Sony HDR-CX350V 32GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder

The best camcorder I ever had

This camera is an important upgrade in image quality and features. I replaced a Sony HDR-CX100 by this camcorder and the upgrade is noticeable. First the LCD screen is much more detailed and brighter and that was something I missed when I compared the CX100 with the Canon VIXIA's specially when I film in the sunlight. Second the light sensitivity is simple AMAZING. With very low light this camcorder is capable to obtain beautiful and grain less HD movies. I guess this is because the new backlight XMOR sensor and of course the Sony G lens. Third the stabilizer effect is something that I have never seen in any other camcorders: you can walk filming without any undesirable shake or vibration in the filming movie. Also if you film in a car or in a sportboat the steady shot feature in this camera is simple incredible. This helps you a lot not just for filming but also to take photos using the zoom in low light conditions. Fourth the wide angle lens is a very nice feature that allows you to capture more wide scenes and is very useful when you don't have to much space to film. Fifth this camcorder power up in a very short time and open and close the lens protector automatically so you can't miss any good shots opportunities. This is what I can tell you about the most important features for me. I guess I will use this camcorder for a long time not just for filming but also to take photographs.More detail ...

Canon FS200 Flash Memory Camcorder w/41x Advanced Zoom (Misty Silver) - 2009 MODEL

a real review for real people

This review is for people who have common sense about this technology and have done even a TAD bit of research before buying. I have been in the video/film/animation industry for 15 years and have used tons of equipment for everything from multimillion dollar productions to rogue gorilla documentaries. This camera is for people who want to flip open something small and compact shoot some video for memories and thas that. Pretty much ALL camcorders under 800 dollars are going to shoot interlaced video and this one does as well. it has complete manual overide for focus and exposure. I read a review where a lady was complaining about filming a recital and the camera was going in and out of focus. No problem set it to manual and problem fixed. There is no more .MOD file problems.. all files are read as .mpeg files now (you can download the newest software from the website) **EDIT** its come to my attention that some people are still getting the .MOD files extension. I am running windows XP service pack 3 on a PC and the program it installed is pixela imagemixer 3 version 4 and it automatically shows up as .mpeg 4 files.. so i dont know whats up and why that works for me as i did nothing special or extra for that to happen..



now onto quality.



It is acceptable. Low light gives you grainy pictures and some ghosting. You will get this on pretty much ALL camcorders in this class. do NOT expect that if you spend another 100 dollars you will get a difference. If you want to see a noticable difference you will need to step up to the 800-1200 dollar range. Im sorry but thats just the facts. Another thing to be on the lookout for is called a frame buffer. Which EVERY camcorder over 100 dollars Should have.. you know that telltale sign in video where when the camera moves back and forth the picture starts "waving like a flag in the wind".. we're good with that. The zoom on this camera is CRAZY good.. in general optical zoom is good digital zoom is bad.. this cameras optical zoom rivals most everything out there.. things i dont like. When you play your recorded videos on the camcorder it will just play the next file without stopping in one long stream.. this is cool but i dont like not having the option to view one at a time. you HAVE to plug it in to the wall power when you transfer files to the computer. i dont like the record button on the end of the barrel.. the way i ALWAYS end up holding this camera is like how you hold a glass of water if you were pouring it out.. with my thumb on the top of the barrell.. i NEVER hold it "properly" (like a glass of water that im drinking).. its so tiny that holding it like that is almost cumbersome and unecessary.. In short i LOVE this thing for the convenience.. on standby it will boot up in 2 seconds.. AWESOME.. no tape the small size good battery life relatively big LCD screenexternal mic input and headphone all good.. needing a plug for computer connection bad low light performance bad management of video playback not so good.. all in all i REALLY like it...



if you want the convenience of a TINY camcorder available at a moments notice recording to a card instead of tape a regular def video (most everything i shoot is for web or regular DVD which is regular def anyway) and a price thats not bad. this is for you



Now if you want a video camera for capturing high def home videos for permanent memories to keep forever and possibly burn to blu-ray seriously buy a high def 3ccd progressive scan camcorder. Expect to pay around 1000+ dollars but thats what you get. i dont understand the complaints that this is whats expected from this camcorder. You cant drive a civic around complaining it cant go from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds..More detail ...

