Sony DCR-SX30 Reviews: Sony Memory Stick Duo storage SD camcorder

25 Real Customer Reviews - In Summary

+ This camcorder scores high on weight. - It has no outstanding negative points. “Easy to use for indoor use and to connect to pc” Anonymous verified purchaser View all 25 real customer reviews

Available via Reevoo.com from £142 – £1100 at 27 retailers

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Product Details

60x optical zoom, Image Stabilisation, 1.66 hours of battery More »

Customer reviews
Product details
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Real customer reviews

25 verified purchasers have reviewed this product.
95% of people recommend it.

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All purchasers (25)

Battery life	7.8
Ease of use	9.1
Image quality	8.4
Value for money (at time of purchase)	9.0
Weight	9.7
Overall rating	8.9

Just point and shoot (7)

Experienced amateur (1)

Keen amateur (1)

Other (16)

*not all purchasers provided a score or review

Score 6.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Easy to use for indoor use and to connect to PC

- Difficult to use outdoors as LCD screen appears as a black mirror surface, reflecting user and rear scenery. The scene being recorded is barely visible, making precise framing impossible.

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55 of 58 people found this review helpful

purchased 14 Apr 2009

Score 9.0/10

David, Durham

+ Compact, very easy to use and download. Pickup to record time very low.

- When I first saw how small the battery was I felt it would be inadequate....I wasn't wrong. Sometimes I feel that they make a small battery to create the opportunity to sale a bigger one...

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34 of 35 people found this review helpful

purchased 28 Apr 2009

Score 10.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ Amazing camera, great resolution and battery life

- Reviewer left no comment

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36 of 40 people found this review helpful

purchased 07 Mar 2009

Score 10.0/10

David, Plymouth

+ All points are good so far

- Battery could have been bigger in capacity.

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27 of 29 people found this review helpful

purchased 28 Mar 2009

Score 9.0/10

Derek , Lewes

+ Very small and trendy

- Additional memory stick is expensive

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24 of 26 people found this review helpful

purchased 30 Apr 2009

Score 8.0/10

Marcin, Edinburgh

+ Very light, ideal for travel, expandable memory

- Picture quality, quite hard to figure out all options

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16 of 16 people found this review helpful

purchased 07 Jun 2009

Score 9.0/10

Nikki, Leicestershire , “Keen amateur”

+ So small it fits in to one hand nicely and only one hand needed to operate it too. Light weight yet feels like quality. Image quality great and nice photos too. Very easy and straight forward to operate, common sense really. Would recommend to anyone who's interested in a neat compact camcorder.

- Haven't come across any bad points yet but have only owned it for about 4 weeks.

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5 of 5 people found this review helpful

purchased 30 Aug 2009

Score 8.0/10

Lisa, Nottinghamshire , “Just point and shoot” More like this »

+ Size, Ease of use and really good value for money

- Image quality and poor light

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3 of 3 people found this review helpful

purchased 06 Sep 2009

Score 10.0/10

Andrew , London

+ Small and compact.Easy to use.

- None

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3 of 3 people found this review helpful

purchased 10 Sep 2009

Score 7.0/10

binu, lisnaskea

+ easy to use

- Reviewer left no comment

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13 of 23 people found this review helpful

purchased 21 Apr 2009

Score 9.0/10

Anonymous verified purchaser

+ very easy to use.

- none so far.

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3 of 3 people found this review helpful

purchased 21 Aug 2009

Score 9.0/10

Ju, Bucks , “Just point and shoot” More like this »

+ So easy to use - open lens, open screen, point and pres record - so simple.

- Reviewer left no comment

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purchased 05 Oct 2009

peter , brighton , “Experienced amateur”

+ Reviewer left no comment

- to film in the sunlight with this camera is useless, you cannot see in the lcd screen because of the glare,and because the camera has no eye viewfinder you cannot see what you are filming. Ihave overcome the problem on this camera ( I am not telling you how) .I can now film in any conditions but not thanks to sony ,they created the problem let them solve it,otherwise the sales of this camera will collapse peter

