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4-132-765-11(1)

Digital Video Camera Recorder

Operating Guide

 2009 Sony Corporation

DCR-SX30E/SX31E/SX40E/SX41E/

SX50E/SX60E

Table of contents

7

Getting started

9

Recording

13

Playback

17

Saving movies and photos 

with a computer

21

Saving images with a DVD 

writer, recorder

27

Making good use of your 

camcorder

33

Additional information

42

Summary of Contents for Handycam DCR-SX30E

Page 1: ...ony Corporation DCR SX30E SX31E SX40E SX41E SX50E SX60E Table of contents 7 Getting started 9 Recording 13 Playback 17 Saving movies and photos with a computer 21 Saving images with a DVD writer recorder 27 Making good use of your camcorder 33 Additional information 42 ...

Page 2: ...ce the battery with the specified type only Otherwise fire or injury may result AC Adaptor Do not use the AC Adaptor placed in a narrow space such as between a wall and furniture Use the nearby wall outlet wall socket when using the AC Adaptor Disconnect the AC Adaptor from the wall outlet wall socket immediately if any malfunction occurs while using your camcorder Even if your camcorder is turned...

Page 3: ...rvice or the shop where you purchased the product Disposal of waste batteries applicable in the European Union and other European countries with separate collection systems This symbol on the battery or on the packaging indicates that the battery provided with this product shall not be treated as household waste By ensuring these batteries are disposed of correctly you will help prevent potentiall...

Page 4: ...r in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment int...

Page 5: ... recorded without any problems Compensation for the contents of recordings cannot be provided even if recording or playback is not possible due to a malfunction of the camcorder recording media etc TV color systems differ depending on the country region To view your recordings on a TV you need a PAL system based TV Television programs films video tapes and other materials may be copyrighted Unauth...

Page 6: ...nected TV p 20 Saving movies and photos on a disc Saving movies and photos with a computer p 21 Creating a disc with a DVD writer or recorder p 27 Operating by the camcorder screen you can create a disc and play it back on DVDirect Express by connecting the dedicated DVD writer DVDirect Express sold separately to your camcorder Deleting movies and photos p 33 You can free up recording space by del...

Page 7: ...ing movies and photos with a computer Preparing a computer Windows 21 When using a Macintosh 21 Creating a disc with one touch One Touch Disc Burn 23 Importing movies and photos to a computer Easy PC Back up 24 Changing the destination drive or folder for movies and photos 25 Starting PMB Picture Motion Browser 25 Creating a disc 26 Copying a disc 26 Editing movies 26 Capturing photos from a movie...

Page 8: ... settings 35 Dubbing or copying movies and photos from the internal memory to Memory Stick PRO Duo media 36 Customizing your camcorder with menus 37 Using the HELP function 37 Getting detailed information from the Handycam Handbook 41 Additional information Troubleshooting 42 Precautions 44 Specifications 46 Screen indicators 49 Parts and controls 50 Index 51 ...

Page 9: ...of the arrow until it clicks 3 Connect the AC Adaptor and the power cord mains lead to your camcorder and the wall outlet wall socket Be sure that the mark on the DC plug is facing down The CHG charge lamp lights up and charging starts The CHG charge lamp turns off when the battery pack is fully charged 4 When the battery is charged disconnect the AC Adaptor from the DC IN jack of your camcorder S...

Page 10: ...emove the battery pack or disconnect the AC Adaptor close the LCD screen and make sure that the Movie Photo lamps p 11 are turned off Do not short circuit the DC plug of the AC Adaptor or battery terminal with any metallic objects This may cause a malfunction In the default setting the power turns off automatically if you leave your camcorder without any operation for about 5 minutes to save batte...

Page 11: ... the screen touch until the item appears 3 Set SUMMERTIME date and time then touch The clock starts If you set SUMMERTIME to ON the clock advances 1 hour The date and time does not appear during recording but they are automatically recorded on the recording media and can be displayed during playback To display the date and time touch HOME SETTINGS VIEW IMAGES SET DATA CODE DATE TIME You can turn o...

Page 12: ...u can turn off your camcorder also by pressing POWER When POWER ON BY LCD p 39 is set to OFF turn off your camcorder by pressing POWER Changing the language setting You can change the on screen displays to show messages in a specified language Touch HOME SETTINGS CLOCK LANG LANGUAGE SET a desired language POWER button ...

Page 13: ... the default setting movies are recorded on the internal memory p 34 Fasten the grip belt Open the lens cover Open the LCD screen of your camcorder Your camcorder is turned on To turn on your camcorder when the LCD screen is already open press POWER p 11 ...

