Sony Handycam DCR-SR40 Digital Camcorder - 2.5" LCD - CCD

Good Product

Strengths: Touch Panel LCD Extremely Light Weight Fits in your hand very easily HDD camcorder

Weakness: Photos are clicked in very low resolution. Not good at low light situations.

It is a good entry level HDD camcorder. Extremely handy. Fits perfectly into your palm.. HDD means no need to carry DVD, tapes.. 30 GB capacity is good enough for 7 hrs high quality video.. It has 20 X optical zoom.. Very easy to use Camcorder.. If you are looking for a Camcorder that also substitutes your camera.. this is not the one you are looking for..

By sarin - May 22, 2007

Sony's Basic HDD Cam

Strengths: Very light weight, Relatively cheaper , Extremely user friendly

Weakness: Low light poor-quality video, No video download without base

Lowest of the Sony Hard drive camcorders. Video quality not that great compared to the higher models. Very handy and it can hold movies more than 6 hours! You need to carry the base if you want to download to computer. Ac adapter can be used while shooting. No remote. Sony gives 90 day warranty

By Bluffy - Apr 20, 2007

So easy to use

Strengths: hard drive records 7+ hours WITH NO TAPES, very easy to use, lightweight and comfortable in your hand, fine picture quality, easy connectors to TV and PC

Weakness: no remote, average size LCD screen

So easy to understand that was using it literally within an hour of purchase with just a glance at the manual. Love how lightweight it is. It's size makes it easy to hold and it's compact to take everywhere. Also, no carrying around tapes or worrying about changing tapes in the middle of recording recitals or events (which happened to us with our old camcorder). Picture quality is great - and...
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So easy to understand that was using it literally within an hour of purchase with just a glance at the manual. Love how lightweight it is. It's size makes it easy to hold and it's compact to take everywhere. Also, no carrying around tapes or worrying about changing tapes in the middle of recording recitals or events (which happened to us with our old camcorder). Picture quality is great - and that is with viewing it on a 42" plasma screen TV. May not be for sophisticated recording or editing, but for someone looking to have a simple way to record family events or vacations this is terrific.

By ragg61 - Jan 25, 2007

DCR-SR40

Strengths: Ease of use of media

Weakness: Image quality consistant with 1995 Handycam. 640x480 resolution assures that with an HD tv you will see pixels. Indoor lighting produces extremely grainy pictures, even at moderatly low light.

I purchased this camera thinking that being relatively new, it would produce a decent picture. I was severly dissapointed to discover once I had done my homework, that sony had recycled a CCD with the image quality of the old 1995 Handycams. Most new cameras record over the megapixel mark, but the SR40 comes in at .68 MP. I kept it for the night, thinking that perhaps it just performed poorly in...
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I purchased this camera thinking that being relatively new, it would produce a decent picture. I was severly dissapointed to discover once I had done my homework, that sony had recycled a CCD with the image quality of the old 1995 Handycams. Most new cameras record over the megapixel mark, but the SR40 comes in at .68 MP. I kept it for the night, thinking that perhaps it just performed poorly in low light conditions, but discovered the next morning that the quality was less grainy, but the trailing pixels were still very evident. Perhaps I am spoiled with a big screen High Def TV, but when I could spend half the price on a MiniDV camera with 3x the resolution, I choose the slower media format over the ease of the HDD. Mine was returned the day after...


******* UPDATE ********

This week I bought the Panasonic PV-GS300, and am very pleased at the image quality delivered by the MiniDV camcorder (Excellent low light compared to the sony, Brilliant color, and no visible trailing pixels)... Apparently it wasn't the high quality of my tv making the video from the SR40 look terrible, it really was the poor quality of Sony's camcorder!

By nametaken - Dec 5, 2006

Sony Handycam DCR-SR40

Strengths: Easy to use. Light weight. No need to use DV or DVD to record.

Weakness: Image quality is just better than VCD video. Not as sharp as DVD.

Sony Handycam DCR-SR40 is suitable for people who just want a basic and easy to use camcorder. It contains most of the basic functions. It is very compact and light. The control through touch screen LCD is straitforward. However, the image quality is not as good as DVD, since the resolution is only 640 x 480, which is the only weakness.

By schung6 - Dec 13, 2006