Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder
- 80GB Hard disk drive (up to 61hrs in LP mode)
- 60X Optical / 2000X Digital Zoom
- Professional quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens
- 2.7” Clear Photo™ LCD (230 K) display
- Direct Copy to external HDD w/o PC
The DCR-SR68 features a built-in 80GB hard disk drive for extended recording, as well as a professional-quality Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar® lens, which delivers sharp, high-resolution images, an LED video light, and a powerful 60x optical zoom that lets you capture extremely tight shots, even from far away.
Rating: 
(out of 15 reviews)
List Price: $ 349.00
Price: $ 317.00
Review by soldier for Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
I bought this with 3 basic needs, 1.I wanted something compact, 2. I wanted the capability to take pictures. 3. I wanted it to have a night vision light. You would think these 3 things would be easy to find in many cameras at a decent price range, but they were not! So how did this fair up? This camera is one of the most compact, even smaller than I expected. 2. It’s picture taking ability I was least impressed with. It was pretty grainy. 3. The night vision light was pretty weak, but hey I expected that for such a small camera. The battery life with the standard battery was about avg. 4 hrs. As far as working the camera, it was VERY simple, figured it out in 5 minutes w/o reading instructions, needless to say, there are VERY few menu screens, touch screen is kinda nice, but would also liked to have the capability to tape w/the viewfinder closed. All in all, i’m pretty happy w/the purchase, just don’t buy it if you want it to take good pictures, i’ve had phones that took clearer pictures.
Review by MTh for Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
I purchased this camera at a store, believing the SONY brand name and previous good reviews about similar Sony camcorders. There are several flaws to this product.
Cons
1. Picture quality is very poor, Indoor and outdoor pictures in good light appear with a bluish tint all over. If you wear a white /gray cloth it appears bluish on video. Like wise the sunlight coming inside your house through window /blinds all appears light blue!! Even with good lighting the quality of images are very bad, lacks sharpness, This in comparison to my old Panasonic PV GS120 is not even close to true color. If you view the pictures on a TV screen it will definitely appear lacking the sharpness. If you are transferring the video to computer using the supplied software it appears very blurry and grainy.
2. There is no way you can charge the battery when camcorder is in use even if there is a spare battery because the battery charging is done hooking up the AC adapter to the camcorder! This seems really stupid. Sony could have made a battery slot on the AC adapter to do this.
3. There is no separate viewfinder. So if the LCD is broken- everything is gone.
4. Audio quality does not seem to be that good but average.
5. I can not find the resolution of the camera for still shots, nothing is mentioned in the manual either. You can not shoot a still picture while recording the video, you have to capture it from the video shots already made. Yea the resolution does not matter in that case.
6. Battery life approximately less than an hour
7. The LED for lighting seems silly
Pros
1. Small size, you can carry in Pants pocket
2. Provision to use SDHC card instead of the “Sony’s own” memory stick duo only. I have not used one yet though.
3. LCD is very clear and sharp (good resolution), and it responds well to the touch.
4. Video transfer is quick and easy once the basic Sony software is installed. I would use some other software to edit it though.
5. 80 GB storage space is great
6. The Sony software has a calendar to see events on a chronological order, that looks great if you are time conscious about the video
Overall I am not satisfied with this camcorder. I will return it soon.
Review by A. Agbay for Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
I bought this at a store, not Amazon. I read good reviews about earlier models, and was a bit hesitant to buy this camera because a few people said the video quality was bad. I took the risk, but they were right. The video (and digital picture) quality are unacceptable. Even in decent lighting, the pictures are very dark and grainy, as if they were taken by an old webcam. Even at high quality, there was no improvement. Also, the autofocus was very poor and did not adjust to fast-moving subjects. Don’t be fooled if you try it in a store; the LCD screen has great resolution (better than an iPod) but when you see the video on a computer screen (even when not blown to full size) or on a projection screen, the video quality is so bad. It looks average on a traditional TV. And the zoom mic also does not capture sound effectively. I was going to use this for business videography, but it would have been embarrassing to use this camcorder. I suspect similar camcorders (i.e. 1/6 CCD) may have similar inferior quality. The size, zoom quality, and touch screen might be nice features, but my Canon A570 digital camera from four years ago took better video.
Review by Tiffany Morrison for Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
After a lot of searching and comparing I decided to purchase the sony handycam dcr-sr68. I was starting a documentary business and did not have a lot of money to get going, so cost was a factor. I am extremely happy with the quality of video I get from this lightweight camcorder. Highlights: very lightweight, cost effective, incredible 60x zoom, great battery life (recorded over 4 hours and the battery was still going strong), very easy to use with the touchscreen, takes still photos that are good (not great) quality, easy to use touchscreen, software that comes with it makes it easy to convert the files to wmv files and you can burn directly to a dvd in one touch, internal memory is amazing-80gb internal and you can also add a media card. I recorded 4 hours and didnt even use half of the space. Downfalls: recording sound outdoors is not so good. You can hear yourself well, but others not so well. Indoors it is great. Overall, very happy!
Review by gino62 for Sony DCR-SR68 80GB Hard Disk Drive Handycam Camcorder
Rating:
Very Nice camera.
Pros:
Controls are intuitive.
Battery charge time is minimal.
Video and sound quality is good. It’s not HD, what do you expect?
Software works seemlessly with Windows 7.
Portability. (Fits in your pocket)
Zoom, focus and adjustments to different lighting conditions are fast.
Cons:
Software could include a couple more options, like alternate soundtrack capability, and the e-mail function is a little vague.
Summation: Well worth the price. If you want HD quality, this may not be for you. If you want ease of operation and portability, look no further.