Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 – A Little Sacrifice in Quality, a Huge Gain in Storage Space
Thumbs Up:
The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 has a small size, easy operation, extended 120 GB storage device and 60x zoom lens.
Thumbs Down:
The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 doesn’t have mic or headphone jacks, has only electronic image stabilization, apparent fringing on objects and most importantly the camcorder offers noisy and soft video.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Manufacturer: Sony
Price range: $365.00 – $399.99
Part Number: DCR-SR88
Dimensions (H x W x D): 2.6 x 4.2 x 2.2 inches
Weight: 9.9 oz
Operating System Support: Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP SP3
Media Type: Hard disk drive and Flash card
Resolution: 720 x 480 megapixels
Shooting Programs: Beach, Snow, Sunset, Candle, Fireworks, Sunrise, Portrait mode, Landscape, Twilight portrait and Twilight mode
Image Stabilizer: Electronic (Steady Shot)
Digital Video Format: MPEG-2
Exposure Modes: Program and Automatic
White Balance Presets: Outdoor and Indoor
White Balance Presets: Indoor and Outdoor
Digital Video Format: MPEG-2
Still Image Format: JPEG
Supported Flash Memory: SD Memory Card
Features: Built-in lens shield, Touch-screen control, PictBridge support, Backlight compensation, USB 2.0 compatibility and Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording
Software: Sony Picture Motion Browser and Drivers & Utilities
Cables Included: USB cable and A/V cable
Power Device: External Power adapter
Supported Battery: Sony NP-FV30
Razzle Dazzle:
The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 is available in silver version only. The overall built of DCR-SR88 is pretty small and catchy, but despite its small size the camcorder has sufficient physical design and has been designed just as a camcorder should be. The primary attraction for DCR-SR88 includes its small size, Megazoom lens and hefty storage space and that entire in well under the price tag of $400.
Inside Dope:
The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 is the standard definition entry level camcorder by Sony. The DCR-SR88 flaunts a small size, but despite its small size the camcorder offers plenty of useful features such as large storage capacity and huge Megazoom lens. But the most important thing that we liked here is that despite so many features the camera is reasonably pried well under $400.
The operation of the camera is again pretty simple and despite the immeasurable menu systems in the camera, the operation is simple even for the first time users (mentioned that you are familiar with the operation of digital cameras). We won’t say that the DCR-SR88 delivers awful performance, but at the same time we can’t say that the performance here is exceptional. So to make things simpler lets put it in this way, the DCR-SR88 offers video quality just as you would get from any of the camcorder, and in a general the performance is good but if you watch it on HDTV it would be a bit disappointing.
But if you are ready to do a bit if compromising with the quality then the camcorder is just awesome, because firstly it comes at a reasonable price and on top of it the camera has a decent feature set as well. The controls for the camcorder are neatly laid. Located right above the battery cabin is the button which will let you switch in between the video and photo modes. Positioned underneath the back cover and battery is the memory card slot which supports both Memory Stick Pro Duo and SDHC/SD cards.
Located at the front portion of the camera and under the lens is the proprietary AV output slot covered under a door; although the camcorder comes with a composite cable, but still you can get an S-Video cable. A slider positioned at the right side of the camera, although it’s fine in general, but if you are operating it while your hand is still in the strap it can be tricky
The performance offered by Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 is pretty decent, especially if you consider the low status of the camcorder. The battery life of DCR-SR88 is of 100 minutes for constant shoot, and to make the operation fast for the camcorder there is an instant on-option. If you want to get the best battery performance then make sure that you don’t turn the camera on and off pretty frequently. The video shot from DCR-SR88 is a bit soft in general and the best video quality we got during our testing was in the Tele Macro mode. So in general there is no severe problem with the performance of DCR-SR88, but still the performance will not please the quality freaks. But if you are ready to sacrifice a little bit of quality to get decent feature set, extra space and all that in reasonable price then this is just the perfect camera.
Nitty Gritty:
The Sony Handycam DCR-SR88 comes with plethora of storage space, Megazoom lens and all that in a reasonable price. But if you are a quality freak then you definitely should spend a little extra on getting a HD model, but if you are not then go for it.
