Sony DCR-SR87 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder

I've had several Sony products over the years and have always been impressed by their quality and features. I must confess to being a little disappointed with my SR 87 Camcorder, though. Here's why:

-The picture resolution is not as good as I expected.

-The LCD screen is not very bright. It's hard to see

in bright lighting. Wish it came with a viewfinder

for these situations.

-I also wish the fader feature was a little more

user-friendly. It requires going through the menu

with every fade in or out.

The One-Touch disk burn and the Steady-shot feature are great. Overall, I'd give the camcorder about a C-plus.

I'm not trying to be harsh on ony. They still make the worlds best TV's. They still make great camcorders. Just not this one.

Essential items in any camcorder are basic. A remote for self-video. A viewfinder to shoot movies when sunlight is too bright for its viewfinder. Finally, the ability to shoot at night (NIGHTSHOT).

The Sony designers chose to leave all three items out. You won't find any of these common features on the SR87.

That being said, it's just not a suggested model and I suspect will be discounted quickly or discontinued.

The Canon is by far a better camcorder.

Buy Sony DCR-SR87 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder Now

It is a cute little machine, not HD but OK. Easy to use but lens and picture qulaity is just OK.

Read Best Reviews of Sony DCR-SR87 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder Here

I haven't written many Amazon reviews in the past. But I'll write one for this product simply because I feel that I am very much impartial after using it for almost 7yrs.

When I spent a lot of hard earned cash and was finally moving up from VHS to HDD camera, I was thrilled. And yes, when I got it, I loved it. Mostly due to the fact that I can record hours and hours worth without any problem. Remember, this is not an HD recording. Since, I didn't see much difference in the quality, I used it to record in the SP format. This format outputs:

Resolution: 720x480

Data Rate: 9100kbps

Frame Rate: 29fps

Audio Rate: 256kbps

Audio Channels: 2 Stereo

Audio Sample: 48kHz

File Size: 20.6MBps (approx)

The battery charge goes a long way. And the 80GB HDD itself is the highlight of this camera. That, and also the fact that I can hook up the cam to the PC via USB and simply drag/drop recordings in my PC.

However, the video is very average. Keep in mind, I'm coming from a VHS background and was not impressed at the video quality one bit. In the day time, outdoors, the recording would probably get a B+ in my view. But indoor, night time recording with moderate indoor lighting, I would not hesitate to give it a D+ at best.

The indoor recordings that I made were always grainy. And the higher format recording didn't help. All it did was take up more file space.

If you're in the market for a better video cam, pass on this one. I've had this for 7yrs due lack of funds. I have logged over 900 recording hours on it. And due to this, my work looks like a piece of crap. I have finally purchased a Canon VIXIA HF M500 about 5mins. ago right here on Amazon. I hope that cam will out perform this one by a huge margin.

Want Sony DCR-SR87 Hard Disk Drive Handycam® Camcorder Discount?

excellent video camera, good resolution, good pictures and a very good article guadar fond memories of the family, and always keep them in mind, recommended