Sony Handycam HDR-XR500V

Despite wearing a set of duds that looks like little has changed from last year's Handycam HDR-SR11 and HDR-SR12 twins, the HDR-XR520V and HDR-XR500V have had a massive overhaul of the underlying electronics and mechanicals. Like the cheaper HDR-XR200V, the 500-series cameras feature a new CMOS sensor. Dubbed Exmor R — no, we have no idea why you'd want more exes — this new sensor features back-illumination, in which the photo diode is placed above the metal wiring and transistors, the opposite of a conventional front-illuminated sensor. Sony claims that this improves low light performance; during our brief hands-on session with the camera, noise levels seemed lower, but we weren't able to verify if this was at the expense of sharpness or anything else.

Rearing its head for the first time on a consumer camcorder is Sony's in-house G lens, offering 12x optical zoom. Of more interest is an improved optical image stabilisation system, dubbed Optical Active SteadyShot in Sony speak, which is claimed to offer a 10-fold improvement. During our brief walk and shoot test, it produced unerringly smooth footage despite our best efforts to walk with an awkward gait and shaky palm. It will be interesting to see what level of image degradation is incurred for using this optional IS mode — according to reports and Sony staff, there's a slight loss of clarity at the edges in wide-angle mode and isn't really suitable for telephoto work.

A new standard inclusion is a GPS receiver, which allows for geotagging one's filmic masterpieces. The camera comes pre-installed with worldwide maps with major arterial routes, allowing you to browse your footage by location on camera. The XR520V comes fitted with a 240GB hard-disk, while the XR500V gets half that.

Downside
You can thank the rapid decline of our Pacific peso for the steep asking price of AU$2,499, a significant price increase from the AU$1,899 SR11, which it effectively replaces. Yes, you could argue that it debuts a whole host of new technology (active image stabilisation, new sensor design and GPS receiver) but this is the first time in a long while that a new high-end camcorder has offered more for, well, more.

The XR520V retains the 3.2-inch, 920k pixel touchscreen LCD from its predecessor, as well as its rather deceptive megapixel claim. The LCD cover screams "12.0 megapixels!", neatly ignoring the fact that its sensor has 6.6 million usable pixels, with the camera guessing or interpolating the rest.

Outlook
We're counting down the sleeps until the new Handycam range hits stores across Australia in March 2009, so we can give the XR500V a full run through its paces. Based on our hands-on first take, the XR520V and XR500V have the makings of more than worthy successors to SR12 and SR11, as well as the SR8/SR7 and SR1 before them. As long as you've got enough change that is.

source : http://www.cnet.com.au/sony-handycam-hdr-xr500v-339294752.htm

Sony Handycam HDR-HC3E

Well it hasn't taken Sony long to bypass all the competition and come out on top. I love this camcorder! I have no real technological abilities but I feel like an amateur film maker it's so advanced. Though maybe that's because it's a semi-professional camcorder. The picture is sharp and clear on its widescreen screen due to the High Definition. It's palm sized body is more like using a camera. I like a good macro on my camera's and this is good enough for me ! I've almost made my camera extinct! More importantly, it's easy to use despite it's quality. It's very good value for money and I'm glad I paid that little bit extra to be 100% happy with my purchase.

source : http://www.ciao.co.uk/Sony_Handycam_HDR_HC3E__Review_5605593

Canon PowerShot G9

The Canon PowerShot G9 ($499) is a high-end fixed-lens camera offering almost every feature you could imagine. It replaces the PowerShot G7, which was a disappointment compared to previous models, in this reviewer's opinion. The new G9 takes care of many of the issues that people had with the G7, with the most notable change being the addition of RAW image support. However, the rotating LCD that made the G-series famous is still nowhere to be found.

Here's the full list of what's new on the G9 compared to its predecessor:

• 12 Megapixel CCD (vs 10MP)
• 3.0" LCD display (vs 2.5", though it still doesn't rotate like on previous G-series cameras)
• RAW image format supported
• Auto ISO Shift
• In-camera redeye removal
• Improved battery life + battery level indicator on LCD

There are a few other features that I'll cover in the body of the review. So what hasn't changed? The G9 features the same 6X optical zoom lens, image stabilization system, manual controls, SVGA movie mode, and classic design of its predecessor.

