Armed with Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization and x.v.Color technology, this high-definition camcorder is able to record stunning 1920 x 1080 full HD resolution videos.
Average Customer Rating:
4.5 out of 5
Rating Breakdown
(21 reviews)
5 stars
(14)
4 stars
(6)
3 stars
(0)
2 stars
(0)
1 star
(1)
19 of 21 (90%) customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Review 1 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
sony
01/05/2009
By dezaladezfrom rockville
Value for Price
5.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: Great play back videos/ takes pic while videoing What's not so great: have to buy hd cable to play back in HD
"Great camera easy to use. Might as well get it and enjoy the HD. Can see the diference in other cameras."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
Is this product used primarily for business?:
No
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Review 2 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Top 1000 Contributor
Customer Rating
5.05
Great Picture, Great Interface
12/08/2008
By Garwalkerfrom Arlington, TX
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
4.05
What's great about it: Picture, Interface What's not so great: Price
"I love this camera. The hard drive and touch screen make it very easy to use. If you don't like something, it's very easy to delete. It takes a great picture."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
Is this product used primarily for business?:
No
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Review 3 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Top 250 Contributor
Customer Rating
5.05
My kids adn wife look great in HD!!!!
11/04/2008
By Ohitsappropriatefrom Drexel Hill, PA
Value for Price
3.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: HD is the only way to fly now What's not so great: Pricey
"With everybody buying these new fangled HDTV's its becoming necessary to buy an HD camera...It is a little pricey but they'll come down...The old standard def movies don't look too hot on a 50" 1080p plasma...my wife is even more beautiful in HD if she would ever let me film her...my children know how to bring the HD in your face!!!!"
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
Is this product used primarily for business?:
No
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Review 4 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
4.05
Camera great, but with software problems
10/27/2008
By Glassblowerfrom Nixa, MO
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
4.05
Features
3.05
What's great about it: Picture is great, stills are great also. What's not so great: Software is poor (locks up).
"Doiwnloads to computer fine or straight to disc. From computer to disc it locks up. Manufacturer's support couldn't remedy with 3 downloads. Also, it is not compatible with new 64 bit processing and manufacturer tells me that there are no plans to do so. You will have to purchase additional software to get it to do anything with new computer. Get HD with disc instead of hard drive."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:No
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Review 5 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
4.05
Great Picture
10/27/2008
By jaymjoefrom TX
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
4.05
What's great about it: Ease of use, picture and video quality What's not so great: Limited software
"This video cam has the best quality video and still pictures (in picture mode) of any camera I've tried. It is very easy to use. The software is sometimes tricky and I am unable to play on WMP without a third-party conversion program. I bought this for a trip to Europe and it takes such good stills I am leaving my digital camera at home."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 6 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
4.05
Great Camera; Disappointing Software !
10/24/2008
By Jakovichfrom Phoenix
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: Easy to use, lots of features What's not so great: Software
"I used to save all my movies to my Computer's Hard Drive with my previous Camcorders. Unfortunately you can't play movies from this Camcorder (AVCHD/MPEG-4 format) using Windows Media Player or use Windows Movie Maker, and have to use the PMB software provided, which is not very good. Hopefully WMP will sonn support this format. Otherwise a great camera."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 7 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
4.05
Great family camera
10/20/2008
By shashayfrom Santa Maria, CA
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
4.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: easy to use and light weight What's not so great: download to computer sometimes tricky
"This is a great camera! It stores so many pictures and videos. We can take a family trip and never worry about running out of room we take hundreds of pictures and hours of video. It is definately worth every penny!"
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 8 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
Great Camcorder
10/20/2008
By rdmckfrom Altamonte Springs, FL
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: Pixels, stills, ease of use What's not so great: price, had to purchase addiitonal long life battery
"Battery time is outstanding on additionally purchased battery, much longer than anticipated. Picture and sound quality are fantastic. Price dropped soon after we purchased, which was very upsetting, though as we watched this product for almost a year and the price never dropped."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 9 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
WOW
09/28/2008
By ezbake
Value for Price
5.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: Everything What's not so great: Nothing!
