Product Description

No more switching tapes or rewinding means more time for shooting. Welcome to life with the DCR-SR82 Handycam camcorder. With a 60GB hard disk drive, you can store up to 40 hours of video (LP) in amazing resolution with the 1 megapixel CCD. An industry leading Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar Lens captures incomparable detail and the 2.7" Wide Touch Panel Hybrid LCD Display gives you total control over what you've shot. Then, easily transfer and share your videos by simply connecting the DCR-SR82 to the included Handycam Station and burn a disc with a single click. So, step into the next generation of video and start capturing more memories.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2066 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Sony
• Model: SR82
• Dimensions: 8.00 pounds
• Display size: 2.7

Features

• 60 GB built-in hard disk drive; record up to 40 hours
• 1-megapixel Advanced HAD CCD imager; Super SteadyShot picture stabilization system
• Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens; 25x optical/2000x digital zoom
• 2.7-inch widescreen touch-panel SwivelScreen LCD
• Handycam Station included; one-touch disc burn

Manufacturer Description
With a 60 GB built-in hard disk drive, the DCR-SR82 lets you capture up to 40 hours of stunning video (in LP mode) with the 1-megapixel CCD. A 2.7-inch touch-panel LCD monitor offers total control over every detail while the One-Touch Disc Burn feature makes it possible to share it all with the simple touch of a button.

DCR-SR82 Highlights

1-megapixel Advanced HAD CCD imager The 1/6-inch Advanced HAD (Hole Accumulation Diode) CCD with 690K effective video pixels provides stunning detail and clarity, for exceptional video (up to 520 lines of horizontal resolution) and still image performance. Realize great looking digital still images with 1,000K effective pixels.

25x optical/2000x digital zoom The optical zoom helps to bring the action close up from far away. In addition, the Digital Zoom interpolation means that extreme digital zooming is clearer, with less distortion than previous types of digital zooms.

Professional-quality Carl Zeiss Vario- Tessar lens Carl Zeiss lenses have an advanced optical multi-layer coating for increased contrast. This results in vivid image brilliance, true-to-life color saturation and perfect renditions of subtle tones.

Handycam Station included Simply placing the camcorder on the supplied Handycam Station provides quick connections to a compatible TV for viewing or a PC for editing and sharing, all while charging the battery so your camcorder is always ready to go.

2.7-inch widescreen touch-panel SwivelScreen LCD The 2.7-inch 16:9 LCD screen provides excellent viewing clarity. The high-resolution 123K pixel LCD screen rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles, providing sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback, and the widescreen format makes shooting in 16:9 mode and composing shots even easier.

Memory Stick Duo media slot Capture still images up to 1152 x 864 resolution directly onto Memory Stick Duo media for easy transfer to PCs for emailing, printing or sharing with other compatible Memory Stick media devices.

One-touch wide-angle shooting Easily switch between 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios for shooting, with just the touch of a button.

Progressive shutter system A mechanical shutter system that provides progressive-scan performance while utilizing an interlaced scanning system. Digital still images will be sharp and clear with excellent definition.

Super SteadyShot picture stabilization system An advanced version of Sony's SteadyShot system that controls an even higher range of shake and vibration frequencies, to achieve an even higher level of smoothness without degradation of video like some other image stabilization systems.

USB 2.0 interface The USB 2.0 interface provides an easy way to connect your Hard Disk Handycam to the computer and fast transfer of video and still images for editing. The camcorder can also be used as an external storage device, convenient for archiving, storing and trasporting your videos and still images.

DVDirect compatibility The DVDirect system allows for easy transfer to a stand-alone DVD Burner via USB 2.0. The VRD-VC30 allows for easy transfer of video for DVD Burning. While the VRD-MC3 allows for seamless transfer of both video and still images for archiving on a DVD. Easy PC backup Easily back up your footage to your PC using the supplied software. The footage will be stored on your PC's hard drive for archiving purposes and viewing at a later time; the footage is stored by date allowing for quick access. In addition, only new footage is transferred to your PC each time you backup your footage.

One-touch disc burn Easily burn a DVD copy of your footage using the supplied software. Simply connect you DCR-SR82 to your PC via the Handycam Station and supplied USB cable and press the One Touch Disc Burn button.

HDD Smart Protection A unique shock absorber protects the Hard Disk Drive from physical damage if the unit is dropped. When the 3G Sensor detects a drop (loss of gravity), the power to the Hard Disk Drive is turned off in order to prevent damage. During this time the DCR-SR82 remains powered on and recording video to the built-in buffer. Once the unit has recovered from the drop, the buffer is then recorded to the Hard Disk Drive.

