Sony Handycam HDR-XR100 – Not Worth The High Price
Sum and Substance:
Thumbs Up:
Fast in starting up, comfortable to hold.
Thumbs Down:
Video quality is not that good, touch screen is cramped due to its small size.
Inside the Trunk:
USB cable, Component video cable, A/V cable
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
HDR-XR100is a camcorder which is capable of 1080i video capture, 120x digital zoom, videos are stored in AVCHD, MPEG-2 format. Images are stored in JPEG format. Minimum shutter speed is ½ second and maximum shutter speed is 1/1000 second.
Shooting programs include twilight mode, portrait mode, spotlight, landscape, fireworks, sunrise, sunset, candle, beach, snow.
Camcorder sensor resolution is 2.36 megapixels, effective resolution is 1.49 megapixels, effective still resolution is 1.99 megapixels, interpolated still resolution is 4 megapixels. The device has 80 GB built in hard disk. The lens is Zoom lens – 3.2 mm – 32 mm – F/1.8-2.2, focal length is 3.2 mm – 32 mm, lens aperture is F/1.8-2.2, has 10x optical zoom, lens manufacturer is Carl Zeiss, maximum focal length is 32 mm,
Additional features include Dolby digital 5.1 channel recording, takes photos while movie recording, Dynamic range optimizer, USB 2.0 compatibility, smile detection technology, touch screen control, face detection.
The camcorder has 2.7 inch TFT LCD touch screen display. Connectors include USB, HDMI output, component video output, S-video output and composite video/audio output. There is an expansion slot for Memory Stick PRO Duo cards.
The camcorder is powered by Sony NP-FH60 Li-ion rechargeable battery. The device is 2.7 inches wide, 5.1 inches depth, 2.7 inches height and weighs about 11.6 oz.
Razzle Dazzle:
HDR-XR100 is far from pretty; it has a boring looking exterior with black and silver plastic. The camcorder is hard drive bases which makes it a bit heavy. The hard disk protrudes out of body of the device and due to this the device better to handle while shooting but still a flash drive would have been better. To sum it up, the HDR-XR100 has simple design that other camcorders have been known to have; nothing out of the box has been done to make it look sexy.
Inside Dope:
This camcorder from Sony is hard disk based; it is an 80 GB model. The presence of hard disk makes the device heavy but the protrusion makes it easy to handle. We thought that Sony has got this device a bit over priced, there are other camcorders offering the same set of features and for a smaller price. The device has a touch screen interface; the screen is a bit small and if you have thick fingers, be wary of mishits because the buttons are tiny.
The camcorder doesn’t have headphone or microphone jacks, accessory shoe, video light or flash. What you do get on the HDR-XR100 is USB connectors, proprietary AV and mini-HDMI. There is a lens cover which protects the lens of the device. There is a 5.1 channel microphone which we thought was more of a gimmick than a necessity and it could have been sacrificed to bring the price down. Behind the hard drive is the photo button and zoom switch. The latter is a difficult to control because it is a bit wobbly. Apart from these there are two buttons behind the device, the record button which is quite comfortable to use due to the placement and the camcorder/camera toggle which is a flat and hard to touch.
There are a few buttons near the LCD display and play option buttons, one-touch DVD burning, Easy operation and the power key. There is also a slot to put Memory Stick Duo Pro card. You will be using the touch screen LCD for most of the controls. The LCD is a bit small, now we know mostly all camcorders have screens of such size but they are not touch screen devices. Most of the controls are placed on the touch screen and it is a bit difficult to use owing to the small screen and hence small icons. The touch screen isn’t responsive and certainly not good when it comes to navigation. Fortunately the screen performs well in bright sunlight. Most LCDs are overwhelmed when they are held in direct sunlight and the content cannot be seen clearly in them.
We were frustrated to find old school menu system used in the camcorders. You cannot remember where the controls are in the sub menus and you will be often wasting time hunting them in the screen. There are three modes for capturing, video, photo and Smooth Slow Record (for example to record swings in golf). There is also a physical button on the device for this.
There are features like selecting standard definition or high definition, SteadyShot stabilization, output settings (for HDMI or TV type), face detection. There are more settings in the options menu like manual focus and exposure, spot meter and focus, scene modes, recording quality for bit rate and white balance.
The camcorder is capable of recording full HD videos of 1920X1080/60i resolution. At the highest quality which is 16 Mbps, seven minutes of shooting takes up a gigabyte of space. The other option is 9 Mbps which takes up a gigabyte of space in 15 minute of shooting. Video quality is not good when you watch it on a large TV and the video quality worsens in low light conditions.
We weren’t happy with the lamentable auto focus system, as it struggles while detecting background subjects. The LCD isn’t very good either, even though it performs well in bright sunlight. And finally the battery life of the camcorder is too small, about a less than an hour.
Nitty Gritty:
We won’t recommend the Sony Handycam HDR-XR100 owing to its high price and the bad quality videos. Performance wise, the HDR-XR100 is pretty bad and we must say we have seen better camcorders at a lesser price.