Page 14: ... change the recording media p 34 You can change the recording mode of movies p 39 STEADYSHOT is set to ON in the default setting To adjust the angle of the LCD panel first open the LCD panel 90 degrees to the camcorder and then adjust the angle If you rotate the LCD panel 180 degrees to the lens side you can record movies photos in mirror mode You can increase the zooming level by using the digita...

Page 15: ... on the internal memory p 34 Open the lens cover Open the LCD screen of your camcorder Your camcorder is turned on To turn on your camcorder when the LCD screen is already open press POWER p 11 Press MODE to turn on the Photo lamp The aspect ratio of the screen becomes 4 3 ...

Page 16: ... photos easily Easy Handycam operation Simply press EASY To cancel Easy Handycam operation press EASY again after you finish recording or menu operations During Easy Handycam operation you can set basic options such as changing the image size or deleting images among the setting and adjustment items Other items are set automatically When Easy Handycam operation is started nearly all menu settings ...

Page 17: ...creen appears after some seconds Touch the Movie tab a desired movie 1 12 34 1 1 2009 1 2 INT MEMORY appears with the movie or photo that was most recently played or recorded If you touch the movie or photo with you can continue playback from the previous time appears on the photo recorded on the Memory Stick PRO Duo media VIEW IMAGES To the index screen of scenes by a certain interval Film Roll I...

Page 18: ...d on the panel behind the LCD panel The recording date time and shooting conditions are recorded automatically during recording This information is not displayed during recording but you can display it during playback by touching HOME SETTINGS VIEW IMAGES SET DATA CODE a desired setting To adjust the sound volume of movies While playing back movies touch adjust with You can adjust the sound volume...

Page 19: ...r zoom lever while viewing photos PB ZOOM If you touch a point in the PB ZOOM frame the point comes to the center in the frame When viewing photos recorded on Memory Stick PRO Duo media playback folder appears on the screen To start stop slide show To the VISUAL INDEX screen Previous Next OPTION MENU ...

Page 20: ...an A V connecting cable Connect the white and red plugs left right audio and the S VIDEO plug S VIDEO channel of the A V connecting cable with an S VIDEO cable sold separately The yellow plug connection is not necessary Connecting only the S VIDEO plug will not output audio Set the input selector of the TV to the input your camcorder will be connected to For details refer to the instruction manual...

Page 21: ... provided as standard Hi Speed USB USB 2 0 compatible DVD burner CD ROM drive is necessary for installation Operation with all computer environments is not assured 1 Standard installation is required Operation is not assured if the OS has been upgraded or in a multi boot environment 2 64 bit editions and Starter Edition are not supported 3 Starter Edition is not supported When using a Macintosh Th...

Page 22: ...then click Next Turn on your camcorder then connect the camcorder to the computer using the USB cable supplied The USB SELECT screen appears on the camcorder screen automatically Touch USB CONNECT on the camcorder screen If the USB SELECT screen does not appear touch HOME OTHERS USB CONNECT Click Continue on the computer screen Read the terms of the license agreement carefully If you agree to the ...

Page 23: ...an save movies and photos on a disc by simply pressing DISC BURN on your camcorder Movies and photos recorded on your camcorder that have not yet been saved with One Touch Disc Burn can be saved on a disc automatically Install PMB beforehand p 21 however do not start PMB Connect your camcorder to the wall outlet wall socket using the AC Adaptor supplied for this operation p 10 With DISC BURN on yo...

Page 24: ...plied AC Adaptor for this operation p 10 1 Turn on your camcorder and connect it to the computer using the USB cable supplied The USB SELECT screen appears on the camcorder screen 2 Touch USB CONNECT to import images from the internal memory or USB CONNECT to import images from a Memory Stick PRO Duo media The Handycam Utility window appears on the computer screen 4 Follow the instructions on the ...

Page 25: ... in step 3 above click Easy PC Back up Change On the screen displayed you can select the drive or folder where the images are to be saved Starting PMB Picture Motion Browser Double click the PMB short cut icon on the computer screen If the icon is not displayed on the computer screen click Start All Programs Sony Picture Utility PMB to start PMB You can view edit or create discs of movies and phot...

Page 26: ... photos appears To add movies and photos to the previously selected ones select the movies and photos in the main window and drag and drop onto the window for selecting movies and photos 5 Follow the instructions on the screen to create a disc It may take a long time to create a disc Copying a disc You can copy a recorded disc to another disc using Video Disc Copier Click Start All Programs Sony P...

Page 27: ...of your camcorder with the USB cable of the DVD writer The EXTERNAL DRIVE screen appears on the camcorder screen Use the supplied AC Adaptor as the power source p 10 When using battery power the DVD writer does not work 2 Insert an unused disc into the DVD writer and close the disc tray The DISC BURN screen appears on the camcorder screen 3 Press DISC BURN on the DVD writer Movies recorded on the ...

