Sony Handycam DCR-SR80

Today we will review the extraordinarily awesome specs of the Sony Handycam DCR-SR80. I'm hopeful that you'll enjoy it. Truthfully you'll absolutely revel in it. Like I always do, we make an effort to uncover and list the greatest finds obtainable anywhere on the net after the stats.

The Following Review was Submitted By: David Shapiro

One of the biggest first decisions to make right now when buying a camcorder is whether to get one that records to MiniDV, to mini DVDs, or to a hard drive. MiniDV, and mini DVDs offer great value for the money and convenience with home DVD players, respectively, but you can't deny the convenience of never having to buy or carry around tapes ever again. Plus, when you use the dock that comes with Sony's Handycam DCR-SR80, it's really simple to get your footage onto your computer.

The biggest feature of the DCR-SR80 is its 60GB hard drive, which can hold as much as 880 minutes of video at the camera's highest quality setting. That jumps to a whopping 2,510 minutes when you step down to the lowest quality setting. The drive also accommodates as many as 9,999 still images. We were pleased with the DCR-SR80's performance. The autofocus was very fast and tracked well when zooming and panning. Of course, AF slowed noticeably in lower light, but that's to be expected in this price range. Start-up was also very fast, and we experienced very little delay between pressing the record button and the start of video capture, as well as minimal shutter lag--for a camcorder--when shooting still images. Autoexposure reacted quickly to shifts in scenery, zooming, and lighting.

Sony's SteadyShot image stabilization worked well through most of the 12X optical zoom range--it just wasn't quite enough to keep the far end of the zoom from becoming jittery. If you plan on zooming all the way out, you should bring along a tripod to quash the shake. Sony rates the DCR-SR80's battery life at between 100 and 105 minutes continuous recording time, though you should expect only slightly more than half of that during normal use. An extra battery is a very good idea if you plan to bring this camcorder on vacation or expect to do any lengthy recording.