Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony HDR-SR12E HD Hard Disc Drive Handycam - 10MP

I already owned one HDR-SR12 and when the opportunity to buy a second HD camcorder came along I had no hesitation in going for the same model.
It is very easy to use, links perfectly with Final Cut an on my Mac setup and produces very high quality results in all sorts of lighting conditions.
Sound quality and reproduction is very good and the picture quality is first rate.
I have no problem with the touch screen interface - very similar to my iPhone - but would recommend the screen cover available as an optional extra to protect the screen from finger prints.
The battery life and recharge time is especially impressive compared to previous camcorders that I have owned and the camera is very robust in operation.
An excellent camera in its class and price bracket.

I did quite a lot of research into this camera before buying it and I'm pleased that I did as its an absoloute belter! Image on a HD TV is as crisp s real life. I am so pleased with this and cannot recommend it highly enough to others.

I have owned a number of Sony Camcorders Video 8, Hi 8 and DV. The picture and build quality has always been outstanding relative to the associated period. The latter of these was the TRV30E Digital tape camcorder, even on a 42" Pioneer Plasma TV the picture was good but I was looking for something even better.
After reading many reviews including those on Amazon sticking with Sony seemed the best option.
Although I have only rated the Sony HDR-SR12E at 4 stars, to me the most important factor is picture quality and this is definitely worth 5 stars. Under good lighting conditions the picture can look as good as and sometimes better than off air HD TV, colours are vibrant and pictures are very sharp. In dimmer conditions the picture can be a little grainy and the lens may hunt in full auto mode but change to manual settings and the situation can be greatly improved upon. The sound quality is also good and I have not been able to detect any of the back ground noise that you could get from tape drives.
What I personally don't like is the lack of a manual focus ring on the lens which all my previous Sony camcorders had. Yes there is a little knob under the lens which you can use for focusing as well as several other functions but it is fiddly and not as accurate or quick to use. The LCD display is ok for making manual settings and quite easy to use but outdoors on sunny days is virtually useless being difficult to view. I would have preferred manual buttons/switches as on previous camcorders as these are much easier to access and operate but I guess this is not so practical on these smaller units. Another grumble is the eye piece which is small and not comfortable to use. I much prefer using an eye piece to the LCD screen as it is much better to get steady shots and of course save on battery power. Incidentally the battery does not last particularly long so it may be worth purchasing a higher capacity one. The accessory shoe for video light or microphone is smaller than standard which is also annoying.
The still picture function is o.k. but doesn't meet expectations (10 megapixels being claimed), disappointing particularly since the Carl Zeiss lens is brilliant in video mode nevertheless perfectly good enough for casual snaps. The flash being so close to the lens gives the worst dose of red eye that I have ever seen from a camera!
Back to positives- Build quality is overall excellent the design of the covers over the AV power connections being particularly neat. Under the right conditions the fold out screen is very intuitive although soon gets covered in figure marks but the screen is still clear and sharp.
Software supplied is useful for getting the video into your computer for storage, the PMB picture /video viewer makes it very easy to organise and access your video clips and pictures. Check the web for updates once you have installed the software.
If you're going to edit your video there is a clip editor included but it's very basic and enables you to trim to a start and finish point on the clip and that's about it. You can if you wish export the clip back to the camcorder.
Note: If you do decide to edit your videos using a video editing programme you will need a very powerful computer especially if you use the maximum quality setting. I can just about edit short movies but rendering time is horrendous. Vista Ultimate 32 bit, 4Gb Ram, Quad CPU Q6700 @ 2.66GHz, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra, 4x 500Gb Sata hard drives and Pinnacle studio 11 Ultimate.
To summarise although there are a few negatives or perhaps compromises to this Camcorder I still believe it to be an excellent bit of kit and I highly recommend it.

i brought this from amazon and recieved it 2days later amazing camcorder i love it , everything about it is just what i wanted easy to use ,plug into lap top record to disk , or plug into playstation and store on the hard drive playstation to watch in hd


cant wait to use it on holiday and when the weather is better

After many years watching friends live their lives through the wrong end of a viewfinder a new child made me take the plunge. With the rapid advances in technology and manufacturers' love of meaningless initials it took a bit of time to work out what I needed; in my case simplicity and usability were the keys.
By reading reviews and talking to a couple of knowledgeable shop sales staff I came to the conclusion I wanted the two 'HDs' - High Definition and Hard Drive. The decision to go with Sony was driven by desire for compatibility (I've other Sony kit)and experience (Sony generally works).
The actual model was luck; I was going for the similar but a lot cheaper model (HDR-SR10) but found this one on the 'new and used' section - at a third off because it had a damaged box! Camera, on arrival, appeared unused and is easy to use. The DVD that it came with explaining how to use the camera (ie composition rather than button pressing) was worth spending 20 minutes viewing.
Software takes a bit of work; I've yet to master how it integrates with other photo storage software (video comes up as 'unknown format' when viewed in windows vista 'my photos') but perfectly fine when viewed using the supplied software.
Overall, expensive (unless you find another 'new and used' bargain) but easy to use for camcorder virgins!