Used Sony HDR-SR11 High-Definition 60GB HDD Handycam Camcorder

2013-01-06T19:00:00

We have owned this camera for over 4 years and it has never let us down. We have taken it to sandy beaches, every football and baseball game, and every amusement park. We are now noticing some change in the photos, but I believe it just needs a thorough cleaning. We have had a couple of JVC and Canon's, and nothing compares to this camera. I know most of the complaints have come from the included software, but if you want to be at the cutting edge, you have to wait for everyone to catch up. The included software has served us well. Now that Corel, Adobe and even Sony itself has caught up, the file format is not an issue for editing high quality video.

Scooty809

Originally posted at

2011-06-01T20:00:00

We bought this camera in anticipation of our first child. We shot numerous videos of my wife prior to her giving birth to our daughter, as well as numerous videos after her birth. We've used it for pictures, videos, everything, and I've always shot in HD. Then, along came my son, and we started all over again with numerous pictures and videos. All in all, it's been 3 years and I still have EVERYTHING that I ever shot on the camera still on there, with room to spare. So the Hard Drive is enormous. Secondarily, this camera has tons of features, is really easy to use (even my wife and my 68 year old father figured it out). And it's an HD camera. No reason to not buy this, even if it's a little "outdated". For the price you can't beat it. The only con that I could come up with is the fact that it is a little bulkier then some of the cameras out there now. Not crazy 1980's bulky, but it's no flip video camera. But if you're carting around 2 kids, a diaper bag, and suitcases, etc on vacation this thing won't take up to much room!

kpierce78

Originally posted at

2010-10-16T20:00:00

All the mountains, beaches and common places for vacation are related to sand or dust. So oohhh surprise I cannot record on those places; otherwise the cover lenses gets stuck!!

fffz

Originally posted at

2010-08-23T20:00:00

I've had this piece for about 1.5 years now. During that time I was able to compare it to other camcorders my friends bought and the quality of footage as well as overall quality of the device itself is just fantastic! I've been using this camera in all kinds of situations ranging from dark places in a underground bar to filming planes during an air show. Fantastic features, colors you can only dream of, extraordinary ease of use during recording thanks to all the needed controls brought on the outside of the device (backlight compensation and multifunction wheel just to name a few). Footage looks awesome on my 37" LCD HD panel. Overall I can't think of a better choice for me at this point.

padcom

Originally posted at

2010-08-14T20:00:00

I'd love to give this camera a better rating because the video that I see in the viewer is awesome. Great picture and I love the zoom microphone....however, the lower rating is due to the fact that my sister and I have been trying for several months to find a way to get the footage into our final cut express to edit the footage. The MAC does not even recognize the camera. Not sure what to do. If anyone out there has suggestions please let me know and i can raise my review rating.

rdrury

Originally posted at

2010-06-16T20:00:00

I think this is the best camcorder/still camera you can purchase for the money. Makes better still pictures than my DSL digital camera (different brand). Has extremely great zoom distance and still get great shots. Used in auditoriums/arenas for graduation from great distance and you would have thought I was within just a few feet from the stage, could easily recognize faces. Need to have a better light for low light areas, but a flash/light can be purchased, which will be one of my next purchases. Would highly recommend this camera for either a novice like myself or a experienced photograher! Being able to copy onto memory stick from camera makes it easy to take to computer to either down load or print as well as to share with others. A+++++ all the way.

amaturephotographer

Originally posted at

2010-02-04T19:00:00

if you have a taste in photography and still dont want to buy specific expensive professional cameras, am telling you this is the one to buy. it an extremely good handycam with lots of good things in it.

formanite

Originally posted at

2009-03-16T20:00:00

A great camcorder for it's size, price and performance. Highly recommend it if you are on a tight budget, but need great quality. Over all I am satisfied with this product. Standard Definition Recording: videos shot in standard definition can be view very easily on a Mac. However, there seems to be a problem with the audio while the video is playing ( No audio ). Other software I found that works in terms of playing both the audio and video simultaneously are 1) VLC 2) iMovie '08 These two software seem to play and export the video and audio that can be edited in Final Cut Pro --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HD Recording : The Mac cannot recognize the HD format. Final Cut Pro surprisingly cannot recognize the HD format either. However, a great solution to this problem is to use the following software 1) VoltaicHD This will convert your HD video from your camera to a .MOV quick time file. You will not lose any video quality in the converting process. However, converting can take some time depending on the length of the footage. Once converted, you can edit in Final Cut Pro -------------------------------------------------------------------------- USB Connection: When connecting your USB cable from the camera to the computer is simple. Just connect it. No drivers or extra software is needed. USB connection to your camera is ready right out the box, and you can access all data stored on the camera ( photos, video's ) immediately --------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Computer Spec's: This review is based on two of my Mac ( Apple ) computers. 1) Mac book Pro Processor 1.83 GHz intel Core Duo Memory 2GB MHz DDR2 SDRAM Mac OS X Leopard v10.5.5 80GB primary drive 2) iMac Processor 2.8GHz intel Core Duo Memory 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM Mac OS X Leopard Version 10.5.5 1TB primary drive

IronMicey911

Originally posted at

2009-02-01T19:00:00

Bought SR-10 first and it had great picture and easy to use cam ,but I didn't realize that it has no viewfinder on it, so I exchanged it with SR-11 and it was excellent for me,more megapixels,HD picture is awesome,it's like watching a blueray movie but it was me and my family on it,lightweight and great designed.Used it on my son's 6th B'day and when it's time to watch it,everybody was like,wow!!!Viewfinder is very useful,it can save battery life and easy to use in a bright sunny outdoors when the LCD is not clear.Highly recommended!!

