Sony HVR-DR60 60GB Hard Disk Recorder for Compatible Sony HDV and DVCam Camcorders

Customer Reviews:

Stop being CHEAP SONY.......2007-12-16

All the reviewers before me are completely correct. This device would score a perfect 5 Stars from me if it weren't for the lack of battery and charger. You are basically paying Sony $1,500 for a harddrive. Sony couldn't even including a batter in the box or a charger cable. This is how you alienate customers. The RED ONE by Oakley will be dropping in price and this may be the last time I buy a Sony product. WE ARE CUSTOMERS not your own CASH MACHINE Sony.

Good Concept - Less than ideal performance.......2007-11-04

Purchased this item in conjuction with the Sony V1U HDV camera, in hopes of speeding up capture and logging process via direct transfer of files to our editing system. This device has a great feature which allows the operator to automatically record (using sync mode) to tape and data simultaneously. Other positives include the 4+ hours of record time, and relative easy of setup. A large battery will be needed, making the camera heavier. Two problems arose during my use of this product:

1) If you are using Final Cut Pro, the .m2t files created by the hard drive will not read natively. Therefore, a secondary process of converting the files to quicktime is required. This, unfortunately, can take longer than just capturing from tape (depending on the speed of your machine), virtually canceling any workflow speed benefits.

2) For no apparent reason, certain shots did not record to the drive. I found these shots were on tape (i was shooting sync mode) but could not locate the files on the drive. This left me with the impression that I could not trust the device to be 100 percent accurate in recording capability, and that I would have a mismatch between tape and data content. I would also never trust the device as a standalone recording method.

I believe if you are using Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas, the .m2t files read natively. This may counter problem number 1. As for problem number 2, I am not sure if this particular drive is prone to this issue, or if I received a faulty one.

Excellent with one qualification.......2007-04-18

I use the Sony HVR-DR60 with a Sony HVR-V1U HDV camera (outstanding camera, by the way).

IF you are using the V1U camera (or, I think, the Z1U) you can sync the camera and the disk drive so when you start the cam, the drive starts recording. And it works flawlessly (so far -- about two months as of mid-April 2007). So you do not need to buy a HDV tape deck. And you do not need to worry about the tape transport of the camera failing (as happened to me with the Sony PD-170 DV camera).

BUT: two issues.

1. The camera has a (very useful) expanded focus feature, allowing to see more closely what your shooting and check the focus (not a problem if you're on set and are linked to a monitor, but in the field this is a huge help -- especially with hi-def, where all flaws are far more visible).

The expanded focus feature does _not_ work when you sync to the hard disk drive. (So you have to use the drives record button instead -- again, only an issue with cameras that allow you to sync in the first place.)

2. There is a switch for camera mode (when shooting) and computer mode (when downloading to you system). The switch could have been vastly better designed. And the drive uses a Firewire 400 connector (IEEE 1394, or iLink for Sonyish). Why not Firewire 800? And the connector seems a little loose to me.

ALL in ALL -- a great device with a couple of fairly minor weaknesses.

Product Description

Compatible with batteries: Canon BP-511 / BP-512 / BP-522 / BP-535. For Canon digital camera or camcorder : EOS D-series 10D / D60 / D30; PowerShot Pro90 IS / G1 / G2 / G3 / G5; MV-300 / MV-300i / MV-30i / MV-400i / MV-430i / MV-450i / MVXli; ZR60 / ZR65MC / ZR70MC / ZR40 / ZR45MC / ZR50MC / ZR10 / ZR20 / ZR25MC / ZR30MC; Optura PI / 100mc / 200MC 20 / 10...etc

Hitech - Charger for Canon Optura Xi Digital Camcorder

Average customer rating:

Hitech - Charger for Canon Optura Xi Digital Camcorder

Manufacturer: Hitech
ProductGroup: CE

Smart battery charger for Canon BP-511 & BP-522 digital camera battery
Compatible with Canon Optura Xi Digital Camcorder
Car adaptor included for charging battery inside your car
Portable and light weight charger.
Item described above is available at Hitech merchant.

ASIN: B000MT3G7I

Product Description

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