"Picture quality is amazing. Have used HDMI and Composite cables to connect to TV and picture looks great on both (slightly better with HDMI). Bought wireless mic from sony's website (range is quite good). The best feature of this camcorder is the 10.1 MP still camera. Stills taken while in video mode are not as crisp as camera mode but still very impressive. The software provided is not the best but it gets the job done. Family and friends are impressed at the picture and video quality!!!"
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Review 10 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
Awesome Video Camera!
09/15/2008
By GoodwithCompfrom New York, NY
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
5.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: Picture Quality, Feature Set, Design What's not so great: Not as good in Low Lighting, Expensive
"This camera is amazing. My wife didn't want to spend the money on a video camera, but it was purchased to tape our new baby. The detail of the image is incredible! I think I see more on the TV than I do in person. The screen on the camera itself is also very high quality. I am not sorry we bought this camera and neither is my wife (which means a lot considering the price). Overall - Very high quality and a must if you want to get high quality coverage."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 11 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
I just love it!
09/02/2008
By anudhifrom Fairfax, VA
What's great about it: Small size, bright glossy screen, easy to use What's not so great: None so far
"This is my first camcorder. I had little difficulties in setting it up, but once that done, its very easy to use, nice picture/video quality, lot of storage for HD content. It's great."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 12 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
4.05
Great camcorder with Ok pics
08/28/2008
By NewFatherof1girlfrom Denver, Colorado
Value for Price
4.05
Picture Quality
4.05
Ease of Use
5.05
Features
5.05
What's great about it: HDD, HD-1920x1080i, Compact, steady shot, many other features What's not so great: Still picture quality, Audio
"This is a great camcorder. It has many features that others do not. I went into this purchase having high expectations for the camecorder. It lived up to many of my expectations, and failed some others. yes, I too spent atleast a week or 2 trying to read/ study all of the reviews out there on ALL of the camcorders on the market. They all offer some thing for someone- do your research, and pick the one that is right for you. There is A LOT to study up on, without trying to have a brain melt down. i.e. formats, 60p vs. 24p, HDD, removable storage cards, or other media, 1080p or 1080i (this one is 1080i), Full HD output on camcorder, accessory shoes, software, AVCHD or MPEG2, etc. They all have something for you. It is fairly easy to utilize, and to down load when done using. I was very disapointed with the STILL picture quality, in both video and picture modes. I do realize that this is suppose to be a "Camcorder" and not a camera; but, If your going to advertise the STILL picture quality to be 10MP, make it look good. In Picture mode, the pictures have noise in them, and have over coloration. A picture of my litttle girls face comes out pinker than she really is. I'm guessing that they are taking a 5mp picture, and digitally enhancing it with filer pixels to upconvert it to 10 mp. Not too great STILL pictures! I still love the fact that I can take pictures while it is recording video, provided there is enough light for the image not to be blurred. Video wise, It takes great videos. The audio is weak as many have mentioned. I like the numerous outputs (HDMI, Component, A/V, etc.) for playback, it helps when you don't know what tv you'll be playing it back on next. You don't really get the full HD and 5.1 surround until you burn the video to a DVD disk. It plays back 10x better than the video looks coming from your computer, or the camera - Unless you have a super computer with great graphics cards, etc. When I would play back video from my computer, and from the mini-HDMI output on the camcorder, I was getting horizontal lines on the video. Once I burned it to a disc, the videos are clear, and 5.1 surround; Great video then. The software is full of cool stuff to play with, like the GPS positioning on Google Maps, Calender/ folder sorts, etc. Storing and moving pics after importing can be tricky if you don't want to lose your labels, GPS locations, ratings, and comments. You will have to buy their GPS location thing if you want it to do the work for you. Software will also allow you to take still pics straight from the video footage. Features: HDD with optional storage to Duo card, Video or Still pics; 5.1 or 2 ch sound; Hot shoe for optional accessories; touch screen- does get dirty at times; "quick on"; quality covers over the outputs, not the rubber chunks that fall off; Great zoom quality; many others. Great video camcorder for a consumer based camcorder. Too bad the pics are not what most people would expect from the 10mp. Get an external hard drive, you'll need it; especially for recording the first year of you kids life. You'll store more than you'll burn to disk. Through the software, you can down convert the HD footage to WMV (to send in emails) and MPEG 2 video (to record to SD DVD's) which means that you will have additional videos to store; along with the fact that you might trim videos, and still retain the original for future trimmings. if you want great pics from a camera, go buy a Nikon D80, or even a 9mp point and shoot; unless you have a perfect sunny day outside for the camcorder. Yes, it will still capture the moment better than some cameras."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Review 13 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
Great camcorder!
