Sony DCRIP5 MicroMV Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Hybrid LCD Camcorder Reviews

Sony DCRIP5 MicroMV Digital Camcorder w/ 2.5" Hybrid LCD

ultra-portable but microMV is not for everyone 2003-09-20

the dcrip5 is for the early adopters among us. it has "wow" written all over it but make sure you're ready for the limitations of the microMV format.

pros:
- small size, and lightweight: 1.88"W x 4.0"H x 3.13"L weighing 12 oz. this is the main selling point of this camcorder.
- 10x optical zoom.
- Super SteadyShot image stabilization - and sony's system works.
- delivers vibrant colors when shooting in daylight.
- connectivity options: firewire, S-video, composite.

cons:
- microMV format is proprietary and may go the way of betamax.
- microMV video quality is noticeably worse than MiniDV.
- microMV also uses a different data-compression scheme than MiniDV, which means that it may be incompatible with your DV-editing software.
- no still photo capability.
- no video light.
- not Mac compatible.
- very bad ergonomics - a small camcorder will have small buttons and consolidated controls.
- as with most sony products, you pay a premium, pushing up the price.
- battery life could be better.
- only 2.5" LCD.
- non-intuitive menu system.
- no headphone or mic input jack.
- no accessory shoe.

given the limitations of the microMV format, a smaller camcorder is the only reason to use it. and a tiny camcorder is what sony has delivered and that's why this is a four star product for me. but if you can stand a slightly bigger camcorder, check out other miniDV options. these are more affordable, better supported, and almost as portable.

i hope this helps your buying decision. peace.

VERY BAD SUPPORT 2003-08-12

I have problems with capturing the movies recorded witht this camera to a Sony VAIO. After waiting for ever, Movie Shaker 3.3 crashes and the movie is not captured. Sometimes it works but it is random. But the major problem is that since buying the camera in December 2002, I have been writing emails to Sony and receiving only promises of support but only autamated answers that are not helpfull at all. Also funny is that a couple of times I have received apologies from Sony via email apologizing for not having provided support, using as a justification that they were rebuilding their support site and asking me to send my request againg if I had not solved it by now. There I went and innocently I sent my request again. Have you heard anyting about it? Because I have not. Unless they make a decision to change and start supporting their products and customers, I strongly advice not to buy anyting Sony till this changes. I used to be their fan due to their quality products, but this seems to be true no more. Making money and saving money by shaving support costs seems to be their main driver. Gone are the days where quality was their driver or so it seems from my experience...

Fraguil circuit, broken twice in half year 2003-06-30

I bought IP5 last year, and the digital output circuit has been broken twice. Each time costed me $... to fix. I also heard of other IP5 users having the same quality problems (on Pinnacle consumer board).

Compute problem solved awesome product 2003-03-25

As of March 2003 Sony has come to our rescue teaming up with pinacle to create "Sony EZEditor microMV". For only $ you get Studio 8 software, a fire wire card a 4-6 pin cable, a cd-r and a couple of tapes. Works with all pc software execept 98 first edition, second is ok. As ar as the camera you can rsearch all the features and read all the details. Note that it is soon discontinued to be replaced by the new ip55. I like the ip55 it is better, but much larger making the ip5 and ip7 still my choice because it is so freakin' small. Dont let the computer issue stop you now.

Worst product from Sony ever 2003-01-26

I already own three Sony Digital 8 and two Sony mini DV cameras. So why do I need a third format. It is a long story. I had read a lot of bad stuff about the new Sony MicroMV cameras before buying the camera, but I had to buy one anyway. Well, all the bad stuff is true, and even worst than one might believe given Sony's history of introducing fantastic new products. Aside from the fact that the cameras are way over priced and the video quality is only okay, the biggest problem is with MovieShaker, the only software that works with the MicroMV cameras. Sony says right on the outside of the box that they do not guarantee the software will work. Fortunately, I found a post by Atakan... that explains how to get MovieShaker to work with a minimum of hassle. Without this help, I would have wasted even more time. I transferred a 7-min clip to the computer in about 3 hr. However, the audio was all messed up. It was not properly synchronized with the video. All I did was capture the clip and then try to play it back with MovieShaker. I gave up and simply transferred the clip to one of my mini DV cameras using the S-video/audio cable. I was then able to pull the clip off the mini DV camera using standard video editting software. I have not seen such a poor product in a very long time. My recommendation is to buy a mini DV camera. It is much cheaper and works well. I am still shaking my head in disbelief that Sony would market such a poor product.

