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| Brand: Sony
Category: Photography
List Price: $549.99
Buy New: $379.00
You Save: $170.99 (31%)
New (10) from $379.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  77 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Optical Zoom: 40
Display Size: 2.5
Maximum Focal Length: 76
Minimum Focal Length: 1.9
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 7 x 6.5
MPN: DCRSR42
Model: SR42
UPC: 027242713659
EAN: 0027242713659
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Nice little camera, unless you are a Mac user July 21, 2007
32 out of 33 found this review helpful
I will start with the bad first......
This camera and included software is NOT Mac compatible. Not to say you can't use it with a Mac, just not as easy as it should be. From what I understand many other Sony products are Mac compatible (including DV tape based video cameras), so I am not sure why their HDD cameras aren't. The Manual only explains how to transfer images to your computer using the included software. I had to figure out how to get the images into my Mac on my own and it is a fairly long process. Importing 1.07GB worth of video took 20+ minutes to get into the computer. Once it is finally in the computer, you will have to convert the MPG2 files into DV files if you want to use it in IDVD or Imovie. This is also a long process and requires the purchase of additional software. I am not able to use some of the features like the direct to disc burn feature on the camera. I also can't use some of the features on the Apple software that requires you to load video direct from your camera. Although I blame Apple for not allowing the use of MPEG2 files in their software, I also blame Sony for not including some sort of simple software or instructions on getting the files into your Mac.
My other complaint is the Manual. It includes a "guide" that constantly tells you to refer to the "handbook" which only comes on the disc in PDF. The 140+ page handbook includes instructions for at least 1/2 a dozen models and every you look it says except for this model or except for that model. Very hard to follow. For the cost of this camera, it should have had a hard copy manual specific to this model.
As far as the battery issue others are having, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem for me. I don't leave it on in stby mode too often and I always put it back on the dock at the end of the day. Most cameras come with the entry level batteries and longer life batteries are available.
Now for the good...
The size is amazing, it is comfortable to hold and easy to use.
Picture quality is pretty good considering they are compressed MPEG2 images.
A DV tape based camera does not compress the video and is a little better quality, but the trade off of not having any tape or discs was more important to me. Not having to worry about tape is great and 30GB is plenty of room for hours of video.
The 40X optical zoom is also great, which is the highest I found in any HDD camera including Sony's more expensive models.
Bottom line is it is a nice camera, but think about how much trouble you are willing to go through if you own a Mac.
 Very user friendly for a first timer April 13, 2007
27 out of 31 found this review helpful
I bought this camcorder this past week, never had my own camcorder before, I took about 4 hours after looking at this product to think about if I really wanted to spend the money. After 4 hours I decided to get it and I love it. Its very user friendly, video comes out crisp and audio is great. I like how there is no worry with dvds or tapes since it has a hard drive. I know that this camcorder will come in handy for years to come!!
Zoom is great, works with Mac October 1, 2007
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
I read a review on this product that said it didn't work well with Macs. However, iMovie included with iLife '08 has great support for it. I plugged it in, hit the "Computer" button on the touch screen of the camera, and iMovie imported my movies with no problems. The resolution on those movies didn't seem that great, but I'm sure it's a user mistake somehow. I have updated my recording mode to high res but have not made any movies at this setting yet. The included software is not needed with a Mac as far as I can tell. I never looked at the CDs that came with it, so I have no idea if there is even Mac software included.
Camera is easy to use, setup was a snap, and the touch screen is a neat 'touch'. I would recommend the 'Sony NPFH70 H Series Actiforce Hybrid InfoLithium Battery' with this camera (and the charger to go with it), as it touts 6.5 hours of recording vs. the 1.5 hours of the included battery.
Great camera, but not perfect December 29, 2007
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
I bought this from AMZN for Christmas for my wife. I was seriously considering buying the JVC Everio GZMG130 as it seemed the nearest comparable product. I looked at both models closely at Circuit City for quite some time, but ultimately chose the Sony.
What I like:
- Great size.
- Superior picture quality (by my own unsophisticated testing) to the JVC. Several user reviews I read elsewhere about the JVC seem to confirm this.
- NO MEDIA!!!! This is HUGE!
- I like the NightShot feature that uses infrared.
What I don't like:
- No USB interface directly on the camera, (I think the JVC had this) so you have to carry the stupid docking station (albeit quite small) with you if you wish to connect to a computer while away.
- The bundled software is useless.
- As others have mentioned, you'll have to get an MPEG-2 decoder from a 3rd party to use the video files from the camera directly on your computer.
- The touch screen was a selling point for me when I was looking in the store, but I've decided it's actually a minus, not a plus. The idea of touching/pointing at the thing you want to do seems great, but too many controls (for example, volume) are buried in the on-screen menu and do not have an external control button/knob. Also, you get greasy fingerprints all over your viewscreen and you can't use it with gloves. :(
- No viewfinder (although I think most cameras in this price range do not have one).
Lessons Learned:
- Trying to plunk through the useless software and being unable to view the video footage natively on my PC caused me no end of frustration. A Google search for MPEG-2 decoder will yield TONS of results, and you'll have to do a lot of wading/experimenting, but you CAN get a decoder for free to solve this problem. However that was a frustrating experience.
- My solution to both problems (usable editing software and a good decoder) came in Adobe Premiere Elements.
All complaints aside, this really is a GREAT camera and is a huge improvement over the 8mm tape camcorder it replaced in terms of features, battery life, and picture quality. In my personal opinion, the HDD-based camcorders are the sweet spot in the consumer segment and are worth the extra expense compared to the DVD or tape solutions.
 This camera does NOT come with Mac-compatible software January 19, 2008
22 out of 28 found this review helpful
While I have no complaints about the basic functionality of the DCR-S42 that I just bought, I am tremendously annoyed that it is basically non compatible with the Macintosh OS (or any OS other than Windows).
I had reviewed several cameras, knew that I wanted a hard disk camera and already owned a couple of Sony digital cameras and an earlier Sony digital movie camera, so with the excellent low price, I bought the DCR-SR42 without thinking about it too much. After returning from a trip, I set about downloading the movies to my Macintosh. The first thing I noticed was that the software that came with the camera was for Windows only. No Mac or Linux support at all. That was a little annoying and most unusual since for about the last 10 or 15 years, basically all consumer electronics that interface with computers have come with support for all operating systems. But no big deal - I just hooked up a USB cable and my clever Mac recognized the Sony as another disk drive and so I copied the files over in the Finder.
They were readily recognized by the Finder as .mpg files, but when I double clicked on one to open it, I got an error from Quicktime that said the file was corrupt. I then tried opening it in Windows Media Viewer for Macintosh and got the same error. A little googling revealed that the file format used by the camera is MPEG-2 which is not supported by any of the leading video applications for Macintosh. You need to buy additional software from Apple or a 3rd party vendor. When I called Sony to verify this they said "Sorry. That's right. We do not support the Mac OS".
I am furious about this. It was not advertised on the box (or in any of the reviews I read). Certainly I can get around this but for a huge company like Sony to not include all the software needed to transfer its movies to ANY OS is really bush league stuff. And why choose MPEG-2 anyhow? Thus my low rating. Anyway, be forewarned. You will have to upgrade at least to Quicktime Pro and/or an MPEG-2 plug in for Quicktime in order to play or manipulate your movies on a Mac.
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