience

  Cons: terrible video quality, ineffective steady shot feature

  Summary: I owned a DCR TRV 110E which recently packed up and, being satisfied with previous sony products, (I have a vaio laptop, sony music system & digicam)I decided to ...

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  Summary: I owned a DCR TRV 110E which recently packed up and, being satisfied with previous sony products, (I have a vaio laptop, sony music system & digicam)I decided to go for the relatively more expensive SR42E. Big mistake. the video quality is pathetic. Also, the'steady shot' feature is not very effective as the picture keeps shaking (much more than with my previous TRV110E). Extremely disappointed with Sony. I am left with the feeling that I paid much more for much less.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Awesome Little Camcorder!!!!!

  by adamgis on April 14, 2007

  Pros: EASY, EASY, EASY TO USE, great video quality, software easy to install and use.

  Cons: Battery a bit hard to put on, my camcorder doesn't sit flush against the docking station (I have to hold it down to get the videos to download), battery life is short (90 mins).

  Summary: This camcorder is INCREDIBLY easy to use. I had it out of the box and after the battery charged (120 mins later), I was testing the camcorder out.
  
  All I
  
  ...

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  Summary: This camcorder is INCREDIBLY easy to use. I had it out of the box and after the battery charged (120 mins later), I was testing the camcorder out.
  
  All I did was set the "Easy" function (explained in the manual) and I was using the camcorder in a matter of minutes. The Touchpad viewfinder/monitor is awesome, and makes the camcorder extremely user-friendly. This really is a "Point & Shoot" camcorder.
  
  The docking station is very easy to hook up to the computer, by way of the provided USB cable. The video quality of the camcorder looks great on my computer (I'm using Windows XP Home), and the audio quality is just as good as the video quality, on the computer.
  
  I haven't tried hooking the camcorder up to my 40" LCD TV to see how the video looks on that, but I'm perfectly happy with the way it looks and sounds on my computer.
  
  I haven't used the still image function on the camcorder and don't plan to. That's why I have a 5.0 MP digital camera. I use this camcorder strictly for video taking during trips, birthdays, vacations, family gatherings, etc.
  
  I also have not tried the one button "Disc Burn" function yet. But I'll be trying that out some time soon.
  
  This camcorder does have a few downfalls, described above, but the pros FAR outweigh the cons. Also, if you're going to buy this camcorder, you might wanna consider putting out the money to get a good quality carrying case, and an extra battery.
  
  Overall, I'm extremely happy with the purchase of my new camcorder, and don't see myself needing another one in the near future.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 1 stars

  very poor quality, worst tech support experience EVER!

  by joetographer on June 21, 2010

  Pros: would have good features... if they worked.

  Cons: all of the functions are such poor quality as to render them useless. Upon downloading the movie files to the computer none of them are recognized until you get the proprietary software which doesn't come with the camera.

  Summary: ideas behind the features are good, but all of the functions are such poor quality as to render them useless. The touchscreen is smudgy and small. The IR mode is ...

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  Summary: ideas behind the features are good, but all of the functions are such poor quality as to render them useless. The touchscreen is smudgy and small. The IR mode is very weak. The movie quality is as low as it gets and the still image quality is worse.
  
  But here's the real pain; upon downloading the movie files to the computer none of them are recognized by the computer until you get the proprietary software which isn't included in the box and the download from the tech support site deadends.
  
  I've received no reply from the sony tech support team. Never going to buy another sony imaging product.

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• 8 stars

  Perfect for vacations!!

  by ColAngus on January 30, 2010

  Pros: 30 GB HDD, so no mini dvd's or trying to look for what disc/card has what on it. Burn right from the camera to dvd if you wish. View on tv right from camera. Burnt discs look great when being viewed. Software is limmited but works great for ammetures

  Cons: Wind noise, my only true complain about this camera. This is why it does not get 5 full stars from me. The zoom control on top of the camera also adds a "mechanical" noise to whatever you are filming.

  Summary: This is a video camera. If you want still pictures, then buy a still camera! The video is fantastic, and the option to choose what quality setting is perfect for ...

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  Summary: This is a video camera. If you want still pictures, then buy a still camera! The video is fantastic, and the option to choose what quality setting is perfect for what we needed. Lowest quality gives me about 20 hrs of video, highest setting about 11 hrs. This little camera has exceded our expectations.
  We have used it while out on the lake, on the ocean, and camping and hiking in Yellowstone National Park. It worked like a champ!! It is light, small, and very convenient.

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• 1 stars

  Worst Sony I've owned

  by 2TuuTango on July 25, 2009

  Pros: OK for foreign vacations, small and not a pain to carry.

  Cons: Very disappointing video and still images.

  Summary: I bought this in a hurry without doing any investigation prior to my purchase because I was about to leave for my 25th wedding anniversary in Europe. As I saw ...

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  Summary: I bought this in a hurry without doing any investigation prior to my purchase because I was about to leave for my 25th wedding anniversary in Europe. As I saw this in a Best Buy, I thought "Hey, it's a Sony. It HAS to make great pictures. Boy was I wrong and I wish I had taken my old Digital 8 Sony that makes VASTLY superior video.
  
  This little gem does a remarkable job at recording great sound though. But if you need a sharp picture, stay away from this camera. I did like the ability of the camera to edit and remove unwanted video clips. It charges quickly and the learning-curve wasn't to bad for my 55 year old brain. Still images were so bad, I gave up using it as a capture device and stayed with my Casio camera instead.

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• 1 stars

  Scrambled screen after 5 months. Now unusable

  by rxsid70 on December 6, 2008

  Pros: Love HDD. Fits nice in my hand, comfortable.

  Cons: After owning/using for approx 5 months, screen looks like 'snow' on T.V. in addition there is a waving white line in middle of picture. Can't see out lens. Guessing about 40 to 50 hours of use. Useless in less than 1/2 year. Simply ridiculous.

  Summary: I would definitely NOT recommend this Sony DCR-SR42.

  Summary: I would definitely NOT recommend this Sony DCR-SR42.

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