SONY | SONY STYLE.COM

CX100 great size, stingy in features.

Pros: Size, battery, HD

Cons: No remote, no mic, no Mac support, shoe/port, bad placement of bottoms and ports

I got this camera to fill the void between my Webbie PM1 and my HDR-SR12. The Webbie is a ultra low end HD camcorder and the HDR-SR12 is a high end consumer HDD based HD camcorder. The CX100 isn't as small or light as a Webbie but its a lot better quality then the Webbie. Its a lot smaller and lighter then my HDR-SR12 though it lacks the same features. Good: ========== Its small and light, though it may bulge if placed in the pocket. Its able to take the same batteries as my HD-SR12. It has 1080 resolution video, unfortunately its interlaced and there is no progressive option. It has threading in the front to allow the add on of filters and lenses. Though its hard to find filters and lenses that can work together for this camera. It can record in MPEG4 or AVCHD (MTS) format with 3 levels of quality setting for each format. Bad ======= There is no remote, though there seems to be plenty of room for a small infrared receiver. Hence, one can not take shotes remotely from the camera or take still shots that require the camera to be steady. There is no mic port or shoe. Hence, forget about recording interviews, lectures or concerts. Already more then 50% of the use I intended for this camera is gone. No Mac support. The Mac can recognize and import the media using software such as iMovie, iPhoto etc,,, but Sony does not offer their highly optimized HD video player for the Mac which is required to play the HD files. Without it using Macs video players and 3rd party players like VLC are too inefficient and slow. Its like watching slow motion video. So until someone comes out with a GPU accelerated player using OpenCL or a highly efficient player like Sony's, HD files are not viewable on the Mac. Mac people have to transcode the HD files to standard definition files (automatic on iMovie software). Both the HDMI port and the USB port is located under the LCD screen. I often just want to have access to the memory stick without opening it up and turning on the LCD screen. This takes more room on a table I may be using and causes the battery to drain quickly. Please place the ports outside, where the LCD screen does not have to be open. The USB port being under the LCD screen makes this camera incompatible with Sony's own Grip/Tripod. Because the grip uses the USB port to extend the controls (record/stop) and hence the LCD screen cannt be closed while the grip is installed or worse the USB plub can damage the LCD screen if one accidendly tries to close the LCD while the USB plug is plugged in... What are you thinking Sony? Furthermore, the power bottom is located under the LCD screen.... sigh. Hence there is no way of turning on the unit and leaving it on unless the LCD screen is left open. Very inconvenient if one is using this as a webcam or with a external monitor. The volume switch is a software menu bar, as well as other controls like manual focus and exposure. Extremely unresponsive and clumsy interface. A hardware knob or slider would have been much better. Charging the unit is not possible while the camcorder is turned on. It has to be shut off. Considering the size of the power supply this is silly. The unit can not be powered from a USB port, here I understand if the battery cannot be charged while the unit is on because my USB part is only capable of about 5 watts while the unit requires about 3.5 watts for operating. It would be a tremendous convenience if all I had to do was plug it into my USB port and use it as long as my laptop had power. The way it is now, I have to either bring along a USB memory card reader or find a AC outlet for the camera... there goes the convenience of a compact and light camcorder... sigh. I guess this is Sony's way of saying "buy a wall battery charger". Yet, one more thing to carry with me. It would be nice if Sony sold a lens/filter kit. One that can work with both the lens and filter on the camcorder at the same time. Sold in a convenient to use pouch. Conclusion: Though I cannot use this camera for more then half the stuff I wanted to use it for, I enjoy the size and light weight. Its price however is way above a Webbie and hence, Sony needs to either lower the price or add the missing features listed above and fix the design flaws. I don't expect it to do everything a HDR can do, but basics such as remote and grip compatibility is important. To add insult to injury, Sony's HD cameras are not compatible with their mini and UMPC computers. The graphics cards in their small laptops to mid size laptops use Intel's GMA cards, which cannt play HD videos. Who ever is in charge is out playing golf?