Will the PowerShot G9 live up to its heritage, unlike the G7 before it? Find out now in our review!

Since the two cameras have much in common, I will be reusing portions of the PowerShot G7 review here.

What's in the Box?

The PowerShot G9 has an average bundle. Inside the box, you'll find:

• The 12.0 effective Megapixel PowerShot G9 IS camera
• 32MB MMCplus memory card
• NB-2LH rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Battery charger
• Neck strap
• USB cable
• A/V cable
• CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital Camera Solution
• 273 page camera manual (printed)

Canon includes a 32MB MMCplus memory card in the box with the camera. Odds are that this is the only time you'll ever see an MMCplus card, as they're pretty rare. Anyhow, that card will hold just five photos at the highest JPEG quality setting, so you'll want to get yourself a larger memory card, and fast. The G9 supports four types of flash memory: SD, SDHC, MMC, and MMCplus, and I'd probably stick with the first two. I'd recommend a 2GB, high speed card for best camera performance.

The G9 uses the same NB-2LH battery as the G7 before it. This small battery packs 5.3 Wh of energy, which is about average for a camera in this class. Here's how that translates into battery life:

Camera	Battery life, LCD on (CIPA standard)	Battery used
Canon PowerShot A650 IS *	500 shots	4 x 2500 mAh NiMH
Canon PowerShot A720 IS *	400 shots	2 x 2500 mAh NiMH
Canon PowerShot G7 *	220 shots	NB-2LH
Canon PowerShot G9 *	240 shots	NB-2LH
Fuji FinePix F50fd *	250 shots	NP-50
GE E1240	210 shots	GB-40
Kodak EasyShare Z1275	320 shots	2 x 2100 mAh NiMH
Nikon Coolpix P5100 *	240 shots	EN-EL5
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7 *	460 shots	2 x unknown NiMH
Pentax Optio A40 *	240 shots	D-LI68
Samsung NV20 **	200 shots	SLB-0837B
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W200 *	300 shots	NP-BG1
* Has image stabilization ** Number not obtained using the CIPA standard Battery life numbers are provided by the manufacturer source : http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_g9-review/

Nikon D 90

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 27 August 2008 – Nikon Europe today announces another great step forward in its mid-class DX-format D-SLR range: the D90. As the world’s first D-SLR with movie function, this remarkable camera offers truly cinematic results, stunning image quality and innovative high-performance features inherited from Nikon’s new-generation DX-format flagship D300. The D90 will open new doors for photography enthusiasts of any level.

With 12.3 megapixels, the newly-designed DX-format CMOS image sensor and Nikon’s proprietary EXPEED image processing concept, the D90 is a quality-guarantee. Advanced features such as Live View, Scene Recognition, Active D-Lighting, Picture Control and an ISO sensitivity range of 200-3200 (ISO 6400 equivalent on Hi1 and ISO 100 equivalent on Lo1), allows creativity in almost any setting. And to ensure all these features are easy to use, they are packed in an ergonomic body with an intuitive operational layout.

Toru Uematsu, Senior Manager Product Planning at Nikon Europe B.V says: “The D90’s combines imaging technology inherited directly from our D300 and innovative features like Live View, D-Movie, Scene Recognition and Picture Control - once again confirming Nikon’s leadership in cutting edge imaging technology. Add its innovative, high-performance features such as the CMOS image sensor, and the extremely wide ISO sensitivity range, we are convinced that this new camera will appeal to all passionate photographers looking for the next step in creativity.”

