Why I buy this one ?
- Record high-definition (AVCHD) video directly to a 60GB HDD
- ClearVid CMOS sensor; Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens
- 2.7-inch widescreen hybrid touch-panel Clear Photo LCD Plus display
- Simultaneously capture video and 4.6-megapixel still images while recording. 6.1 megapixel still images as camera only
- Includes Handy Cam station; one touch AVCHD disc burn with optional accessory

Joy Systems offers this stuff with condition New, new for:

Price : $933.75 Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Wall Street Photo offers this stuff with condition New, new for:

Price : $1,435.69 Usually ships in 1-2 business days

DBROTH offers this stuff with condition New, new for:

Price : $1,439.99 Usually ships in 1-2 business days

What our customer's say!

"Not Mac compatible", I am using this camera, and it is nice. However, my biggest gripe is that it is not Mac compatible. Many creative types use a Mac, which comes with very nice movie software. I have both Macs and PCs, but would have preferred to use my Mac.

Because it wasn't compatible, I purchased Sony's Vegas, but would have been much happier using iMovie.


"Sony, always improving", Sony, getting better all the time: This is not my first video camera, I started about 20 years ago with the Betamovie and with it I've made videos with such good quallity that I didn't change it by the next one, the Video 8 because it still wasn't better until the first Hi8 appeared which was really better than the Video 8 and the Betamovie, after it I've been changing my video cameras each three or four years and once I've tested a Panasonic which wasn't bad but, I've always felt better with Sony, and each time I buy a new one, I find new good surprices, beeing them in the head of those products's tecnology.
The only one thing I would complain about this last one, the HDR-SR7, is not having the red light for the photo camera which you need to get focus in dark.

"Good cam tough format.", I think the obvious has been stated.
The camera does a great job with good lighting. Low level lighting is an issue.
I knew that before I bought.
I also knew to have Sony Vegas primed for the AVCHD formatted files.

Playback is difficult on slower processors and editing via a laptop even with core2 duo processors is rough.

I hook the camera up to the TV via the mini hdmi/usb thumb drive via PS3/USB cable to PS3/SD DVD with AVCHD as BR on PS3.

The battery life has been ok for my usage. A backup will be necessary for vacation/long shoots.

Controls and interface are user friendly and the "easy" button is nice for instant settings and shoot.

I am very happy with this camera.

"The camera is good but format is a problem", The camera has shot good videos but to play them you need a powerful computer. So unless you have a dual core high speed processor you may not like to view the videos... I returned mine as i didn't want to upgrade my laptop just for the sake of AVCHD video format... i don't know when this format problem will get resolved or probably i will wait till my current laptop is completely obsolete...

"Sony HDR-SR7 AVCHD Camcorder (handycam)", - Excellent design, 5.1 sound effect is too good
- I actually returned back this piece and opted for traditional Mini DV camcorder Sony DCR HC 96.

Reason for my frustration in SR7 was its compatibility issues. Its like once you buy this one, you would have to (almost) buy HD TV, HDMI cable and may be few costly softwares to work with high quality video format. Also it would require large amount of storage capacity and processing power (Yes, even though this is a hard drive model, processing is costly). And when I through of all these collectively, that package is something I cannot afford.

> Sony MUST provide HDMI cable with this buy when you are paying $1300 for it
> Since toshiba has signed off the video format war, sony would definitely come up with one good Blueray camcorder soon.. and then this camcorder would not be this hot.

MiniDV is still my favorite. I can easily get DVD quality, superb sharpness and colors. Yes there are some efforts to convert it from Mini DV to DVD but that one time work is ok if you are getting nice quality.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Simple and Great Video Quality", Brought this as a Christmas present. Tried it out over the New Year and the video was great, especially in high-def (when playing back directly from the camcorder to a HDTV). It was simple to use. Point and press the button to start the recording and press the button again to stop the recording. I do not do much editing, so can not comment on the other issues regarding editing software.

One issue is that as you transfer the video onto standard DVD, obviously you lose the hi-def aspects of the recording. And you do notice the difference. Although the standard DVD playback was good, why get a hi-def camcorder if you are going to save the video on standard recording media.

So now, I'm off to buy the Sony VRD-MC5 that can burn the hi-def video on to a standard DVD and play back in hi-def on a blu ray player.



"Great Buy!", My wife and I are nothing but pleased with this camcorder...we are both rookies to video cameras and it was very simple to operate....we really like the feature of taking 3 still pictures WHILE you are recording....we will be able to capture family memories for a long time.