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2 of 9 people found this review helpful

purchased 02 Oct 2009

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Product Features

Resolution Quality	SD

Optical Zoom Ratio	60
The amount by which the camera optics (lens) can bring the subject closer.
Media Format	Memory Stick Duo
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
Media Format	Flash Memory
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
Digital Zoom Ratio	2000
Not to be confused with optical zoom, digital zoom enlarges a portion of the image thus simulating optical zoom. In doing so, some image quality is lost.
Image Stabilisation	Yes
If a photo is taken at a slow shutter speed, or at a long focal length, the effects of ‘hand shake’ will be amplified. Some cameras come with built-in image stabilisation which is designed to act against this to produce sharper images. It’s great for low light shots without a tripod, like at a gig.
Image Stabilisation	Electronical Image Stabiliser
If a photo is taken at a slow shutter speed, or at a long focal length, the effects of ‘hand shake’ will be amplified. Some cameras come with built-in image stabilisation which is designed to act against this to produce sharper images. It’s great for low light shots without a tripod, like at a gig.
resolution (Megapixel)	0.49

Resolution (Pixels)	720x576
A camera sensor, that captures the photograph, is measured in pixels. The number given here is the horizontal amount of pixels followed by the vertical quantity of pixels. The more pixels a camera sensor has, the bigger and higher quality the image will be.
Manual Focus	Yes
Almost all modern cameras have autofocus. Manual focus allows you to override the autofocus and set the distance yourself. This is especially useful if your camera is struggling to focus in a low-light or confusing scene.
Dimensions (mm)	57x59x107
The size of the device in millimetres, in width x height x depth.
Battery Life in Hours	1.66
Battery life is important if you travel a lot. Long train journeys can be a pain if you don’t get more than 3 hours of life out of your laptop. It’s worth remembering that a lot of trains offer power sockets now so don’t be put off by a low battery life unless your lifestyle demands ultra portability.
Weight (g)	240
The weight of the product in grams.
Docking Station	No
A docking station, also known as a cradle, is used to rest your equipment whilst it charges and also allows transfer of data to a computer.
Monitor Resolution (pixels)	123200

Screen Size in Inches	2.7
Screen size is measured diagonally from corner to corner.
16:9 Recording Format	Yes
HDMI Interface	No
Like a scart interface but capable of carrying HD signals from or to other devices. You’ll need these to link your Playstation 3 or your Blu-ray player to your HD-ready TV.
USB Port	Yes
Socket for connecting devices such as a computers and other components
Hard Disk Capacity in GB	4
Hard Disk capacity is measured in GBs which stands for Gigabytes. A gigabyte is 1000 MB or megabytes. The more GB you have the more info like photos and music you can store.
Remote Control	No
Waterproof	No
If your camcorder is waterproof you will be able to film under water which is perfect for diving and snorkeling.
Digital Still Photography	Yes
A Digital Still Photography function on a camcorder allows you to use the camcorder as if it was a digital camera. Camcorders with photo function often save to a separate memory card such as an SD Card.
Night Recording	Yes
Night Recording is a special mode that allows you to record in low light situations.

Also known as: DCR-SX30, SONY DCRSX30, SONY DCRSX30EL, SONY DCRSX30ER, DCRSX30E, DCR-SX30E, Sony, Sony DCR-SX30E, DCRSX30R, DCRSX30S, SONY DCRSX30ES.CEH, SONY DCRSX30EL.CEH, SONY DCRSX30ER.CEH

Camcorders Buying Guide

Manufacturer's Description

Fun, easy shooting with ultra zoom

Very light and compact: fun, easy shooting with powerful 60x optical zoom. Crisp video quality on 4GB internal memory, or add optional Memory Stick™ to boost shooting time. Easy web uploads with supplied PMB software.

Small and light enough to keep with you

With less size and weight to carry, it’s easy to slip your camcorder into a pocket or bag: you can be sure it’s always with you, wherever you go.

Get closer than you’ve ever been before

It’s like packing a telescope with your camcorder. This incredible 60x zoom range makes sure that distant subjects fill the frame. You’ve never seen such amazing, detail-packed close-ups.

Close-up on clear, sparkling audio

You don’t want to be distracted by background chatter, rustling leaves and other off-camera noises when you’re focused on your subject. This super-smart microphone zooms in on the action when you do, letting you see – and hear – everything in close-up.

Have more fun with your video collection

It’s easy to manage your video clips and photos with Picture Motion Browser for your PC – included free with your camcorder. Sort, search and browse through all your clips and photos in an instant. Burn them to disc, email to friends or upload to social networking sites with a few clicks.

Super-fast backups

After shooting, it’s quick and easy to burn your footage onto DVD for safekeeping or sharing with friends. Just hook up the compact VRD-P1 DVDirect Express and burn those memories at super speed.

Compare prices for Sony DCR-SX30 on 21 Nov 2009

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