Information Update 2002-12-23

I am writing this information here because I found the reviews of the DCRIP-5 at Amazon.com's site helpful when I was considering the purchase of the camcorder. It is a great camcorder because it overcomes the one obstacle that people encounter when they want to record something in their life on video tape. That obstacle is the bulkiness of most camcorders, which makes using them a major preduction. The DCRIP-5 fits in a pocket. You can carry it with you anywhere with no hassle at all. It is about the size of a digital still camera.
Today I installed Pinnacle's Studio 8DV, the software that Sony recommends for use with their Micros DV camcorders. It works great and there is an update available at the Pinnacle web site to allow Micro DV users to capture video directly from the camcorder.
I recommend this combination, the DCRIP-5 and Pinnacle's Studio 8DV to anyone who wants no hassle video taping and computer editing.

Nice small and compact camera!...Perfect fit. 2002-11-08

This camera is small sleek and very nice! I own a digital camera, Canon s40 and its hard to believe that a camcorder could be relatively the same size. What really sold me is that this camera is not a heavy huge thing to lug around. I can now reasonably take it with me and record when I want and what I want... anytime.

Good optics and zoom abilities. Small. Light. Many effects and good bright backlight compensator. The features on this will amaze you. An "End Search" takes you quickly to where you last ended recording. Easy charge...leave battery in camcorder to charge. Remote. Stereo. 2-1/2" flip out color LCD monitor.

I don't think i'll have any regrets using this camera!!

Great product, but format requires learning curve 2002-09-04

A lot of people complain about the MicroMV proprietary MPG2-TS format, but with the right tools, it's not a problem at all. You can use a program like XMuxer to transform the MPG2-TS Sony file into a standard MPG2-PS file usable by 99% of editing programs. There is no quality loss since there's no recompression involved. I've found the IP5 to be a great, portable camcorder, with vibrant colors and sharp video. Video isn't exactly as good as the far bulkier megapixel miniDV cameras, but that's the point. No lugging this thing around.

small is good, but there are some gotchas. 2002-07-18

I was sold on this camcorder due to it's very small size and the fact the it can be held like a pistol (even tho it doesn't really have a pistol grip). It does NOT have the typical side strap holder. These always gave my hand a cramp. It's LCD is easily viewed while filming and the size is so small sometimes people don't know you have it in your hand. This can be good for those who are intimidated by cameras.

Pluses: It has speakers on the top and it's Stereo. The cassettes are small, about 1/4 smaller than MiniDV. The pkg comes with all the cords you need. Easy to set up.

Minuses: The cassettes cost about 5$ more than others like MiniDV. The batteries are also more $. The red hues on the video are not quite right; too pinkish. My pink dress looked coral colored. The zoom button is not quite sensitive enough (or I don't know how to use it). If you press hard nothing happens and then suddenly you are zooming.

Biggest drawback: Compatibility. It comes with software called MovieShaker. It will not work with any other software than the MovieShaker software, nor will it work by connecting it via the iLink cable to another MiniDV camera.

The Movieshaker instruction manual is very small; there isn't much to it. But I found the software versatile and useful. The software is installed fine via the book (I am using XP). I can slice a frame out of the movie for emailing around. Even tho the resolution is not good (like 360x460) I am still using it. The reason they call it MovieShaker is because of it's ability to take a bunch of clips and "shake" them randomly picking from each clip and make a small movie. You can pick the mood of the movie from sad to crazy and it will back your movie with music and special effects to fit the mood. I find it quite entertaining. You can then email the movie. Drawback again is that the movie can only be 30 seconds long.

The fileformats it creates are Mpeg2 in many sizes depending on which setting you pick. Yes these are large files. You can also create an Email file but it limits the movie to 1 minute. ?? I had a 10 second email file and it was 20MB. The purpose of Mpeg2 is to be able to burn the movies onto a DVD and play them in a DVD player. I do not have a burner otherwise I would test that feature. Again, I expect format to be a problem.