"Amazing picture and sound quality in a convienient format", I was looking at many different HD camcorders in this price range before settling on the hard drive format due to its convienence and ease of transfer to a PC. I really liked the feature set on this model and decided to give it a try. I've been using it for about a month now and I have no doubt I made the right choice. The picture quality is very good at the highest bitrate setting (in bright light), and there is no reason to lower it with a 60 gig hard drive. The sound quality is also very good (when the wind isn't blowing) and the 5.1ch Dolby Digital encoding does a nice job of producing an accurate sound field for playback. The hard drive is silent, quick, and plenty big enough for anything I can imagine. This camcorder is very light, when I first bought a case for it I had to check to make sure the camera was actually still in there when I picked it up. There are, of course, a few cons. The picture quality degrades quickly as light goes down. Inside, at night with just an overhead light or end table lighting, the noise and compression artifacts become very noticable. The microphone picks up a lot of wind noise, and the process of making and burning a DVD movie with dolby digital encoding is nontrivial and unintuitive. The software that comes with the camera is OK but only as a medium for getting the video files into the much more useful software product, Song Vegas. This editor is going to cost you an additional $130. Also, the only software I've found that will burn a DVD with dolby digital surround enocoding is Sony's DVD architect studio, another $50. Finally, encoding, transcoding, rendering and manipulating the large HD files takes a long time on anything but a very high-end PC. Plan on letting the software work overnight. Overall I'm happy, and discounting the degree to which anyone is going to rate something they've bought and committed to higher than they would a non-owned product, I'd recommend this camcorder to anyone who is a technophile and loves HD home theater. For the average joe wanting a nice new camcorder, I'd say find something cheaper and simpler to implement.

"Great New Product--But You Will Be a Pioneer", I purchased this product as a gift for a new grandmother, who is bright, and loves high definition TV and Video, but who is NOT a technology geek. I did not realize that the "CODEC" which this camera uses to convert pictures to the 1's and 0's of digital pictures (i.e., "AVCHD"--which stands for Advanced Video Codec High Definition) is so cutting edge. Not all software for video editing can retrieve and edit files coded in this way. (Apparently Sony uses some of the same software it uses for its "Blu-Ray" high definition DVD technology to code information that is recorded on the internal hard disk of this camera.)

The practical implication of this is that not all current video editing software will import and edit AVCHD files. Be sure yours does. Or if you will be buying video editing software, be aware you need to check for AVCHD support before you fork over your credit card. (I chose "Pinacle Studio Ultimate" but that is a different story.)

A second practical consequence of being on the cutting edge is that many of the existing texts you look for to help may not be very helpful. Most of the self-help books I purchased assume you are recording to physical tapes (although they are recording digital files). The editing process appears to be quite different. For example, some of the digital video tape concerns appear NOT to apply for AVCHD files.

Turning to the digital video camera itself, this unit has fantastic image quality. The fold-out screen is great (and larger than not HD-screens, so it can show what you are recording in the correct HD height-to-width ratio. The controls are well thought out, and easily located, although some of the many ports it provides are best accessed thorough the accompanying docking platform.

The audio quality is superb and can be played on the 5-unit surround sound of your home stereo system (a hassle to set up but worth it). However, a criticism I have of the sound is that it tends to pick up ambient noise (such as wind if you are recording out-of-doors). I would strongly recommend a directional mike to be sure you can zero in on what you are filming if the surrounding sound is noisy. (The human brain cuts out much of the background sound. Video cameras haven't learned to duplicate this feat.)

A second minor criticism I have is that this expensive digital video camera does NOT come with the mini-HDMI connection cable. That is needed to hook up this HD camera to your HD television most simply and with the greatest fidelity of sound and video. Anyone who buys this camera will need one (or more--I bought four). Furthermore, the miniaturized HDMI port, which fits into the small camera (and docking station) out-port is not readily available (though this MAY change over time). I tried several Radio Shack Stores and Best Buy to buy a mini-HDMI cable, but they did not carry it. I could only buy this specialized HDMI cable from the internet. Frankly when one pays a thousand dollars (or more) for a high definition camera one expects it to include the cable needed for the best and simplest connection to a high definition television. (Sony can buy them much more cheaply than I can, & include it with the camera.)

All things considered, this camera is a great value. If you are going to spend the effort to make and edit video, you really should do so in the HD format (which is the wave of the future). If you are going with the HD format, it makes a great deal of sense to go with an internal hard drive.

I would certainly recommend this digital video camera to a friend or family member. (Though if I did, I would expect to be hit up for help in using it, and setting up editing.) It is said that one can tell technology pioneers by the arrows in their backs. If you don't mind being on the bleeding edge (or if as a matter of pride you HAVE to be there) this is a great product for you!

"awesome camcorder!", My wife and I recently bought this camcorder and we absolutely love it! Works great with Apple Macbook Pro's running OS X Leopard. Also, the hard disk drive based camcorders are definitely more convenient to use than those that use small tapes or mini-DVDs.