Photo gallery: Sony Handycam HDR-SR1The new Sony HDR-SR1 claims to be the world's first consumer High-Definition (HD) camcorder with a harddisk drive (HDD). That means you can now record high-quality video without messing around with tons of MiniDV tapes or DVD discs. Just store everything you need, both pictures and video, onto the HDD and then copy it to your PC when the 30GB drive runs out of storage. There is also a Memory Stick DUO port for you to store your images, though not video, onto a DUO flash media. This is great if you are on holiday and want to develop your snapshots right away. At AU$2,499, this black beauty is pricey for a consumer camcorder, but with HD quality and a HDD, it may be worth the premium.
Recording Duration
The SR1 is able to record in both HD and Standard Definition (SD) quality with four sub-modes in HD and three in SD. At the highest HD quality (15Mbps) you can record for 4 hours, while at the lowest SD quality you can take it to the limit with over 20 hours of recording.
Sweet black.
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Size and Weight
In terms of size, the SR1 is not the most compact of modern camcorders as it is about 20 percent longer than most portable HD tape camcorders. But it is a lot smaller if you compare it with HD camcorders one to two years back. Although the SR1 weighs over 700 grams (with battery), it is portable and light enough to cart around and use on your shooting sprees without straining your forearm muscles. The use of a HDD also saves you the hassle of keeping stacks of DVD discs or MiniDV tapes which have a much smaller storage capacity. The SR1 comes bundled with software that lets you easily and quickly transfer the video and pictures from your camcorder to your PC.
Look and Feel
We found it extremely easy to operate the SR1. First of all, the generous 3.5-inch LCD widescreen at 960 x 220 pixels was great on the eyes. The picture display was clear and good as well. The LCD operates as a touchscreen to allow you to delete files, change settings, switch modes, increase volume, and basically control the entire camcorder. When you switch on the SR1, the lens automatically opens up, but once you access the playback menu or turn it off, it automatically closes the lens cover.
Navigating the touchscreen panel was really easy, and even beginners should be able to make their way through the menus and settings without much difficulty. Unlike MiniDV tapes where you have to rewind or fast forward manually, each footage is recorded separately and you can quickly access, say, Mum's birthday recording, by touching the thumbnail icon showing the first frame of the clip. Just below the LCD screen are five additional buttons. One is to start and stop recording, two are for zoom, one is to jump straight into the home menu, the last is a one-stop button to burn your content onto a recordable DVD disc in your PC.
When recording, you grip the SR1 at the flat surface grip on the right side of the device with your palm, which is also where the HDD is located. Even though your palm is directly next to the HDD, the device has been so well-designed that you won't even feel any heat or mechanical motion from the HDD as you are operating the camera. The grip is good and the standard adjustable grip strap makes sure it fits your hand nicely.
The on/off switch, optical zoom and picture shooting button are all accessible via your index finger, while your thumb controls the start/stop recording button. Alternatively, you can use the controls on the LCD panel to start/stop the recording and to zoom. This camcorder let you shoot and zoom at the same time. The on/off switch also has a third position which lets you toggle between video and photos with a flick of your forefinger. Just behind the surface grip, running parallel to your forefinger, are two jacks. One is for your headphones so you can listen to the audio quality of your movie as you record, the other is for the supplied wired remote control for when you place the camcorder on a tripod. To the front of the surface grip is a microphone port, a hardly seen feature in Sony consumer camcorders, but truly a gem as it lets you plug into an extended mic for better sound quality. Below that is a flash button which allows you to set your flash to auto, always on, and always off.
Side profile of the SR1.
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On the left side of the SR1 lies the LCD screen, which you can push out at a right angle to the main body and then rotate 270 degrees to get the best viewing angle for your shot. When inverted, you can push the screen back against the main body for easier viewing of your movies. When the panel is pushed out, it reveals a USB 2.0 port (for connecting to the PC), a Memory Stick DUO port, a button to display the battery meter on the LCD screen without turning on the camcorder, and a switch which slides open additional AV-out jacks just below the area covered by the LCD. You have a choice of composite, component and, most importantly, the HDMI out port which lets you transmit your HD video to your HDTV at the best possible audio and video quality.
Having the AV-out and DC power port below the LCD screen is a great idea as you can charge your camcorder or connect to the TV with the display closed. Unfortunately, having the USB and Memory Stick DUO port on the same plane as the screen means you have to transfer footage to your PC with the panel wide open, which can be cumbersome.
Lying next to the hinge of the screen are the backlight and manual cam control buttons plus a NightShot switch. NightShot, as the name suggests, lets you record movies in the dark, making use of invisible infrared rays which shoot out from the front of the camcorder. You can also shift to Super NightShot mode via the LCD touchscreen controls.