Gig1231

Originally posted at

2009-01-26T19:00:00

I had a Sony miniDV camcorder before, although it's still in good condition, I got this HDR-SR11. I shot several shows in a theatre. When I play it on my HDTV, all I can say is WOW! The video looks so good, and the audio is so clear, that it seems that the clips were shot by a professional. The video/audio quality is almost comparable with the HD programs from the satellite. I also tried the photo functionality, it's also very good, I was able to use the camcorder to take my daughter's passport picture, I also tried another photo camera at the same time, and the photo quality of the HDR-SR11 is much better. I use a HDMI cable to connect the camcorder with the HDTV. If you want to view the movie/photo on the computer, you can install the Picture Motion Browser software, once you installed it, it does not need a camcorder connected to the computer to play the files on your hard drive. You can do this: In Picture Motion Browser, choose Tools\Settings, then choose "Viewed folders", click "Add" to select the folder that contains the media files you want to view, then the folder will be added to the database, once it finishes analyzing the files, the media files can be played in the Picture Motion Browser. I am very satisfied with this camcorder, and would recommend it to anyone! For editing, Sony Vegas Pro 8.0c works very well with it.

yfl0

Originally posted at

2009-01-26T19:00:00

Great camcorder. Very professional capabilities. Recorded footage looks great on a high def tv. This camera works well with sony vegas pro 8 software.

Oskii

Originally posted at

2008-12-29T19:00:00

This review is directed toward less experienced users - like me. I bought my SR11 about 9 months ago with lots of enthusiasm, expectations and ignorance. Moving from VHS tape to digital is a giant leap and going further to high definition is still another. I quickly learned that I was way outclassed by a camcorder that could do things I hadn't even imagined. But that wasn't bad; it made up for my inexperience and produced good results. First, this is a very versatile piece of equipment. It makes still pictures of better quality than any of the several still cameras I own. It has a powerful flash that reaches way out. The lens produces crisp images and the telephoto is phenomenal. It does its video imaging with the same kind of quality - but you would expect that of a HD camcorder. Shortly after I got it I handed it to someone else to capture my granddaughter's wedding. In this unplanned and somewhat difficult situation it produced great images and remarkable audio. It even made me look good. I don't have a clue how the audio zoom feature works, but it captured "I do" when barely murmured, and from about 15 feet away. Downloading the images was my first big challenge. My efforts produced unremarkable results. I then acquired Sony Movie Studio 9 and that problem melted away. I highly recommend it for almost any user. High definition images require different handling. My learning curve was made worse because I found it difficult to read the manual on the computer. After I printed out all 124 pages I began to learn. Some of my stills had remarkably wide format, almost like a wide-angle shot. In a way, it was. There is a difference in ratio between video and stills that takes only a single push of a button to resolve - but you do have to understand the need and know what to do. The manual is a great source of other tidbits of information that began to unfold. The printed manual has become a chairside reference and I have much yet to learn. The 60 gigabyte hard drive leaves you room for using the camera in extended shooting sessions, absolutely eclipsing the short bursts I used to use with VHS when I had to get it all on a 30 minute spool. It is a good idea to get a spare battery, altough I was pleasantly surprised at the endurance of the battery in exended use situations. It keeps you up to date with on-screen battery life in minutes. No surprises. The camera is well balanced and easy to operate. I have a partially paralyzed hand that makes using some cameras very difficult but I have found the SR11 very comfortable and secure. I'll leave it to more technically expert reviewers to go over the features but from the perspective of a rank amateur, I'm wild about this camera.

ElderGatesman

Originally posted at

2008-12-28T19:00:00

Very good handy cam with amazing quality.

Roops

2008-11-24T19:00:00

I have had my hdr-sr11 for about 30 days. The Motion picture browser software has been heavily criticized in various reviews but I have found it very usable. I especially like the feature of only downloading videos and stills that have not been downloaded previously. I use it to download from my flash reader for my wifes digital camera as well. The video quality even viewed on my laptop computer is so outstanding that I am changing my approach to video making in order to search out more moments that warrant being captured so beautifully. I have had two Sony camcorders previously but this new HD technology coupled with the freedom of the hard drive storage makes my prior digital Sony totally obsolete.

Traveler

Originally posted at

2008-11-13T19:00:00

Very nice camera. The assignable knob is critical for controlling exposure on the job. Major complaint: I own two Sony HandyCam camcorders. They both use the Picture Motion Browser to import media files from the camcorder to the computer; however, the Picture Motion Browser (really stupid name) will work with one and only one camcorder; hence, I must import media files from my SR11 by treating it as a USB drive and copying the media files using Windows Explorer. Doing this does not place the video files in the Picture Motion Browsers database. If they are not in the database you cannot play them on your computer(100% true for HD video) Sony should supply a M2TS codec for Windows Media player and a means of importing video files into the MPB database from a source other than the camera.

TheRock

Originally posted at