Stunning image quality
The D90’s EXPEED technology has been optimised to realise the high-quality, high-speed image processing capability for which Nikon’s professional D-SLRs are renowned. The D90 delivers images with extraordinary detail and expanded enlargement capacity, thanks to its improved DX-format CMOS image sensor and an effective 12.3 megapixels. The ISO sensitivity ranges from 200-3200 (ISO 6400 equivalent on Hi1 and ISO 100 equivalent on Lo1) providing low-noise images that are rich in detail and offer tonal gradation beyond expectation. It also enhances the performance of other powerful features such as Live View and the new Face Detection System. To address the issue of lost detail in high-contrast lighting situations, Active D-Lighting adjusts the contrast between images’ light and dark areas by localising tone control as an image is captured. And for extra creativity, Picture Control allows you to customise the look and mood of your images by choosing from six settings, including new Portrait and Landscape modes.

A helping hand
First introduced on Nikon’s D3 and D300 flagship cameras, the D90’s Scene Recognition System uses a 420-pixel RGB sensor to analyse scene and colour information of the subject being photographed. Based on these readings, the camera optimises its focus, exposure and white balance just before the shutter is released. The D90 also recognises human faces to render up to five faces with newfound sharpness and accuracy and more natural skin tones in your images. In the camera’s 11-point AutoFocus mode, it uses the subject’s colour information to maintain a sharp focus as the subject moves in the frame.

Once you’ve got the composition you want, the D90 incorporates image-editing functions that make it easy to enhance images within the camera. There are several new retouch options: ‘Distortion Control’ adjusts lens aberration, ‘Straighten’ corrects the inclination of the image, whilst ‘Fisheye’ produces optical effects similar to that of a fisheye lens. There are also ample options for viewing and selecting the right shot, including 72-frame playback, calendar playback and histogram display for a magnified portion of the image.

Live and living
The D90 is the first mid-class D-SLR to offer a movie function, allowing you to capture creative movie clips in motion JPEG at superb quality levels. Compared to the average camcorder, the far larger image sensor on the D90 offers higher image quality, a shallow depth of field and exceptional ISO performance while recording in low-light conditions. NIKKOR’s wide range of lenses offers great variety from fisheye to wide-angle to super-telephoto, adding more scope for creativity and emotional impact to your movies. Movies can even be played on the camera with sound, thanks to its uniquely powerful speaker / microphone system.

The D90 has been designed with an eye-level pentaprism viewfinder, offering some 96% frame coverage. However, when looking through the viewfinder isn’t practical, simply press the D90’s Live View button and the 3-inch LCD with 170? viewing angle and approx. 920k-dot LCD support your Live View shooting with three contrast-detect AF modes: Face Priority, Wide Area and Normal Area. When you’re not sure which camera settings are appropriate, try the advanced scene modes like Active D-Lighting and Picture Control for beautiful, crisp images every time.

Get every shot
There are few things more annoying than a flat battery as you’re about to capture that winning shot, so Nikon has made the D90’s extremely efficient, allowing you to capture approximately 850 images on a single charge of the camera’s battery. Accurate exposures rely on precise shutter release, so the D90’s electronically timed shutter mechanism has been specifically engineered for long, accurate service and has undergone exhaustive 100,000 shutter-release cycle testing. For ever-ready shooting, the impressive 0.15-seconds start-up time, 65-millisecond shutter release time and its 4.5 fps means you won’t lose that crucial shot. And with a thumbnail display of up to 72 images, Pictmotion slideshows with soundtrack, the option of image tagging through geotags with GPS, instant online upload to ‘my Picturetown’ and HDMI-compatibility, sharing and organising your images has never been easier.

The D90 will go on sale end September and will retail at a MSRP of EURXXX.

Nikon D90 Feature Highlights

Newly designed Nikon DX-format CMOS image sensor with wide ISO sensitivity range
The D90’s 12.3 effective megapixels provides outstanding resolution, delivering images with extraordinarily defined detail. The extremely wide sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200 delivers incredibly low-noise throughout which can be increased to Hi 1 (ISO 6400 equivalent) and decreased to Lo 1 (ISO 100 equivalent) to expand shooting versatility. The camera also employs an Image Sensor Cleaning function that works to free image-degrading dust particles from the sensor’s optical low-pass filter.

EXPEED for smooth tones, rich colours and fine details
Nikon’s comprehensive digital image-processing EXPEED technology is optimised for the D90 to realise the high-quality, high-speed image processing capability EXPEED also contributes to the outstanding performance of other powerful features such as Live View and the new Face Detection System.