The manual cam button activates the manual-focusing mode which lets you focus your subject manually via the control ring located at the front of the camcorder. You can set the function of the control ring to other manual control features such as exposure and white balance shift. At the top of the device is the four-channel built-in mic which can record in 5.1 surround sound for a home theater experience when playing back in the living room. Note, however, that when playing back on the camcorder, the sound emanates in stereo only. Behind the mic is Sony's proprietary Active Interface shoe which lets you add on accessories such as a wireless mic. The viewfinder can be tilted 45 degrees, essential when recording using a tripod.
Video, Picture and Audio Quality
The SR1 is one of Sony's first two camcorders to make use of the new AVC (Advanced Video Coding) HD format instead of the traditional HDV format found in the company's MiniDV tape camcorders. The AVC format is based on the MPEG-4 codec which is more efficient than the MPEG-2 codec found in HDV. What this means is the file size of an AVC footage will be smaller than its HDV cousin, theoretically without any significant loss in video quality. That means you can record more hours of movies within the same amount of storage.
HDD in bold.
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From tests we conducted, the video quality of the SR1 turned out to be quite good. It especially shone in outdoor recordings but was a little grainy indoors and under low-light settings. The Super NightShot feature worked well and recorded footages of this reviewer's kids in the bedroom at night with the lights off. However, as expected, the night recordings suffered a quality dip. But at least you can get the crooks on video if you are doing your own private-eye stakeouts instead of recording just darkness.
The Carl Zeiss lens comes with 10x optical zoom and 80x digital zoom. There is also a Tele Macro mode which lets you shoot close-up shots in greater detail, plus a host of pre-programmed settings for you to shoot video in special situations such as under the spotlight, at the beach, portraits and landscape shots.
A great feature of the SR1 is the Dual Recording capability which lets you shoot still images while recording a movie. You can shoot up to three shots per recording at 2.3 megapixels, but honestly, the picture quality is really not up to the mark. At its normal picture mode, you can shoot at 4 megapixels, which offers decent quality but is still inferior when compared to a digital camera of the same resolution.
You can also capture footages in slow motion, great for getting that golf swing or capturing this reviewer's daughter doing the hoola hoop (she's good by the way as she can hoola for about 30-45 seconds) with the Smooth Slow Recording feature. However, you can capture up to only 3 seconds of footage and covert it into slow-motion frames lasting four times as long.
Audio quality is quite good, but the videographer ends up sounding louder than the subjects in the background during playback.
Playback Options and Bundled Software
Having an HDD means you don't need to store discs and tapes, but it also means you will need to have a PC to keep your footage and to playback. The good news is the SR1 comes bundled with very useful software that makes the transfer of videos to the PC a breeze. After installing the applications, just connect your SR1 via the USB port and you will be prompted to copy the video and pictures on the harddisk drive to your desktop. Not only can you copy footage to your computer, it works the other way as well.
SR1's LCD display.
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The Easy PC Back-Up feature automatically copies all files that were not previously downloaded to your PC. Or you can manually select which movies and pictures you want to copy. The One-Touch-Disc-Burn feature, accessible via the camcorder controls or the PC software, lets your burn your content straight onto a DVD disc. You can also create a playlist disc that contains the pictures and movies that you specifically selected. Because the SR1 is making use of the new AVC codec, you will need a software player that supports the codec. Thankfully, there is an AVC player that comes bundled.
Note, though, that your PC needs to have high technical specifications to be able to playback the HD content smoothly. Having a machine with low processing speeds will cause jerkiness and degradation in playback quality.
If you are planning to make DVDs to watch the footage on a DVD player, note that the vast majority of DVD players support only SD quality. You will also need to have an HDTV to be able to experience HD playback. The good news is you can still record in HD, but when you playback to a DVD player, it automatically converts to SD quality. Your movie file, however, is still in HD. So the next time you upgrade to an HDTV, you can enjoy your movies in full HD glory!
The SR1 is definitely a great all-rounder, with a clear 3.5-inch LCD screen, exceptional navigation features and jacks, plus preset programs. Using the new AVC codec increases the amount of footage you can record and store, but to the naked eye, low-light conditions still produce some grainy images. Outdoors, the SR1 is simply fabulous.
Making use of a harddisk drive saves a lot of hassle from storing and keeping tapes and discs, though you'll need a PC for when you run out of space. There are many cool features including Dual Recording Mode which lets you shoot pictures as you record video, slow-motion recording, 5.1 channel surround sound, an HDMI port for the best reproduction of HD footage on an HDTV display, plus a comprehensive software package to easily back up your footage and playback the video.
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