I would like to ask for some opinions here... I apologize in advance for the long post, but I think it will help explain our needs for a camera.
My wife & I have a 14 year old daughter who absolutely LOVES volleyball, and is quite good at. And my wife loves it as well, and is the typical "soccer mom" for our daughter. They go to extra practices at the Y, go to pick-up games at school 2-3 times per week at the school over the summer...well anyway, you get the picture. And myself, I am a computer nut and love to mess with audio recording (SONAR and Pro Tools) and also recently purchased the Vegas Pro suite, and built a quad-core PC running XP, especially suited for processing audio & video.
So the natural course for us was to purchase a video camera. As a physician, I typically research different options before making a purchase such as a camcorder. So we ended up with a Sony DCR-SR45 with a 30gb hard drive, and it's certainly OK...but nothing to write home about. I read the reviews about how its picture quality is not the best, but we liked the camera and after looking at them in the store and recording with them (and watching the recording on the small monitor), it didn't look terrible to us, so we bought it. But the only one they had left was an open box, so they gave us a discount--after we checked it out thoroughly in the store. Everything seemed to work fine. But when we started using it, the factory-supplied battery...it doesn't hold a charge. Also the camera doesn't link up with XP all that well, even with the latest Sony XP driver. We also bought a wide-angle lens and a 30-to-34mm adapter.
Well, after using this camera several times and being underwhelmed with the picture quality, and the gyrations we go through to get the camera to sync with my PC and XP, I think it's time to make a change. We can still take the thing back, as we haven't had it for 30 days. And the fact that it was an open-box unit makes me think that someone else had the same problem maybe? There was no explanation from the salesman, other than "well, if we have it in the cabinet for sale, then someone has checked it out." And indeed--the camera works fine. It's only when you try to sync it up with XP that there's an issue.
So finally... I need some opinions on an HD camera. I really like the looks of the Sony HDR-SR11, and the benefits of buying one would be that we can use the same extra battery and wide-angle lens from the unit we have now. But the other camera that I have been looking at is the JVC Everio GZ-HD7. Some of the reviews have been luke-warm, but it seems as those were from people that maybe thought it was a "point & shoot" kind of a rig. But both my wife & I are the type of people to read the manual and learn the device, and how to obtain the best results...learning as we go.
So can I get some opinions of these two cameras? I think for us that the Sony might be the best choice--as we can use the other accessories that we've already purchased. And I think that the price is a few hundred dollars less than the Everio's will be. But I like some of the results I have seen online with the Everio, so it's worth at least considering. We have decided that having an eye-piece is important to us, but frankly I know there are features of each that we might not be considering--simply because we aren't familiar with their function or purpose. But you have to start somewhere, and that's why I thought I should ask here.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long post and render your opinion.
TB
My wife & I have a 14 year old daughter who absolutely LOVES volleyball, and is quite good at. And my wife loves it as well, and is the typical "soccer mom" for our daughter. They go to extra practices at the Y, go to pick-up games at school 2-3 times per week at the school over the summer...well anyway, you get the picture. And myself, I am a computer nut and love to mess with audio recording (SONAR and Pro Tools) and also recently purchased the Vegas Pro suite, and built a quad-core PC running XP, especially suited for processing audio & video.
So the natural course for us was to purchase a video camera. As a physician, I typically research different options before making a purchase such as a camcorder. So we ended up with a Sony DCR-SR45 with a 30gb hard drive, and it's certainly OK...but nothing to write home about. I read the reviews about how its picture quality is not the best, but we liked the camera and after looking at them in the store and recording with them (and watching the recording on the small monitor), it didn't look terrible to us, so we bought it. But the only one they had left was an open box, so they gave us a discount--after we checked it out thoroughly in the store. Everything seemed to work fine. But when we started using it, the factory-supplied battery...it doesn't hold a charge. Also the camera doesn't link up with XP all that well, even with the latest Sony XP driver. We also bought a wide-angle lens and a 30-to-34mm adapter.
Well, after using this camera several times and being underwhelmed with the picture quality, and the gyrations we go through to get the camera to sync with my PC and XP, I think it's time to make a change. We can still take the thing back, as we haven't had it for 30 days. And the fact that it was an open-box unit makes me think that someone else had the same problem maybe? There was no explanation from the salesman, other than "well, if we have it in the cabinet for sale, then someone has checked it out." And indeed--the camera works fine. It's only when you try to sync it up with XP that there's an issue.
So finally... I need some opinions on an HD camera. I really like the looks of the Sony HDR-SR11, and the benefits of buying one would be that we can use the same extra battery and wide-angle lens from the unit we have now. But the other camera that I have been looking at is the JVC Everio GZ-HD7. Some of the reviews have been luke-warm, but it seems as those were from people that maybe thought it was a "point & shoot" kind of a rig. But both my wife & I are the type of people to read the manual and learn the device, and how to obtain the best results...learning as we go.
So can I get some opinions of these two cameras? I think for us that the Sony might be the best choice--as we can use the other accessories that we've already purchased. And I think that the price is a few hundred dollars less than the Everio's will be. But I like some of the results I have seen online with the Everio, so it's worth at least considering. We have decided that having an eye-piece is important to us, but frankly I know there are features of each that we might not be considering--simply because we aren't familiar with their function or purpose. But you have to start somewhere, and that's why I thought I should ask here.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long post and render your opinion.
TB