I just bought the camcorder from Amazon for my honeymoon trip next august
and it's so cool....I love it even though its expensive but worth it because it will
live longer with you due to its new technology ... usually I am not satisfied with Sony products
because of its lack of features but I liked this one ...
you should buy a big battery with this one if you want to have more free time
and what I did is bought a charger coz if you charge it in the camcorder
it will take all day but with the charger it will take 4 hours or less depending on the size
of the battery...also try to get the wide angel lens and the tele lens if you want to take
nice shots ...

Upsides: small, elegant, manual focus, high quality still images, HD or SD recording modes, HDMI output ready for hd TVs
Downsides: price, batteries is 90 mins only, lack of mini HDMI cable, in HD recording mode you only
can see the clips in the camera, PC, and a blue-ray hd dvd players

This is by far best quality I have seen in an HD cam. The default HD setting is set at SP which is the middle of the road, but the quality is already awesome. When I changed to XP, that was when my mouth dropped when viewing back the test footage on my 60 inch SXRD HDTV.

The coolest feature is to be able to play back AVCHD files natively on the PS3. All you have to do is first is to connect the camera to your PC and get the mts file and put it on a USB thumb drive. Be sure to create a folder on your USB thumb drive called VIDEO and put your mts files there for PS3 to recognize. Next plug it into the PS3 and you will see the most stunning footage ever made by a consumer camcorder.

It has HDMI out but it is a mini-HDMI so I have to buy a wire that is mini-HDMI to regular HDMI.

The cam is so small you can almost hold it in your palm. It has a very expensive look to it (unlike the 40G version HDR-SR5 with silver grills and very ugly looking, IMO)

I am very happy with the SR7. With 60G on board and no silly mess with conventional tapes to worry about. This is a blessing.

This camera is beautiful and I would give it 5 stars but it is lacking one major connection: a USB connection directly on the camera. Yes, there is one on the Handycam Station but who really wants to carry the station around with them to gain connectivity to the camera. I had hoped to leave my station plugged into my TV for viewing. The HDR-SR1 did include a USB connection directly on the camera but not the SR7.

I phoned Sony Parts at 800-488-7669 to see if I could purchase a second base station and they insisted on charging me a $5 research fee before I could get the part number and/or place an order.

Seems like very short sighed thinking on the part of Sony Parts and on the part of the Sony Engineers and Marketing staff that would design and ship an all digital camera that just about mandates a computer connection but then leave this connection off the camera itself.

With this in mind, I have to give the camera an overall 2. Great recording but a pain to get it off the camera without the base station. Why does everyone want to re-engineer a proprietary solution instead of using a $5 standard USB cable?

I think about returning this camera.

I had the Sony hdr-sr1 for about a month before sending it back to get the sr7. The sr1 had a great picture, but for some reason the sr7 is a little better. I liked the bigger screen on the sr1 and the use of a regular hdmi wire for ease of use. The sr7 has hdmi but you need a mini to regular hdmi wire or adapter which doesn't have many uses that I know of. This camcorder is very light and easy to use. There is plenty of hard drive space to last thru your longest vacation and get the birthday party when you get back. The question is will you have enough battery to get it all. Bottom line...The mini hdmi and short standard battery are the only things keeping me from giving it a perfect score. Other than those two things, I couldn't be happier. It helps to have a blu-ray player as that is how you can play your hd video once on dvd. You can get about 45 min. worth of hd video, in its native format of AVCHD, on a regular DVD. You'll get more on a recordable blu-ray disk. You can put video back on the camcorder even after you have taken it off to use the camcorder as a means to play back in HD. If you like to edit your video, make sure your software can handle AVCHD. I also purchased a Sony tripod that plugs into the camcorder

I found out the hard way by buying this one first, since there was no information for mac users.

I obtained the following information through reading all the related websites and the Sony HDR-SR7 menu.

The following are specific to mac:

1. Mac does not support burning DVD, it only works with still photo:
you can import still images stored on a "Memory Stick Duo" to a Macintosh computer, not movies.

2. The software support the movie studio functions and DVD burning function for AVCHD costs around $100 for windows OS, while it costs $1000 for mac OS.

3. The DVD burned for mac will take 10 times memory than its original amount.

The following points are not specific to mac:

4. It requires blue-ray hd dvd players to play the DVD you burn, otherwise your dvd may be erased or whatever.

5. According to cnet.com, since 2 different formats blue-ray hd dvd players and hd dvd are still battling out, so wait, don't buy blue-ray hd dvd players yet. So how do we play the video if we do not buy a blue-ray hd dvd player? Do we pray that blue-ray will be a main stream format?

6. PS3 will be a good dvd player for the DVD burned. Then we need to spend more money for Sony's "hardware expansion plan"?

I would have given it 1 as a mac user. But I have been using SONY (this is my 3rd camcorder) and it usually is good, that's why I give it a 3.

Took the camera to Alska. Had great results. Worked well under cold and sometimes wet weather.

I was so excited to get my new Sony HDR-SR7 after having years of fantastic experiences with my old Sony PC100.

The SR7 should be a perfect upgrade with it's small size, light weight, and obviously its HD video quality. All this and more for less than half the price I paid for the PC100 way back when.

The camera does do a great job of capturing high quality video although I find the automatic white balance is not that great and I constantly have to adjust to keep the color looking natural.

The real disappointment comes from the things that should have been easy for Sony to address. I can't imagine why Sony would not include a Firewire interface on this camera? Most higher end cameras are now offering this high speed interface option and Sony included it on older cameras that needed it less.

The USB2 interface can be painfully slow to download 60GB and to make matters worse, there is no USB connection on the camera, only on the docking station which makes it even harder if you thought you would download smaller chunks to your notebook PC in the field.

Last but not least, Sony doesn't include any software support for Apple Mac computers but they do offer a Sony website in the users manual. This creates only false hope because when you visit the webpage - it tells you how to download pictures from the SD card storage, but says nothing about MOVIES!

AVCHD is a great way to compress lots of data on to the internal hard drive but if you can't do anything with it afterwards you would be much better off buying a tape based HD camera.

In my estimation Sony has really dropped the ball by missing out on some really important "no-brainer" features or capabilities that would have made this camera the obvious choice for anyone looking to upgrade to a consumer HD video camera.

As it is, this camera is a big disappointment.

If you want a harddrive based camcorder, the SR7 is currently the best one out there. It has a large 1/2.9-inch CCD, has optical image stabilization (which is better than digital), and a 60gb harddrive. It uses AVCHD compression (which more editing programs are now available for).

If you are looking for the best camcorder as far as recording quality, you still have to go with a tape based unit utilizing HDV. The reason is that there is less compression on tape than on current AVCHD systems. You will get excellent video with the SR7, but Sony's HDR-HC7 and Canon's HV20 will give you even better video quality. The Canon HV20 has one of the largest CCDs for a consumer camcorder, 1 1/2.7 -inch.

I was trying to get a camcorder that can record both HD and SD quality video, and have microphone input, as well as LANC connector. I debated between this one and JVC's HD7. Finally brought this one.

There are good and bad of this camcorder. First, the good things about it:
it is compact in size can easily hold in one hand. It takes sharp pictures and vivid videos for indoor and outdoor. It produce good quality video even under low light. In SD mode, it can video a lot of footage, thanks to its 60GB hard drive. Its AVCHD format is based on MPEG4, handles better for large bit rate of the HD video. Included batter can shoot about 100 minutes video on each charge, not bad. Many manual controls for the lens settings, white balance, etc. Its "remote" port is the connector used to called LANC port that supports those LANC control tripod or computer control.

