Typical price: £500
What is it: Hard drive-based camcorder with face indexing
What we think: With an annoying touchscreen interface and poor performance, the SR5E is an uninspiring product
Compare the Sony Handycam HDR-SR5E
Sony Handycam HDR-SR5E compared to other hard drive camcorders
![]() Sony Handycam HDR-SR5E |
![]() JVC Everio GZ-MC500 |
![]() Sony Handycam HDR-SR8 |
![]() Canon HG21 |
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| Review date | 13 Nov 07 | 22 Jul 05 | 3 Jul 07 | 1 Dec 08 |
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| Price range | £500 | |||
| Review summary | An uninspiring entrant in Sony's HD camcorder lineup, the Sony Handycam HDR-SR5E's video quality and performance simply don't deliver for the price Read full review |
Not only does it look like a professional camcorder, but the MC500's performance matches its appearance. Instead of the more common single CCD, the MC500 uses three separate CCDs to capture a far better clarity of colour. The biggest benefit of the MC500, however, is the size of the thing -- it's tiny Read full review |
The Sony HDR-SR8 and HDR-SR7, which has a smaller 60GB hard drive, are the Rolls Royce of movie cameras -- feeling like a million dollars, shooting like they're heading for Hollywood and handling like a dream. Tech-heads will need to look elsewhere, but everyone else will luxuriate in the effortlessly impressive high-definition movies – and probably struggle to fill that large hard drive Read full review |
The Canon HG21 is an excellent camcorder that does so many things right and hardly anything wrong. Our only concern is that it might be a victim of it's own success. Its flexibility means more more potential outlay on accessories, its huge hard drive means you're not likely to ever fill it, its assorted high-end features mean its pretty pricey. But we still love it Read full review |
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| Full specification | Full specification | Full specification | Full specification |
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