Sony TG3 High Definition Digital Camcorder
£414.99
Great video images but stills not so good - This is a beautiful camera. It feels surprisingly solid for such a small object. Video images taken with this camera is superb but because the camera is so small that without supporting it against something solid you get quite a shaky image if you zoom in. The 4 megapixel still images are not good enough to produce a 10x8 print from it - which is a shame because the rotatable flip screen is ideal for composing candid photos and taking image from high and low angles. This also means carrying 2 cameras if you want to combine taking stills and video. If you buy this camera, I suggest you carry a spare battery with you as you might find you run out of power just in the middle of taking Spielberg beating footage
The Sony TG3 is an excellent product - Been looking for a decent quality full 1080 HD camera for a while now and this is not only the best quality I have seen it is also one of the best designed with it s titanium casing and sleek minimal design. On my blog it made my top 50 gadgets for Christmas gifts this year and will be a strong contender for a while as none of the others on the market come close to the quality. The only bad points I will note is:1. If you want it on the very best quality video footage 4GB card included will only record about 30mins of video. If you put it in to HD SP mode it will record a good 70mins which for most people is still amazing. I suggest you buy a 8GB or 16GB card if you need the really best quality.2. They don t include a hardcase which for a £400+ camera really should be a standard.So if you are wondering do I pay the extra to get this camera - the answer is yes, as the other cheaper handhelds HD camcorders will disappoint you and be a waste of money.
Sony HDR-TG3 handycam - I have just taken delivery of my delightful Sony HDR-TG3 handycam. I chose this camera for 2 reasons: Firstly, there are similar looking products by other manufacturers but I always go with what I know and Sony make fantastic quality gadgets - I was not disappointed. Secondly, I like the design. I almost went for the HDR-CX11E. Clearly it s a better spec d cam and obviously it costs more but I m new to camcorders and I wanted something that was a little less intrusive. I think when you are wandering about with a traditional camera, that is, one where you place you hand through a grip, people tend to freeze, clam-up and demand you switch it off. With this one, it s a little less in-your-face. It s simple and it s more discreet....So, yesterday a knock on the door and the postie hands me my box from Amazon. I couldn t contain my excitement. The packaging, a minor issue I know, was like opening an old 2G Apple ipod (for those of you that had one - you ll remember the packaging was as much a work of art as the device, unlike now of course). Then I found it. In it s own little compartment at the bottom of the box, wrapped in a dark brown hessian-like fabric. Behold, my new TG3!!! It just oozed quality. Sony have come up trumps with this on looks and feel alone!!I left it to charge for a couple of hours and then tried it out. It s an absolute doddle to use. The menu is easy to navigate and fairly straight forward. Some of the icons have an explanation at the bottom of the screen. The screen is quite small for it s touchscreen functionality especially if you have fingers like turkey drummers (like me!). However, that aside, the camera is so easy to use. Just point & shoot. It s a thumb operated record button and the zoom is operated by the same thumb. It was a bit fiddly for the first few seconds but after that no problems. The stills-camera operation, whilst filming, is again operated by the same thumb. Again, easy. The pictures, at 4MP, appear to be very good.If you want to play your footage back on the TV you get a selection of leads in the box but NO HDMI!! So I had to go out and buy one. The cheapest was £20.00 s!!! Very annoying!! Making movies, editing, whatever, is a bit beyond my technical capabilities at the moment. I use a 3yr old intel imac running Mac OS X 10.4.11. I ve read on other write-ups that I will need the latest Leopard OS and imovie 08 and then it will be very simple. As it is, when I plug the TG3 into my mac via the USB cable (supplied), nothing happens!!NEGATIVES: I haven t had it long enough yet. I m very pleased with the picture quality (although it s not so good in low-light conditions - quite a lot of noise). The zoom lever is a bit fiddly and the compartment cover to access the battery and memory card tries to open itself if the camera moves slightly in your grip. But overall a well deserving 4 out of 5* s.I m off now to go and play with my new toy. In the meantime, I hope this review helps you decide. And buy from Amazon with confidence. I ve saved myself almost £150.00 s!!!
BEWARE - Proprietary Software Nightmare - As with all Sony Products the hardware is first class but they absolutely ruin this following their pathological obssession with proprietary software. Whereas most other technology manufacturers are focusing on total compatibility, Sony remains the antithesis to this in some forelorn belief that it will make them more money. Please, before you spend a penny/cent on a Sony product conduct significant research and ensure that being able to hold a really nice HD Camera and do nothing else (edit/watch on PC/MAC etc) is really what you want. As a final point Sony, if you are reading this, please change your corporate direction, it is archaic, your technology is excellent and you could have so many more customers if you did.
Just superb and easy to use - First of all,well done to Amazon for yet another great online shoppingexperiance (ordered mid afternoon delivered next morning).This camcorder is my 4th over the last 12 years and is certainly the best yet,amazing price considering my 1st camcorder cost me £1,600.Video quality is amazing even after copying to a standard DVD (I recorded video footage using the max quality settings)as the transfer to DVD is automatically done in SD mode.so you record in high detail and make both HD (AVCHD) & standard copies.I wont bore you with more detail as all that is available here & elsewhere,what I will say is - GO GET ONE.