08/09/2008
By batonrougefrom Baton Rouge, LA
What's great about it: ease of use, life of battery, memory, size What's not so great: not much
"For the average person using a camcorder I find this to be a great product! I'm not much into editing and such if you want a great camcorder to get beautiful pictures and movies, I think you can't go wrong with this. If you need help editing and making DVDs just do what I do and get the neighbors kids to take over."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 14 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
Best HD Hard Drive Camcorder
07/29/2008
By Hednicfrom Fairfax, VA
What's great about it: Excellent Video Picture plus a zillion others What's not so great: Expensive
"Handles well and takes excellent pictures (both motion and still) Easy to use software to create AVCHD Discs on either regular standard DVD-Rs or Blue Ray Discs. Let's you use a variety of editing features"
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 15 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
4.05
AVCHD coming of age...
07/29/2008
By Daveonatorfrom Troy, MI
What's great about it: 1920x1080 full HD resolution, 120GB Hard Drive, Capturing 10.2MP stills while recording video, Great Sound, etc... What's not so great: Cost of extra battery, limited programs support AVCHD native editing without conversion, need Sony software for driver
"I made a mistake a while back and purchased a Canon camcorder instead of sticking with Sony (Sony has better low light technology wihtout purchasing any add-ons). So I've been waiting for AVCHD to come of age, and finally Sony released the HDR-SR12 with a whopping 1920x1080i full HD support (with the 120GB hard drive to store the video to). A friend and I test drove this puppy and it's highly recommended as this is the best consumer camera Sony will put out in 2008. I was able to connect it to my Sony Playstation 3 to play videos off the camera (via USB). I also tested out taking pictures while recording video and it works (although it does take a little more time to save the photos while recording video... so don't expect to snap a series of pictures withing seconds). Also the 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound is excellant. I am also able to download the videos utilizing the Sony software, however when we looked there was no independant driver just for the camcorder without having the Picture Motion Browser v3.0 installed (yeck -- hopefully Sony will release this driver seperatly). My friend and I love to use the Sony Vagas 8 software (full suite) and we were unable to edit the AVCHD files without Vagas converting them to something else. For now we will stick with Nero 8 Ultra Edition with the Blue Ray Burner plugin to edit the menus and AVCHD files as this less expensive software has better support for AVCHD than the Sony Vagas product (strange... huh?). The maximum capacity battery is a whopping $175 from Best Buy (I still have sticker shock), however worth it if you plan on taking a long vacation without worrying about charging the camera every night. The battery that comes with it only lasts approximatly 90 min (basically better than nothing). Bottom line: This is one of the best consumer line camcorders out there, hopefully Vagas 8 will mature to handle the AVCHD files better then they currently do. I'm sure in that AVCHD will continue to be supported by more programs as time progresses, however not soon enough."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 16 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
Best camcorder come Camera
07/09/2008
By Suvi
What's great about it: 120GB HD hard drive, best quality, light weight, good LCD screen What's not so great: Audio could be better, for the high price, it could have come with DV Recorder, hdmi cable and flash memory
"I bought this camcorder 2 months back and i am very happy about it. records at very good video quality and it is easy to carry along. would have been the best if it had the 24p picture mode like the canon one. while recording the video, you can take pictures simulataneously on to your flash card and they come off with great resolution too."
Would you recommend this product to a friend?:Yes
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Review 17 for Sony 5.0MP Handycam High-Definition Camcorder w/120GB Hard Drive and 3.2" LCD Screen - Silver/Gray
Customer Rating
5.05
Excellent Camera
06/24/2008
By Yamezfrom Willoughby, OH
What's great about it: Too numerous to mention What's not so great: Would like aux video input
"This is my fifth Sony Handycam, and each one keeps getting better. The camera is best used with Vegas, but you can get a fairly cheap base version of Vegas. After the initial investment to get what may be one of the best consumer level HD camcorders, the extra money for the software is justified. It's worth it for the amazing video quality. The 10.0MP The 5.1 audio quality is also amazing, it's very lifelike."
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