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Beware. My video camera died right after the warranty expired. Now it will cost $171 just to have someone look at it. The quality is comparable to the flip. I could have bought many flips for the price of this video camera.
This is coming from someone who isn't exactly technically savvy. This unit is compact enough to carry everywhere so I can capture those random precious moments. What's the point of having an HD camcorder if you don't use it. Two complaints though - 1) Shoots terribly in low light / indoor situations; & 2) The memory sticks are quite expensive. Picture quality is sharp and it's a breeze to use. The videos come out amazing on my Sony HDTV. They use the Sony branded memory which carries a premium. Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this camera to everyone except the avid videophile professional who is more focused on the technicals rather than having a convenient take anywhere piece of equipment.
It's a very high quality camera overall.but I have one complaint ; transferring files (videos) to PC. That's a very very hard process for me.
It even has a pocket for an extra memory stick. No big deal, but make sure when traveling abroad that the time is set to local, and the TIME ZONE is also. I got the TG1, which didn't have GPS. So easy I wore it everywhere and didnt feel encumbered like one of those bigger camcorders.Turn off the quick-on mode. If you plan to download clips consistently, set the time and time zone of your PC the same or times will be translated and confusing. Do the same with your camera and you can intersperse high quality photos with videos.Buy the case - this was so easy to use with the case and attached strap. Sucks up battery like crazy and the difference is just a couple seconds to turn on, but you can get at least an hour of record time instead of 20 minutes or so.View the enclosed CD video - it really helped me record well.Get the Sony editing software - free for the first month.Would give it 5 stars but not very good in low light, and image stabilization could be better. I'm looking for SW that would stabilize the images and any recommendation is welcome.
While it lacks night vision, it makes up for it with manual focus and automatic optimization of focus and exposure on faces. I am very glad I decided to just hook it up anyways, and Mac OS X came through to the rescue.
It fits very nicely into both my pants pocket and small pockets on skirts, and the controls are very easy to use. This is an extremely convenient, easy to use digital camcorder and camera.
This is no thanks to Sony, who had terrible documentation that actually misled me into thinking the video was not compatible and that only photos on the memory stick (which I did not buy) would be compatible. It has good zoom control, is easy to switch back and forth between movie and photos, and allows photographing while also filming at the same time (which used to require a high degree of coordination with camera in left hand and video in right).
Best of all, it is fully compatible with Macintosh OSX (at least with iPhoto and iMovie 09), working seamlessly once it is USB connected. The GPS tags worked perfectly with iPhoto (you just have to make sure it has found its location before shooting, as the movies and photos taken before this is done remain untagged).
Recommended for its compact all in one and convenient use.
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