Sony HDR-CX550V 64GB High Definition Handycam Camcorder

Don't overlook this Sony!

Okay so I'm about to be a dad due April 12th and while I was looking for a camcorder wide enough for the delivery room I was struggling with the Canon VIXIA HF-S21 that is due to be released on April 15th. However let me state the highlights of the Sony HDR-CX550V which swayed my decision why I went for the Sony to suit my own preference:



Compact and Lightweight (something my wife wants over holding my Canon 5D2 and lenses)

Wide Angle 26.3mm Photo

Wide Angle 29.8 mm Video to 298mm (On the Canon it is 35mm equivalent 43.5-435mm which is longer)

12 Mega Pixels still images

10x Optical Zoom

Stabilization which works really well

Takes both SD-HC (this is great) and Sony memory sticks (I don't use them)

Built-in 64GB Flash memory.

Excellent low light shooting

Includes GPS geotagging (which I haven't used yet I keep it turned off for now)

3.5" LCD (921K)

Dolby Digital 5.1ch recording with Built-in Zoom Mic which I haven't really tested to say how good the results really are but off-the-bat the results are very acceptable.



It is also very easy to set up and operate not a lot of digging for menus to get it recording right! You simply either swing open the LCD or pull out the viewfinder (having one is plus for me) and it turns on and after a few second you can hit the record button. Vice-versa to turn-off.



Shoots in HD and records in 1080/60i and this equates to it being 24p or 30p via software when editing this is argued extensively on forums but the HDR-CX550V does not let you specify which may be a good or bad thing depending on your own preferences. Having said that don't let the 1080/60i put you off since this is the same with all other camcorders I have seen including professional camcorders. The 24p or 30p on the Canon HF-S21 also records at 60i.



I think ultimately making a choice on either the Sony or the Canon you won't be disappointed however to me the main highlights are that this is a very compact camcorder with excellent touch screen (this one works!) and shoots wide to long instead of normal to long and has excellent low light results as well as support for SD-HC flash media and a wonderfully sized LCD display.



I ended up buying the BC-TRV Travel charger and the NP-FV100 battery although is larger than the supplied battery it is still small enough that it shouldn't bother you when you require the extra juice for extended shooting which is about 15 hours at High-quality HD mode.



Image results are great for such a small system very satisfied.

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Panasonic HDC-HS250-K Hard Drive High Definition Camcorder (Black)

Great Camcorder still needs some improvement

I got this camcorder for about two weeks already. It's very easy to start operating it even without reading the manual. The touch screen feature is great! You can basically play on the touch screen and see the difference of the picture quality right on the screen. Here's some of the Pro & Con that I think after playing with this camcorder.



Pro:

-Easy to use

-Great video quality (I hook on my Sony 48 inches 1080p LCD screen the picture looks great!)

-Picture quality is great too if you got enough light when using indoor (outdoor no problem)

-Indoor video recording is pretty good using backlight function if indoor light is not enough.

-Outdoor video quality is excellent

-Digital zooming is great (I can basically zoom in and get so detail that I can see the pore of the person's face right across of the street with 3 traffic lane in between it.)

-LCD touch screen is great (you can flip the screen too! You can also use fingernail to touch the screen if your fingertip is too big the screen don't have any problem recognizing your command.)



Con:

-Not enough battery life (got around 90minutes of recording good thing is that you can see how much time you got left on the LCD screen for recording so you'll know when you need to charge the battery or switch to power cord or new battery.)

-You cannot charge the battery while using power cord!

-The power cord plug on the camcorder is hidden underneath where you put the battery at so you cannot use both battery and power cord at the same time (very bad when you try to record using power cord once you accidentally pull the power cord plug all of the recording stops and it takes long time for camcorder to get back to recording and it also causes temporary hard drive malfunction while the camcorder trying to recover what you just record.)

-You cannot turn on the light that came with the camcorder to do the recording (it's use mostly as flash function when taking picture)



So far that's what I thought playing for two weeks (without reading the manual.)

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