D-Movie: the world’s first D-SLR movie mode
In a world first for D-SLRs, the D90 offers a movie function, allowing you to shoot HD720p (1,280 x 720 pixels), 640 x 424 pixels or 320 x 216 pixels movies at the professional smoothness of 24 frames per second in motion JPEG format. The D90’s sensor, which is much larger than the sensor of a typical camcorder, ensures higher image quality and exceptional low-noise, high ISO sensitivity performance, even during movie shooting. Capturing creative movie clips or the drama of life’s moving moments is further enhanced by the wide selection of incredibly sharp NIKKOR interchangeable lenses that are available, from fisheye to wide-angle to super-telephoto. And Micro NIKKOR lenses bring the magic of extreme close-up imagery to movie making.

Scene Recognition System integrated with Face Detection System
The D90 precisely reads the colours and brightness information of each scene from the 420-pixel RGB sensor, and applies this to auto focus, auto exposure and auto white balance. The D90 also recognises human faces using the new Face Detection System, data which is incorporated during calculation, resulting in faces with newfound definition and accuracy as well as enabling face priority AF in Live View mode and immediate zoom into people’s faces in playback zoom.

Easy-to-use Live View mode
One press of the Live View button activates the D90’s Live View mode, delivering a bright, crisp image to the 3-in., approx. 920k-dot colour LCD and allowing comfortable shooting without looking through the viewfinder. There are three contrast-detect AF modes that let you focus on any point in the frame: Face priority AF automatically detects up to five faces and focuses on that calculated to be the closest. Wide area AF offers a large AF area suitable for handheld shooting, and normal area AF provides focus with pinpoint accuracy when using a tripod. And when Nikon VR image stabilisation lenses are in use, photographers will enjoy the benefit of a VR-smoothed image, even in Live View mode.

Picture Control System: Customize the visual style of your images
Nikon’s Picture Control System enables users to customise the look and mood of images. Six original setting options are available — Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait and Landscape — for easy customisation of image preferences.

Active D-Lighting for smooth tone reproduction in high-contrast lighting
The D90’s Active D-Lighting accurately restores details in the shadows and highlighted areas, which are often lost in high-contrast lighting situations, by localizing tone control while shooting. There are four levels, including the new “Extra High.” Active D-Lighting can be used manually or set to Auto mode. It is also possible to bracket your pictures, allowing the capture of one image with Active D-Lighting and one without.

Versatile, practical 11-point AF system
Thanks to the Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus module, the D90’s 11-point AF system offers fast and precise autofocus coverage across the frame with the most sensitive AF sensor operating from the centre. In addition, the D90 features versatile AF-area modes to handle most shooting situations: Single-point AF is recommended for stationary subjects, dynamic-area AF for moving subjects, auto-area AF for spontaneous shooting and 3D-tracking (11 points) AF for when you want to change the composition after focusing on your subject.

Bright pentaprism viewfinder featuring frame coverage of approx. 96%
The D90 has a precise eye-level pentaprism viewfinder with approximately 96% (centered) frame coverage and an easy-to-view 19.5 mm eyepoint (at -1.0 m-1). The built-in 16-frame superimposed grid display can be activated to assist in the creation of better-balanced compositions.

Advanced Scene Modes for superior image quality
The D90 features Advanced Scene Modes: Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports and Night Portrait. These modes not only adjust exposure and image processing, but also judge the optimum Active D-Lighting and Picture Control settings to obtain the best results. The D90 also recognises if VR (Vibration Reduction) is on or off and minimises noise even in dimly lit scenes.

Extensive palette of in-camera Retouch Menus
The D90’s designers incorporated a wide variety of image editing functions, making it easy for users to enhance images within the camera. The D90 introduces several new retouch options: Distortion Control adjusts lens aberration, Straighten corrects inclination of the image, while Fisheye produces optical effects similar to a fisheye lens. Engineered for precision and durability Accurate exposures rely on precise shutters and the D90’s electronically timed shutter mechanism was specifically engineered for long, accurate service. To ensure this, D90 shutters, assembled in D90 bodies, underwent exhaustive 100,000 shutter-release cycle testing.