Now, the part that I don't like:
When I placed this camcorder on a tripod to record online classes from computer screen, it produced a lot of ghost lines in the video. If you hold camcorder by hand, it seems okay, but on tripod, it will produce the ghost line. My other cheap JVC 155 can do much better without ghost line. It is some kind of computer calculation inside camcorder caused them. If I move the camcorder, its ghost line will disappear for a second, once it is stabilized on tripod, the ghost line will reappear.

The second is the super steady logic does not work as good as the OIS of other brands. If you hand moves, or you are taking video in a driving car, OIS based camcorder can do much better than this one.

The third thing I agree with another reviewer that USB port should be on the body, not only on the base station.

Buying from Amazon is a sure way to get this camcorder. Other advertiser puts lower price in ads but they want to charge you for everything as additional. Not worth to play the game with them, just buy from Amazon.

This is a great product at good price. I had not used all the functions, as of now.

I bought this camera after owning the Sony HDR-HC3, and the Canon HV10, and when I first saw the camera I was in love. Now that I've had the camcorder for over 1 month now, here's an honest review of the camcorder from a keeper's perspective:

Pros:
1. Excellent outdoor image, clarity and picture. The lines are crisp, everything green just jumps out at you, it does seem like you're shooting in HD and it shows when filming out in the sun with light.
2. Price. For a HD camcorder w/ an internal harddrive at ~1100, it's a no brainer. It provides a lot of the goods at the lower end of the price range.
3. New color schema for HDMI 1.3 (the xxYcc or whatever). This is actually good and bad, because it'll bring out the colors if you have a monitor to show them, but Sony advises that you don't shoot in this mode if you don't as it may lead to inaccurate color representation if you don't own a TV that supports this.
4. Small size. The camcorder just feels right, and fits and looks nice.
5. AVCHD now has NLE's that can edit the format, I use Sony Vegas 7.0e and it works excellent, I was an adobe premiere guy before, but now I LOVE Sony Vegas, it's an awesome program.
6. Transfers film as data and so you don't have to wait there until the PC captures the video 1:1 timewise.


Cons:
1. Indoor shooting is almost below SD quality. The indoor shooting gets VERY grainy, and I have to say I'm really disappointed. I got the AIS Flash shoe for the camcorder for this reason, and still, the picture is better, but still grainy. I want to say it's almost as if you have a hybrid camcorder, SD indoors, HD outdoors. My Canon HV10 was superior in quality indoors, probably the same clarity outdoors, but Sony definitely had better colors.
2. No USB or HDMI (normal size) on the body of the camcorder. I do agree with other people with this annoyance. I actually don't mind that using the docking station, and I do at home, but on a couple of occasions my friends want to transfer video over to their computer after a night out and I can't since there's no USB on the camcorder.
3. Sometimes takes awhile before the picture can come into focus. Again, I noticed this a lot when indoors, the pictures just doesn't focus for about 10secs, very annoying.

As you can see, I actually have more pros then cons, but the cons actually are stronger deterrents; than the pros are stronger for desire. I'm okay with my purchase, and know that I will probably get a lot of good video quality over the years with this camcorder, but just feel there has to be something better out there. If this had the quality indoors as it does out, this would totally be a 5/5 no matter what else.

I'm a moderately experienced computer user, but knew little about camcorders. I held off for a year on buying one until I was certain the editing software could handle AVCHD, because my experience with tapes was simply that they never got to my PC for editing. Read all the reviews, and took the plunge on the Sony. I have an IMAC with the intel processors and upgraded to ILIFE 08. EVERYTHING WORKS PERFECTLY. The camera is small, and takes excellent videos and stills. I set the video to the highest quality setting, shot the kids all weekend, and then transferred to IMOVIE for editing. Simple enough. From there, I created a .mac account the share the videos with family and used IWEB to mock up a password protected web page. Simply unbelievable. I had barely ever used the used the ILIFE suite of products and I had a working web page with outstanding quality hi-def video up and and running in 3 hours. I really don't see the need for a hi-def DVD burner (and player) at all, when I can share with family across the country via the web. In my own home, I think the next step will be an Apple TV, to sling the videos wirelessly to my HI-Def TV for viewing. If you are at all concerned about the video quality, or ease of working with AVCHD, don't be. I'm no camcorder expert, but friends and family are simply stunned by what I've created in a short period of time.

I bought this camera as a birthday present for my tech geek boyfriend. The video quality is amazing! However,copying the video to DVD is extremely difficult. You need a 2007 computer for things to run smoothly, otherwise be prepared to put in the time. All in all the camera is awesome. We recorded my dog running in slow motion and then watched her in slow motion and the individual frames were clear. It would be great for coaches to help athletes in training. Still picture quality is good, too.

Good camcorder but not enouth zoom and low light sensivity. Still 6.1Mp pictures looks not better then on 4.1MP Cannon still camera. Miss MHDI connection cable in set. Very basic program for video edit and DVD recordings.

Just bought this Sony HDR-SR7 Camcorder and I can not believe that you can NOT plug a USB port cable into the camcorder , you can only connect and download data via USB cable, that is connected to the HandyCam Station. There is NO USB port on the camcorder it's self. Go figure??

Now that I also bought the "Extended Life Battery", it's always nice to have the extra power pack alon...the battery sticks out half as much more than the original ballery, just enough to sick you right in the eye when you are trying to use the camcorder eye view finder. Not to mention the fact that you have to mess around with a required "FH to AC input" cable (If not in your eye, it's in your face. Way to go SONY, it looks like the extended battery design was an "After the Fact" design idea!

Bottom-line, save yourself the hassle, check out other makes features first!

Nash from Seattle, WA

After reading a lot of reviews on this camera.... I have to say, the picture is UNREAL! I'm on my computer right now and just copied 3.2 Gigs of HD Video to my system in a very very short time.... The playback on my system of this HD Video content is OUT OF THIS WORLD... I'm looking at it and it's as if I'm right there right now....

I also just reviewed the pictures I took on my Memory Stick card @ 6.1 MP... Man, the pictures are very sharp....

I will update this review as I play around with this camera more...

I highly recommend this camera ....

The details have been covered in other reviews, but in short this is a great camera. I dove in knowing that AVCHD has yet to be supported by major professional non-linear editors such as premiere with the hope they will soon or at least some day. For the most part I don't plan to capture in HD, but I wanted the ability to when the opportunity/need arose.

Simply put it takes amazing quality video in all digital. That is what I wanted, and that is what I get. I shoot primarily in SD high quality mode and find myself even after a week in Yellowstone not touching the capacity of this drive.

Just last week I filmed an entire pee wee football game in clips per play, went home and had a highlight reel compiled and exported within an hour and a half. I would have spent that much time just importing my tapes with my previous DV camera.

The stabilization is great, though even with it at full zoom I would recommend a tripod or at least a monopod. The on screen menus work just fine, though I am not a big fan of touch screen I can navigate to my needs quickly.

I grabbed an extra high capacity battery and external charger so I wouldn't be limited by battery life at any time. I recommend anyone with a camera in general to do the same. It's a pricey camera, but in the long run I have no doubt I will get my value out of it.