Page 28: ...k of your camcorder with the USB cable of the DVD writer The EXTERNAL DRIVE screen appears You can play back movies on the TV screen by connecting the camcorder to a TV p 20 Insert a created disc into the DVD writer The movies on the disc appear as VISUAL INDEX on the camcorder screen Press the play button on the DVD writer The movie plays back on the camcorder screen You can also operate by the c...

Page 29: ...f Disc creation time to dub movies to the limit of the disc is about 20 to 60 minutes It may take more time depending on the recording mode or the number of scenes You can play back created discs on a general DVD player If playback is not possible for any reason connect the camcorder to the DVD writer and then play back The disc mark appears on the camcorder screen DVDirect Express may not be avai...

Page 30: ...ket using the supplied AC Adaptor for this operation p 10 Sony DVD writer may not be available in some countries regions 1 Turn on your camcorder and connect a DVD writer etc to the USB jack of your camcorder with the USB cable supplied The USB SELECT screen appears on the camcorder screen 2 Touch USB CONNECT when movies are recorded on the internal memory or USB CONNECT when movies are recorded o...

Page 31: ...cting cable with S VIDEO sold separately When connecting to another device via the S VIDEO jack by using an A V connecting cable with an S VIDEO cable sold separately higher quality images can be produced than with an A V connecting cable Connect the white and red plug left right audio and the S VIDEO plug S VIDEO channel of the A V connecting cable with an S VIDEO cable If you connect the S VIDEO...

Page 32: ...HOME SETTINGS OUTPUT SETTINGS DISP OUTPUT LCD PANEL the default setting To record the date time or camera settings data touch HOME SETTINGS VIEW IMAGES SET DATA CODE a desired setting In addidion touch HOME SETTINGS OUTPUT SETTINGS DISP OUTPUT V OUT PANEL When the screen size of display devices TV etc is 4 3 touch HOME SETTINGS OUTPUT SETTINGS TV TYPE 4 3 When you connect a monaural device connect...

Page 33: ... time In step 2 touch DELETE DELETE ALL YES YES Formatting the recording media Formatting deletes all the movies and photos to recover recordable free space Connect your camcorder to the wall outlet wall socket using the AC Adaptor supplied for this operation p 10 To avoid the loss of important images you should save them p 21 before formatting the recording media Protected movies and photos will ...

Page 34: ...Touch HOME MANAGE MEDIA MOVIE MEDIA SET The MOVIE MEDIA SET screen appears Touch the desired medium Touch YES The recording medium is changed Coping with shooting conditions A wide variety of settings and adjustment options are available on the menu p 37 Adjusting the exposure for backlit subjects Backlight To adjust the exposure for backlit subject press backlight to display To cancel the backlig...

Page 35: ...can use with your camcorder For recording movies it is recommended that you use Memory Stick PRO Duo media of 512MB or larger marked with Memory Stick PRO Duo media Memory Stick PRO HG Duo media Marked with Mark2 or not either can be used Memory Stick PRO Duo media of up to 16 GB are confirmed to work with this camcorder Open the Memory Stick Duo media cover and insert the Memory Stick PRO Duo med...

Page 36: ...O Duo media Open the Memory Stick Duo media cover and lightly push the Memory Stick PRO Duo media in once Do not open the Memory Stick Duo media cover during recording When inserting or ejecting the Memory Stick PRO Duo media be careful so that the Memory Stick PRO Duo media does not pop out and drop Dubbing or copying movies and photos from the internal memory to Memory Stick PRO Duo media Touch ...

Page 37: ...ENU screen touch You cannot select the grayed items or settings Using the HELP function To see the descriptions on the HOME MENU touch HELP on the HOME MENU screen The bottom of turns orange Then touch the menu item you want to know about Using the OPTION MENU The OPTION MENU appears just like the pop up window that appears when you right click the mouse on a computer The menu items you can change...

Page 38: ...Sets the protection to avoid deleting photos DIVIDE Divides movies PLAYLIST EDIT ADD Adds a movie to a playlist ADD by date Adds movies recorded on the same day at one time in a playlist ERASE Erases a movie from a playlist ERASE ALL Erases all movies from a playlist MOVE Changes the order of movies in a playlist USB CONNECT USB CONNECT Connects the internal memory via USB USB CONNECT Connects the...

Page 39: ...usts the shutter speed automatically GUIDEFRAME Displays the frame to make sure the subject is horizontal or vertical VIEW IMAGES SET DATA CODE Displays the detailed recording data during playback SOUND DISP SET VOLUME p 18 BEEP p 11 LCD BRIGHT Adjusts the brightness of the LCD screen LCD BL LEVEL Adjusts the backlight of the LCD screen LCD COLOR Adjusts the color intensity of the LCD screen OUTPU...

