ip5 fragile sony step child
Written: Dec 10 '05
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Pros: small, portable
Cons: fragile, expensive, unsupported, not digital unless you use their software.
The Bottom Line: unless you think its too cute to pass up or your friend gets sick of his and dumps it on you, try something else.
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| brrowla's Full Review: Sony Handycam DCR-IP5 Micro MV Camcorder |
I bought the ip5 with some disposable income, had a new child i wanted to capture in a nicer format than the 8mm i was using. One thing i didnt gather from the "expert" at best buy or the box was that it uses a sony proprietary format, only useable in windows with their software. sony didnt produce a single update thru the entire life of the camera. The tapes are made of moist rice paper. That is.. they are fragile and suceptable to contamination as well as expensive. They love to get eaten by the camera. I thought the camera was eating the tapes, but it turns out the tapes are force feeding themselves by sticking to the clean rollers etc. Ok so now i keep the tapes in the house in ziplocks. It has a couple good points. It takes decent movies (on par with my analog pro equipment) but its completely pointless to import digitaly. it takes an hour to import an hour, at least. Then it has to be exported (second generation) into a useable format. then if its final resting place is a dvd it has to be exported (third generation) again. Digital or not, it loses in each translation. all told camera to dvd you're looking at a 4-6:1 time ratio. 1 hour takes a day to put on a dvd. SO you're better off using the svideo cord that comes with it and hooking it to your canopus converter or dvd recorder directly. In which case its second pro is the only one left. You can put it in your pocket and have it when you need it (if you can trust that it wont eat your tape) its a neat little camera to have around for shooting video when you cant be lugging good equipment. But at an original MSRP of $1000 us you might hesitate to bring it anywhere. Finding one for $50 - 200 on ebay might be well worth while. But dont bother with a NIB version at $700, you'd be much happier with a canon dv camera.
Battery power is decent with the extended battery.
had it eat my precious moments for who knows why.
viewfinder fell apart while still on warranty.
tapes are expensive and fragile hard to find probably out of production.
sony denies ever producing it :)
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 900
Recommended for: Trendsetters - Hip and Stylish Gadgets
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Epinions.com ID:
brrowla
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Reviews written: 4
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