Good camcorder but needs more work in the following departments:

1- Indoor performance in not up to an HD standards. Grainy videos in regular lighting conditions. I had to buy an HVL-HL1 video light to get it to an acceptable level. So if you are planning to shoot lots of indoor videos make sure you get that video light for $39.00 or something more powerful. In this case saying "the more the better" works.

2- Auto focus often gets confused and does not focus right a way, you have to toggle zoom button back and forth to get it to focus which is kind of annoying. I hope its a software related issue and they can come up with an update for it.

3- Bigger LCD screen would be a plus, although it may not be possible considering the size of this camcorder.

4- "Back Light" button is located in an awkward place. I wish they would put it somewhere else where you don't have to feel for it.

5- Better editing software would be good too.

Other than that I really like this unit and what it can do in outdoors. Amazing results when conditions are right. I also do not mind not having the USB port on the unit itself as I always carry the base in the pouch with the camcorder.

Overall its a money well spent!

Camera has an easy button, but doesn't need it. It's easy and intuitive on it own and the videos are awesome. The 6.1 still pics are great and being able to take 3 while videotaping is way cool. Still pic resolution is really good, not digital SLR quality, but really impressive. Only problem I have had is finding a mini HDMI cable which isn't included. Everyone seems to be out of stock. I guess that's the price you pay for technology. Otherwise, camera is awesome.

I've had several video cameras before this one, but this one beats them all hands down. Easy to work, simple to connect to the computer with the included docking station, and it takes great videos and still photos. It is small and light. It even fits in my old Sony weatherproof housing for water use. The 60 GB hard drive is completely silent and holds WAY more than enough video - hours and hours. I found the low light ability very good and the flash adequate and functional. All in all there was nothing dissapointing about this camera. It's worth every penny I paid for it.

Great image quality, easy intuitive touch screen menu...no need to read the owners manual...just turn it on and start recording. I looked at six or seven HD camcorders before choosing this one...great camcorder.

This camcorder is really good. Originally I was a little worried about its size, but when I got it, it fit my hands very well. It is a little heavier than HDR-CX7, but I think it is good because I can hold it more stable. The 60GB hard disk is soooo good, totally frees me from the burden of copying vedios out all the time. hoho~~ I like it!!

Every feature works just as what it claims. I even tried it to record (about 10 minutes) a DVD movie (of my own) playing on my 46" LCD HDTV. When I played back the recorded section via video output of the Handycam, I almost couldn't distinquish the recording from the DVD movie itself which was played via HDMI 1080P! I also took indoor photos and movie of myself -- it was pretty convenient using the turnable LCD screen of the handycam -- and the images were crystal clear, even on standard mode, thanks to its Carl-Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens and intelligent design. I'd used Hitachi, JVC, and Sony DCR505 before -- none of them could be comparable with this one. Besides, you don't need to worry about whether you'd have enough memory to take movies when traveling, thanks to its huge 60 Gb HDD. In fact, this was the main reason why I bought this one to replace my Sony DCR505 which also worked very well, but needed to carry lots of blank DVD's when traveling. As a matter of fact, I had missed the most important scene at the moment when the bride and groom were kissing after changing their rings at a wedding, using Sony DCR505, just because the DVD became full of memory, and I had to change DVD at that moment. What a big loss! Then I'd decided to buy a new camcorder that would prevent this undesirable situation to occur again. Now I've got it, and this is the solution. It's really the greatest camcorder I've ever seen!

This cam rocks. I've had MiniDV cams before and I wanted to try out an HDD cam. I can say I am truly happy with it. I also bought the Sony wide angle lens -- which makes a huge difference. Don't let the HDD haters out there tell you to buy MiniDV -- HDD is way more convenient and it is the way of the future. Tapes are a thing of the 70s. I give it 5 stars because there is no doubt that this is the best consumer camcorder out there.

This Sony Handy cam has the best recorded picture I have seen. Even in low light it is able to focus and bring out colour. The zoom also remains crystal clear with no grain.The still photos are not as good which was a bit of a disapointment. On the whole a great bit of kit.

I sold my JVC GZ-MG505 and bought the Sony HDR-SL7. Even though the JVC was a 3CCD unit, the Sony beat it hands down for true color repoduction. The still shots with the Sony are super. The JVS stills could not even compair to my Fujifilm 2.1 The steady shot is exceptional. JVS DIS is junk. I was used to low light conditions causing a grainey-yellowish picture. The Sony is the best I have seen for any light condition. The Sony has a smooth slow motion function which is really cool to watch my cats "float" across the room.I could'nt be happier with the Sony. I have been shooting only SD. My friend has the same camera only with mini DV and he says that the HD played back on his Big HD TV is excellent. I expect the same results as both our cameras have the same CMOS and Lens.

I've had this camera for about a month now and absolutely love it. The picture quality is amazing, and the night shot is great for low light/no light conditions. I definetly recommend a long life battery ($160 gets you over 5hrs of recording time).
If you are purchasing this for shooting with night shot, a secondary IR light is essential, the built in IR LED is effective close up, but loses visibility if your target is more than five feet away.
Only issue: lost about 5hrs of footage due to "disk format error". No idea what caused this, but after reformatting the hard drive the camera works fine.

This is a great camcorder. But we had a very bad experiance buying this item. As it was not in stock with amazon we bought it from pavilion electronics, 3 days later they canceled our order without stating any reason. We missed shoting a memorable event because of this pavilion Store.

I'm not a camcorder expert, and frankly have taped my first footage just 15 days ago, when my son was born... With that being said, this camera stores a very very large amount of footage which is hugely convenient - I can't imagine switching different tapes or discs in and out, and figuring out a place to store them so they don't get lost. Here, the hard drive lets you carry for a long time.

The HD characteristic seems accurate and I may even say comparable to HD footage you watch on your television, yet I'm not sure if it's my filming or that the HD quality on camcorders is still coming into its own, but my footage doesn't look mind-boggling. On the one hand, everything is fairly crisp. On the other hand, the color clarity is far from ideal (which could be due to my lack of understanding of how to use natural and artificial light)... Also, while I say that everything is fairly crisp, the clarity of the video is not quite the 1080p clarity that you'll see with HD footage on your television, possibly due to the light issue mentioned above.

Overall a great camera for an amateur, as it stores a lot of video, and as I understand takes better video than most cameras out there, but don't expect to record 1080p, TV-type footage with this camera as an amateur...

I have been a big Sony fan for years, especially in regards to digital cameras. This camcorder was a big disappointment though. I dont mind paying the extra bucks coz its Sony, and its HDD and HD but I expected the same Sony quality that I have seen in their digital still cameras. The indoor video quality on the HDR-SR7 is extremely poor. Even in HD the video is very grainy. I have an 8 month old baby so I am going to be doing lots of indoor videos for years to come so I want something that produces good quality indoor video. This is not it.

I'm not going to bore you with techno babble so I'll keep it short and sweet...

I recommend this camcorder to anyone wanting really great picture and sound quality. I just took a short vacation and the images were wonderful! The item is pricey yes, but the use is very simple and the quality is great. There's no comparison to this unit and the old HC-30 we had. HD is the only way to go!

[[ASIN:B000PQJGFO Sony HDR-SR7 AVCHD 6MP 60GB High Definition Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom]i like this camcorder very much is really easy to use and very good recordings.

