- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 16 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Update on Movieshaker and compatibility issues"
Summary: I wanted to say that I love this camera for its small size and innovative camera grip handle. Also I wanted to clear up any confusion on the video editing that I've seen on some of the other user reviews. First the issue of transferring video from the camcorder to the pc: This is done using movie shaker through the firewire connection. I have done this successfully using windows xp pro on a pentium 4 system. When you use movie shaker to transfer video, it scans your existing micro-mv tape and creates thumbnail listings of each scene on the tape. You can highlight a specific thumbnail and then capture that scene to movieshaker which will create an mmv file. You can then export this to mpeg1, mpeg2, dvi, quicktime, realmedia, and avi formats. My understanding is that the clipped audio other people were reporting happened on the import of the video. Having had a conversation with tech support, sony says that this has been fixed in the latest version of movie shaker which is 3.11 (orange cd). You'll need to pick this up from sony if you are having this problem. Also, I found that while using QuickTime 6.0, I was having clipped audio on export to any of the formats. After speaking to tech support, they suggested that I downgrade to Quicktime 5.0 which resolved the problem. Evidently Movieshaker was written before quicktime 6.0 was released and has compatibility issues. All in all, having resolved this issue, I am very happy with the quality of the video and the capabilities of the camcorder. Also, I was able to test out the video capture with Pinnacle Studio 8 (version 8.5) which correctly captured the video and audio as well. The other thing I forgot to mention is that, you can capture high quality mpg video directly to the memory stick on the camcorder itself. I purchased a 128 meg memory stick and have had no problems with this. Also there is no conversion issue to deal with, since the video is already in mpeg format. So overall, If you really like this camcorder for all of the reasons listed in the other reviews, I wouldnt let the compatibility issues detract you from making this purchase. I have found that I have been able to work around them and that sony has already provided some fixes.
- 3 replies to this review
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I have 12 MicroMV Sony tapes and a stolen camera and have not been able to find a shop that will copy my tapes to DVD.
Would have any suggestion? -
I had my IP55 stolen, and cannot find anybody who will copy 10 hours of movies taken with this camera in China Japan Singapore and Malaysia to DVD!
I live in Argentina and have checked with Photo Dealers and Shops in France, Germany, and Brazil and I have been told that the IP55 has been taken off the market by Sony (apparently because of poor quality) and that no more Micro Cassettes can be purchased in these countries!
I have not been able to find a Micro Cassette copying service in the US on the Internet either.
As I find the initial pause on every film clip a horrible nuisance during playback I am definitely not going to purchase another IP55. And I cannot understand how anybody knowing these facts, will either.
What I am now looking for is some unpublished copy service shop that can copy my 10 (ten) 60 minute Micro Cassettes to DVD! If somebody out there can suggest a solution my address is Mike_Reed@schillig.com.ar, and I will be most grateful. -
After about one year of dealing with SONY tech support regarding problems with capture of video with movieshaker I found out that once you record over a MicroMV tape, the second time you use it, it is impossible to capture the video on a PC. The reason is that the memory these tapes have do not erease completely, thus corrupting the new info on the tape. I was a fan of MicroMV, but when I figured out that I would need to buy a new tape for each video the cost of using it is out of proportion. SONY tech support took over one year to tell me this, if they did not know at the beginning that tells you they released a technology that was not tested. But if they knew....I do not know what game they are playing. After I sent a letter to the president of Sony, I received a phone call from customer service, and their explanation was that I should have known these tapes do not erase completely before I bought the camera...they could not figure it out in the first place. This were the words they used: "It is like when you go to a car dealer, they will sell you a stick shift, and won't ask if you know how to drive it". I would not buy it again, not just for the cost of the tapes, but because of the bogus answers and service SONY provides.
Where to buy
Sony DCR-IP55 (Bluetooth):
$699.00
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$699.00 | Yes |
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