Sony DCR-SR100E (30GB)

wightowl

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A good amateur camera with minor drawbacks

Mar 27, 2008

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Very good)
Pros: Widescreen. Easy to use. Optional Bluetooth Mic. Two zoom control options
Cons: Fiddly toggle zoom, 2GB recorded file limit, MPG files only
Opinion:
I used my SR100E for recording and creating DVDs of three amateur theatre productions of 45 mins to 2 hours duration.

The LCDs constant speed zoom controls were too fast for me so I reverted to the toggle zoom control just forward and right of the eyepiece. This offers variable speed but is small and tricky to control. A big ring zoom would have been preferable.

The biggest challenge is the 2GB file size limit. After 30 minutes of HiRes recording the camera closes the hard disk file and opens a new one to carry on. The files can later be stitched using software. The problem is that about one quarter second of recording is lost in the file changeover so a faultless recording is not possible. Also some file joining utilities complain the audio bitrate varies from file to file and refuse to join the files properly. Also some DVD players see the join and freeze-frame for up to 20 seconds. The problem is compounded by the MPG only recording format. MJPEG files may have joined easier. I suspect there may not be enough cache memory in the camera to properly store the changeover period of video.

The lone MPG file format is efficient on disk space and widely compatible but lacks fine quality and makes editing more difficult. I found the picture quality a little soft in low light but the auto-focus was quite dependable.

I liked the optional Bluetooth Mic which takes the forward centre position in a Dolby 5.1 surround recording. I taped it to the stage with the camera 20-30m away. It worked well. I hope the audiences own Bluetooth devices never interfere with it during an important recording! Wired sound is bound to be more reliable. There are four mics built in to the top of the camera. There is an optional camera mounted shotgun mic.

The supplied software is simple and limited but functional. Optional Sony Vegas is a useful companion. The camera acts like a FlashRAM device when plugged in to a USB port.

In conclusion this is a good amateur product but don't let it be the only camera taking an important long term recording. Pros should be looking at HD cameras anyway.