Sony Handycam HDR-CX100 reviews

Friday, June 26, 2009, 4:27
Digital Camera
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sony-hdr-cx100 As far as HD camcorders are concerned, it is very difficult for companies to keep prices down. Usually all good HD camcorders by reputed companies cost upward of $600. Sony, in this regard, has been making efforts to roll out an HD camcorder with a sub $600 price tag.

After a lot of efforts, the model Handycam HDR-CX100 is the company’s first AVCHD model to slope down the price mountain. In order to keep the price down, Sony had to compromise a little on the video quality front. The Handycam HDR-CX100 is a good camcorder nonetheless.

As far as the dimensions of the camcorder are concerned, it measures 2.3 inches by 2.4 inches by 4.5 inches. The camcorder weighs about 11.7 ounces. This weight includes the weight of the battery and Memory Stick Duo. This compact mini camcorder easily fits into your jacket pockets. It features a 10x zoom lens and can shoot stills of 2 megapixels resolution.

You can choose between silver and bright red colored models of this camcorder. It sports a 2.7 inches big LCD screen which causes problems if you try to view it in direct sunlight. The inside of the LCD houses controls for power, display on/off, playback etc and also the direct DVD burn control. The LCD bezel also houses buttons for Home, record, and zoom. Connections like the Memory Stick Duo slot, mini-HDMI connectors, and USB ports are also housed on the device.

The downside is that the camcorder is not user friendly in terms of usage and you may find the touch screen interface to be a bit less responsive on certain occasions. The menu system of the device requires major getting used to. At the highest quality of recording, you can record 7 minutes of video per GB of storage on the device and the entire internal memory of the camcorder permits you to record for about 55 minutes of video.

The camcorder boasts of features like Smile shutter, scene modes, and face detection. The performance of the device is ok with just sufficient level of video quality that just appears sharp enough. The digital image stabilization also proves to be an added benefit.