Bottom line; I am content to continue to copy my video's onto VHS. I feel the quality and size of the camera is it's big plus. It actually makes me want to bring it more places because it's so small.

small size, poor video quality 2002-06-30

I really like the small size, easy to take anywhere. I was hoping to download the video to my computer & burn a DVD-R of my video. Movieshaker (included) is the ONLY software to date that works with this camera. You can export video from movie shaker in several formats so you can import into Pinnacle,Ulead,etc. Problem is the video quality is rather poor, especially if fast moving object in video.
I do not recommend this camera.

Not what it promises, SHAME ON SONY 2002-06-10

This is a neat little gadget that is totally useless. The mpeg2 format is a Sony proprietary format that is different than regular mpeg. You cannot upload the movies onto your computer and there is no software support other than the enclosed "Movieshaker" that is horrible. Sony tech support is horrible....

Small has its price 2002-04-30

Sony does a fine job of telling you of all the positives for such a small camera. But they fail to tell you of some of the weaknesses that come at the expense of the small size:
The microphone is on the top of the camera near the back. It has difficulty picking up a low sound subject in front of you and is more prone to pick up background noises than a front mounted directional microphone. There is no wind guard foam over the microphone so you will pick up wind noise when shooting outside. There is no input jack for an alternate mike.
Because of the limited data transfer with the MPEG file compression on to the small tape, certain shots such as panning a landscape may appear jerky. About 10% of my outdoor landscapes did not provide a smooth frame to frame transition.
Be sure to take enough tape with you. The availability of this tape can be very limited. On my last trip to France, I had to search out a Sony store to buy more tapes.
There is no Night Vision feature on this camera but it did work well in low light situations.
I probably would buy this camera again because of its small size. It is easy to tote around and tha camera, extra batteries and tapes can fit in a very small of camera bag. To bad Sony didn't find a better design solution for the microphone. To offset the jerkyness, you just need to remember to move the camera a little slower so that the camera has a chance to keep up with the data transfer.

Look out, this isn't DV 2002-04-23

Actually I really like the camera, it's small size, the lens, and the features.

But what I want to share with everyone is that this is NOT a DV camera, it is MV which means your DV software will not work with this camera.

As of this writing, 4/2002, there is no software available that will let you capture MV over the firewire port. The best you can do is an analog capture board.

Pinnacle says there is no support "YET" but gives no timeframe for Studio support, if any.

The bundled software is cute and has some simple splicing features.

The MV format is promising, and the form factor cannot be beat for portability. But I am just crossing my fingers that someone will develop PC support for this.

Otherwise, this camera is great. Excellent battery life, great lens, and very portable. I take it everywhere-- with the small size, I'm sure I'll get that one in a million shot because I actually carry the thing!

Amazing camera 2002-02-28

I purchased this camera yesterday because I was due to make another impulse electronics buy. While I was not surprised by the quality of the Sony product, I was surprised at how many features they packed into to this little camera. I also have JVC DV camera and can see no difference in "quality of image". While my larger camera has a strobe, the Sony has none (or I have yet to find one). Therefore, shooting at night could be problematic. The Sony does however have a low light setting that appears to work OK. Admittedly, I haven't realy given the camera a good road test yet.

The main difference with this camera is the format. It uses a smaller (MicroMV) tape. This of course means you can't use your existing tapes...and they don't come cheap.... Also, due to the new format, there may be software recognition issues as I am having with my Pinnacle Studio DV. My camera isn't recognized. Also, as always, you'll need a spare (larger capacity) battery. I find that I am getting the listed 80+ minues when I don't use the LCD screen.

Back to the software. It comes with a neat little capture/edit package (Movieshaker) that, while its not Video Factory or Pinnacle, is sufficient to get the film uploaded. From that point on, you can use your existing software to edit. Again, I haven't been able to get it to work with Pinnacle but that may just be the format I chose (I doubt it though).

I guess the botom line is that I am enjoying the quality and the compact size. Incompatibility issues come with early adoption so you deal with it until the industry catches up. So far I am very pleased with my purchase. I find that more and more of my electronics (from Sony WEGA - Walkman) are Sony.

Is it worth [the money]? That's for you to decide. Like most things the price is high now. In a year this camera wil be half that price. For now, I find that it is worth it (relatively speaking of course).