I am very happy with the camera results but it seems it is ahead of technology. Today with AVCHD format there are not many DVD payers to play DVD output in HD - it's only Blueray($500+) from Sony. For now, I am storing the video file in a NAS drive hoping to see a sub 4100 DVD player in the future to play AVCHD format. To view in a normal DVD player, supplied software converts to MPEG 2- but it makes the picture to SD.
Battery life is average. Still pictures are better than any other handycam/Camcorder but can't beat any standard standalone digital camera.

All in all, its good product but you should be aware for AVCHD limitations in terms of playing on a normal DVD player.

Amazon did a good job in shipping as always.

I was a little nervous about buying a camera with a hard drive, especially since I bought a first generation JVC hard drive camcorder and was very disppointed with it. This camera pleasantly surprised me. Video quality is excellent in bright light and still pretty good in low light. I almost didn't buy this camera based on the low light reviews, but it is not nearly as grainy as I've read in other reviews. $1,400.00 is a lot to pay for a camcorder (less if you buy it from Amazon), but it really is worth it.

Still images are good, although I haven't yet tried to print any of the images. On screen, the still images are very good and nearly indistinguishable from my Canon SD550.

Again, the DVD burning process wasn't nearly as bad as I expected after reading some of the reviews. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out the main features of the software, and successfully burned my first movie to DVD (in high def) in about 1/2 hour (about an hour after I received the camera via UPS). I played it on my Blu-ray player and the quality is great. I transferred everything to my 500GB external hard drive and again have 60GB free on my camera. The format is really convenient.

Structurally, the camera is very small and light. I bought the super extended battery (as a package through Amazon) and it is quite a substantial battery. It sticks out a bunch and is quite heavy, but is worth the extra battery life.

All in all, it is a great camera and I would highly recommend it to everyone. In fact, my dad is thinking of getting one now after seeing it.

Short and sweet, this is a no brainer. The well lit video and pictures are flawless... the stills are good enough for prints and make carrying a still camera pointless.

I have used Pro gear and can tell you that minus the time code and other pro features you will not find a better picture for twice the price. As for the low light issues, I think people are expecting too much given what is asked of it in low light situations. Anyone that watches COPS knows that the picture in low lihgt with $50,000 cameras is grainy and colors not near where you would hope... but then remember you are shooting in less than ideal conditions... Buy a decent LIGHT if you want to improve the picture...even a small amount of extra light makes a world of difference.

All in all you cannot buy a better camcorder... whether you paid $1400 at a brick and mortar or got a really great deal like I did through the Amazon "Warehouse Deals" you will be delighted you did!

I first purchased the 30gb version of this camera (HDR-SR1) when it was released last year. As my son was born I wanted the absolute best video we could obtain as we only have one chance to film these wonderful early years.

The camcorder itself is very compact and sturdy; very portable for such a powerful little camcorder. The item is pricey and value is always subjective depending on one's budget.

Image quality is superb to say the least which is my primary reason for the purchase. There are several formats for video quality though I only keep it at the best setting. The 60gb hard drive holds 8 hours of video at the highest setting so there are no worries there however I highly recommend picking up 2 or more extra batteries as they get drained long before the hard drive capacity is met.

The video in hi-def mode is recorded in AVCHD format and herein lies the largest caveat of mine and most others on these cameras which is the after market software support.

For one year there was really nothing on the market that allowed for proper editing of this hi-def video. Sony does supply software but it is very limited in features and scope and honestly for a $1200.00 camera is a bit disappointing. Finally Nero released their latest support for AVCHD videos and this is a pretty good start.

Another feature I enjoy is the fact that the video from this camera is supported by my PS3 which is also my Blu-Ray player on my primary 58" plasma TV in the entertainment room. One can simply just record the AVCHD movie from the PC directly to a standard DVD (no BD required) and play it on the PS3. The resulting video is stunning. Or better yet just burn it to your PS3 network drive for access anytime. The simplest option is to just plug this into your TV via HDMI and watch it directly on the TV. Of course at some time you want to transfer the video to your computer to make BD DVDs or regular DVDs.

Keep in mind that camcorders are known as the most unreliable electronics product sold so if you intend to hold onto it for a while consider an extended warranty. As I upgrade annually it is not something I consider but worthy for others.

Cables supplied are good though for some reason Sony changed their full size HDMI port to a min version pretty much sucks for lack of a more technical term as this makes for using their own proprietary cable a pain.

Low light to zero light video mode is awesome. My backyard is very large and yet this camera has no problem with picking up the edge of the backyard from my upstairs window with no problem.

Image stabilization is also very good and works as it should for steady video even at zoom range.

The built in digital camera is not bad thought far from my Canon 40D camera. For quick convenient quick shots it is pretty decent.

PROS:
Awesome video in Blu-Ray AVCHD
Excellent zero light mode
Fast focus
Large hard drive
Large LCD screen

CONS
Poor after market software support-only Nero so far
Drains batteries quick
Very pricey so don't drop it
Mini HDMI port vs full size HDMI port on my HDR-SR1

Well worth the price in my book an the excellent video of my son are well worth the admission price.


Lee Dye
Simi Valley, CA

I got the camera yesterday and have spent about an hour on it. The first thing I did was look for a mini-hdmi cable locally, but ended up buying it from Amazon via another vendor. While online on Amazon, I also noticed the price went up on this model - good timing for me as I thought the opposite would happen after I bought it.

The first impressions of this camera is that it is tiny. It looks much bigger in the pictures, but this is a small camera that packs alot of surprises. It just feels right in your hand and looks and feels well made/solid.

After charging it for about two hours, I started using it without reading the instructions. I heard all about the poor low light performance of the unit so I tried recording things in my living room with only one flourescent energy saving bulb on in the back of the living room. Then I went through and played with the menus to get myself familiar with the settings and noticed by default the HD recording setting was at 9MB/s so I changed it to XP - 15MB/s and recorded my living room again. I then connected the camcorder via component cables to my LCD TV. The first clip (9MB/s) came out ok. The clip was slightly grainy in the dark areas. For example, the components of my video/audio system was in a dark recess in the tv stand but I could see it although slightly grainy. That's to be expected since I'm sure a $50k HD camera will have similiar issue (I'm realistic about my purchases so this did not bug me). Now on to the second clip recorded at 15Mb/s. When I viewed the same scene of the A/V components, it was noticeable how much cleaner the edges were on the outlines of the A/V components. The overall clip was much sharper than the previous clip and right now I'm looking over at the components and I think the video in the second clip is clearer than what I can see with my naked eyes right now! Amazing. If you get this camera, make sure the HD setting is set to the highest mode - XP.

One thing I can say about the audio - before reading the reviews, I didn't think 5.1 was available on any consumer camcorders. I was surprised to learn it supports 5.1 (a big plus).

I had the TV on and I recorded my friend laughing in reaction to a program on TV and I could hear the laugh coming from the right (which is where my friend was sitting). The laugh, like the video, came out clear and distinct. I give audio a thumbs up. I heard the HDR-HC3 had issues with audio so I'm a happy camper here.

I basically tested this camcorder in moderate light situations which is a tough test for any camcorder. This camcorder (SR7) actually exceeded my expectations. I can't wait to see the picture quality of the video of scenes outside the house in day light. I can already assume I'll be amazed due to picture quality of the video I've seen in my other well lit rooms.

Coming from a Sony TR-81 Hi8 camcorder, I'd say the video quality is a big step beyond that of the TR-81. The TR-81 takes very good video, but the focus was slow and low light situation made focusing even worse. The SR7 focusing system is fast and in low light it's faster than my TR-81 in well lit areas.

