Features:

• Capture video to hard disk drive; 60 GB storage
• 25x optical zoom, 2000x digital zoom; Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens
• 2.7-inch widescreen touch-panel Clear Photo LCD
• Built-in zoom microphone with 5.1-channel recording
• Memory Stick Pro Duo media slot

Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
records video to a built-in 60GB hard disk drive * 1.07-megapixel CCD (690K effective pixels) * digital photo mode * 25X Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar® optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 2000X) * Super SteadyShot® * Handycam® Station for easy connection to a TV or PC *

Rating : - Great Camcorder - especially for a novice like me
I took my family to Hawaii and didn't want to haul around my old bulky Panosonic camcorder. So I was looking for something small and affordable (the trip already took most of my savings!) and found this on Amazon for under $450. I'm no expert with camcorders and I don't want to be. I just want to point and shoot great video for the memories. So I did a lot of homework by reading reviews. Also, Sony seems to be the professional choice. So based on rave reviews, I picked the Sony DCR-SR85 Handycam and it turned out to be just what I needed. I like the size as it fits right into my hand and is hardly noticable. The video and sound quality was beautiful, and the ease of use was so SIMPLE. Having a harddrive was really nice since I was accumstomed to changing those lousy tapes. With 60 GB I'll never run out of space.
Not everything is perfect, so my only problems or concerns are: 1) I can't help but jiggle the camera while fumbling to find the zoom button or the button to turn the camera off. This will probably improve as I get better coordinated. 2) The screen is very difficult to see in bright sunlight, so without a viewfinder you have to point and hope. 3) The camera doesn't automatically shut off when you close the screen. So a couple of times I THOUGHT I hit the off button and closed the screen but ended up with 30 minutes of my shoes, the dashboard and very boring conversation. But it was easy to delete. 4) The battery that comes with the camera is whimpy, so spend another $70 and get a 4 hour battery. Use the whimpy one for backup emergency. 5) The 1MP photo quality is garbage. But why buy a camcorder for photos when you can get a fabulous Cannon 8MP Powershot for only $150?
All in all, I love this camera and recommend it highly.