Sony Handycam DCR-SR47 – average SD video quality camcorder
Sum and Substance:
Thumbs Up:
Compact in size, 60x zoom lens, user friendly interface, 60 GB hard drive.
Thumbs Down:
Awful video quality.
Inside the Trunk:
Sony Picture Motion Browser, utilities and drivers, USB cable, A/V cable
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
SR47 is a SD camcorder with 2000x digital zoom, videos are stored in MPEG-2 format, optical sensor size is 1/8”, maximum shutter speed is 1/4000 second, minimum shutter speed is 1/4 second, white balance presets include outdoor, indoor. Shooting programs include twilight mode, portrait mode, sports mode, spotlight, landscape, fireworks, sunrise, sunset, candle, beach, snow.
Images are stored in JPEG format, camcorder effective still resolution is 0.34 mega pixels, the device has a built in 60 GB hard disk drive and there is also a slot for flash card drive. The SR47 has a 2.7 inch touch screen LCD. The camcorder is powered by Sony NP-FH30 Li-ion rechargeable battery.
The camcorder has zoom lens – 1.8 mm – 108 mm – F/1.8-6.0, with lens aperture of F/1.8-6.0, focal length of 1.8 mm – 108 mm, optical zoom of 60X, maximum focal length is 108mm, minimum focal length is 1.8 mm, lens is manufactured by Carl Zeiss.
Additional features include Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording, USB 2.0 compatibility, Touch-screen control, Face detection. Connectors on the device include S-Video output, USB, Composite video/audio output. The SR47 also has a Memory Stick PRO Duo slot for memory cards.
Razzle Dazzle:
The SR47 is available in options of red, blue and black. The size of the unit is pretty small considering there is a hard disk housed inside it. The gadget will easily fit in to your coat pocket owing to the small size. It is as big as a can of soda, the strap is placed a bit lower but still is very comfortable to hold while shooting.
Inside Dope:
Sony Handycam DCR-SR47 is a down to earth simple to use camcorder but the simplicity comes at a cost of dearth of advanced shooting options. The camcorder’s highlights are megazoom lens, large storage capacity and small size.
It is one of the rare units in the camcorder family which has a small touch screen LCD and is still easy to use. However, when it comes to video quality, DCR-SR47 is not among the best, the standard definition videos are pretty mediocre and it won’t be a memorable experience when you view the videos on a large size HDTV. On the bright side, this camcorder caters to the section of people who don’t care much about video quality and is priced reasonably.
The gadget is available in options of red, blue or black and it is pretty small so it will comfortably fit into a coat pocket. The controls on the device are typical of a camcorder; it has a zoom rocker and button for shutter release on the top for photo mode. There is also a stop/start button behind the device.
There is no viewfinder on the camcorder so all you get is the LCD which has a touch screen interface. The LCD though tiny at just 2.6 inches was easy to use owing to the large buttons on it. This is quite rare in camcorders, they usually have small screens and it is difficult to operate because of the small size, this one had no such problems. There are few buttons on the body cavity like direct-to-DVD recording, button for turning the display information on and off, easy mode that gives you a basic mode for shooting by locking all the advanced options and a button for getting to the playback mode. There is also a miniUSB port and a button for adjusting backlight subjects exposure.
The awesome 60x zoom is of great use when you are trying to shoot the top of the building, staying on the ground and still want a clear picture.
Like mentioned before, the LCD is good because it has large buttons and is quite responsive. You might get confused with the Home and Menu buttons which many of us are unfamiliar with. Menu is for access to shooting options which are context sensitive and for everything else there is the Home button. You might have to spend some time memorizing where the functions lie on the LCD. Fortunately, Sony gives a tree diagram of the menu in the reference manual.
This device is basically for people who just want to shoot and don’t care much about advanced options. So all the advanced options are absent but it makes the device pretty user friendly because you will understand how everything works quite easily. The downside is that with the lack of advanced options, you cannot play with the settings. In our tests, set the device at Auto for focus, scene selection and white balance which gave reasonably good performance. However, there are plenty of options for white balance and scenes. You can control exposure and focus with the touch screen LCD.
For powering up the camcorder all you have to do is open up the LCD flap, just like most camcorders. We found that the autofocus was responsive in our tests but it struggles a bit in low light conditions. The battery life of the device is 90 minutes and if you are turning the camcorder on/off frequently or reviewing videos, it will drain the battery quicker. There are extended battery packs available which Sony says can power the recorder up to 11 hours.
Video quality, as expected from a entry level camcorder was pretty average. There is a lot of noise and digital artifacts in the videos which will look good only when you scale it down to YouTube. There is also a lot of purple fringing around the subjects. This camcorder is meant people who just want to get out and shoot without caring much about the video quality. Remember the videos are limited to SD quality which is a big turn off for HD video enthusiasts. On the bright side, the white balance is good, the color representation looks respectable. Low light videos too have bad quality. The recorder is capable of taking photos but they are below average, worse than a camera phone.
Nitty Gritty:
You can pay $100 to $200 more and get yourself a HD quality camcorder. Sony Handycam DCR-SR47 is strictly for entry level users, we don’t know why you would use a SD recorder when you get better quality from a HD counterpart.
