Sony DCR-SX41 Flash Camcorder w/60x Optical Zoom (Silver) Review
September 15th, 2009
Sony DCR-SX41 Flash Camcorder w/60x Optical Zoom (Silver) Review from Linguist_Manque Abe. Sony DCR-SX41 will definitely work with a Mac computer !, — This Sony DCR-SX41 will definitely work with a Mac computer, at least a late model Mac.
– For $[...], I bought this Sony DCR-SX41 flash memory camcorder with 8 gigabytes of non-removeable memory, a slot (empty) for more user replaceable memory, and a 60x optical zoom. This camera works really well with a Mac, once you get admitted to the Mac club and learn their secret rituals. LOL! I will later explain the details about how to get a camera to work with a Mac.
– I am using a late model MacBook Pro with operating system OSX vers 10.5.7 and iMovie09 vers 8.0.3. I have never done video with a computer before. Many years ago, I shot videos with black and white VHS video tapes. That was a lot easier to figure out, but very expensive. Since I recently spent thousands on a Mac computer and peripherals, I thought I should get a camera as well, and break the ice on the YouTube video excitement, as well as embedding home videos in the pages of e-scrapbooks. I had the benefit of additional help from private tutors at an Apple retail store, from their “One-to-One” training service, which is $[...] a year, for approximately one hour a week of private tutoring. I don’t think that I could have managed to get video working on a Mac, without their help. The tutors volunteered that connecting a video camera to a Mac remains one of the most challenging tasks for a beginner. Seriously, video on a Mac is quite easy, once you learn how. But learning how requires locating hard to find info, and doing some trial and error experimentation.
First, here are some details about the camera, which would apply to both Mac and PC users:
– Although the camera is a good value, the instructions that come with the camera are very sketchy, almost unusable. I can’t find any additional help at Sony’s web site. For Mac computers, the instructions are insufficient. The Sony web site URLs mentioned in the manual, for Mac users, don’t lead to any helpful info. Mac users will definitely need additional help. PC users might get confused, as well.
– Some say that the picture quality is disappointing. I the found picture quality acceptable for entry level video, at the $[...] price level. For the purpose of embedding home-made videos in the pages of electronic scrapbooks, the resolution is quite good. Possibly the dissatisfied users were not using the highest resolution, called HQ? The alternatives are SP and LP, which extend the recording times, but do get awfully pixilated. Possibly the vague instructions caused confusion. I had to experiment quite a bit with the menus in the camera, figuring it out by trial and error, how to use the different resolutions.
– It looks like the stabilization is not the best. I am new to this, and might be expecting too much. Just walking with the camera creates jitter that cannot be completely removed by either the software in the camera, or the software in the Mac computer. I tried the camera stabilization by itself. Then I turned the camera stabilization off, and tried the stabilization done by iMovie, inside the Mac computer. Neither treatment seemed to work very well with HQ resolution. I think that I see some stabilization with the lower resolution settings of SP and LP, possibly because the software cannot effectively process the larger amount of data in a HQ file. For the first trials, I did not use both stabilization treatments at the same time (camera and computer), since Apple claims this might cause other artifacts and problems. However, deliberately using both treatments on the same video file did not degrade the images, but it did not help, either.
– Additionally, I am not yet able to figure out how to get the camera’s “FACE SET” option to work. Anybody else get that working? Perhaps, it works only with the Sony software that is installed on a PC? (I am using a Mac.) The online info seems to hint that “FACE SET” will index video frames that contain human faces, and let you fast forward to those frames. I can’t find any additional info at Sony. The meager paper manual that comes with the camera really says next to nothing about that “FACE SET” option, except that the option IS in the camera’s menus, where I found it. But the option does not seem to work, at all.
– But overall, at $[...], this Sony DCR-SX41 flash memory camcorder is very reasonably priced for entry level home movies. The DCR-SX41 works very well with the Mac computer movie editing software iMovie09.
Now, back to the mysteries of getting a video camera to connect with a Mac computer. For the benefit of Macintosh computer users, perhaps Amazon could post the following information in a more conspicuous place?
If you want a video camera for a Mac computer, I recommend that you start with the list of compatible cameras, on either of the following Apple support web pages. (But keep in mind, some newer cameras, like this Sony DCR-SX41, might not be on these lists.)
These camera lists include reasons why a particular camera might be only partially compatible, and possible workarounds. If the pages are moved, try searching Apple’s web site [...] for the key words
” iMovie Camcorder Support “.
