Product ReviewsSony DCR-SX40 4 GB Camcorder - Silver

Old but useful

I bought this older video camera to use in my work doing live bee removals. Primarily for the enhanced zoom features so that I can get a good look at how bees are doing in remote locations I have set trap boxes for them to remove them from structures such as house roofs, chimneys, soffit, building decks, etc...

I can take ok still photos, but more importantly, very good videos to study bees behavior off site and to show clients progress or problems.

I only have to charge it once a week, maybe twice in lots of use and it holds the charge very well.

Buying a brand new cam for this use wasn't worthwhile but I have been pleasantly surprised at the performance of this camera.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: joepawnmn

A great camera that is stylish and easy to use.

If you're looking for an affordable, simple to use video camera, then this camera is for you. It weighs only a few ounces so it's easy to carry around. It shoots sound in Dolby Digital and while the picture quality is decent and digital, it's not High Def, it's only Standard Def.

The battery life is just over 2 hours (I bought mine used, so battery life may differ from camera to camera of the same model #) and the internal 8GB memory (I have the DCR-SX41 model) will hold around 2 hours of video. You can also extend the memory by using a Sony MemoryStick Pro, which is as small as a SD card. It will not work with SD cards though.

It also takes still pictures in addition to full motion video. It is very easy to use and navigate around aka "idiot proof". It comes with software, but with Windows 7 you don't need it. Just plug the USB cable to the camera and the other end into the PC and go.

The only thing that's negative about this camera, is that it does not have a light on the front or NightShot built in, so you can't use it in the dark. It does have some kind of crappy "backlight" thing that is of no help in low light situations. To put it bluntly: this camera sucks for using it at night.

This is the only downfall this camera has, but overall it's a good camera.Read full review...

TO RECORD VIDEO great!, want still pics? buy a digital camera!

Well its easy to use, display touch lets you delete, record, change function, change settings... Its a CAMCORDER, not a DIGITAL CAMERA, so don't expect it to take good pictures, cause they look pixelated and very cheap, but the image of the video is quite good "for the price", I have to use it on HQ cause otherwise I dont like how the image appears, but thats just me, I took it to the beach, it was really windy and the wind feedback its captured on the audio, so better to use it on low wind to no wind situation. No flash, the internal memory supports an hour of video on HQ, the Battery fully charged works for aprox. 1.5 hours. The microphone its really sensible so you will hear everything you record, plus when you play the video on the camcorder it sounds well.Read full review...

Excited

I bought this for my daughter to start recording events of my three-year-old granddaughter's life. She's very excited to get to use it once we are able to get the right size memory card because the one included with this set to make it a more attractive deal is not the one that is compatible with this camera. So I can't quite rate the ease-of-use on this product since we haven't really been able to do that yet but the one picture I did take as a sample turned out really sharp and clear. I am sure she is going to enjoy itRead full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: capvader

Good with compromises

I got his camcorder to see what the new flash type are all about. I got it used at a good price so I feel I'm ahead no matter what. After reading many scary reviews after I got it I thought I bought a piece of junk...However, after trying I see how some can feel it is inferior. First, if you try to use media player the file is not recognized so I had to use the AVS Viewer and yes the video was questionable. Also on USB, my Toshiba DVD recorder won't recognize the unit. So I tried the AV cables and indeed made a great looking and sounding video albeit an analog to digital copy. Still looked great and sounded great. A high capacity battery is a good idea and the one I got lasts for 9 hours plus so I got a Sony 16GB memory stick to take advantage of all that extra time. OK, the camera says this memory card may or may not record and play back images corectly. Bummer, but when I also made an analog to digital DVD it looked great and plays fine. So if you can get this thing for under $90 and can live with the quirks and type of DVD recording it's quite good and fits in your pocket ready to shoot video and decent still images as well.Read full review...

Small compact easy to use but screen so small hard to see on.

Screen so small that zooming in does not show a clear picture. I will try on a different monitor with a cable that I just purchased to see if that helps. Otherwise very lightweight and easy to use.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: norm1968blueblue

Here's my opinion for the Handycam

Overall, I really like this camera. I had considered the same camera with a hard drive but chose to go with the flash memory instead. I still do not know if the hard drive if replaceable if it crashes or do you need to buy a new camera. Since there are no mechanical parts with flash memory, I felt that option was more reliable.

The 4G of internal memory can store about 3 hours of video. Compared to my old 8mm handycam, a tape was good for about 2 hours. I have 2 memory cards (4G) and even tough you can get 8G or 16G cards, I typically convert to DVD when I have about 90 minutes of recorded video. My thought is if I incidentally fill up a card, I can use the internal memory as additional storage capacity and combined, that is about 6 hours of video. If I max out the internal memory as well, then I still have another card for an added 3 hours. Even if I am on vacation, I can not see myself burning up 9 hours of video.

This Handycam also comes with 8G and 16G of internal memory for an additional $100+. Keep in mind, I use the internal memory only for added storage capacity just in case I run out of room on my card. I never plan on using the internal memory so why fork out the extra money. You may plan on using the camera differently which may justify the added cost but I am just sharing I'm using the camera.

The camera can also take photos however the picture quality is poor. The quality is about as good as taking a picture with your cell phone. I have a digital SLR which I use for taking pictures and I did not purchase this Handycam because of it's photo capability.

The Sony software is fairly simple to use. It is not necessarily the greatest but in terms of converting video to DVD, it does just fine. You can also convert video clips to WMV files easily which can be shared with family via email. For instance, I have made short clips of my son scoring goals in soccer or my daughter running track/cross country. I may look into other video editting software at some point but for now, the default Sony software is serving its purpose.

In summary, the camera is excellent in terms of video. Not so good for photos. Would I recommend this camera to you..........absolutely.Read full review...

Excellent camera, small size, great performance!

The camera is great. It has a low price and very compact size that allows to take it anywhere. It has a very good quality video recording. The battery is acceptable. It last about 110 min in recording mode and about 130 min in photo mode.

The menus are kind of difficult at the beginning but you'll get used to them. The most amazing thing is the zoom power. It has 60X Optical Zoom. You can see very clear things that are really long from you. For it's size, that is just great.

You can expand it's 4GB Internal Memory with Memory Stick Pro Duo up to 16GB. In summary, it's compact, has a low price, excellent performance and easy to use.

I believe that if you need a camera for basic home video footage, this is the camera you need to buy.Read full review...

Handy and portable videocamera without compromising quality of video

This is my second purchase of the exact same model.

The zoom and focus is pretty good as long as you have stable hands or have something to lean on for stability like a wall or table.

The best part is you have the 3 video quality options that will determine the length of recording. In simple words, the higher the video quality the shorter recording space you have. Also, very small and compact.

I bought a used one for only $50!!! What a steal!! For a regular price, I would pay maybe $200 for this camera...Read full review...

SONY DCR-SX40 4GB HDD HYBRID HANDYCAM CAMCORDER SONY D

Great video camera and takes amazing quality still picture. Very small and easy to handle and I love being able to use the card or its internal memory. Very easy to use on the fly, because its so easy to understand.Read full review...