It's OK

Pros: Nice design, very compact, good price,

Cons: Bad quality in low light, touchscreen sometimes doesn't work,

Hi guys, before I get to the review, lt me just say, I have had this camera over 2 months and I really like it, although it does have some flaws.... When you are in low light, the qualty of the video changes dramatically..... It looks very grainy.....and the plastic on the outside of the camera can get scratched very easily, also, the touchscreen is sometimes not very responsive... But OVERALL this camera is perfect for day outside shooting and the slow motion mode is very amazing ! It is VERY compact and it is worth the money.. Nice zoom, although when in digital, the qualty gets bad big time, but I would recommend it to any one who likes to shoot outside or film those important moments ... You can never go wrong with this camera, but the cons can be a bit of a distraction .....And something else for the people who have macs, You have to set up and go under alot of settings in iMovie if you are on a mac.... But it DOES work with mac.

Good HD Camcorder for the Price

Pros: Great in low-light video, take great HD videos, very light, sleek design

Cons: Confusing and hard to navigate menus, not MAC friendly, too small for my hands

I just got this a few days ago and like to share my initial experience with it. I saw this camera in a sony store in my area and liked the looks and some features specially it's lightness and great video quality in low-light area that I decided to get one. The camcorder did not disappoint on those items. The videos were very sharp specially in HDHQ and higher options. The menu is a bit confusing and a little hard to navigate through. I still get lost around it finding features I need to change. I have big hands that it started to get strained after an hour of handling it. But this should be no problem with the average person with not so long fingers. Battery life is fantastic! Memory is a bit small but external memory is available - but a lil expensive. I am also a MAC user and I knew the PMB software that came with it is not compatible. But I did not expect the camera to be not very MAC friendly when it comes to downloading data. I also saw very little support for it - disappointed on that one. I'm sure there are better (expensive) camcorders out there (ie Canon or Sony) that will peform better. But this one is just good for the money I paid for.

Wow HD for under 500

Pros: HDV, Low price, Compact size, ease of use

Cons: only 1 Imaging sensor, Imaging sensor is small

When it comes to HD I owned an HDR-fx1, it took tapes, was rather heavy, and extremely expensive. But thats what you need if you want to shoot really high end stuff. And for those who want perfect indoor out door HD thats what you need to spend. However I wanted someing small, light, ease of use that I can take with me anywhere and shoot anything without my arm getting tired. Trust me an HDR-FX1 will have your hand shaking after 30 minutes. This camera is light and compact. The indoor lighting performace is what I kind of expect as to get a really good indoor ambient lighting shot done right you need a sensor of at least 1/2 of an inch. So if you are a film maker kind of fellow then you will need to still pull out those softbox lights and set that up anyway. As for the regular folks, screwing in a couple 100 Watt lights couldnt hurt. As for the out door performance, pretty darn good. Again Sony is always impressive when it comes to imaging. I dont think I'll ever buy from another brand. Oh and their Sony Vegas editing software is super easy to use and can do just about everything you need!

Awesome HD Camcorder

Pros: Small compact design, touch screen, great battery life, awesome zoom, HD video, great still pictures, built-in memory

Cons: Inside video quality is OK

This camcorder is so cool. I thought it was going to be big but when I received it, it was tiny. It fits in the palm of my hand. This is a great HD camcorder for the price! The zoom is superb and it goes VERY far, although it is hard to hold still when zooming in far. Outside video quality is very clear and looks great. Inside video quality is ok and more like 720p not full 1080p. Picture quality is what stunned me most. Knowing that it is a camcorder I did not think it would taking amazing still pictures. You do not need a digital camera with this camcorder because it takes better still pictures than digital cameras (not digital SLR cameras). The extra built- in memory is nice but you still need another memory card. Overall this is a great camcorder if you want full HD video and great still pictures too all at a great price.

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Excellent Camcorder

Pros: Excellent video quality. Excellent audio quality. Excellent design. Excellent ease of use & software. Excellent price.

Cons: Can't find one yet.

I love this camcorder so much that I just wanted to let everyone know about it.

exceptional

Pros: easy to use professional results

Cons: could have come with a bundles package

I purchased this camera to record my sons wedding in St.Louis Mo in April.. I also bought the light attatchment for evening use... I was so pleased with the results of this camera. I felt as if I were watching TV. I couldnt believe how clear and bright the movie was. The clearity was unbelieveable. I would reccomend this to anyone it was so easy to use.l

So small, so cool

Pros: Small, light, don't have to carry many accessories.

Cons: No hot shoe. Needs biggger harddrive.

Very light and unobtrusive. Final footage as good if not better than my HC1. Have to be careful of jiggles, best carried underhanded. 8 gig harddrive needs to be bumped up but okay for shorts.