I always wanted the Sony TR-101 after getting my TR-81. The TR101 was the camcorder I always look back and say, "I should of bought the TR-101 instead of the TR-81". Mainly because the TR-101 has mechanical/optical stabilization vs electronic stabilization. The TR81 has no stabilization. All the newer Sonys after the TR101 went with electronic stabilization for a few years (I remember it was due to royalty issues with Canon). Also the TR101 lens and lens housing was much bigger which made it look like a nicer/heaftier unit while the TR81 looked anemic compared to it (anyways, I digress...). Because of this (wanting the 101 over the 81), I got the HDR-SR7 over the HDR-SR5. The HDR-SR7 has mechanical stabilization AND it works well! One thing I noticed with the TR81 is that videos sometimes become almost unviewable when I'm taping without a tripod. With the SR7, the stabilization works! Zooming on a light switch across the house through three rooms, I will notice considerable vibration or jerkiness with the TR81. With the SR7, there is no jerkiness. You can see the video float up or down but there is no jerkiness.

Also, having a HD as the media to record on is nice and one of the main selling points for me to buy this unit. Having read the SR5 review, I noticed a few people complain about the HD noise being recorded on the tape. I didn't noticed this at all when taping the living room clips, but I did notice the HD clicking when the camera was pointed down at an angle. It seems like you can hear the HD stepping and it was caught on film! It's muffled, but it's there.

I'll be adding onto this review after about a month and will adjust my rating accordingly. This camera _IS_ a keeper. I will deduct a star from the 5 star rating for the noise issue mentioned above. Sony (and I'm sure others) will need to work on an isolation system for the HD so hard drive noise don't make it to the audio. I have an old Sony Ruvi camcorder which I bought new that records on some funky proprietary tape. You can hear the motor(s) on the audio track continuously. You can hear yourself zoom/pan and also hear the motor that continuously moves the tape during record. That and the funky proprietary tape was the downfall of that camcorder. I bought it at fry's at a discount - $199. I still wonder why I bought it because the noise is unbearable and I only used that camera a few times. Luckily, the SR7 is no where as bad as the RUVI. If this will be an issue, you might want to look at the HDR-CX7 which is the media stick version of this camcorder.

Overall, this is an excellent camera. I can't think of a better HD camera than the SR7, CX7 (pro duo media), HC7 (miniDV media), and SR5.
I checked both the JVC (GZ-HD7 - really love the looks of this unit) and Canon (HV10, HV20) offerings, but leaned towards the Sony after reading user's feedback on those units.

I probably shouldn't have mentioned the other cameras to keep this review focused on the SR7, but I'm sure there are old timers that had one of these cameras and can relate to my experience.

ADDED on 11/17/07 11:50pm: Ok, I just returned from a trip to San Francisco. I went to the Art Academy with a friend so she could check out the art school. I thought I would be amazed at the footage. I was expecting sharp and clear clips, but what I got was beyond that. I taped some skyscrapers from the base and panned up towards the sky - the entire footage was sharp, clear, and bright. There was no focusing issues. It seem better, if not on par, with the videos on Discovery HD. I'm not easily impressed, but I must say I am!! Anyone have an FTP site I can upload this clip? It looks like it was taped on a much more expensive unit. The blue of the sky was rich and brilliant against the white clouds and usually, with my old camcorder (TR81), if the scene goes from buildings to the sky as I pan up, you will get an overcompensation of light on the video clip. In otherwords, the sky will become too bright, then the video will take seconds to adjust and then the sky looks good, but the exposure on the building gets way too dark. This did not happen on the HDR-SR7. If I can only upload this clip for you guys to see. I'm not sure if I can upload the HD version to you tube. I'll look into it.

Anyways, I'm keeping this camera. It's unbelieveable (and I'm not that easily impressed, however, keep in mind these are consumer grade camcorder and it meets my expectations so YMMV).

Money well spent -- I questioned getting another camcorder the last few weeks, but not anymore.

There will be no perfect camcorder. The SR7 is a good compromise between what I want in a perfect camcorder and what is actually out there in the market. To me, excellent video quality in a small size with good sound was important to me. At first I did not consider the Sony because the effective resolution was 1440x1080 vs 1920x1080, but it seems overall the picture and the color accuracy on the Sony was better. Why get caught up in tech specs when it's the big picture that counts? Also, the Sony just felt right in the hand. It's small and well built. I don't want to be lugging anything that felt awkwardly large on vacation! The smaller the better and my choice was the HDR-SR7.

We purchased this based on everyone's reviews - but J&R music world sent us the European model instead of the American model. Which means we have to run out and buy an additional adapter. So far I have not tried it. Just very disappointed that they would send out the wrong model. Normally I would return for the correct one - but we are expecting our child in a week (the sole reason we bought this camera) so now, off to Fry's to fix their screw up.

i have the hdrsr7 for a couple of weeks and im so very happy with the camera. Im writing this mainly to talk about the low light on the hdrsr7. I have read reviews saying the camera is terrible in low light. i guess they must have a difective model because this is the best low light camera i have owned. people make it seem that you cant even go out at night and film, well I enjoy taking video of the city at night and this camera is absolutly wonderful, It performs wonderfully in low light, and at home with just 1 lamp in the room the cam is terrific practically no graininess at all, it works great. Also I have never owned a cam with a docking station people make it seem so difficult to take this along.Well the docking station is just a very thin, small piece and no big deal to log around, i like the docking station alot. Hdd is the way to go no worries on changing tapes so you can concentrate on taking videos lots of videos.This to me is the perfect camera to own. the only thing is you have to go to menus to do almost everything, but the good news is the menus are so simple and everything is just so easy to get to.I hope this review is helpful and for those who are skeptic about the low lighting, this cam is a GEM!

The built in digital camera is not bad thought far from my Canon 40D camera. For quick convenient quick shots it is pretty decent. It is 4 megapixel while in video mode and 6.1 otherwise.

PROS:
Awesome video in Blu-Ray AVCHD
Excellent zero light mode
Fast focus
Large hard drive
Large LCD screen

CONS
Poor after market software support-only Nero so far
Drains batteries quick
Very pricey so don't drop it
Mini HDMI port vs full size HDMI port on my HDR-SR1

Well worth the price in my book an the excellent video of my son are well worth the admission price.

I was a little concerned about the software issues, but upon connecting the camera to my MAC, iMovie and iPhoto is able to import directly from the camera without installing a thing. It just works! I didn't install any of the Sony software that came with the camera. Looks like software issues are Windows issues. Solution: switch to MAC! The video and stills are excellent quality. The touch screen is easy to use (and I have big fingers). Manual focus works great. Night Shot is fantastic! Low light shots are good. I would highly recommend this HandyCam!

After having trouble getting this camera from Best Buy because of a UPS fiasco, I was able to get this camera from Amazon for a much better price. (Even with some discounts from Best Buy.)

So far I enjoy this camera. The picture does not show just how small it is, as it is smaller than my old camera and much lighter.

I've been playing around with the Sony editing program Vegas Movie Studio, as it can work with the HD file format. (AVCHD --> .m2ts) My finance has Adobe Elements and Premiere Pro, and neither of them support the AVCHD files. (At least natively.) They do work well with the SD format that the camera can also record too, .mpg files.

