Great HD Camcorder!!! ![]()
Straight out of the box you quickly see you have a stylish and high quality HD camcorder. I have not yet bought an HD TV but wanted to use the latest HD technology when capturing Christmas, days out and birthdays. As detailed in the manual the camcorder easily connects to any TV over scart or RBG and scales down the output for 'normal' TVs.
Capturing recordings to the hard drive is as a one click operation. The 15x optical zoom is smooth and the LCD shows the recording in a crisp and clear window.
Transferring the HD files to a PC or laptop is easy with the free Sony Picture Motion Browser software, just install the software and connect the Sony docking station to the USB cable and connect to a free USB port on your PC. The software makes importing a piece of cake and you can burn straight to DVD or convert the HD file to MPEG or Windows WMV for easy sharing.
The box includes an ac adapter, handy cam docking station with A/V, power and USB sockets, a USB cable, 2 cdroms, a component A/V cable and a standard A/V cable. You will be up and running in no time. The only extra purchase I made was the Sony LCS-BBA soft carry case which is perfect for the HDR-SE10E.
I read before I purchase the HD camcorder that you can hear the hard disk while recording. This is not the case on the model I have, recording is instant, no tapes to manage or rewind and not a sound from the hard disk while recording.
I am very happy with my purchase and highly recommend this HD handy cam to anyone interested in moving from tape recording formats to 1080p HD recordings.
Can I also recommend buying Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum which retails at around £40.00. With this you can edit the HD movies in a time line, edit multiple types of video file format and build great DVDs. The software offers a great deal more than Picture Motion Browser.
Marketing rubbish tarnishes what is a fairly good product ![]()
I just wanted to people to understand that Sony are once again being very naughty with their marketing here ... much like a lot of vendors did with the number of megapixels in early still cameras (saying that a camera had 8mp when infact in only had 3mp and the rest were interpolated).
Sony say this is Full HD.
IT IS NOT FULL HD.
Full HD is 1920x1080 progressive.
This camera is 1080i which in real terms is half the resolution (540 lines) with the other lines made up in alternate frames.
The only camera I know that is 1080p (Full HD) is the new Panasonic (which sadly loses out on the stills ... but at least it is honest).
There is a massive difference between 1080i and 1080p. Most TVs that support 1080p will look better with a 720p source that a 1080i source.
Blown away ![]()
Had this now for just over a month and used it in a variety of locations. Indoor performance is OK - still way better than any SD cameras I have owned previously, but outdoor and decently-lit scenes are simply mind-blowing.
Here are the key points:
- Wonderful colour and definition.
- Well built and comfortable to hold
- Easy to operate
- Simple full-auto mode
- Enough manual controls to provide fun for people who wish to experiment with settings
- The docking station - convenient connectivity
Downsides - no manual focus ring, mic input or headphone socket, but these are all things you would normally pay a lot more for.
And it will connect to an HD TV in HD resolution without a mini-HDMI cable - if your HD TV has a component video input, this camcorder comes with a component video cable which support HD resolutions.
Overall - just brilliant.
Quality product! ![]()
This is one classy piece of kit. The vibrancy and accuracy of the colours, especially when fed to an HDTV, for a consumer camcorder are incredible. I have used it mostly for landscape filming and it does the job beautifully. It is very easy to use and the touchscreen works very well.
The only (minor) drawback is that the LCD sceen is difficult to see in bright sunlight (but all camcorders suffer from this) and this makes focusing difficult at times. Also, Sony throw in every connection lead EXCEPT an HDMI lead! However, it is so good in all other respects it is not worth knocking a star off!
Be aware that subsequent editing of AVCHD footage on a computer requires a very well spec'd machine, especially if you use the very highest quality setting!
All in all, a great product.
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