Sony DCR-DVD108 DVD Handycam Camcorder with 40x Optical Zoom (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I purchased this camera from amazon in May 2007 and have been very satisfied with the performance in terms of quality of videos, camera features and ease-of-use. I have not tried taking pictures from this camcorder as I believe that digital cameras do better job there and made for taking pictures only.Pros:- Small size, easy to carry and handle- High zoom which is very stable in terms of focus- Night shot is great for indoor videos with low light- The screen can be swiveled completely, which makes it easy to make your videos with camcorder in your hand. (Most fun is while recording kids and showing them themselves while recording)- Mini DVDs can be formatted in wide angle, which makes videos look great on wide screen monitors and TVs.- Battery life very good and sufficient for people like me who are not in making pro videos.- Software given by Sony is easy to use and transfer videos to computer.- Lot of otehr features in terms of light control and editing the videos are also very convenient to understand and use.Cons:- None yet. Will update the review later, if I find any.

The product functions as described on the Amazon web site. No complaints.Overlall I am satisfied for ease of use, etc.If one is a casual video camcorder user, if one is going to simply view the video captured directly from the Mini-CD to a TV (via a DVD player), then, the camcorder is ideal for those purposes.If one is going to record video with the intention of creating a travel/family movie; if one plans on uploading it to a computer, editing it, and burning it to a DVD, then, I would strongly recommend buying a camcorder that records to a mini-tapes.As others have stated, the quality of video recorded to Mini-CD is inferior to the quality of camcoder-to-mini-tape recordings. I was aware of that but expected --hoping for the impossible-- almost tape-like video quality. It does not produce tape-like quality. Whenever I view one of our newly created videos on a TV, I regret not having bought a mini-tape camcorder. My wife, kids, family, etc., on the other hand, think that the video is fine... but they think unedited video is just fine.To conclude, IMHO, the only reason to buy a Mini-CD camcorder is to be able to quickly create and view/share unedited mini-CD videos. It's ideal for taking family videos and mailing the mini-CD to family, friends, etc.I would have returned the product if not for the high Amazon restocking fee (20%).I gave it four stars since it performs as described.

After reading all the reviews on Amazon, and handling the camera in Best Buy, I bought this camera on Amazon. I read the manual fully before using it the first time. It was very easy to use, I was able to see all the footage using the playback mode. I taped a full 30 minite DVD of my Newborn baby, which was very important to me to tape considering its a ONE SHOT DEAL- not like going on a roller coaster that you can do again. I used a Maxell dvd- attempted to tape the last 3 minites left on the disc and WHAMMO- ALL OF A SUDDEN THE DISC DOES NOT WORK- The camera gives an error message- which they say is an error code for a "unsupported format", or a 'bad disc" . HOW CONVENIENT SONY! Sony customer service has done NADA to help at all! They will not help to retreive the data at all! Maxell says their dvd is NOT defective since i already recorded to it and played it back. The only thing sony did was recommend a data retreival service- that costs 350 dollars to do. they also recommended trying to tape another 30 minites of a dvd again. great advice sony- they play the blame game. I plan on returning the camera to amazon today- since it is within the 30 day time frame. PLEASE BEWARE OF THIS CAMERA- IT IS NO RELIABLE- YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO USE ANY BRAND DISC WITH THIS CAMERA AND NOT LOOSE ALL FOOTAGE. I AM DEVASTATED OVER LOOSING ALL FOOTAGE OF MY NEWBORN.

I don't know if the person below me got one that was defective, or if when he formatted his new disc it warns you do not vibrate it while formatting. I used only Sony discs, which run about $20 for a 5 pack so it's cheaper on amazon to get them. It sounds like he used poor quality discs and not the camcorder.My camcorder worked great for everything! We zoomed in and out, turned while filming, recorded ocean and vacation with no problems. I bought this camcorder because of the high ratings and I am very glad I did. I have not yet put them into my computer but I forsee no problems with a new computer and burner I am sure that an older puter might have a few problems and make it more complicated, but I did hook the camcorder to my TV to watch what was recorded and I must say we are VERY IMPRESSED! Quality was great! You need to keep your setting at SP for the good quality but it will only record 30mins on the disc. The other person may have set the setting to SLP (super long play but with poor quality but it records longer which is fine for VCR tapes but not disc recorders.)It was simple for my father to use as well and at 61 nothing electronic is easy to operate! I am VERY happy with my purchase and may even get him one from Amazon for Christmas! The good reviews are defintely correct!

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