I did get the camera to blue screen, (not exactly like a BSOD), when I was recording a friend's band, I'd get a "Buffer Overflow Error" and "Data Error" message after that. Of which recording stops until it "recovers." It happened 3 times in HD mode and only once in SD mode. The overseas tech support told me to reformat the drive in the camera to fix the problem. Seems to me that it did this because the volume of the show was loud and playback of the clips the sound isn't all that great. I may need to get another mic that can handle the loud noise, I'm not sure yet.

This is more of a question than a review. I am looking to buy this item. I am not sure to what degree the internal hard drive is sensitive to airport security x-ray machines. Has any of the buyers travelled internationally and has an opinion on this? Is there any case that will protect the camcorder, the same way they have film x-ray envelopes?

Sony HDR-SR7 AVCHD 6.1MP 60GB High Definition Hard Disk Drive Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom
Buyer Beware of this very expensive Camcorder. Mine failed in 130 days of very light use and it only has a 90 day warranty (1 year for parts) . Sony was very happy to charge me $149.00 as an estimate in advance to see if they can bring it back to life. Also be sure to download to your computer often as my 15 plus hours of video on the internal hard disk is almost certainly lost!. That is if you can get the supplied software to stop conflicting with other programs such as Sonic already on your computer. The video quality is excellent in daylight, terrible in low light. In order to view your video, you must carry the docking station around with you or find the only store in the US with a "mini" HDMI cable (not supplied)to connect to a HDTV Sony once again invents an answer to a question no one asked.I am bitter that I spent so much on such a poorly engineered product and I was a fool to spend $1200 on any item with only a 90 day warranty!

I got this camcorder for thanksgiving holidays. First two days of recording was great but on the third day of use, I kept getting "Buffer Overflow Error" and "Data Error" messages. I know that formatting the disk might fix the problem but at the same time doing so resulted in me loosing all that was recorded that day. I returned the device and got a refund.

I went through three of these camcorders before I gave up on this model. I did like the camera though for it's build quality, features and ergonomics....reasons for trying three, let me explain. When I tried the camera for the first time, I noticed that every 3 to 4 seconds you could hear a faint click-click sound each time the buffer emptied to the hard drive. Only problem was, it recorded the click-click or clunk sound however you perceive it. So when I viewed the video through the TV you could distinctly hear the clicking/clunking sound. It's especially noticable recording in a quite environment. I did a three time exchange hoping to find one that doesn't have this issue. I called Sony about this and managed to talk with a co-operative and knowledgeable tech rep. He was willing to perform a test on the camera he had at hand. Sure enough...his did the same thing. He put me on hold while he discussed the problem with one of the engineers. He came back on the phone to inform me that they were aware of this issue on some of them. Great, so in other words when you purchase one of these cameras you have to hope that you pick the right one. Shame on Sony for not recalling them.

If you are planning on buying one of these be aware of this issue. otherwise you are going to have major frustrations exchanging it trying to find the one that works.

I don't think this is a bad cam by any means, but I am going to note the annoyances I found in my uses. Sort of the "FYI's" that I didn't find in the extensive research and review reading I did before purchasing this cam. I haven't tried any lower end cams to know how much "better" this one may be than other alternatives.

I spent extensive time trying to decide between this model, the SR7 and the CX7. With a few feature differences between the lines (viewfinder, on board USB, couple others)the main difference is that the SR7 records to hard drive, and the CX7 to memory sticks. I settled on the SR7. I couldn't find any back to back comparisons online.

I have a Hi Def 50" plasma, and was hoping to capture candid family and friend activities like decorating the tree, vacations, nights out for drinks, etc. and thus desired an HD cam. I really didn't really want to spend a lot of time editing the video at this point before viewing it on the TV. I'm an IT manager and well versed/comfortable with technology, so you have some perspective of where I write/review from.

As far as downloading the video to a PC and editing goes, even after the reviews, I did find if you want to burn the video to a DVD instead of playing directly from the TV, the straight forwardness and simplicity of programs that support the "AVCHD format to DVD" is a little clunky. Getting the video out of the cam is more of an important part than you expect with this AVCHD format, since it only records in the AVCHD format which isn't widely supported *yet*. I tried Sony Vegas Platinum, but it was a bit complicated for simply wanting to combine shots and burn to a DVD, plus slow at rendering. I tried Nero and it was much simpler to use than Sony Vegas for simple combining, burning to DVD, converting to MPEG, etc. "Faster on the Draw/rendering/transcoding." The video quality was very satisfactory, but I can't say it was "eye popping". The sharpness was on, but color depth seemed a bit flat compared to many of my Dish Network HD channels, just as a reference. I did have it recoded by Nero, however. I never did try plugging it directly into the TV, because that was not my desired use of the cam.

I'm returning my SR7 for a CX7 for three reasons:

1. The hard drive makes it just a bit more bulky than I was hoping for. With the size, it makes it difficult for the cam to play the "digital camera sized" discrete role in impromptu family & friend activities, to avoid people giving the "oh he has the camera out again" look on their faces. I can't fit it in the front pocket of a sweatshirt with my hand in the strap.

2. I was not unimpressed with low light video quality which some others mentioned, but I was disappointed with "turn on focusing". Often, it seemed like the camera "couldn't figure out" where I was aiming and wasn't even attempting to focus. It almost looked like I was doing an unfocused fade in or something. These were leaning more toward low light indoor situations.

3. The hard drive "turn on to ready" time seemed long. I would power it up, and it would take more seconds than I wanted to catch a shot of something happening "now". Maybe it would start recording if I hit the button while it's spinning up, but I didn't attempt until the screen said "standby". I don't know that the CX7 will be faster, but being flash, there should be no spin-up time, and I'm hoping it will be "faster to the draw."

A few other items about the cam:

1. I did not find the touch screen to be a problem at all, as many of the reviews complain about. I have average sized hands.

2. The viewfinder is so small I almost didn't find it useful. I kept trying to use it but had to be so still and focused in that for me it wasn't worth it. I used the flip out screen almost all of the time.

3. Battery life with the included battery got me about 1 hour combined of recording and standby time, menu on off play around time.

4. Durability and build quality of the unit overall is high, and typical Sony.

5. The icons used in the menu system were not as intuitive as I've found with Sony cameras. After some time, I did figure out what was where. Menu speed response is fast.

6. The dock is nice and the camera easily fits in it without blind sliding around.

7. The arrangement of the buttons around your right hand seems very intuitive, but for my average sized hand, my thumb was almost not long enough to hit the "record" button when my hand felt most sturdily placed around the cam. As well, my index or middle finger kept tilting the zoom button in that position, so I constantly had to zoom out before starting to record again.

8. Battery charging seems to go very quickly compared to expectations.

9. When traveling through the menus, it makes lots of bling blong blip bleep sounds. I don't know if this can be turned off, but in my entire menu time didn't find where to do so. You might want to hit the PDF manual at the Sony site if that is crucial to you.

Since this is the first cam that was meant more for video than pictures that I've owned in many years, I don't have a good baseline to compare it to. The last cam I had was VHS, and I recall it having more "ready at hand" fade and fade out features, but maybe most people manage that in their video editing software these days. I do plan on getting the CX7 and hopefully I'll have more notes to compare the two afterward.

I rated this item low although I really like the camera for most things. There is one MAJOR problem I have seen. When I record my son's garage band in the highest quality, the recording mode kicks off after about 30 or so seconds whith a "buffer overflow" message followed by a "data error" message. When the noise level being recorded is more "reasonable", the recording proceeds without a problem. Now I am looking for a way of attaching an external mic that will "dampen" the volume to a level the camera can handle. However, it seems that the camera should do that on its own.
Any suggestion on how I can record this very loud, rock and roll event successfully? Type of mic, etc.