Page 40: ... of focus EXPOSURE Adjusts the brightness of movies and photos FOCUS Focuses manually SCENE SELECTION Selects an appropriate recording setting according to the type of scene such as night view or beach WHITE BAL Adjusts the white balance tab FADER Fades scenes in or out tab BLT IN ZOOM MIC Records movies with directional sound relative to the zoom setting MICREF LEVEL Sets the microphone level SEL...

Page 41: ...e installation screen displayed click Handycam Handbook 3 Select the desired language and the model name of your camcorder then click Handycam Handbook PDF The model name of your camcorder is printed on its bottom surface 4 Click Exit Exit then remove the CD ROM from your computer To view the Handycam Handbook double click the short cut icon on the computer screen When using a Macintosh open the H...

Page 42: ... shoot after the power is turned on This is not a malfunction Disconnect the AC Adaptor from the wall outlet wall socket or remove the battery pack then reconnect it after about 1 minute If your camcorder still does not work press RESET p 50 using a pointed object If you press RESET all settings including the clock setting are reset Your camcorder gets warm Your camcorder may become warm during op...

Page 43: ...adable The internal memory of your camcorder is full Delete unnecessary images on the internal memory p 33 An error may have occurred with the internal memory drive in your camcorder Battery power is low No Memory Stick PRO Duo media is inserted p 35 When the indicator flashes there is not enough free space for recording images Delete unnecessary images p 33 or format the Memory Stick PRO Duo medi...

Page 44: ...creen closed when you are not using your camcorder Do not wrap your camcorder with a towel for example and operate it Doing so might cause heat to build up inside When disconnecting the power cord mains lead pull it by the plug and not the cord Do not damage the power cord mains lead such as by placing anything heavy on it Do not use a deformed or damaged battery pack Keep metal contacts clean If ...

Page 45: ...rging the pre installed rechargeable battery However even if the pre installed rechargeable battery is not charged the camcorder operation will not be affected as long as you are not recording the date Procedures Connect your camcorder to a wall outlet wall socket using the supplied AC Adaptor and leave it with the LCD screen closed for more than 24 hours Note on disposal transfer of the camcorder...

Page 46: ...o output jack USB jack mini AB DCR SX30E SX31E SX50E output only LCD screen Picture 6 7 cm 2 7 type aspect ratio 16 9 Total number of pixels 123 200 560 220 General Power requirements DC 6 8 V 7 2 V battery pack DC 8 4 V AC Adaptor Average power consumption During camera recording using LCD screen at normal brightness Internal memory 2 0 W Memory Stick PRO Duo media 2 0 W Operating temperature 0 C...

Page 47: ...vies in the internal memory minute To set the recording mode touch HOME SETTINGS MOVIE SETTINGS REC MODE In the default setting the recording mode is SP p 39 DCR SX30E SX40E Recording mode Recording time HQ 55 50 SP 85 50 LP 175 115 DCR SX31E SX41E Recording mode Recording time HQ 120 105 SP 170 105 LP 360 230 DCR SX50E SX60E Recording mode Recording time HQ 235 210 SP 340 210 LP 715 460 The numbe...

Page 48: ...irectX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and or other countries Macintosh and Mac OS are registered trademarks of Apple Inc in the U S and other countries Intel Intel Core and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries Adobe the Adobe logo and Adobe Acro...

Page 49: ...Estimated recording remaining time FADER Indicator Meaning 9999 9999 Approximate number of recordable photos and recording media Playback folder 100 112 Current playing movie or photo Number of total recorded movies or photos Bottom Indicator Meaning Face Index Manual focus SCENE SELECTION White balance SteadyShot off SPOT MTR FCS SPOT METER EXPOSURE TELE MACRO Backlight OPTION button VIEW IMAGES ...

Page 50: ...31 LCD screen Touch panel 11 If you rotate the LCD panel 180 degrees you can close the LCD panel with the LCD screen facing out This is convenient during playback operations POWER button 12 EASY button 16 RESET button Press RESET to initialize all the settings including the clock setting Backlight button 34 DISP display button 18 Speaker DISC BURN button 23 Memory Stick Duo media slot 35 Access la...

Page 51: ...re 21 Specifications 46 Supplied items 4 T Tripod 34 Troubleshooting 42 Turning the power on 11 TV 20 TV Type 20 U USB 21 27 Using a wall outlet wall socket as a power source 10 V VISUAL INDEX 17 Volume 18 W Warning indicators 43 Windows 21 Z Zoom 14 16 19 A A V connecting cable 20 31 B Backlight 34 Battery 9 C Capturing photos from a movie 26 Charging the battery abroad 10 Charging the battery pa...

Page 52: ...s product and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at our Customer Support Website http www sony net Printed on 70 or more recycled paper using VOC Volatile Organic Compound free vegetable oil based ink Printed in China ...

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