Sony HDR-SR12E HD Hard Disc Drive Handycam - 10MP

This review will be easier if you imagine the perfect high definition mini camcorder and I then mention the problems. The SR12E is really good and for the size amazing but it's not 100% perfect.
So: The image quality is excellent (I display the output on a 52" 1080 unit) in good light despite only being 1080i not 1080p. I have several Blu-Ray discs that are shamed by the quality of this small device. Colours are really close to reality and skintones are good. I don't see many anomalies in the image (ie compression artifacts). As the light decreases so does the quality. In low light the image can get quite poor but still acceptable.
Focussing is a major problem. I'm used to a SONY HDR-FX1 which nails focus in any lighting conditions. The SR12E sometimes loses focus in daylight and hunts badly in low light. It's slow to find the lock and that can be irritating when the video is played back. In that sense it truly is an amateur consumer play thing but it's a shame - so close.
The still image mode is rubbish. Don't get seduced by the 10-Megapixel claim, at best it's 3 Megapixels in my opinion and very noisy too. The images that my Nokia N95 phone produce are FAR better than those of the SR12E. In fact in my opinion it's useless as a still image camera.
The GUI is good once you're used to it. It's sub-menu driven and can be confusing at first. The touchscreen interface is OK but it drives me mad to see finger prints all over the image in sunlight. In strong light the dirt on the screen can obscure the image completely! Having said that, the monitor quality is really good. It's big, bright and has a good resolution.
The audio is a tricky one. The 5.1 surround is really impressive but because the mics are so tiny they suffer badly from wind noise and ambient noise too. I used the machine on a Tokyo train and the voice of my friend in front of me was all but lost in the din of the ambient noise picked up by the other mic channels. In a low noise environment it's stunning though and well worth switching on. There's a zoom mic mode too which kinda works but loses much of the surround information because it reroutes the rear mic info to the front. Note that the only way to hear the surround sound is to get the files off the camera onto a pc and thereby a disc. Direct from the camera via HDMI it's 2 channels only.
The best way by far to view the output is to use the supplied software to burn a 35 minute DVD of the AVCHD files from the camcorder. The DVD disc then becomes an AVCHD disc in a compatible Blu-Ray player (like my Sony BDP-S300). The image quality is identical to the direct version and the sound is 5.1
The SR12E is well built and feels solid. You'll need a bigger battery than that supplied though and also a suitable HDMI cable if you want to connect to your TV.
In conclusion: this is a machine for holidays and general life recording but not making movies. Bearing that in mind it's worth the money.

I wanted a new camcorder for the holidays. I come from the era of tape, and although I have gone digital in all other areas, this was the last one to be upgraded. My first camcorder was a Hitachi, that was a Super VHS-C, would record 30 minutes, and the thing looked like what the BBC camera men would carry and it cost £1,500.00 back in 1991. My we have come a long way!

The Sony camcorder is simply stunning (not without faults - later!).
With the £50.00 cash back its only £690.00 or there about. I have given it 5 stars, but it should score a 4.75, as it does have some flaws, but these are very minor gripes when you consider what you get.

Firstly, it looks the nuts. It looks cool; it's well built and oozes quality. For me I would class it as tiny, it sits in the palm of my hand, so no more lugging around large camcorders, tape and bags etc. That is a big advantage.

The menu system makes it very easy to use, the touch screen works like a dream, and the image on the little screen is truly superb. I love all of it.

Sony really has got it together when it comes to consumer electronics. The accessories are mainly the cables, with a docking shoe, which is useful for charging when not in use.

The picture quality far surpasses my expectations. My wife's garden looked simply stunning on our 46 inch 1080p Sony Bravia. The colours don't run like on the old tape camcorders, and the greens of the trees in the garden are virtually life like. I can't explain how good they look. The camcorder was primarily bought for outside holiday shooting and for this it will be ideal.

Here is the big selling point for me, and where Sony gets it right ahead of all the other competition. Inter connectivity with other Sony products. I can plug the camera into my PlayStation 3, via the USB cable and simply either watch the footage on the TV via the PS3, or can even copy the footage to the PS3 and keep it on there and watch when I want. This for me is truly the best thing ever, no more burning DVD's or plugging it into the TV etc; I can just plug into the PS3 copy it off and watch it. That for me is the major advantage of digital technology and where Sony has got it right.

Our PS3 is the centre of our living room, we have all our digitalphoto's on ther, all of our music, and now we can have all of our home movies on there.

I can now just get myself a larger external hard drive, and simply have a library of my footage on a hard drive and can simply watch when needed, no more discs, no more burning DVD's.

Convenient it is.

My only 2 gripes are these.

You can set it to fade in and out when recording, but you have to remember to do it every time, you cannot default it. Something my old Sony tape camcorder would not do either.

Secondly, fast panning shots do become slightly blurred, so when doing panning shots, you have to take them slow, but it can happily record moving footage as long as your not moving fast, trees in the wind looked brilliant, but pan away fast and it will blur, but I can't imagine my old camcorder did any different.

So there yo have it, its well built, quality, superbly convinient, cheap, great picture and only minor faults.

Well done Sony.

I updated my old Tape FUJI camera for the Sony SR12E unit and the performance of this camera is brillant. The operation is easy and not difficult to to get great results out of the box without having to go through the CD based manual. The camera is a little heavier than the current small camcorders but this one is packed with features with loads of options.
There is a couple of problems however. If your hand is not too large it can be difficult to reach the top mounted "Photo" and "Zoom" buttons. Another excuse for the wife not to use it. Likewise the record button on the back can also be diffiecut to reach but I am getting used to it. The backlight compensation switch is activated using a very small button just under the front of the lens which takes a bit of finding when you are in the middle of shooting a scene.
The optional 37mm ND filter and Polarising filter kits are not available as they have been "Discontinued" according the the local Sony shop. Strange for a "NEW" camera product.

Other than that the camera has with its 120GB hard disk storage got loads or capacity before having to upload into a computer for burning to DVD. The camera has a very simple to use editing function where you can split the recorded image at selectable points to get rid of unwanted sections and then discarding the parts you dont want. I have no idea as to the data managment of the hard drive when sections are deleted but hopefully Sony will have worked out the problem of de-fragmentation of the drive so that delted files dont use up recording capacity without having to clean up the drive from scratch.
Only one last comment. If you can afford one GET one you wont be dissapointed.