After doing months of research, reading product reviews and going to camera stores for hands on comparisons I finally settled on the Sony HDR-SR7. The best investment I could have made. I used the night vision function to film Halloween night activities, The HD is beautiful and crisp and it's ability to film low light events is unsurpassed.The 60 GB hard drive has more than enough capacity, Hours of recording time I haven't even come close to running out of memory. I've used this unit now for about 2 months and have no complaints at all.

This camera takes great video. I originally ordered the HC7 but couldn't deal with the tapes. It took me back to the VCR days. It took great video as well but I can't say I noticed much of a difference between tape and HDD. I'm sure the professional can but it satifies my needs and then some.

Low light isn't a big issue. If the lighting is too low it does have a lot of noise but simply turn on your indoor lights and it's plenty of light. Outdoor video is spectacular. I took some video of some flowers in my wife's garden with the Telemacro function on to blur the background. It looked like some of the video on Discovery HD. Everyone I show it to is very impressed.

You will need an external hard drive to store this stuff. One hour of AVCHD video is approx. 7 gigabytes so your computer hard drive will run out of space fast. I still have a Pentium 4, 3.0 Ghz processor with 1 GB RAM. It's fast enough to use the stock software but I will probably have to upgrade if I'm going to do any serious editing. This stuff can be taxing on your system.

Overall great and I would recommend this camera. Also impressed with Amazon's return policy on the HC7. No restocking fee like the brick-and-mortar stores.

I ordered the HDR-SR8 from Sony's website. I just received it, and am giving my non-expert opinion on my experiences so far on the HDR-SR8 page... I think that the HDR-SR7 is identical to the SR8 except for the hard drive size, but I thought I should put my review on the correct page.

Crystal clear imaging. Excellent night filming. Christmas lights in lovely downtown Littleton, Colorado look PERFECT, and you can clearly see people walking 4 blocks away at night while filming Christmas lights. Excellent zoom. TINY camera! Plug it into a Mac, open iMovie, start the camera and select "Computer" from the camera's intelligent menu system, and import any or all clips right into iMovie. A no-brainer! Viewing clips in the Finder's "Cover Flow" works perfectly too.

Picture quality is much better than the last camcorder I bought which was a JVC non-HD camcorder. In good lighting, this camera looks really good. In low light, sometimes it looks decent. In really low light, you need the night vision turned on; you can see everything but it looses almost all color. I did get an "Buffer overflow" error filming a loud rap performance. My film major friend tells me it happens to all digital camcorder with loud music. The build-in mic captured sound well and seemed to cancel out most of the noise during the concert. I really enjoy the fast frame rate filming, it allows u to slow down time, but only last about 12 seconds. Overall it has been great. I've decided to use this camcorder and make home movie on my wedding coming in 6 month than to hire professional videographers. I think this camera will be fine for that. Oh last problem with this camcorder, and all other AVCHD camera is that I don't know how to share it with friends yet. I can burn it on DVD, but I don't want to have to burn one for ever one of my friends, and YouTube seems to public and looses a lot of quality. I'm still waiting for a web service that can handle AVCHD. I would recommend this to anyone. Btw, I bought this for $999 in Nov 07. I'd wait for price drop if you can. The older model is now like $600, so I imagine this model will be too in another 6 to 9 months.

I had an old DAT based Sony camcorder that had to be repaired, but the cost was almost what I paid for the thing originally. At that point, I figured I'd bite the bullet and get a high def hard disk based camera. I did consider the memory stick model, but didn't want to buy 60Gb worth of memory sticks.

The SR7 was pretty easy to use. I still haven't opened the user guide. The touch screen controls are a lot easier to use than the old menu system in my DAT camcorder were. I recorded our kids all through Christmas day, and on-and-off through New Years Eve, and didn't yet run out of space. I did have to order some software to edit the AVCHD recordings, and am waiting for it to arrive.

Overall, I'm pleased with the SR7.

My wife and I recently bought this camcorder and we absolutely love it! Works great with Apple Macbook Pro's running OS X Leopard. Also, the hard disk drive based camcorders are definitely more convenient to use than those that use small tapes or mini-DVDs.

I purchased this product as a gift for a new grandmother, who is bright, and loves high definition TV and Video, but who is NOT a technology geek. I did not realize that the "CODEC" which this camera uses to convert pictures to the 1's and 0's of digital pictures (i.e., "AVCHD"--which stands for Advanced Video Codec High Definition) is so cutting edge. Not all software for video editing can retrieve and edit files coded in this way. (Apparently Sony uses some of the same software it uses for its "Blu-Ray" high definition DVD technology to code information that is recorded on the internal hard disk of this camera.)

The practical implication of this is that not all current video editing software will import and edit AVCHD files. Be sure yours does. Or if you will be buying video editing software, be aware you need to check for AVCHD support before you fork over your credit card. (I chose "Pinacle Studio Ultimate" but that is a different story.)

A second practical consequence of being on the cutting edge is that many of the existing texts you look for to help may not be very helpful. Most of the self-help books I purchased assume you are recording to physical tapes (although they are recording digital files). The editing process appears to be quite different. For example, some of the digital video tape concerns appear NOT to apply for AVCHD files.

Turning to the digital video camera itself, this unit has fantastic image quality. The fold-out screen is great (and larger than not HD-screens, so it can show what you are recording in the correct HD height-to-width ratio. The controls are well thought out, and easily located, although some of the many ports it provides are best accessed thorough the accompanying docking platform.

The audio quality is superb and can be played on the 5-unit surround sound of your home stereo system (a hassle to set up but worth it). However, a criticism I have of the sound is that it tends to pick up ambient noise (such as wind if you are recording out-of-doors). I would strongly recommend a directional mike to be sure you can zero in on what you are filming if the surrounding sound is noisy. (The human brain cuts out much of the background sound. Video cameras haven't learned to duplicate this feat.)

A second minor criticism I have is that this expensive digital video camera does NOT come with the mini-HDMI connection cable. That is needed to hook up this HD camera to your HD television most simply and with the greatest fidelity of sound and video. Anyone who buys this camera will need one (or more--I bought four). Furthermore, the miniaturized HDMI port, which fits into the small camera (and docking station) out-port is not readily available (though this MAY change over time). I tried several Radio Shack Stores and Best Buy to buy a mini-HDMI cable, but they did not carry it. I could only buy this specialized HDMI cable from the internet. Frankly when one pays a thousand dollars (or more) for a high definition camera one expects it to include the cable needed for the best and simplest connection to a high definition television. (Sony can buy them much more cheaply than I can, & include it with the camera.)

All things considered, this camera is a great value. If you are going to spend the effort to make and edit video, you really should do so in the HD format (which is the wave of the future). If you are going with the HD format, it makes a great deal of sense to go with an internal hard drive.

I would certainly recommend this digital video camera to a friend or family member. (Though if I did, I would expect to be hit up for help in using it, and setting up editing.) It is said that one can tell technology pioneers by the arrows in their backs. If you don't mind being on the bleeding edge (or if as a matter of pride you HAVE to be there) this is a great product for you!

