Overall Product Rating:

Pros: small, lightweight
Cons: design flaws

Recommended: No
Has Owned Product: 4 Week(s)

Comments:
i found several 'flaws' in the design:

1) the 'fader' option has to be manually set each time you record on/off. my previous camcorder (non-sony) had a 'random fader' option and for each set of recordings, each scene was separated by this 'fader' option. on the sony, when i playback the tape, the different scenes, which may be only 10 seconds long, just seems so choppy and nerve-wrecking. there is no calm, easy transition from segment to segment.

2) if you set to record in widescreen, your menu screens inevitably are also in widescreen mode, making some menues hard to read. but not only that, when you first switch to "menu", it flickers from 'normal' screen then to 'widescreen' -- very annoying.

3) the 'photo shot' does not allow you to record to the tape (which my prev. camcorder allowed) but it does let you shoot to memory. this is fine, so why did sony not design the 'photo' button to record directly to memory? instead, you have to switch 'mode' from 'camera tape' to 'memory', then shoot the picture, then back to 'camera tape' for movies.

4) the camera does not have option to format the memory stick.

5) the camera will only review the photos from the memory stick, one at a time, from the last shot taken. even so, you only have the option to 'delete' the current photo. if you have several shots on the memory card, you cannot pick and choose which photos you want to keep. it appears to have been designed where you HAVE TO REVIEW each photo immediately after taking it. to me, this is a horrible design.

6) no built-in light, which i was aware of. but, the camera has the 'nightshot plus' option, which was suppose to compensate a little for it. indoor shots, with all my room lights turned on, shot with the option on, were very grainy and colorless. you really need to get the optional light accessory.