Nikon D90 Other Features

• Gives you quick response, with 0.15-second start-up, 65 ms shutter release time lag and 4.5 fps continuous shooting.
• 3-in., approx. 920-k dot high-resolution LCD monitor with wide viewing angle that lets you change composition of the frame during shooting from various angles and easily confirm your image during playback.
• Built-in flash with 18mm lens coverage, Guide Number of approx. 18/59 (ISO 200, m/ft., 20°C/68°F) and Nikon’s original i-TTL flash control; works as a commander; controlling up to two groups of remote Speedlights.
• Highly efficient energy-saving design allows approx. 850 images on a single charge of the Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL3e. (CIPA standard, with AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, with 50% of pictures taken with flash)
• Extensive playback functions offer ample options for viewing and selecting the right shot, including 72-frame playback, calendar playback and histogram display for magnified portion of the image. ? Versatile Pictmotion menu creates slideshows combining five choices of both background music and image effects.
• Compatible with HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) output.
• Supports the Nikon Creative Lighting System when using the SB-900, SB-800, SB-600 Speedlight, or Wireless Close-up Speedlight System R1C1; ensures accurate exposures via i-TTL flash control.
• Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D80 (Optional, in common with the D80) gives you the choice of using one or two Rechargeable Li-ion Batteries EN-EL3e or six R6/AA-size batteries to extend battery life.
• New optional Remote Cord MC-DC2 enables shutter release and long time exposures (bulb) remotely.
• With the new optional GPS Unit GP-1, location information such as latitude, longitude, altitude and time is automatically recorded to each image’s EXIF data.
• Included Nikon ViewNX image browsing and editing software lets you organize, label and select images as well as perform RAW image editing adjustments and conversions.
• Optional Capture NX 2 photo-editing software features patented U-Point® technology and powerful tools for quick and easy photo editing including enhanced RAW (NEF) Editing.

source : http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08082702nikond90previewed.asp

Olympus E520

Our review of the Olympus E-520 has been completed using a production-level camera. Thank you for your patience!

The E-520 ($599, body only) is the follow-up to Olympus' popular EVOLT E-510 digital SLR, which was introduced in March of 2007. The E-510 featured a 10 Megapixel CCD, sensor-shift image stabilization, dust reduction, full manual controls, and live view on its 2.5" LCD.

What's new on the E-520? Pretty much the same stuff that you'll find on its sibling, the E-420. Those items include:

• Larger, 2.7" LCD display (versus 2.5")
• Contrast detect autofocus (with select lenses) and face detection with live view
• Faster continuous shooting speeds (3.5 vs 3.0 fps)
• New vertical and horizontal panning IS modes
• Shadow Adjustment Technology brightens dark areas of your photos
• Perfect Shot Preview lets you see the effects of exposure compensation and white balance settings on your subject before you take a photo
• Built-in wireless flash control

source : http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/olympus/e520-review/

Review: Sony HDR-SR11 Handycam

By Brian Chen

uly 10, 2008 (Macworld) It's old news that Apple Inc. is lagging when it comes to making the Macintosh friendly with tapeless camcorders. Currently, only a few tapeless camcorders out there are truly Mac-compatible, and Sony Corp.'s high-definition HDR-SR11 Handycam happens to be one of them.

Easy to use, craftily designed and packed with features, the HDR-SR11 is a strong contender in the tapeless HD camcorder market -- especially because it currently doesn't have much competition. This camcorder shoots and stores high-definition video and still images on a 60GB hard drive or Memory Stick Duo or Pro Duo card. Most importantly, you can import your video seamlessly into iMovie '08 or Final Cut Pro.

On top of that, the camcorder's video looks stunning, on par with that of Canon Inc.'s Vixia HV30, our top product in the Mini DV camcorder category. There's still work to be done, but we can only hope more manufacturers work with Apple the way Sony did to get its camcorders working properly with the Mac.

