Sony Handycam DC-SR42
Capture Video and Stills Directly on This Camcorder Hard Drive
It doesn't please everyone, but the tiny, affordable Sony Handycam provides a bundle of features for capturing both video and still pictures.
Sony has packed a lot of camera into its DC-SR42 Handycam camcorder and it must be pleasing most buyers because the company was still marketing it a year after its introduction.
The DC-SR42’s biggest selling point is its built-in 30-gigabyte hard drive that allows the user to capture up to 20 hours of video. That means no tapes to buy, carry around and change every couple of hours and less risk of having to change tapes in the middle of a crucial scene.
Those trying to justify purchasing the $550 Handycam can help their cause by subtracting the dollars they will save on tapes. Early in 2008, the camcorder could be bought for $450 through some outlets.
Burn Video onto Disc or Dump It into a Computer for Editing
The video on the hard drive can be burned onto a disc or dumped into a computer for editing or storage, allowing re-use of that 30gb of video space.
The budget buyer can also subtract the cost of a still camera because the SR42 comes with its own built-in camera, again with hard drive space for hundreds of pictures. The photo quality would not qualify for National Geographic shots, but it is acceptable for most amateurs shooting family, friends and travel pictures.
Most serious photographers won’t think of shooting stills with a camcorder, but then, judging from the heavy use of cell phone cameras, most people are not serious photographers. Many are willing to sacrifice a bit of photo quality for the convenience of not having to carry a separate camera and not having to buy, lug and process all that film.
Since the photos can be easily uploaded to a computer, the picky photographer can improve them with one of the many editing software programs now available.
SR42 Features Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens
The SR42 camcorder comes with:
- A 40x optical/2000xdigital zoom, as close up as most photographers need to be.
- A Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens, which Sony says has "an advanced optical multi-layer coating for increased contrast." Anyway, it is an interesting teaming of Japanese (Sony) and German (Zeiss) technology.
- A Handycam Station Cradle which can connect the camcorder to either a computer for video editing or a television for viewing. The station cradle also charges the camcorder battery.
- A slot for a memory stick which can capture still pictures with resolutions up to 640x 480 pixels. The memory stick is sold separately.
- A built-in shock absorber to protect the hard disk drive in case the camcorder is dropped.
- A 2.5 inch touch-panel LCD display for 123k pixel monitoring and playback.
That unit rotates 270 degrees to provide a variety of viewing angles when shooting. But here is the camcorder’s major weakness. The display panel is all the user has for shooting.
Steady-Shot Stabilization System Helps Control Shaking
Like some other late model camcorders, the SR42 has no eyepiece viewfinder, nothing to pull up firmly against the eye for real steadiness. It does have Sony’s very good Steady-Shot stabilization system to control shake, but that doesn’t always do the job when holding the camcorder away from the body and shooting with the LCD display.
Camcorder makers apparently figured so many amateurs were shooting with the LCD display that they no longer have to provide the eyepiece viewfinder. But then they probably haven’t seen the shaky video some folks bring home.
Finally, this is a very small (4 3/8 inches long, 11 ounces), extremely compact, high tech camcorder. As such, its numerous control buttons are very small, and perhaps a bit uncomfortable for people with big hands.
Also, it is very easy to slip one’s thumb over part of the lens while shooting. But that’s a correctable problem.
The SR42’s video quality has also been criticized, but then this is a $500 camcorder (with some very good features), not a $3,000 unit.
