Sony HDR-SR12 Pro Reviews

The Sony Handycam HDR-SR12 is a slightly mixed bag with the ledger heavily weighted to the positive. Full HD 1920 x 1080I videos taken outdoors were terrific and they’re solid indoors when there’s enough light. Try shooting in very dim rooms and you’ll have problems with digital noise. Audio quality is excellent and the stills are the finest I’ve taken with any camcorder. With its large LCD and hard drive, the unit goes through batteries quickly so spares are a definite must buy—especially if you think you’ll save anywhere near the 15 hours of Full HD the HDR-SR12 is capable of recording. The menus are a bit quirky and it would be great if Sony supplied a full-blown printed owner’s manual. With the dim-light caveat on the table I’d recommend this camcorder for anyone going on vacation. The video and stills are hard to beat. And if $1,399 is too much, consider the HDR-SR11 with a 60GB HDD for $1,199.

The Sony HDR-SR11 and HDR-SR12 (identical in all things but 60GB and 120GB HDDs, respectively) are great camcorders. This third generation of AVCHD camcorders, including the Canon HF10 and Panasonic HDC-SD9, are finally shedding the poor reputation of their youth and maturing into a viable format to succeed HDV. Compression artifacting has decreased, overall, and resolution has increased. The consumer base will still need time to adjust, particularly in regards to the demands AVCHD files make on a computer when editing.

The Handycam HDR-SR12 can record over a dozen hours of great-looking AVCHD video onto its 120GB hard drive, but it comes at a hefty price.