Though a little bulky, the HDR-SR11 rests comfortably in your palm. The weight of the camcorder tends to lean toward the left, so it's best to hold it with two hands (left hand under the LCD, right hand on the body) to ensure stability. The zoom tab is within easy reach of your index finger. A menu wheel, which you control with your thumb, toggles between Memory Stick recording and HDD recording.

I especially liked the design of the plastic doors used all around the camcorder to protect connection ports from dust. They easily snap open and are much sturdier than the removable rubber covers found on most camcorders.

The HDR-SR11 features a very intuitive touch-screen control panel located on its LCD. Most camcorders we've tested use a joystick, which can be quick and snappy, but ever since the iPhone's release, touch-screen technology has been getting sexier and preferable. The HDR-SR11's touch-screen buttons are easy to understand, so you shouldn't need to consult the user manual to figure out how to use this camcorder.

When it's time to import your video and photos, the HDR-SR11 works exactly as it should: You simply connect the device to your Mac via USB, and iMovie '08 and Final Cut Pro will recognize the camcorder and allow you to choose the clips you wish to import. After that, all you have to do is wait for the files to transfer over and you can start editing.

In our test footage, the HDR-SR11's video at both low-light and standard-light settings looked impressive. Colors looked pleasing and accurate (though a little heavy on the blues) compared with our control objects. Upon close inspection, some motion artifacts were slightly visible, but they were negligible. For the most part, motion looked smooth. Our panel of experts gave the HDR-SR11's video quality a "very good" rating.

source : www.computerworld.com

Sony Handycam HDR-SR7

By Derek Fung on 17/07/2007

Although this review is for the Sony Handycam HDR-SR7, it is also applicable to the Sony Handycam HDR-SR8 which differs only in price, the capacity of its hard-disk and in a cosmetic detail or two. The Sony Handycam HDR-SR7 is the middle child in the family of three hard drive models replacing the highly regarded SR1.

Model Capacity Price Sensor
HDR-SR5 40GB AU$1,899 4 megapixels*
HDR-SR7 60GB AU$2,349 6.2 megapixels*
HDR-SR8 100GB AU$2,499 6.2 megapixels*
* interpolated

Design
In a retrograde step from the SR1 model it replaces, the SR7 sports a smaller 2.7-inch flip-out, touchscreen LCD -- the old model had a 3.5-inch unit. This is probably because the new model is some 20mm shorter in length and, incidentally, 110g lighter. The SR7's 83mm by 138mm by 82mm body is also within a few millimetres of the tape-based HC7 we tested earlier this year. And although the glossy jet-black body is not without its charms -- especially the sprinkling of metallic dust in its paint -- we're disappointed to see the disappearance of the ribbed metal barrel. To many it might not matter but, for us, the metal barrel made the HC7 feel like a AU$2,000-plus device.

Otherwise the design is much the same as before. Obviously the tape-drive is no longer present and a few of the input jacks have been relocated, but the main controls -- on/off, record and zoom -- are in the same easily accessed thumb and index finger positions. Sony still has the minimalist approach to buttons, which is both bad and good. Good in that it frees the body from unnecessary clutter; bad in that users are forced to flick through touchscreen menus to configure manual settings, like white balance and manual focus. The SR7's menus, like that of all Sony's recently announced high-def cameras, have been updated with slicker graphics -- it's no longer a riot of blocky text and rectangles recalling the time when CGA monitors roamed the earth. The menus still aren't perfect, however, because there's no one button for exiting out of the menu system and, rather inconsistently, some settings drop you out of the menu system after they've been changed, while others do not.

As with the HC7, there's a scroll wheel and button combo near the lens which can be assigned to a manual control, like manual focus. We still found the button too fiddly and awkward to use regularly, and quickly ignored it. The SR7 now has an electronic viewfinder which can be tilted up to about 70 degrees, which is good for those out there who prefer the viewfinder over the LCD.
2007 Sony high-def Handycams

* Hard-disk
* Memory Stick
* Tape-based (miniDV/HDV)
* Mini-DVD

Features
The SR7 boasts a more capacious 60GB hard-disk compared to its forebear's 30GB. According to Sony's claim, this should be sufficient, depending on recording quality, for between eight and 23 hours of AVCHD format high-def footage. As with previous HD Handycams there's a good selection of outputs, including composite, component and HDMI, and inputs too, like microphone and hotshoe. Composite and component cables are provided with the SR7, so it's a shame -- especially on an item ticketed at over AU$2,000 -- that you have to pay an extra AU$99 for the optional mini-HDMI cable.

