very impressed with quality and very conscience of the light weight, and ease of use. Picture is clear and vivid.  Really easy enough for the amituer to use.  Hope  you will give it a try.  Found it easy to down load to computer,,,,small enough to put in over size pocket.  Easy to delete any pic you don't like..

grams

Wichita Falls, TX

After carefully comparing current options on the market, I am very glad that I chose this particular product.  It is easy to use, and convenient to transport wherever I go.  The small size should not fool you--this is a quality item, lightweight, and very fun to use.

sjveth

Ben Wheeler, TX

From afar, the right side of the HV20 has a familiar horizontal design akin to the Sony HC7, albeit with a fresh coat of silver paint. These camcorders have similar tape hatch designs. Only on the HV20, you'll find the microphone jack, AV/headphone jack, and component terminal hiding behind a rubberized port cover toward the lens end of the camcorder. Although we've blasted Canon in the past for equipping their camcorders with flimsy plastic port covers, the HV20 proudly sports a burly, flexible enclosure. Mounting both the mic and headphone jacks in one location is easy on the memory. But because Canon condensed the headphone and AV jacks into one, make sure you manually select the correct mode, or you'll be treated to a raucous surprise outlined in the Audio section.

mdaren11112

Redwood City, CA

My husband and I recently purchased this camcorder, and we absolutely love it. It is so light and small that you can just take it anywhere. The picture quality is great and we really like all of the features the camcorder had to offer. This is our very first camcorder and it took us a while to pick the one we wanted, we shopped around and compared it to others and this was the one we liked that fit our budget.

Claudia09

Midland, TX

This is the second video camera I have ever owned. The first was one that was huge and took tapes to record on. It was very cumbersome. This one is like a dream! It is light and very easy to use. It has a touch screen to review what you have recorded and to let other people see on the little screen. It has a card to save the videos onto or you can record directly to the hard drive if you wish. It is very easy to transfer the videos to DVD's by just plugging it into your computer or any other device you have for recording/burning DVD's. The recordings come out very clear and good quality. You can make copies and you can edit easily - don't forget these recordings (copies) make great gifts for your friends and family. I would recommend this camera to anyone who just wants to record family events, vacations, weddings etc. I would not say that it is professional quality, but it is very good!

Gigi1952

Concord, CA

The Sony Handycam DCR-SR42 is a wonderful, easy to use camcorder. First of all, there are no disks to purchase! Everything is stored on the cameras hard drive. My husband and I recorded hours and hours of video footage before we ran out of space on the camcoder's hard drive. This Sony Handycam has 30 GB - which doesn't mean that much to me excpet for that right beside where it says that, it says it holds up to 20 hours of recording. I believe we got at least that much. Being technically challenged, I was a little worried that I would never figure out how to transfer the footage to DVDs, but it was a breeze. The quality of the footage that I have captured on this camcorder is great.  It is small, which makes it easy to take along anywhere. The battery life is also great. My only complaint about the Sony Handycam is that there is not light on it. This has only been an issue a couple of times when I wanted to record things in a room that was not well lit. The footage even then turned out okay, but I believe a light would have helped.  I would definitely recommend the Sony Handycan DCR-SR42 to anyone looking for a good, easy to use camcorder.

crhwilson

Shuqualak, MS

The Sony - Handycam DCR-SR42 Camcorder is a nice little camera for those who aren't the most tech savvy.  It is very user friendly and easy to use.  We received the camera as a gift from grandparents to take a few shots of the kids.  The zoom is great.  I can get people's faces at quite a distance and the shot still looks good.   The camera does only have a LCD view and no viewfinder.  Some people don't like this feature, my only problem is that it is hard to see in full sun, but you can always maneuver the screen to help with that.  Admitted, I had to check with my dad on how to load the software and videos onto the computer (I couldn't get the sound to work).  It is easy once you are in the know how.  The camera is compact which is great because I can throw it in the diaper bag for on the go videos.  The still shots are ok.  The quality is alright, but don't expect award winning shots.  Overall a good camera for a family on the go.  

gardengalnm

Rio Rancho, NM

I bought this sony camera about a year ago and it has worked to perfection. It is very easy to operate and the instructions will help you step by step in learning all the extra buttons that you can't figure out for yourself. I use this camera/camcorder for everything, from taking it out and using it to record my hunting expeditions to taping my neices and nephews birthday parties. You can store a ton of videos and even take good quality pictures. The zoom is great and you can spot a deer from a mile away and can make out exactly what it is and how nice of antlers it has. It has a cool nightvision button for low lighting events and many extras. The battery life last over 130 minutes and comes with a spare that if you keep charged and with you it will allow for over 260 minutes of video. I bought a tripod to use with my camera which is awesome because at full zoom the camcorder gets very shaky so the tripod does wonders.

duritos1d

Lexington, KY

I recorded hours of footage while Iwas riding on the back of a motorcycle. We were on our way to the Honda Hoot in Tennessee from Michigan. The only problem was we had no noise filter! I have many dvds of beautiful mountains and other scenery!

whitetiger

Manitou Beach, MI

My husband and I got our Sony Handycam DCR SR42 the year after our son was born.  We absolutely love this camera.  It is fairly easy to use, although offloading the videos can sometimes take a little getting used to.  The camera takes great quality videos and also captures sound really well.  We use the videos that we take with our Handycam to make our own dvds.  We have made dvds of our son for his grandparents and dvds of special holidays.  I really like how the display comes out and swivels 180 degrees so that the person taking the video can video him-/herself and still see what he/she is videoing.  The touchscreen is also a great part of this camera.  So far the touchscreen has performed well and been easy to use.  We have owned this camera three years and have had no problems.  I also like how the display shows how many minutes of video time are remaining.  Overall, this is a great camera.  I would not recommend this camera for anyone who is technically challenged, but for those who are accustomed to computers I would say this camera is great.

rcruark

Tulsa, OK