I was looking at many different HD camcorders in this price range before settling on the hard drive format due to its convienence and ease of transfer to a PC. I really liked the feature set on this model and decided to give it a try. I've been using it for about a month now and I have no doubt I made the right choice. The picture quality is very good at the highest bitrate setting (in bright light), and there is no reason to lower it with a 60 gig hard drive. The sound quality is also very good (when the wind isn't blowing) and the 5.1ch Dolby Digital encoding does a nice job of producing an accurate sound field for playback. The hard drive is silent, quick, and plenty big enough for anything I can imagine. This camcorder is very light, when I first bought a case for it I had to check to make sure the camera was actually still in there when I picked it up. There are, of course, a few cons. The picture quality degrades quickly as light goes down. Inside, at night with just an overhead light or end table lighting, the noise and compression artifacts become very noticable. The microphone picks up a lot of wind noise, and the process of making and burning a DVD movie with dolby digital encoding is nontrivial and unintuitive. The software that comes with the camera is OK but only as a medium for getting the video files into the much more useful software product, Song Vegas. This editor is going to cost you an additional $130. Also, the only software I've found that will burn a DVD with dolby digital surround enocoding is Sony's DVD architect studio, another $50. Finally, encoding, transcoding, rendering and manipulating the large HD files takes a long time on anything but a very high-end PC. Plan on letting the software work overnight. Overall I'm happy, and discounting the degree to which anyone is going to rate something they've bought and committed to higher than they would a non-owned product, I'd recommend this camcorder to anyone who is a technophile and loves HD home theater. For the average joe wanting a nice new camcorder, I'd say find something cheaper and simpler to implement.

Brought this as a Christmas present. Tried it out over the New Year and the video was great, especially in high-def (when playing back directly from the camcorder to a HDTV). It was simple to use. Point and press the button to start the recording and press the button again to stop the recording. I do not do much editing, so can not comment on the other issues regarding editing software.

One issue is that as you transfer the video onto standard DVD, obviously you lose the hi-def aspects of the recording. And you do notice the difference. Although the standard DVD payback was good, why get a hi-def camcorder if you are going to save the video on standard recording media.

So now, I'm off to buy the Sony VRD-MC5 that can burn the hi-def video on to a standard DVD and play back in hi-def on a blu ray player.

My wife and I are nothing but pleased with this camcorder...we are both rookies to video cameras and it was very simple to operate....we really like the feature of taking 3 still pictures WHILE you are recording....we will be able to capture family memories for a long time.

Just finished a trip to Barbados and the surrounding islands. The camera did very, very well. The quality of the stills is excellent. With the hard drive, it is very convenient for shooting clips over many days. I've had many Sony video cameras, but for me this is the best.

This is the first camcorder that I've ever bought. I was looking at hard-drive models (vs minidv or dvd) and there were considerable options from Sony, Panasonic, JVC, and Canon. The 60 gb hard-drive, ability to do Hi-Def, take still photos, and sony reputation were what eventually drove my decision to get the SR7. I used the camcorder on my 3-wk vacation in December and it worked flawlessly.

However, when I got back, I started getting these error messages that said that the database image file was corrupted. Maybe because the hard-drive was full? When I tried to move the data I had captured on my vacation, I was only able to grab 50% of the video, but luckily all of the photos. After 2 weeks I gave up on the file transfer and tried to reformat the hard-drive. It then gave me another error message that said that was not possible. I spent four hours with Sony tech support to diagnose the problem. In the end, they couldn't help me and suggested that the camcorder might be defective.

I promptly requested an RMA from amazon and I got a replacement within a week. I decided to give Sony one more chance, even though I lost half of my video from my vacation.

So far the camcorder is working ok. I suggest transferring the contents of the hard drive periodically, so that it doesn't get full and easily corruptable. It doesn't bode well for long trips. The still images are not as good as a regular digital camera. But the video quality is good. This is my first camcorder, so I have no frame of reference on the video quality.

So far the replacement is functioning ok.

The Sony HDR-SR7 is a great high-def, consumer camcorder. The ease of use and simple features make it very straight-forward. Having used it for a few weeks, I've only found a few drawbacks. First, it seems unnecessary that Sony used a mini-HDMI connection port. It looks like there was probably enough space to put a standard-sized HDMI port, and thereby would have avoided the need for a special cable (mini-HDMI to HDMI). Second, the camcorder is very light and small, which is nice in one respect, but also requires a steadier hand to operate. Despite the optical image stablization, it is very easy to "wave around" the camera and induce lots of motion to the picture. Third, to the best of my knowledge, there is no compatibility between the Camcorders file format and Mac computers, so editing is limited to a PC.
Nonetheless, if High-Def is what you're looking for, you can't go wrong with this one.

It's easy to use and wonderfully clear. It did take me some time to figure out how to make it record in normal mode, not hi-def, but once that was done it worked great. Also, I couldn't figure out how to convert the hi-def files into something that could be watched on the computer - like flash or something, but I am new to the world of video editing so that might just be a user problem. The camera is awesome.

I am writing this review after using this camcorder for 1 full month of trip to Africa.
Why Did I buy This:(buyers have to be clear on this)
I checked out the differences between a High definition video and standard definition video. I totally fell for high definition. The pixel ratio in high definition is nearly twice as much as standard definition video. Result - life like colors, better quality video.
I have plans to buy a HD tv in the future. So, this would fit perfectly to the package.
I wanted to store each and every part of my trip.

Now for the Pros:
The colors are absolutely rich and fantastic - both in the video and still images. I liked the photos I took using this camcorder more than my digital camera.

The night shot is amazing. Not many camcorders give a better night shot than this. The video quality in the night shot is rendered by CMOS Vid sensor.

The 60Gb hard disk is quite enough to store nearly 20 hours of video. I could not max out my hard disk in my entire trip. So, I am assuming 60G does a good job of storage service.

For users who do not know how to edit HD video or do not want HD video, this camcorder also offers the option to record SD video. For people who want to convert the HD video to SD, they can do that too using the SONY software that ships with the camcorder.

For professional users, Sony Vegas 7.0 should do the job. I edited my videos using Vegas 7.0 and didn't lose any quality.

The product overall was compact in size and light in weight and I was able to carry it everywhere in my carry on bag.

Not too many cons:
1. The battery that ships with the camcorder lasts for 90 minutes of video. So, frequent users need to buy additional battery for long trips.
2. The sony docking station is an additional piece of baggage that comes with this camcorder. The most annoying part is that you have to charge the camcorder through the docking station(I didn't try to charge it directly through the dc input - users should try that out). And transferring the photos that are stored in the hard disk can only be done through the docking station. Overall - it's an irritating piece and sony should get rid of it in future.

I think overall this is worth the price tag.

- Excellent design, 5.1 sound effect is too good
- I actually returned back this piece and opted for traditional Mini DV camcorder Sony DCR HC 96.

Reason for my frustration in SR7 was its compatibility issues. Its like once you buy this one, you would have to (almost) buy HD TV, HDMI cable and may be few costly softwares to work with high quality video format. Also it would require large amount of storage capacity and processing power (Yes, even though this is a hard drive model, processing is costly). And when I through of all these collectively, that package is something I cannot afford.

> Sony MUST provide HDMI cable with this buy when you are paying $1300 for it
> Since toshiba has signed off the video format war, sony would definitely come up with one good Blueray camcorder soon.. and then this camcorder would not be this hot.

MiniDV is still my favorite. I can easily get DVD quality, superb sharpness and colors. Yes there are some efforts to convert it from Mini DV to DVD but that one time work is ok if you are getting nice quality.