A dock, however, is supplied with the SR7 which allows you to charge the camera, transfer photos and videos, review your footage on a TV screen and, via the "one touch record" button, burn your masterpieces onto DVD. Although all of this is possible without the dock (except one touch recording), it does serve as a nice way of keeping cable clutter to a minimum. If you are one of the enthusiastic few to have shelled out big bikkies for a PS3, you can hook up your SR7 via USB and either view videos directly or transfer them to the PS3's hard disk.

Other features include an optical image stabilisation, infrared shooting mode, a night light which doubles as a camera flash and smooth slow-mo recording mode -- which records three seconds of low-resolution footage and plays it back over 12 seconds. On the SR7 are two new methods for reviewing footage on the camera. With Face Index, the camera uses its face recognition smarts to produce an index of the people in each video. While with Film Roll Index, each video is previewed with a series of thumbnail snapshots taken at user-specified intervals, for example every three seconds for short clips and every few minutes for epics.

A clutch of software is included with the SR7, allowing you to transfer, burn and play back your high-def footage. This is invaluable because there still aren't many third-party media players which support the AVCHD format. However, video editing suites, like Pinnacle's latest version of Studio, are beginning to embrace the format. When burning DVDs using Sony's software -- whether in standard-def or AVCHD format -- we recommend that you do it on a nice sunny day, with a copy of the weekend newspaper in one hand and a hot cup of coffee in the other, because it's a rather slow process.

Performance
Footage we shot on the SR7 -- in passable to good light -- was impressively crisp and had excellent colour response. To be fair we expected this, as the SR7 shares its 10x zoom lens and interpolated 6.2-megapixel sensor with the HC7 we tested earlier this year. Low light performance was noticeably grainy, although still acceptable, and consequently lacked the same jump-out-of-the-screen-look-at-me sharpness. The SR7 was about the right size -- for our hands anyway -- to ensure handheld footage didn't suffer a case of the jitterbug. Casual videographers will be satisfied with the in-built 5.1-channel microphone, although those with a more serious bent should invest in an external unit.

Although the quality in standard definition is good, you really need an HD television to get the best out of the SR7. Viewing our standard busy street scene back-to-back in standard-def and then in high-def, we could fully appreciate the difference. In high definition, we could see details that were pixelated and grainy in SD, like branch and leaf detail on distant trees, as well as the writing on small street signs across the road.

There are a number of quality modes in both high-def and standard-def. With a keen eye and a few viewings, we could just spot the difference between the high-def modes; in higher compression video, there's some detail lost to artefacts and slightly more pixilation around areas of movement. The difference between recording modes in SD, though, was far more distinct with a sharp drop off in quality beyond the highest setting.

The SR7 starts up in about five seconds and has shooting priority -- so, no matter what you're doing on the camera, a press of the record button will start it recording. Photos can be taken either in the camera's photo mode or during video recording, although neither are anything spectacular -- probably equivalent to a decent point-and-shoot still camera.

Compared to the tape and mini-DVD based high-def camcorders Sony launched earlier this year, there are only a few minor detail improvements. But we feel that the addition of a high capacity hard-disk to the existing combination of high-def recording, outstanding picture quality and affordable pricing, makes the SR7 worthy of an Editors' Choice award. We'd be equally tempted by the AU$150 more expensive SR8, which sports a 100GB drive but is otherwise mechanically identical. The one caveat we'd make is that you must have a high-def home theatre set-up, namely an HD TV and a AVCHD-capable DVD player or PlayStation 3/Blu-ray player, to fully exploit either camera.

source : www.cnet.com.au