Sony Handycam HDR-SR7E review

Sharing a perch at the top of Sony's HD prosumer camcorder line, the Handycam HDR-SR7E manages to combine a raft of cutting-edge capabilities without forgetting that its primary function is capturing high-quality HD video.

This facility still doesn't come cheap or easy, but if you've got the money and the patience, the SR7E delivers the bang you've been wanting, for around £800.

Design
Along with its trio of siblings -- the tape-based HDR-HC7, the flash-based CX6EK, and the DVD-based UX7E -- the SR7E uses Sony's 1/2.9-inch, 3.2-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor, recording video at 2.3-megapixel (HD) or 1.7-megapixel (SD) resolution before downsampling and encoding to 1080i HD -- 1,440x1,080 pixels -- or SD -- 720x480 pixels, respectively.

It also shoots photos at native 2.3-megapixel (16:9) or 3-megapixel (4:3) resolutions, despite the grandiose 6-megapixel claim on the body, which refers to a maximum interpolated resolution. It sports a 10x zoom Zeiss T*-coated lens and 5.1 Dolby surround-sound recording.

Features
If all you plan to do is play the video back on an HDTV, the SR7E is a great fit. For editing, though, there are still some hurdles to jump. Most important, the AVCHD format used by Sony, Panasonic and Canon for file-based HD recording faces some glitchy-to-nonexistent software support.

In Sony's case, it really should drop the feeble Picture Motion Browser software bundle and include the more functional Vegas Video Movie Studio Platinum Edition, at least for the folks who drop nearly £1,000 on the HD Handycams. Other cutting-edge pitfalls include a mini-HDMI connector -- Type C, which requires a cable that's not yet ubiquitous and support for the mostly still unviewable x.v.Colour -- xvYCC -- colour space.

That's all unfortunate, because the SR7E otherwise delivers a very good HD experience. From a design and operation perspective, it has everything we liked about the HC7. It weighs a bit less -- 530g without battery -- but feels similarly comfortable to hold and shoot. Only using the touchscreen requires an awkward two-handed balancing act.

Though inconvenient for menu navigation, the LCD otherwise works well and remains visible in harsh lighting. We generally prefer shooting with an eye-level viewfinder, though, and wish Sony had padded the hard plastic eyecup. Like most of Sony's consumer models, the SR7E incorporates the love-it-or-hate-it touchscreen interface. We fall more into the hate-it camp, especially on the SR7E's smaller 16:9, 69mm (2.7-inch) LCD.