For iMovie09 compatible cameras– [...]
For those who can’t upgrade, and must use iMovie08– [...]
Things to keep in mind when using a Mac computer with any video camera:
– Between computer and camera, the best physical connection is probably made with the USB or FireWire cable recommended by the camera manufacturer.
– Obviously, it is impractical to change whatever software is in the camera.
– On the Mac computer side, things are complicated by the Mac computer not using the computer software that the camera manufacturer wrote for installation on a PC. On a Mac, the import of video is handled by the Mac system software and whatever general purpose video editing software you install, probably iMovie. Consider this: one installed version of Mac software needs (to try) to be able to download from any of hundreds of different cameras, even as new cameras are put on the market. That is why you need to keep updating your Mac software.
– Making things more complicated, the Mac software does not just download, it does some file format conversions that are necessary to get data out of a camera intended for use with an completely different operating system. Shortcuts usually don’t work, such as using the Mac “Finder” software to directly copy video files from the camera memory to the Mac computer’s hard drive.
IMHO, a lot of issues can be resolved by installing all of the operating system updates that your Mac computer can accept. Second, if your Mac supports it, spend the $[...] to upgrade to iLife09, which includes iMovie09. This software update cures a multitude of file incompatibilities.
Additionally, don’t take Apple’s lists of compatible cameras as infallible or exhaustive. They are only a starting point. I found that the Sony camcorder DCR-SX works fine on a Mac, although it is not yet on Apple’s list of compatible cameras. One possible shopping strategy, for a portable Mac, is to take your computer to a retail store that will let you connect their camera to your computer, for a test download.
With updated Mac software installed, all that I need to do, is– connect the DCR-SX41 camera with the Sony USB cable, and ask the camera to connect, with a finger press on the camera’s menu screen, on the correct icon. (Later, I’ll go over the confusion over which camera icon to press.) Of course, the Mac operating system (OS) needs to be booted up and running. If iMovie is not yet running, the Mac OS will start up iMovie. IPhoto will usually also start, since this DCR-SX camera can also take still photos. If all is running as it should, the Mac will display a list of files on the camera, and ask the user to select files for download. It’s completely automatic, once you figure out which icon to press, on the camera.
The possible pitfall is that on the menu screen of the Sony DCR-SX41, there is a choice of either downloading from the permanent camera memory, or downloading from the user removable memory slot. Selecting the incorrect icon might cause the Mac computer to ignore the camera. I wonder if some users got discouraged and gave up trying to download from a camera memory section that was empty? …while the other section of memory held their videos! I deliberately gave that a try, and found that the Mac computer will not try to connect to the camera’s removable memory slot, when that slot is empty. Worse, the Mac computer will just sit there and not give any error message or hint that a camera is plugged into the computer and ready to download from other memory inside the camera. To download from the camera’s non-removable memory, you need to be careful to click on the correct icon, which has the label “USB CONNECT” along with a symbol that looks like an integrated circuit chip. For the user removable slot, there is another icon that looks very similar. Unfortunately, it also has the label “USB CONNECT” along with a symbol that is only slightly different, closer to looking like a plain rectangle, without the iconic wires that that symbolize connectors emerging from an integrated circuit.
Another issue that is probably very difficult to find in either the Mac help files or the camera manuals: To avoid getting warnings from the Mac computer that data is being lost, you might need to virtually “eject” the camera’s cable connection from within the Mac computer’s “Finder” software, before telling the camera to disconnect, or physically disconnecting the cable. Do this by going to the Mac Finder, and making menu selection “Go”, “Computer”. A window will appear with a list of memory devices. Find the camera on the list, and mouse click on the eject button beside the camera name. This eject button will show a message “click to eject this volume” when you hover the mouse cursor over that button. The camera might be on the list, hidden in plain sight, as my video camera is displayed as device “NO NAME”. (Again, while in that “Finder” window, don’t try to directly copy any video files that you might see. That shortcut will probably result in damaged files.)
Overall, most trouble seems to originate with Sony not providing clear instructions. At $[...], the camera, as a piece of hardware, is very good for entry level video. People are probably having trouble getting this camera to work with Mac computers because of the camera’s sketchy and confusing instructions, and possibly because their Mac computer needs an install of the latest software, in order to work with this late model camera. (Of course, if you have an older Mac that cannot accept the software updates, you probably can’t use this DCR-SX41 camera.)
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