I received the Sony Handycam as a wedding present two years ago and it still works great! Our primary use for the camera is videotaping family functions.  We have videotaped everything from family Christmas to visiting SeaWorld and the zoo and find the quality to be good.  The camera does well in sunlight and has an easy to use night vision option for videotaping in the evening. We find that the battery life is good for family events, although we do have an extra battery just to be safe. The mini-DV tapes are much easier to use and cheaper than the DVDs I have used on other video cameras.  My husband and I can easily use a firewire cable to copy video off the tapes to our Apple computer where we can edit the video. The size of the camera is a big plus for us since it is small enough to fit in my purse or a small backpack if we are out and about and do not feel like carrying around another bag just for the camera. I would not recommend using this camera to someone looking for a high-end, high-quality camera, but if you are simply looking for a compact, easy to use camera to videotape your kids and family events then I would say this is a great video camera for just that.  

caligirl1210

Odenton, MD

I am a mother of two wonderful children, so naturally I needed a camcorder to record all the wonderful things they do! My children were around 8 and 11 yrs. old when I bought my sony handycam. They play baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, and my daughter was a cheerleader also. They were in plays at school and had very funny moments at home. I wanted a good reliable camcorder to capture all of these special moments. I chose the perfect one for me! I have used it many, many, many times. At all of the holidays, family reunions, and of course all of my childrens special moments. My daughter is now 16 1/2 and my son is almost 14yrs. old. thanks to my sony handycam I can re live the wonderful times we shared over and over. I know there are newer sony camcorders that I am sure work great but thanks to the great quality sony offers, my still works as good as it did the 1st day I got it!

angiev0829

Indianapolis, IN

We love our Sony Handycam.  It takes good videos, that save to the hard drive of the camera, till you are ready to upload them.  It holds something like 14 hrs on its hard drive, so you don't have to worry about running out of space on a dvd or vhs in the middle of recording, and have to switch tapes. When ready to copy to a disk, simply pick the videos you want, and upload to the computer like you would pictures.

dccrow

Port Charlotte, FL

I bought this in a hurry as need snuck up on me, but I haven't been disappointed. The camera is reliable, has a great optical zoom, has easy shoot, easy transfer to pc, easy use. really good captures. I just love it, it's light, and use friendly. Not crazy expensive, but worth every penny as I see it.

Anahnahmus

Louisville, KY