At only 14 ounces with battery and 3.1 inches high by 3 inches wide by 4.5 inches deep, the silver and black SR45 is compact and lightweight. Sony improved the body design over its predecessor's, the DCR-SR42. The power, movie, still dial sits more in line with your thumb, while the dead center record button lets you start fast without much thought.
Above it are power and activity lights topped by a Quick On button that takes the camcorder quickly in and out of a standby mode.On top sit the camera shutter button for taking stills and the rocker switch for the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 40x zoom lens.
The switch operates smoothly as does the zoom, allowing for stutter free close ups.
However, since it lacks optical image stabilization, those extreme close ups will require a tripod.
At the front above the lens sits a stereo zoom microphone it attenuates with the lens to better capture the audio coming from the subject that performed much better than expected. Under the lens is a switch to open and close the built in lens cover. There are no mic or headphone jacks, which would be welcome, but manufacturers tend to jettison them for budget models.
What you will find under a sliding door on the right side is a mini USB port and an AV out designed for use with the included cable. Another sliding door on top hides a Memory Stick Pro Duo card slot it looks very similar to an accessory shoe cover, but those are rare in this price class while a flip down door below the main control dial hides the jack for the power cable. All the cover ups make for a clean appearance.
Also, hidden in plain sight off on the inside of the grip is the switch for the camcorder's Nightshot Plus infrared light, which lets you capture creepy night vision video of people sleeping or whatever else you choose to shoot in complete darkness.
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