Additional Features

• Active interface shoe
• Super NightShot Plus infrared system
• Manual focus
• On-screen zoom and record buttons
• Scene selection modes
• Picture effects
• Fader effects
• InfoLithium battery with AccuPower meter system
• Battery information
• Easy Handycam button
• Tele Macro function
• Multi-language menu

Customer Reviews

Great camera for a great price.
UPDATE: My camera just broke after 18 months! The video screen shows rolling video like the old TV sets that needed the vertical hold adjusted. There is a sensor in the screen that detects when it has been rotated 180 degrees for filming yourself (which I've never done). Evidently this sensor is "stuck" and is causing the video to flip between right side up and upside down which results in a rolling video that is completely unusable.

--------- Original Review -------------
I picked up this camera from Amazon for a great price and I have to say that it is everything I expected and more. We just got back from a 10 day vacation in California (Disneyland, Legoland, Zoo, etc.) and all of the videos that we took came out fantastic. I searched for about 6 months before deciding on this specific brand and model and I'm more than happy with it. Here is a quick rundown on the camera.

1) Hard disk cameras are just wonderful. I can record 14 hours of video without ever worrying about the thing getting full. That's more video than I took over an 8 year period with my my VHS-C camera.

2) The camera looks just like an external USB hard disk to my computer so I can just drag and drop the files that I record. I didn't even bother installing the software that came with the camera because I really didn't need it.

3) The resolution and color are much better than I expected from a low-end sensor. In good light the colors look great. They aren't oversaturated like some of the other cameras I looked at. In low light the colors are a little off but that is true of all cameras. Overall I'm very happy with the quality of the video for the price I paid.

4) My biggest beef is with the manual focus controls. You have to use the touch screen to adjust it and you really can't get a fine level of focus because it seems to jump in odd increments and isn't consistent. The auto focus does a pretty good job at lower magnification levels and with enough light. But when you get in REALLY low light situations or at really high magnification levels (25X) it can have a hard time locking in.

5) The night vision capability is really cool. I didn't think that I would actually ever use it but I used it quite a bit on vacation. When we went through the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland I used it to film the whole thing. Being dark I wouldn't have gotten hardly any good video without it. But with it I was able to get really good detail on what we were seeing. Using the night vision feature causes the video to be greenish/grayish but it is acceptable in many situations.

6) I was skeptical when I heard that you had to use a docking station to transfer the video to a computer but it turns out not to be bad at all. The docking station is really tiny and you actually don't need it to charge the unit or play back video on your TV. We left the docking station at home on vacation because we wouldn't be taking our computer anyway.

7) This thing is actually really tiny. I was able to carry it in one of those small fanny packs while going through Disneyland. It's very comfortable to hold for long periods of time.

8) I love the advanced battery capabilities. It tells you down to the minute how much time you have left. I actually ran it all the way down and was amazed that it gave me that kind of feedback. The battery can last from 60 to 120 minutes depending on what you are doing with it. That's actually pretty good. I only bought the one battery and really don't think you need a second one unless you intend to film a long-running show or something. The only time it ran out was when I forgot to charge it after the previous day of shooting.

Overall I am very pleased with this purchase. I got a great price and the quality and usability of this camera is way better than I expected. Having searched the hard disk camera offerings for over 6 months I finally settled on this one. And I'm glad I did.

Great camera, easy to use
I bought this camera mostly for home movies, and after doing extensive research on camcorders. First was the decision of going to Hard-drive over DVD or Tape. The ease of downloading videos to your computer, plus the fact that it's the way most camcorders are going to be heading in the near future made this almost a no-brainer. Then was the question about which model to buy. I chose the SR82 over the SR42 and SR62 because of the extra storage capacity, and the improved resolution over the SR42. The video resolution for the SR82 is good enough for most televisions. If you want HD video, you will need to spend at least $200 or $300 more for an "entry-level" HD camera. I'm not too worried about the 1MP still photos because, let's be honest, I'm not planning to use this camera to take pictures! I have a digital camera for that, which has better resolution, low-light performance and options than a camcorder will ever have for taking pictures. Plus, it has a flash, which camcorders usually don't have (unless you're willing to add an accessory shoe and external light).
Picture quality as I mentioned is pretty good, even in low-light, and the camera is very intuitive and easy to use right out of the box. Downloading to a computer was a breeze too. Do get however an extra battery, since the one it comes with usually runs out pretty fast

Great Camcorder
I just picked this camera up a few days ago and boy is it great. Easy to use right out of the box. Have not purchased a Sony Camcorder in years but I needed a new one. Not having to pop in a tape or a disk is great. I was a little worried about not having enough space on the hard drive in the camera for enough recording time but the 60GB drive gives you plenty of room. I just plug the Camcorder via USB into the computer push one button and it's on a DVD. The picture quality is outstanding and the camera itself is incredibly light and small. Love this camera!!! The only down side is the camera does not have a view finder. You really don't need it as the LCD screen is better. If you are like me and like managing your media on a home computer then this is the camera for you.